Alfie's Lost Sharkie product reviews

Parents will have a good chuckle as they read this book. The book brings up many topics that families often go through at bedtime, delay tactics before bed, loss of a favourite toy, creativity and imagination in children. The page that really got me when I was reading was the one when Alfie was told to find a toy for bed and we then see Alfie carrying all of his toys in his arms. I know that I have seen my own children do that many times! Alfie's mum is very patient and uses patient redirection to move Alfie closer to bed. The family cat is to be seen on every page as it joins in the search to find Sharkie!

Miss three picked this book up out of a pile to read. Her initial reaction was that Alfie was crying. I liked the combination of primary and secondary colours and patterns on the cover. It reminded me of a patchwork quilt. The book is nicely bound with a hard cover. I always find that hard cover books feel so much nicer to read and hold. They also last longer on the book shelf.

When I read this book to Miss 3 and Mr 5, they both loved it. They enjoyed the pictures of Alfie and his Mum. The great thing about the images of the characters are that they are childlike and they could inspire my children to make up their own characters without the worry of perfection.

The text is presented in a different way to most children's books. It is made up entirely of dialogue between Elfie and his mother. The font is slightly different for each of the two characters. Mr 5 is just getting to the stage where he will be able to read the speech of one of the characters soon. I think that it would be a fun way to read the book rather than me reading for both characters. Alternatively, it is a chance to put on two different voices to make the story easier to follow.