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Each Peach Pear Plum
'Each Peach Pear Plum' - the classic picture book by Janet and Allan Ahlberg - is a timeless picture book classic from the bestselling illustrator/author team Janet and Allan Ahlberg, creators of Peepo!. Each beautifully illustrated page encourages young children to interact with the picture to find the next fairy tale and nursery rhyme character.
This board book edition is perfect for little hands. In this book "With your little eye, Take a look, And play 'I spy'". This familiar rhyme has been given the brilliant Ahlbreg treatment to which no young child can fail to respond. It's a book which will be read over and over again . . . just perfect!'
"Deceptively simple. 'Each Peach Pear Plum' is a work of genius."
- Elaine Moss
This board book edition is perfect for little hands. In this book "With your little eye, Take a look, And play 'I spy'". This familiar rhyme has been given the brilliant Ahlbreg treatment to which no young child can fail to respond. It's a book which will be read over and over again . . . just perfect!'
"Deceptively simple. 'Each Peach Pear Plum' is a work of genius."
- Elaine Moss
34 pages, Board book
First published January 1, 1978
84 people are currently reading
4,614 people want to read
About the author
Janet Ahlberg
78 books145 followersJanet Ahlberg (1944-1994) was a British children's book illustrator, and the co-creator, together with her husband Allan Ahlberg, of the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born as Janet Hall in Yorkshire in 1944, she studied at Sunderland Technical College, where she met Ahlberg. The two married in 1969, and began to work together, publishing their first co-venture - The Old Joke Book - in 1976. She won the 1978 Kate Greenaway Medal from the British Library Association - an award recognizing the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject - for Each Peach Pear Plum.
Janet Ahlberg died of breast cancer in 1994, at the age of fifty, having produced many beloved and bestselling books. Her daughter with Allan Ahlberg - Jessica Ahlberg - is also a children's book creator.
Janet Ahlberg died of breast cancer in 1994, at the age of fifty, having produced many beloved and bestselling books. Her daughter with Allan Ahlberg - Jessica Ahlberg - is also a children's book creator.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 786 reviews
November 26, 2017
Love of language and literature works best as a daisy chain, down the generations. Some of the best picture books have a similar structure, with repetition, rhyme, and rhythm as cues. This is such a book.
First, I read this to my child, pausing before pointing out the next character, who would be hiding in the picture somewhere.
Then I would read, but stop before saying the last words on each page, allowing my child to jump in with the next name.
"Each Peach Pear Plum, I spy Tom Thumb"
"Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard
Mother Hubbard..., I spy..."
My child learned to read the book: pretend reading (memory), then properly.
The whole book is a daisy chain of names familiar from fairy tales and nursery rhymes, creating a story that includes Robin Hood, Baby Bunting, the Three Bears, a Wicked Witch, and Cinderella.
This remains one of a few special books we both know off by heart, more than twenty years later.
Pass it on
Another daisy chain: it’s a book I’ve given to many friends. They usually say how much they and their child enjoy it. I hope that one day, they and their children will pass it on.
Last week, a friend I gave it to more than ten years ago, and who now lives in Australia, sent me a picture of her younger child with the book, saying her kids still love it. A simple gesture that filled me with joy, and flooded a difficult week with happy memories.
Thanksgiving life lessons
An aunty figure in my youth, had two favourite axioms:
“Send postcards to people when they are alive, not flowers when they are dead.”
and
“Great oaks from little acorns grow.”
My friend sent a virtual postcard.
And a love of reading nurtures our acorns into saplings and on to mighty oaks.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US. I am thankful for those who nurtured me, and for the privilege of nurturing others.
January 17, 2018
This lovely children's book is a fun, rhyming hide and seek game featuring favorite characters from storybooks. My child loves turning the pages and looking for WHAT THE BLOODY SHIT, IS THAT BEAR ARMED?! That's not even a grown bear! That bear is a child! Jesus pond-skipping Christ, is he just wandering around in the woods with his safety off? He literally just came within a foot of shooting a baby!
Okay - well - look, I guess the baby's okay. I mean...the bearlet shot him out of a tree and he landed in a river, but they fished him out and all's well that ends well? (That's the real plot!) Let's - look, let's try to move on. On each page, a simple rhyming couplet introduces the storybook character who's hiding. (You'll need a Boston accent for Cinderella!) It's great fun to SWEET PONY-RIDING CHRIST IT'S THAT FUCKING UNDERAGE BEAR AGAIN AND HE'S STILL ARMED
"Should we teach him about the safety?" "Nah"
haha look at the bunnies, the bunnies know what the fuck is up
Look, it's a fun book. My kid loves it. But how many armed bears do you want in these woods?
Okay - well - look, I guess the baby's okay. I mean...the bearlet shot him out of a tree and he landed in a river, but they fished him out and all's well that ends well? (That's the real plot!) Let's - look, let's try to move on. On each page, a simple rhyming couplet introduces the storybook character who's hiding. (You'll need a Boston accent for Cinderella!) It's great fun to SWEET PONY-RIDING CHRIST IT'S THAT FUCKING UNDERAGE BEAR AGAIN AND HE'S STILL ARMED
"Should we teach him about the safety?" "Nah"
haha look at the bunnies, the bunnies know what the fuck is up
Look, it's a fun book. My kid loves it. But how many armed bears do you want in these woods?
August 8, 2018
Once in a while, it is a treat to discover the unalloyed joys of a children’s book. Each Peach Pear Plum is pure delight.
The invitation is simple: ”In this book, with your little eye, take a look and play ‘I spy’”
Here goes the first rhyme: ”Each Peach Pear Plum; I spy Tom Thumb”. The overleaf shows an abundant pear tree, a plum tree, and a peach tree, and tiny Tom Thumb snugly resting on a branch, reading a book. The next: “Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard.” Oh, I had fun spying! And so it goes. What a wonderful way to introduce beginning readers to rhymes and a mini universe of fairy tale characters (Cinderella, the Three Bears, Jack & Jill, etc.)!
Each Peach Pear Plum is a classic children’s book, and so beautifully illustrated. I picked it up at Waterstones on a recent trip to London and intended it as a gift. Now I may be tempted to keep it for myself. 😊
As delicious as a ”plum pie in the sun”, this is a delectable 5-star!
Many thanks to Cecily whose review led me to this classic and who recommended Waterstones.
The invitation is simple: ”In this book, with your little eye, take a look and play ‘I spy’”
Here goes the first rhyme: ”Each Peach Pear Plum; I spy Tom Thumb”. The overleaf shows an abundant pear tree, a plum tree, and a peach tree, and tiny Tom Thumb snugly resting on a branch, reading a book. The next: “Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard.” Oh, I had fun spying! And so it goes. What a wonderful way to introduce beginning readers to rhymes and a mini universe of fairy tale characters (Cinderella, the Three Bears, Jack & Jill, etc.)!
Each Peach Pear Plum is a classic children’s book, and so beautifully illustrated. I picked it up at Waterstones on a recent trip to London and intended it as a gift. Now I may be tempted to keep it for myself. 😊
As delicious as a ”plum pie in the sun”, this is a delectable 5-star!
Many thanks to Cecily whose review led me to this classic and who recommended Waterstones.
December 2, 2018
We have had this in our kids bookcase for almost 20 years. It was always one of their favorites and is a great introduction to the "I Spy" type of books. Little ones age 2 and up will have great fun with this book and the illustrations are so cute. My kids didn't even know many of the original nursery rhymes but it didn't deter them from enjoying this book.
Highly recommend for the 2 and up age group :)
Highly recommend for the 2 and up age group :)
November 4, 2021
Another picture book that I can strongly recall from my own childhood and which I'm now enjoying revisting with my daughter as part of the 1001 Children's Book...
The combination of simple and easy rhymes alongside the I-spy element helped leave a lasting impression on me.
It's easily my first introduction to so many popular fairly tale characters like Cinderella and The Three Bears (and the potential stroytelling of a shared universe?) which explains its enduring appeal.
The combination of simple and easy rhymes alongside the I-spy element helped leave a lasting impression on me.
It's easily my first introduction to so many popular fairly tale characters like Cinderella and The Three Bears (and the potential stroytelling of a shared universe?) which explains its enduring appeal.
August 3, 2023
A delightfully fun and entertaining way to introduce toddlers to classical nursery rhyme and folklore characters (as well as basic rhyming verses), Janet and Alan Ahlberg's Each Peach Pear Plum promises and will in all likelihood also deliver hours upon hours of I-spy enjoyment (and not just of the specific characters presented in, featured in the text, as the bright, lively and descriptively detailed illustrations might also and repeatedly be used for additional object searches, such as getting children to locate various types of fruit, animals, furniture, crockery and the like).
And furthermore, with slightly older children, parents, caregivers, librarians could and should also consider using the illustrations of Each Peach Pear Plum for independent oral storytelling activities and practice, for encouraging youngsters to create, to make up their own descriptively fun tales and anecdotes about Tom Thumb, Cinderella and the other nursery rhyme and folklore characters mentioned and depicted (illustrated).
Most highly recommended (and honestly, if someone is indeed and sadly offended by the fact that the Three Bears are carrying guns and going hunting, please do note that no animals are either shot at or killed and that the image of Baby Bear tripping and causing a stray bullet to dislodge Baby Bunting and his crib can always and easily be used for a bit of a discussion regarding potentially unsafe and dangerous types of behavior, can always be used as a teaching and learning moment).
And furthermore, with slightly older children, parents, caregivers, librarians could and should also consider using the illustrations of Each Peach Pear Plum for independent oral storytelling activities and practice, for encouraging youngsters to create, to make up their own descriptively fun tales and anecdotes about Tom Thumb, Cinderella and the other nursery rhyme and folklore characters mentioned and depicted (illustrated).
Most highly recommended (and honestly, if someone is indeed and sadly offended by the fact that the Three Bears are carrying guns and going hunting, please do note that no animals are either shot at or killed and that the image of Baby Bear tripping and causing a stray bullet to dislodge Baby Bunting and his crib can always and easily be used for a bit of a discussion regarding potentially unsafe and dangerous types of behavior, can always be used as a teaching and learning moment).
February 4, 2013
Really cute and fun. I remember this from when I was a child and I think that fondness bumps it up to five stars. I loved "I Spy" type things back then and now I can appreciate the smooth flow of the rhyme scheme and the clever illustrations and I just really enjoyed the variety of Mother Goose characters and how their little stories are related. I can see why this is a "classic" :-)
October 15, 2011
My mother read this to both my sister and I when we were little, and to this day both of us can recite it from memory.
October 10, 2012
This is an absolute classic, and I'd be surprised if there's anyone in English-speaking countries, at least, who hasn't heard of it, read it and loved it. First published the year before I was born, in 1978, it's still going strong, with a wonderful rhyming story complemented by luscious illustrations. The text incorporates famous fictional characters - Cinderella, Mother Hubbard, the Wicked Witch, Robin Hood, Jack and Jill etc. - and the pictures add an "I Spy" game to it. Tricky for younger readers perhaps, but in my experience they always find plenty of things to point to in the illustrations to ask "what's that?" ;)
Which means this is a book for various age groups, really. And when you have to read the same books over and over again to a young audience, it's one of the few that I never get tired of re-reading!
Which means this is a book for various age groups, really. And when you have to read the same books over and over again to a young audience, it's one of the few that I never get tired of re-reading!
January 6, 2025
Just pure distilled innocence - needed it today. A text that consists of rhyming couplets make this a very child friendly book. The illustrations are beautiful; intricate and engaging. Children will like the way details draw attention to characters and situations. This is the perfect book to read together aloud with a small child.
December 26, 2020
Superbly illustrated by the late Janet Ahlberg and written by husband Allan, 'Each Peach Pear Plum' has rhymed text that, together with the illustrations, invites readers to play the game of 'I spy' with a variety of folklore characters, who each move on from their hidden spots in one illustration to feature in the next one.
Aimed at a younger audience (I bought it for a friend's daughter but thought I would read it and play it first) it should probably be simple for an adult like myself. However, I must confess that when I read 'Tom Thumb in the cupboard/I spy Mother Hubbard', I didn't espy her at first! Only when I belatedly noticed the bow of an apron on a rather large derrière in the corner did I realise that she was leaning out of the picture!
Other hidden characters are Tom Thumb among the trees, 'Each Peach Pear Plum/I spy Tom Thumb' so you can perhaps guess where he was hiding; Cinderella in the cellar. with a more noticeable Mother Hubbard making a second appearance, and an arm with a feather duster gives away Cinders' hiding place; Three Bears with Cinderella still cleaning, this time on the stairs, and the bears are not in the room but can be seen so can you guess where they are?
There is also Baby Bunting featured with the three bears out hunting, Bo-Peep surreptitiously watching Baby Bunting fast asleep, Jack and Jill with Bo-Peep up the hill looking for them and I guess you will quickly realise where that pair are and the Wicked Witch with Jack and Jill in the ditch.
Next the Wicked Witch is flying over the wood on her broomstick and she spies Robin Hood which is quite easy for her to do for he has fired an arrow at her! The Three Bears make another appearance as Robin Hood relaxes in his den, and then, as the participants begin to come together, the same trio spy Baby Bunting who is then safe and dry with some plum pie in the sun and we all spy ...
EVERYONE!
What a lovely book to read to your children and to have them spot the characters ... glad no-one was reading it to me when I couldn't find Mother Hubbard! It's definitely another winner from Allan and Janet Ahlberg, the children will love it and probably want to do it again and again.
Aimed at a younger audience (I bought it for a friend's daughter but thought I would read it and play it first) it should probably be simple for an adult like myself. However, I must confess that when I read 'Tom Thumb in the cupboard/I spy Mother Hubbard', I didn't espy her at first! Only when I belatedly noticed the bow of an apron on a rather large derrière in the corner did I realise that she was leaning out of the picture!
Other hidden characters are Tom Thumb among the trees, 'Each Peach Pear Plum/I spy Tom Thumb' so you can perhaps guess where he was hiding; Cinderella in the cellar. with a more noticeable Mother Hubbard making a second appearance, and an arm with a feather duster gives away Cinders' hiding place; Three Bears with Cinderella still cleaning, this time on the stairs, and the bears are not in the room but can be seen so can you guess where they are?
There is also Baby Bunting featured with the three bears out hunting, Bo-Peep surreptitiously watching Baby Bunting fast asleep, Jack and Jill with Bo-Peep up the hill looking for them and I guess you will quickly realise where that pair are and the Wicked Witch with Jack and Jill in the ditch.
Next the Wicked Witch is flying over the wood on her broomstick and she spies Robin Hood which is quite easy for her to do for he has fired an arrow at her! The Three Bears make another appearance as Robin Hood relaxes in his den, and then, as the participants begin to come together, the same trio spy Baby Bunting who is then safe and dry with some plum pie in the sun and we all spy ...
EVERYONE!
What a lovely book to read to your children and to have them spot the characters ... glad no-one was reading it to me when I couldn't find Mother Hubbard! It's definitely another winner from Allan and Janet Ahlberg, the children will love it and probably want to do it again and again.
January 18, 2020
This is a beautiful book. On each page there is a small rhyme about spying a character, who you then need to find in the illustration on the opposite page. They are familiar characters; the three bears, Cinderella, Robin Hood, etc, so it ties in nicely with traditional bedtime stories. The illustrations are as fabulous and detailed as you'd expect from the Ahlbergs. Lovely for reading to very young children and getting them to spot the character, and I'm sure that in years to come it'll also be a good aid to learning to read. Highly recommended.
July 17, 2019
This is one of my all time favourite books.
Simple, rhythmic words and endlessly engaging illustrations to play with in this best all I Spy books.
I read it hundreds of times to my son and can still recite it
Each peach, pear, plum. I spy Tom Thumb.
Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard.
Mother Hubbard in the cellar. I spy Cinderella ....
And so it goes, through favourite English nursery rhymes and stories (Robin Hood, Cinderella, wicked witch, 3 bears) till everyone meets in the woods for plum pie in the sun. All intricately and beautifully illustrated.
It’s wonderful to see that this treasure, first published in 1978, is not only still in print but has been issued as a board book as well as a soft cover, and I’ve just bought the board book for my son’s first child, due in two weeks.
I know it’s a bit early, but a baby can never have too many books :).
Simple, rhythmic words and endlessly engaging illustrations to play with in this best all I Spy books.
I read it hundreds of times to my son and can still recite it
Each peach, pear, plum. I spy Tom Thumb.
Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard.
Mother Hubbard in the cellar. I spy Cinderella ....
And so it goes, through favourite English nursery rhymes and stories (Robin Hood, Cinderella, wicked witch, 3 bears) till everyone meets in the woods for plum pie in the sun. All intricately and beautifully illustrated.
It’s wonderful to see that this treasure, first published in 1978, is not only still in print but has been issued as a board book as well as a soft cover, and I’ve just bought the board book for my son’s first child, due in two weeks.
I know it’s a bit early, but a baby can never have too many books :).
October 30, 2018
"In this book / With your little eye / Take a look / And play "I spy." So reads the little rhyming instruction at the beginning of this delightful picture-book for younger children, which presents a series of nursery rhyme and fairy-tales characters, each of which needs to be found in the facing-page illustration. "Each Peach Pear Plum / I spy Tom Thumb," the text begins, inviting the reader to find Tom Thumb in the artwork. The subject of the previous I-spy then launches the next - ie: "Tom Thumb in the cupboard / I spy Mother Hubbard" - with the process ongoing, until the natural (and very fun!) conclusion, in which all the characters are brought together.
Chosen as one of our February selections over in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme was "Fractured Nursery Rhymes," Each Peach Pear Plum is only nominally related to the world of nursery rhymes, being more of a rhyming game-book than anything else. Still, children will enjoy seeing some of the characters they know from other stories all together, and will have fun picking them out in the illustrations. Recommended to younger readers who enjoy nursery rhymes, fairy-tales, and I-spy games.
Chosen as one of our February selections over in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme was "Fractured Nursery Rhymes," Each Peach Pear Plum is only nominally related to the world of nursery rhymes, being more of a rhyming game-book than anything else. Still, children will enjoy seeing some of the characters they know from other stories all together, and will have fun picking them out in the illustrations. Recommended to younger readers who enjoy nursery rhymes, fairy-tales, and I-spy games.
July 10, 2012
One of my all time favourite books! It is a picture book that is based on characters from traditional tales. It uses the game 'I spy' to encourage the reader to spot the characters in a variety of different settings.
This book would be suitable for Early Years as it has rhythmical text and features a game that will be recognised by young children.
It is a great book which young learners can become involved in. It can be read to the whole class and followed by setting smaller group tasks and/or individual activities, using words, text and recognisable characters that feature in the book.
This book can be used to support literacy by encouraging creative writing and the development of word knowledge by using teaching strategies such as:
* identify the rhyming words
* what else can you spot (using pictures from book)
* recording what happens (i.e. what comes next?)using own drawings as illustrations
* drawing and labelling characters and settings
* writing simple captions to match pictures from story
* create own version of book using phonic knowledge and rhymimg words
This book would be suitable for Early Years as it has rhythmical text and features a game that will be recognised by young children.
It is a great book which young learners can become involved in. It can be read to the whole class and followed by setting smaller group tasks and/or individual activities, using words, text and recognisable characters that feature in the book.
This book can be used to support literacy by encouraging creative writing and the development of word knowledge by using teaching strategies such as:
* identify the rhyming words
* what else can you spot (using pictures from book)
* recording what happens (i.e. what comes next?)using own drawings as illustrations
* drawing and labelling characters and settings
* writing simple captions to match pictures from story
* create own version of book using phonic knowledge and rhymimg words
September 10, 2011
I really enjoyed this book as a child. I really like how the story is written in a rhyming format. When a character is introduced you can find the character on the opposite page.It really engages the children in the book, which I've seen when reading the book to children in a reception class. It challenges the children to look carefully for the nursery rhyme character. You have to look carefully when looking for the characters, althought I have read the book endless times I always find it difficult to find The Three Bears! The pictures are really appealing to the children. I would recommend everyone to read this book.
November 5, 2023
A delightful rhyming book with intricate clever pictures that can grow up with the child. I began reading this to my eldest son when he was about six months old and just enjoyed the sound of words he couldn't understand and was still reading it very enthusiastically to my daughter 12 years later when she put in an appearance. Of the literally hundreds of times I have read this book to a child it has never bored me but has been an utter delight over and over again.
February 5, 2016
This was just... Not fun.
December 22, 2020
Until modern science figures out a way to adapt my favorite song off Milk-Eyed Mender into a board book, this'll have to do.
February 20, 2023
I didn't get this book, it did not have a story going on. Loved the drawings, but lacked. Could have been better.
August 11, 2017
Great little book, was very fun to read to the kids. Only problem is, now they're pestering me into reading all the nursery rhymes in this book...
December 20, 2020
One I have read repeatedly now for decades but only encountered during my teacher-training years. Essential reading doesn’t even come close: one can see how it won the Greenaway award in 1978. A find-and-seek rhyming narrative that interweaves nursery rhyme and traditional tales. Beautiful vignettes roll exquisitely across village, vale and wood through the Ahlberg’s perfect balance between image and verse.
Both Allan and Janet seem, for me, eponymously associated with a very English childhood and a sense of warmth and security that I am not sure anyone else has managed since. As with all their collaborative work, this is a book that invites repeated readings whether it’s to enjoy the rhythm of the rhyme again or to find hidden details in Janet’s pictures.
Both Allan and Janet seem, for me, eponymously associated with a very English childhood and a sense of warmth and security that I am not sure anyone else has managed since. As with all their collaborative work, this is a book that invites repeated readings whether it’s to enjoy the rhythm of the rhyme again or to find hidden details in Janet’s pictures.
March 18, 2024
Repetition, rhyme, rhythm and a spot the hidden element game that I am sure will come into its own in good time. Each Peach Pear Plum is a classic for a reason.
December 3, 2017
In Each Peach Pear Plum, Allan Ahlberg explores the darkest realms of fantasy, describing in ultra-minimalist style the dichotomy between good and evil. Allan’s repetitive text wastes no words; this is espionage literature with the gripping narrative of Forsyth and Ludlum, written with sinister style of Le Carré and Greene. Characters are spotted, but only rarely are we given a glimpse of their fate – we know that Jack and Jill will fall down the hill, but it will happen off-screen, and in our imagination, a la Janet Leigh in the Psycho shower scene.
In a clear reference to the Cold War, the Bears – a metaphor for the Soviet Union – are always there in the background, and Janet Ahlberg’s illustration of the Wicked Witch could not resemble Margaret Thatcher more clearly if it were a photograph. The ditch in which Jack and Jill lie – and into which the Wicked Witch is peering, is surely modelled on the Berlin Wall, while in the very next picture, Robin Hood is shown firing long-range missiles at the Witch. Finally, there seems to be a sub-plot involving the Russian Bears and a “Sleeper” – codename “Baby Bunting”.
The novel works up to a sinister climax: Plum Pie awaits everyone. How much Polonium 210 is present?
In a clear reference to the Cold War, the Bears – a metaphor for the Soviet Union – are always there in the background, and Janet Ahlberg’s illustration of the Wicked Witch could not resemble Margaret Thatcher more clearly if it were a photograph. The ditch in which Jack and Jill lie – and into which the Wicked Witch is peering, is surely modelled on the Berlin Wall, while in the very next picture, Robin Hood is shown firing long-range missiles at the Witch. Finally, there seems to be a sub-plot involving the Russian Bears and a “Sleeper” – codename “Baby Bunting”.
The novel works up to a sinister climax: Plum Pie awaits everyone. How much Polonium 210 is present?
November 4, 2014
Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s Each Peach Pear Plum was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1978 and has remained a beloved pattern book since that time. The story opens with a cozy watercolor of a pie, fresh-out-of-the oven, and a mouse, reading to dig into the delicious pastry. Underneath the drawing, readers are welcomed to “the text, and informed that “in this book”, they’ll be asked to “play ‘I spy’”.
Allan and Ahlberg’s text is repetitious, rhyming, and predictable, making it a perfect choice for the emergent reader. Each Peach Pear Plum commences with the following two lines: “Each Peach Pear Plum, I spy Tom Thumb.” Turning the page, we read: “Tom Thumb in the Cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard.” Thus, the final name(s) included in the second line, continue on the next page. Mother Hubbard spies Cinderella, Cinderella spies The Three Little Bears, The Three Little Bears spy Baby Bunting, and so on and so forth. This rhyming pattern makes it easy enough for even three-year-olds to predict, but will engage readers probably to about age five. Watercolors on alternate pages provide a beautiful visual accompaniment to the facing text.
Allan and Ahlberg’s text is repetitious, rhyming, and predictable, making it a perfect choice for the emergent reader. Each Peach Pear Plum commences with the following two lines: “Each Peach Pear Plum, I spy Tom Thumb.” Turning the page, we read: “Tom Thumb in the Cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard.” Thus, the final name(s) included in the second line, continue on the next page. Mother Hubbard spies Cinderella, Cinderella spies The Three Little Bears, The Three Little Bears spy Baby Bunting, and so on and so forth. This rhyming pattern makes it easy enough for even three-year-olds to predict, but will engage readers probably to about age five. Watercolors on alternate pages provide a beautiful visual accompaniment to the facing text.
March 26, 2020
An "I spy" fairy tale book with darling illustrations!
Ages: 3 - 7
Cleanliness: there is a witch.
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Ages: 3 - 7
Cleanliness: there is a witch.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
April 3, 2016
I adore this book and it was a favourite of both my son and daughter when they were little. This is a book to read to them when they're small and for them to read to you when they are a bit older. Children love looking at the really nice pictures and trying to find the 'hidden' character on each page, which makes them feel clever.
The story is in the form of a rhyme, so reads lyrically and appeals to children, also aiding memory. I can still remember some of it, years later!
I recommend this book for everyone with young children and have also bought it for my grandson.
The story is in the form of a rhyme, so reads lyrically and appeals to children, also aiding memory. I can still remember some of it, years later!
I recommend this book for everyone with young children and have also bought it for my grandson.
July 19, 2017
While this is an 'I Spy' book, it also reinforces the nursery rhymes and fairy tales that the kids are learning. It's fun when they have an 'ah-ha' moment either because they recognize the character in this book, or, when they're hearing a verse or tale for the first time, remember that they saw it in this book.
November 11, 2020
A spin on the traditional tales. This book uses a great deal of rhyme to tell a different story than the traditional fairy tales. The pictures have so much to add to this story if you look closely. I think this would be interesting to share with children and see who they recognise and what they can spot in the pictures.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 786 reviews