BookBairn gets the Grumps (Sort of!)

We now have a toddler! BookBairn can walk. On her own. With no one to hold on to. And she likes to run! But with this new found freedom, we are now encountering some tantrum-type moments. BookBairn has never been a grumpy, shouty or tearful sort of child, sometimes when she is overtired she will be a bit fussy but she's pretty easy-going and happy.

Some of this is no doubt due to the fact that she has quite an expansive vocabulary and can generally ask for what she wants. But now that she can walk there are many more dangers, and many more places she can get to that we don't want her to play. Like with the cupboards, or with the drawers, or on the slate floor in the kitchen. So now we have more need to say "no". And she's not a fan of this. She screams. Given, this has only happened a few times, like when I wouldn't let her scale her wardrobe and open the drawers nearly trapping her fingers; or when I shut the stair-gate for example. No big deal really. I said "no", lifted her away, she screamed, I distracted her with something else to play with. And happy-BookBairn returned as quickly as grumpy-BookBairn appeared. You'd also think that "wait" was a swear-word the way she shouts it back at you! And so it begins. The toddler tantrums.

Familiar with the grumps is Sophy Henn's Pom Pom. In 'Pom Pom gets the grumps', Pom Pom, an incredibly cute little panda, gets out of bed on the wrong side and nothing seems right. This is a tale that many parents will know: Pom Pom can't find his favourite blanket, he didn't get what he wanted for breakfast (though his mum probably gave him what he asked for, outside was too sunny, and he doesn't want to play any of the games his friends suggest for breakfast. And Pom Pom "goes nuclear", "has a meltdown", "tirade", "hissy fit", "has a paddy" (whatever you want to call it) and shouts at his nursery pals. Left alone, he feels sad and silly. But he learns his lesson and apologises to his friends. But does he really learn? This is a fantastic story for little ones about temper tantrums and how they can ruin everyone's day. I particularly I enjoyed the repeated use of the word "harrumph!" each time Pom Pom felt grumpy. Such a perfect word to describe it!

In the sequel, 'Pom Pom the Champion', Pom Pom is back and this time he's woken up "all at sixes and sevens" and not knowing what to do with himself, his mummy suggests playing a board game. And from that Pom Pom realises how much he enjoys winning. In his mind, he creates all sorts of games ensuring that he is always the winner: fastest to eat his elevenses (love this!), fastest to read his book in the library, fastest on the slide. Pom Pom joins his friends at playing scooters, playing on the swings, climbing up the climbing frame, catch the ball and at these things he doesn't win. So he goes off in a huff to play and win on his own until he figures out that winning isn't everything if you don't have other people to play with. Another fantastic message for little ones!

She is completely obsessed by seeing Pom Pom on the chute.

We are absolutely delighted to have a sneak preview of the newest in the series 'Pom Pom is Super', which is to be released on 4th August. In this book, Pom Pom wakes up "full of the fidgets" because his friends are coming over to play. He has set up his favourite toys, made sure that his mum his got their favourite snacks and waits for the doorbell to ring. Ding dong! But little does Pom Pom know that all of his friends are feeling super today and are keen to show off their superhero alter egos: Fantastic Footballing Flash, the Ant King, Swooshing Scout and Twinkly Twirly Tornado Bear. Pom Pom wants to be super too but struggles to find his super power. Fortunately his friends know eactly what he is good at and help him become Shouty Hula Disco Pom Pom! A lovely story about finding your talents and being a superhero in you very own way.

In Pom Pom, Sophy Henn has created an expressive little panda who is utterly adorable, even with a grumpy face!

The illustrations throughout these books are deceptively simple with bold colours against unfussy backgrounds. I'm not the biggest fan of black and white books for babies and I've always preferred high-contrast illustrations that will appeal to little ones without being too dull and with stories that will continue to appeal to them as they get older. We had two black and white books and BookBairn didn't like either, and neither did I really. I much prefer that she enjoyed reading story books with high contrast colours and think it probably helped her get into books as she had so many good ones to choose from. These books would be perfect for teeny ones, and still hold their value now that she likes a proper story too.

In all the books, Sophy Henn has shown a wonderful turn of phrase that I adore: "full of the fidgets" perfectly describes a toddler like BookBairn. She describes Pom Pom as so excited that "his feet did a little dance all of their own" - wouldn't you just love to be that excited about something? I love that Pom Pom eats 'elevenses' - my favourite meal of the day! And I already mentioned the perfectly phrased "harrumph" for Pom Pom's grumps.

All three books have an underlying theme of friendship. In 'Pom Pom gets the grumps', his nursery friends are particularly tolerant of his grumpy mood and very forgiving of his apology. In 'Pom Pom the Champion', his friends find a way for them all to be winners together. And in 'Pom Pom is super', they help Pom Pom to identify his particular talent. These are some very mature toddlers! But a lovely theme for little readers that subtly shows them what good friends should do. I think that the Pom Pom series is super!

Let's hope that BookBairn doesn't get the grumps too often now that she's toddling! She is certainly becoming more difficult to photograph sitting still now that she can escape.

It's hard work all this posing with books!

*DISCLAIMER* We borrowed 'Pom Pom gets the grumps' and 'Pom Pom the Champion' from our local library and requested a copy of 'Pom Pom is super' for review from the publisher. All words and opinions are, as always, my own.