Felicia Bond. Published by Harper Trophy. ISBN: 9780064435857. Age 4-8 years. 32 pages. 220mm X 238mm (8.6in X 9.3in). Paperback. 2000.

A tiny bug went for a walk.
He met a cat and stopped to talk.
They fell in step and strolled a while,
and bumped into a crocodile.

This is but a friendly crocodile who joined them and soon they met more - bee, pig and mouse. They came to a yellow house and had a Goldilocks-like adventure. They searched for bears, ransacked for food and found a bed to sleep.

The rhyme is charming and the animals are so adorable. Everyone clicks with one another instantly. They have no idea where they are going but it does not matter. Being together is fun enough.

The animals have pencil-dot size eyes. They break into impromptu dance and were extremely concerned and apologetic when they step on pig's tail. You could almost feel their innocence.

A great story on children's antics and the joy of being a child.

Lisa McCourt. Illustrated by Cyd Moore. Published by Scholastic. ISBN: 9780439634694. Age 3-7 years. 30 pages. 275mm X 212mm (10.8in X 8.3in). Paperback. 2003.

As Mama tucked a little boy in for the night and told him she loved him, something worried him. So, he asked, "Mama, what if I were a big scary ape, would you still love me then?"

Mama said she would comb his hairy self and made sure he didn't have tangles. Then, she would bake a birthday cake out of bananas and tell him, "I love you, my big scary ape."

Children are always fearful of losing their parents' love. Often, when they are scolded, they thought their parents do not love them anymore. This book is ideal to reassure your child that you would love him no matter what or who he is, or what he has done.

Your child could be smelly, nasty, has quirky eating habits or bad temper but as a mother, you have the ability to see the positive side of things. Perfect example of unconditional love.

The way the little boy repeats "But Mama, but Mama.." is so typical of little kids. Your child could certainly relate to him.

A must-have for all children.

Paul Showers. Illustrated by Aliki. Published by Harper Trophy. ISBN: 9780064433228. Age 3-7 years. 30 pages. 195mm X 252mm (7.6in X 9.9in). Paperback. 1991.

Have you ever been on a Listening Walk? No? Well, why not try it today? There are so many different sounds that you may not have noticed, unless you go on a Listening Walk.

My dog's toenail go twick, twick, as they scratch the sidewalk, my father's shoes go dop, dup, dop, dup. A lawn mower makes a steady zooming noise like this, z-z-z-z-z-zzzzzzzoooooooommmmmmm. The sound a new car makes is different from an old car.

The Listening Walk makes you aware of the abundance and variety of sounds around us. We are very much visual creatures that we tend to ignore sounds unless they are loud music.

But if you go on a Listening Walk like the little girl in the story, you will realise there are interesting sounds around us in our daily lives. Many of them are rhythmic.

An ordinary routine of a lady walking in high heels and catching a bus produces four different sounds. The first when she walks leisurely to the bus stop, then when she quickens her steps to catch the bus, next when the bus door opens and finally when the bus drives away.

A Listening Walk once in a while is a good way to de-stress.