A Love of Reading and A Treasury of Animal Stories by Holly Webb #Review

There are lots of reasons that I'm proud of my children. That they drink water, that they don't drink fizzy drinks, that they say please and thank you, that they like to dress smartly (at least some of the time), that they are polite to their elders and in general to anyone around them, that they know where I say "Lights Off" that they turn off their lights and go to sleep... but one of the things I am most proud about is that they love to read.

Children reading on the Sofa

As a child, I loved reading. I was the classic bookworm, always had my nose in a book and exhausted the stock of the school library at three different schools that I attended. I even read the nonfiction books, which far from being boring increased my general knowledge to a point where now I can't remember anything!

Daddy was the same, maybe not as voracious as I was, but still an avid reader. We had both learnt to read before School and whilst Top Ender and Big Boy were making strides in the right direction, the first year of School started a proper love affair with books for them both. Top Ender loves almost everything, but prefers fiction. She will of course read non-fiction, it's one of the rules we have that they need to read more than just one genre, but generally she migrates back to The Hunger Games or The Selection, which are so dog eared from multiple readings I'm surprised they are still intact!


Big Boy is more open to reading different genres. He doesn't have a favourite theme, or a favourite book, but will pick and choose depending on his mood. It was because of this pick and choose method, that I thought the new Treasury of Animal Stories by Holly Webb would appeal to him And at the very least if he didn't like it, then I assumed Top Ender would. After all there is a picture of a cute little Puppy and Kitten on the front and some most adorable pictures inside.

A Treasury of Animal Stories by Holly Webb #Review

Big Boy and I sat down one night after the book had arrived, to read one of the short stories together. Big Boy flicked through until he found one he liked and as we sat together reading, he got more and more into the story. Gradually I could hear his voice change,as he brought each character who spoke to life, giving them each a different personality using tone and the words written by Holly Webb.

It was a truly amazing story and yes, I'm sure it had something to do with BB reading most of it to me, but I did have a little cry at the end. It was just so cute and heartwarming!

The book is aimed at children aged around 6-8, which of course BB is at the lower end of and Top Ender at 10 is out of completely, but I did spy Top Ender curled up on the den sofa reading this book a few times, so maybe leave it laying about if you think some of your older children may enjoy the sweetness of the stories.

The book has an RRP of £9.99 and is perfect at any time of year, but I will be buying a couple for my Nieces this Christmas (there are some nice set at Christmas stories in the book) and hopefully I'll be able to add some more stories by Holly Webb to our ever growing collection of books.

I was sent the book to review.