Sally Garland (illustrator), Little Days Out: At the Shops, New Frontier Publishing, May 2021, 12 pp., RRP $12.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922326256
This sweet, relatable lift-the-flap book will delight young readers as it shares the story of weekly grocery shopping.
With scooter, baby-carrier, and reusable shopping bags at the ready, Mum and her two children head off to the supermarket. One baby is placed in the trolley seat while a little helper bounces around eager to gather up the food items. The flaps reveal the hidden food items in each department of the supermarket. Some with an interesting fact to be read, bananas are good for your heart and carrots are good for your eyesight.
The story encourages readers to make connections with the text, times they had been shopping, what they had bought, their favourite fruit or vegetable, and other things they do to help their mum or dad.
The illustrations are cute and colourful. The detail is enticing to young readers who may notice the children’s pictures on the under-stairs’ door, the pigeons pecking at crumbs or the ‘slippery when wet’ sign so often seen in the isles of supermarkets.
And of course, every young reader will delight in the final item on the list… strawberry ice cream! What shopping trip with children doesn’t end with a small treat?
I recommend this lovely board book to young readers 2-5 years old.
Reviewed by Katie Mineeff
