Overdue Books

One of my favourite tales as a child was ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’ I think I liked the idea of these magical little elves making shoes as big as themselves. As an adult I often find myself wishing some elves would come during the night & work magic on my never ending ‘to do’ list.

Part of my fondness for the story is tied up in the specific ladybird edition I read (I am intrigued by the change in illustrative & language style across the years for these ladybird editions, but that’s a post for another day) While I couldn’t share the same edition, the copy we have is much loved by Bryn and a perfect size for when out & about.

I recently picked up a copy of ‘The Real Fairy Storybook, Stories the fairies tell themselves’ by George Adams & Sally Gardner. A collection of 5 stories framed by a running conversation between a group of fairies sewing a ball gown for the Fairy Queen. I picked up this book as I loved the varied styles of illustration & while pink on the outside inside is a riot of colours, textures & attitude. The story Bryn is most fond of is ‘The Shoemaker & the Robber Elves’ a funny retelling of the Elves & the Shoemaker story where the Elves are the cause of the shoemakers misery by stealing all the shoes, luckily a fairy comes to the rescue for a happy ending.

I enjoy the magical fun quality elves & fairies can inject into stories especially with regards to scale and it seems Bryn does too. As this previous post shows Freya has also shown an early interest in Fairies.

Bryn received a top secret package a few weeks ago, inside was a treasure trove of stickers, poster & a stunning looking book, Operation Alphabet. “It’s the singing letters” Bryn shouted, as having read many reviews of this books I had already introduced him to the marvellous Ministry of Letters website & this fabulous video.

Like the website the book is wonderfully theatrical and part of the enjoyment in reading it has been the sense of drama & fun leading up to the story. It is an exhilarating read with action, adventure & a few quirky turns of phrase that had us both laughing aloud.

Operation Alphabet is the tale of a boy who has the ‘ALPHABET-A-HEEBIEGEEBIES’, Luckily help is at hand from the Special Alphabet Service.

Bryn especially likes the part where the Ministry of Letters are first introduced, as you peek into the Post Box. He was also keen to tell me he suspected Charlie Foxtrot was named that because of the colour of his hair, another code name perhaps! I really love the retro illustrative style which complements the dynamic atmosphere of the story.

Bryn has been learning the alphabet including phonics for a few months and it’s nice to have another perspective. The personification of the letters bring character & charm to the alphabet, although I have yet to see him follow Charlie’s footsteps & introduce ‘incredible hats & parachutes’ when writing letters.

The website, blog & upcoming app have also helped this book become more of an experience rather than just a story. Operation Alphabet is a definite hit in our house

Disclosure: We received our copy of ‘Operation Alphabet’ from the publisher for review. Our opinions are our own.