[Book Review Compilation] Pansing Books #definitelybooks

If there’s one thing worthy of investing in, it’s books. A child that reads widely, goes far. As a child, I picked up my love for reading from a carton box of Enid Blyton books my cousin outgrew. There, I was invited to the imaginary world where gnomes and fairies played in tiny homes in the woods. I moved on to stalk Jessica and Elizabeth through Sweet Valley High until they grew up and attended Sweet Valley University earlier than I did.

My children are fortunate to be recipients of books from Pansing Distribution/Definitely Books. This is a compilation of a selection of books I’ve received from them so far. All the following books can be found in good bookstores in Singapore.

List of Stockists (non-exhaustive):

Conservation

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𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪: 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 🌍⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ One sky⁣⁣ One sun⁣⁣ One moon⁣⁣ One world⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ This classic book was first published in 1990 and is now in its 30th year. What makes this book so alluring are the watercolour illustrations that take up most of the page, with short lines filling up the rest. Another book that's easy to read to kids! ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ A little girl and her brother decide to build their own world with shells, fishes and plants from the beach and ocean, until it became devoid of life and covered with a large oil patch. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Plastic pollution, deforestation, overfishing, extraction, the over-reliance of fossil fuels and how all these affect the world is highlighted through Michael's descriptive storytelling. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ The words are kept simple for its message to get through to even the youngest of readers – time is running out. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 30 years on, the situation has only worsened. It takes a pandemic like COVID-19 that shuts down most of the world for people to realise that there can be clear, blue skies with clean air, that even heavily polluted waters like River Ganga can be cleaned up. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ One World is a beautiful way to introduce the consequences of our actions on the world to our children. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ It's available at all good bookstores. Online: @goguruofficial @kinokuniya_singapore and more⁣ ⁣⁣ #pansing #definitelybooks #bibimbubsbookreview #bookreview #booksforkids #pollution #conservation #michaelforeman #illustrations

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𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: 𝗞𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘆 🗑️🧒👧⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ Kids Fight Plastic: How to be a #2minutesuperhero is a book of 50 missions for children to attempt to reduce the use of plastic at home, in school and outside. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ The mindless use of ⁣single-use plastic disposables has contributed to the sorry state of the earth today. Our beaches are full of discarded plastic. Some are impossible to clean as they have broken down into microplastics which is then poisoning and killing marine life, which we are eating. We all have plastic in our systems now, believe it or not. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ You do not have to be a tree-hugger or vegan to make small changes, and this book breaks down the big bits into simple 2-minute missions that are well illustrated and can be easily understood by primary school children. ⁣ ⁣⁣ This guide is more than just an instructional booklet. It's full of facts related to plastic waste like what happens to it after we dump it, ways to organise a party with no plastic and how to shop plastic free.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ Author Martin Dorey is an anti-plastic campaigner and founder of the Beach Clean Network.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ Kids Fight Plastic is available at all good bookstores!⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ #2minutesuperhero #kidsfightplastic #plasticpollution #bookreview #sponsored #pansing #definitelybooks #beachcleanup

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Values

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𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲! 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝘂𝘀𝗸𝗮 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘇🍐🍊🍍⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ This book tells the story of how five elephants and five mice attempt to get to the newly discovered fruit tree with the MOST delicious looking exotic fruit. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ The five elephants 🐘 try their own methods to retrieve the fruit, each failing miserably. Meanwhile, the five mice work together concurrently to reach it. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ After witnessing the power of unity, the elephants put down their selfishness and work together. The storyline is simple but the story is beautifully illustrated and there are plenty of hilarious scenes. The tone is light and this is a book I don't mind reading repeatedly because the prose on each page is short and it's fun to animate each character.⁣ The five mice are like Easter eggs that can be spotted on each page, working together even when the elephants aren't.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣:⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ 🍎 Alliteration: "Elephant One munched on mangoes. Elephant Two craved coconuts"⁣ ⁣ ⁣ 🤩 Onomatopoeia: Lots of sound words over here! ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🍉 Emphasis: Words that require emphasis are in capital letters. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ 🤔 How it is not always possible to work alone and some tasks require people to cooperate to achieve goals. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ That Fruit is Mine! is available at all good bookstores! ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ #pansing #walkerbooks #kidslit #sponsored #kidsliterature #kidsbooks #kidbookstagram #애기책 #엄마스타그램⁣ #sgmum #sgmom

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General

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bubk2IdBfMO/

Book Review: Boo Who? by Ben Clanton

Boo Who? by Ben Clanton is a story of a ghost who is new to a group and tries terribly hard to fit in. Since Boo is a ghost, it cannot hold tangible objects and is often unable to participate in games with his friends. Is there any way he can fit in? Eventually, Boo finds a game that he excels at. Boo Who? has simple and endearing characters which are easily identifiable by children like a robot, rabbit/unicorn hybrid, yellow fluffy monster and dinosaur. The sentences are kept to one or two per page, making it an easy bedtime story for parents to read out. 

This book is a lighthearted way to introduce to children who are starting or transferring schools and may be shy. Elise took to the story well as she recently started attending kindergarten with a new set of classmates, teachers and routine. 

To make the book more memorable for her, I decided to include a play element for her. Recalling a trick from eons ago during art class, I used white oil pastel to draw out Boo on a drawing block. Then, I took out an ice cube paint stick (frozen food colouring and water) for her to make Boo reappear. She shrieked out “Boo!” when she saw it. At least it was somewhat recognisable for her.

Distributed by Pansing, Boo Who? by Ben Clanton is available at all good bookstores. 

Little Rainbow Dreams – Personalised Books

ABOUT

Little Rainbow Dreams provides personalised books with bright, colourful illustrations and simple stories with short sentences aimed at children. It was started with the intent of using stories to engage the imagination of children, nurture a reading habit and to involve  parents in the whole process. Reading promotes bonding and can be a time for parents to put down their adult worries and just focus on spending that quality time with the children. 

A few weeks before Emmett was born, Little Rainbow Dreams invited me to choose a book from their selection as a present for Elise in addition to The Elephant Story. I picked the Big Sibling book for her to cope better with the changes in routine with her brother around. Accompanying the two personalised books was a handwritten message! Handwritten messages are rare nowadays and it adds a personal touch to the present.

Elise has a prosthetic eye which in time, will be something that she notices is different from her peers. Thankfully, at age 2, she isn’t too bothered about it yet and the loss of an eye doesn’t seem to impact her adversely. She climbs stairs and plays soccer like a pro. The Elephant Story teaches children that there is no need to compare themselves to others because everybody is special in their own way. Should she ever feel inadequate, I hope this story will encourage her. 

She has no patience to wait for me to finish reading and turns the page halfway through most children books. These softcover books are personalised from start to end and use the child’s name as the main character. Short sentences (perfect for bedtime stories) and attractive illustrations with commonly recognisable animals and characters draw children into the story. 

The Big Sibling book caught Elise’s attention and she flipped through the book at her own pace.
 

“Our baby is always sleeping.”

Said baby. Sleeping.

Not “always”! 

 


Mon Chéri Box

We also received the Mon Chéri Box, a Christmas themed gift set. The name Mon Chéri means “My Darling” in French. You can choose to include personalised messages on the front page of each book too. 

What’s inside the box: Stickers, A DIY snowglobe, Stamp and personalised Christmas book. 

What I like about the Christmas book is that it’s an interactive activity book that encourages the children to use the stickers provided in the box to decorate the pages. The box is a perfect opportunity for parents to create memories through assembling the DIY snowglobe together with the children. The globe is simple enough for children to create and they can make it their own with stickers and stamps. Elise is at that stage where she doodles on her train tracks and decorates her stacking cups with stickers.   

The DIY snowglobe makes its appearance in some pages for sharp eyed young ones to spot. 

 

We’re keeping our box for the Christmas event in Christmas storyland, 18 Nov, 3-5pm at Bove.

Do sign up early as there are limited slots! Join LRD for a immersive weekend of storytelling and fun-filled activities.
Make this Christmas a magical one for your little one with LRD magical Christmas collection!
Visit www.littlerainbowdreams.com/xmas-snowland for more details.

There is a 15% early bird discount at $57.80 (U.P. $68) for the Mon Chéri Box valid till 19 Nov.
*** Lead time is 4 weeks so do place your order early to have LRD Santa deliver your Christmas gift by Christmas!