Jez Alborough

Where’s My Teddy? is the adorable tale of a little boy named Eddie who loses his teddy bear in the woods. When he goes back, looking for it, he instead finds a huge teddy. While trying to figure out how his teddy grew so big, he hears crying and encounters a real bear who’s upset that his teddy shrank to a tiny size. The two are scared to death of each other but all’s well that ends well, when they both get their own beloved teddies back. This was a cute, hilarious story that was show more really fun to read. The illustrations are great, too, really bringing to life the humor of the situation. As a relatively new grandma, I’m always on the lookout for books that I can share with my grandkids. I think this is a story that should delight them as well as all young readers. It’s the first in a series about these two characters called Eddy and the Bear, and after this enjoyable reading experience, I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for the other books in the series. show less

My Friend Bear is the third and final book in Jez Alborough’s Eddy and the Bear children’s picture book series. In the first two books, Eddy and the bear were afraid of each other. In this one, both Eddy and the bear are feeling sad because they have no friends. Eddy is in the forest one day and comes across the bear’s giant teddy, which he immediately recognizes as belonging to the big bear that scared him before. When he hears noises, he hides behind the giant teddy. The bear show more appears, crying, so Eddy consoles him by giving a voice to his big teddy. Eventually the bear figures out what’s actually going on and the pair have a great laugh over the fact that the bear thought his teddy could talk. Then they spend the day together, pretending to make their teddies talk to one another, and by the time the day is over, they’ve become the best of friends.

The first two books of the series were pretty humorous, especially the first one. My Friend Bear still has touches of humor as Eddy and the bear pretend to give voices to their teddies. Mostly, though, this is a really sweet book about making friends. Readers got to see these two being very scared of each other in the previous books, but this time, Eddy shows a little bravery, as well as empathy for the sad, lonely bear, and it pays off in helping them both make a new friend. The illustrations are cute and express just the right amount of emotions, whether it’s sadness, fear, laughter, or caring. Overall, this entire book series has been awesome and has left me looking forward to checking out more of the author’s work. show less

It’s the Bear! is the second book in Jez Alborough’s Eddy and the Bear children’s book series. In this one, Eddie is about to go on a picnic with his mom, but he’s afraid to enter the forest because of the big bear he saw there once. She tells him that there are no bears in this forest, but Eddie isn’t quite convinced. After setting out their picnic, Mom realizes she forgot the blueberry pie and runs home to get it, leaving Eddie alone. Along comes Bear, and this time, he’s very show more hungry!

I loved the first book of the series, Where’s My Teddy?, so I was excited to read this follow-up story. It wasn’t quite as hysterical as the first one, but it’s still very cute. There’s a touch of suspense as Eddie hides from Bear that will keep little ones on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen if Bear finds him. For Bear’s part, he’s mostly focused on the food, so he’s not as afraid of Eddie this time. As with the first book, the illustrations are very well done, showing the proper of amount of terror and surprise for Eddie and Bear’s excitement at having found a feast. Overall, this was a very good sequel that I’d recommend for young ones who like humorous or slightly suspenseful stories. show less

Guaranteed toddler grins! I saw this title and description floating around somewhere - probably on an earlier Kane Miller press release and have been longing for this book ever since.

It does not disappoint. One morning, while the farmer sleeps, Sheep climbs onto his tractor. Sheep knows just what sound the tractor makes when it starts - and one by one the other animals add their sounds to make the tractor go, until the pages open out into a giant spread of animal-tractor noises!

Jez show more Alborough's illustrations are beautifully textured and thoroughly humorous. He perfectly captures the animals' expressions as they pretend with the tractor in a way any small child will understand.

The growing cacophony of animal sounds will delight small listeners and encourage them to join in with their own animal - or tractor - sounds.

Verdict: Perfect for toddler storytimes and many, many hilarious read-alouds. A must for your storytime section and picture book shelves!

ISBN: 978-1935279662; Published September 2010 by Kane Miller; Review copy provided by the publisher through Raab Associates show less