Tal la Vie

“Once upon a bat and a pirate teddy bear,

there was a cheeky little witch, her name was Darling Cher.
Darling Cher was pretty, Darling Cher was bright,
but when she had to go to bed she gave mom quite a fight!
So if this introduction makes you wonder yet,
skip this page and dive into a tale you won’t forget…”

"Once upon some milk on a fluffy shawl (not granny's),
there was a wizard baby boy who'd had twenty three nannies. 
Darling Cher's new brother made every nanny crack,
and every single one of them swore never to come back.
"Mrs. Pretzel, are you OK? Are you well?" asked Darling Cher. 
But Mrs. Pretzel, Pierre's new nanny, wouldn't sink into despair.
Now, if you're brave enough to read Mrs. Pretzel's honest story,
skip this page and dive right in, it's there in all its glory."

"Once upon a mess and a clueless Pirate Bear,
there were two wizard kids, Pierre and Darling Cher. 
A story of two children, who loved to make a mess.
Anytime and anywhere, and they couldn't care less. 
So even if this tale might sound like a messy story,
everything will be cleared up, so you don’t need to worry.
And if this introduction is quite sloppy (though you've read it),
skip this page and dive right in, you surely won't regret it!"

Three books, written by Tal La Vie, in rhyme. They are aimed at children aged 3-8 years. The stories are based around children, their naughty behaviour and the subsequent challenging behaviour that children display.

I found the books to be very wordy. The stories are written in rhyme and are cleverly written however I believe that they are too long and complicated for children aged 3-5 years to understand and follow.  The older children will enjoy the stories however there is no repetition which children enjoy, especially in rhyming books, allowing them to join in.

The illustrations are also, I believe, more likely to attract the older children  They are busy illustrations with lots going on in each page. The design is not traditional, it has a slight eastern influence and I am not sure that they will appeal to young children.

The stories have a strong basis - that of the way children behave and react to the world around them and believes that "we all have a genuine, innate ability to foster creative dynamics with the people in our lives, and create funny, surprising, and fun solutions to !the challenges we face with our loved ones, even if we often forget about this precious ability, and tend to stay within our comfort zones.". This is evident throughout all three books where there are strong child characters with their own beliefs which guides the story. 

I did enjoy the books. They would make great books to use during a circle time at nursery or school to aid discussion in the subjects discussed. I do not, however, believe that they are suitable for very young children to understand the wordy dialogue.

Thank you to the author for sending me the eBooks to review.