Zog product reviews

I was very excited when I was offered Zog to review. Julia Donaldson is one of my favourite children's authors. We already own many of her books. My children cheered when I showed them our new book by The Gruffalo Lady. This book certainly didn't disappoint. In true Julia Donaldson style, it was very cleverly written with rhyme and rhythm, a clever plot and good morals while at the same time being easy to read and for the children to follow.

I have read Zog to children ranging from two to six years and they all loved it. They picked it out of the pile of new books because of the bright coloured characters on the cover. It also helped that Axel Scheffler has illustrated many of the other books we are fond of so they were familiar with his unique style. There were even some characters from other books in the background.

The accompanying CD was a bonus. The first time I shared the book with the children we played the CD. It was a bit slow and wasn't expressive enough for us. It was great in the car because, of course, I can't read while I'm driving but the children can listen to their new favourite story. There are five tracks: 2 of the story, 2 of the Flying Doctors song based on the story; and one a listening game.

This book comes with a CD which has five tracks on it. The first is almost 11 minutes and is the reading of the story by Imelda Staunton. I actually really enjoyed listening to her read this story. She is really clear and very expressive.

The second track is the "Flying Doctors Song". The words for this are on the back cover of the book. The Third is pretending to be at Madam Dragon 's school. Your youngsters will love doing all the actions to this track. The fourth track is the instrumental for the song. The fifth track is read along. The CD is quite entertaining and will amuse your youngsters. I think it is one of the best "included with a book" CD's I have listened to actually.

The book itself is absolutely lovely. The illustrations are very colourful and very funny. There is plenty to look at on the pages. Dragons are of course a winner so the story of Zog, and his adventures training to be a dragon, will capture any young readers imagination. I really enjoyed the story and loved the twist at the end with the princess and her prince. Its really nice to have books which encourage girls to do something other than look pretty!!

Miss Four and Miss Five love this book and it will appeal to boys and girls alike. With the CD, cut outs and book this is a brilliant gift for age six and under. This book is in my top twenty of illustrated children's picture books. Fantastic!