The Very Lazy Ladybird

Isobel Finn and Jack Tickle‏
The very lazy ladybird likes to sleep all day and all night. And because she sleeps all day and all night, she doesn’t know how to fly. One day, she decides she wants to sleep somewhere else, so hops onto a kangaroo, but that’s too bouncy, the tiger is too noisy, but the elephant’s trunk is great
This is a very popular book in our house. It’s well written and we love the illustrations. But the most exciting thing is… the sound effects! They are just fabulous! Even my (much) older boys hover around when this book is being read and have each taken the time to read it to the younger ones before. I’m convinced it’s because ‘they’ want to press the buttons!
The lazy ladybird just wants to sleep and is so lazy that she doesn’t know how to fly and so she hops on to various animals in order to find somewhere else to sleep. Each animal does something that means she can’t sleep and therefore has to move on to another until, at last, she has no choice but to fly.
Each page is beautifully illustrated. The pictures are bright and colourful and each animal is drawn to look friendly and smiley. On each page there is a ‘button’ to press to hear the sound that accompanies each animal. We have read books similar to this and have found it most frustrating to be pressing the page in earnest trying to elicit a sound and not having much success. This book has been well put together however (and I mean that in the literal physical sense) as each sound works and works well without having to press over and over again. My pre-schooler has to apply a little more pressure with his tinier fingers but is fairly easily able to make the sounds work by himself too, which gives him a lot of pleasure. The sounds are loud enough and clear and fun. They make us giggle. The last sound, when ladybird has run out of choices is really fun and gets the most ‘airtime’ for sure!
A very lovely read, with great pictures and fabulous sounds. It’s one that my husband and I both love reading to our two little boys (almost 3 and 15 months) and it gets extra marks for drawing in my older boys (11 and almost 14) to read to their younger brothers without being asked!
Verdict: One for every pre-schooler’s bookshelf. There are other ‘noisy picture books’ in the series and we shall certainly be adding to the one we already have!
Reviewed by Lesley