[Ad- gifted product] When it comes to childrens books, our household collects them! Every single night before bed, one of the three children pick out a story book and we all read together. Reading is a key part of our day, and we always are on the look out for new books to add to our collection, so we were delighted to hear about the two new books by Chris Jones, called Harley Hound and Red Spotted Ned. These two children’s books are slightly different from the books we have had in the past in our collection, which really stands out to us! But first, let’s talk a bit about the author.
About Chris Jones
Chris Jones has published three children’s books this year, so far, with two more on the way. All of these books rhyme and include large, vibrant pictures. These books contain powerful and large vocabulary, which makes a big change from the normal books we find on our shelves. All of his children’s stories have a positive moral without being overly serious, which means that there is subtle education. Chris has always had a huge passion for storytelling and use to make up bedtime stories at night instead of reading to his son, complete with a fictional superhero called Deadly Derek.
Harley Hound
We read both of these books as bedtime books to all three of the children, however Harley Hound was Robin’s absolute favorite. She seems to be big into animals lately, stating that Harley Hound looked like a dog small enough to be our cat’s pet. (Something she keeps stating, as I feel, a reason to get a dog.) You see, Harley Hound is a dog with very long ears, who often goes out to play but gets muddy and people sometimes play with her long ears in a way that she doesn’t feel comfortable with. Over time, she starts to wish she was like the other dogs – big and somewhat feared. So, one day, she makes a wish and it does come true – she becomes a more powerful dog. Harley doesn’t actually enjoy being this new version of herself. She misses how people use to talk to play with her and finds it a bit lonely being this new version of herself. She misses the way she use to be, and through wishing her wish away, realizes that her perception of who she is, is actually in her head. Harley can go back to being the best version of herself by being true to herself. It’s a lovely story with a good meaning at the end.
Red Spotted Ned
Firstly, I love the font in Red Spotted Ned. The font is just so much fun! Red Spotted Ned is a story about a monster named Ned, who has a bit of a bad temper. When he gets mad, he turns red with red spots – a color that he often is. He doesn’t think of many other people when he is angry, and this is shown when his neighbour, Yuri, plants some sunflowers out his window. Ned decides to cut them down, as seeing them ruins his day, and he does this without considering how Yuri would feel. He acts in anger instead of thinking it through. After he has cut down the flowers, he is visited by a ghost of his own feelings, to tell him what happened with Yuri. Yuri came home and saw that his sunflowers were cut down, and he felt very sad. Instead of acting in anger, Yuri decides to bake a cake and give it to Ned, because maybe the cake will make Ned much happier. Ned is also shown that Yuri worked really hard on those flowers and actually planted them for everyone – not just for himself, – in hopes that Ned would be happier. Ned becomes a better monster, turning green instead of red, and hanging out with his friends.
Both of these books do indeed have a big vocabulary, which allowed us to talk over the words the children don’t understand. This is such a good goal when it comes to reading children’s books, as so often there are simple words and simple concepts. We also really liked the themes in these two books – they have quite a depth and different thinking to them. The two books have illustrations by different illustrators, and both come with their own unique style, which is nice.
We read with the kids every night before bed, too. They both pick a book and we read on the couch together. Then they go to their individual rooms to read for a while before going to sleep. We have a large collection of books, too, but I hadn’t heard of these before!
Our house is exactly the same, we sit all together in the living room, and then once the book is done everyone scatters to their rooms.
How cute is red spotted ned!! I love little monsters like that.
He is such an interesting monster!
He is too cute to be a monster lol I love it! Like he is trying to hard to look angry lol…Super cute…
He is a very cute monster!
Story time is so important! It was such a fun time when my kids were little and a great way to make reading exciting for young learners. Looks like a great read for the family.
It is such a good time to spend with them.
I try to read to my son every night. Most nights I make him pick what he wants to read and we love that time together.
It’s such a lovely thing to do, isn’t it?
Such a lovely book review, I am sure kids would love reading Harley Hound and Red Spotted Ned as it sounds like good books.
What an adorable book! I love finding good books to share with younger kids.
There are so many out there, it’s great to find new ones!
Wow, these books sound great for kids! My little niece and nephews would love reading about the dog Harley’s story as well as the interesting monster’s story 🙂 Love the book covers too!
Animals are a really relatable theme for children!
Both books look so great for kids to read! I will have to get them for my niece.
I hope she enjoys them!
These books look really good for kids. I will gift them to my nephew!
I hope he enjoys them!
How cute is red spotted ned. Story time is so important! Love your article.
Ned is an adorable grump!
Thank you for sharing this experience. Such a nice thing.
It’s a great set of books!
This seems like a fun children’s book. It can be a good gift for my nephew’s upcoming birthday. Thanks for the idea!
Glad that you found a good gift.