Stories for 5 year olds ed. by Linsay Knight

Ill. by Tom Jellett. Random House Australia, 2012. ISBN 9781742756660.
Stories for 6 year olds ed. by Linsay Knight
Ill. by Tom Jellett. Random House Australia, 2012. ISBN 9781742756660.
Recommended. These collections of short stories are from well known authors including Robin Klein, Dianne Bates, Victor Kelleher, Bill Condon, Vashti Farrer and Sophie Masson who all write with flair and are sure to keep the reader's interest. As an adult I found myself starting from the beginning and not being able to put the books down until the end such was the quality of the stories. I am certain that children of the selected age will equally enjoy these engrossing stories, all in big print for the beginning reader, but equally good to read aloud as a bedtime story or as a short story for a class reading. My copies will be stored for my grandchildren.
In Stories for 5 year olds I was particularly taken by the story of The two gorillas by Ursula Dubosarsky, where a little girl decides to give the toy gorillas a bath. From then on, lots of things happen as Becky plays with the toys; some quite scary including a gorilla burial and cutting off a gorilla's arm. All ends well. Pets also feature in some of the stories and children will get a giggle out of Duck down by Janeen Brian.
Pat Pledger