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Children's books

Children's bookclub: Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton and

27 replies

RachelMumsnet · 03/03/2014 14:09

Our second childrens' book club choice books for younger children in March is Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton.

Chris' last book Oh No George won numerous awards and was highly praised by mumsnetters. Shh! We have a plan has Chris' trademark stark but beautifully coloured illlustrations and funny story. Find out more about how the book came about and how you can access a free copy. The first ten mumsnetters to review the book will win a limited edition signed print from Chris.

Children's bookclub: Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton and
OP posts:
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AliceMumsnet · 10/03/2014 10:40

This book giveaway is now closed. We will notify those who have been selected to receive a free copy via email. Please continue to discuss the book here throughout the month and look forward to hearing your thoughts. Don't forget the first ten Mumsnetters to review the book will win a limited edition signed print from Chris Haughton.

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idleweiss · 20/03/2014 14:23

As soon as my little girls saw the front cover, they recognised the illustrations immediately!they are such big fans of A Bit Lost and could not wait to read this! Chris Haughton does not disappoint! My little girls were entranced by the pictures and story and there were giggles aplenty too! Such a simple yet beautiful book. My eldest really enjoyed elaborating on the story, and why the characters were trying to catch the bird, she thought they were silly and naughty! My youngest loved the different hues of blue (her favourite colour!) and the contrast of the gorgeously bright birds. Such a lovely book to read together and if sure to be another firm favourite! We have read it 5 times already since receiving it this morning! Would highly recommend it!! :)

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Rhimchugh · 20/03/2014 19:03

Hi, just wondering when your copy of the book arrived as there is no sign of mine yet:-(

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Rhimchugh · 20/03/2014 19:05

Ah, this morning- I see it now. Fingers crossed ours will arrive tomorrow- got two very excited children waiting on it!

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HazelDormouse · 21/03/2014 11:35

We have just received it in the post this morning and we have already had multiple readings. The first thing I thought when we were reading it together was Baldrick from Blackadder and his 'cunning plan'. I wonder if that was the inspiration. My ds thought it was really funny. He particularly liked the page with all the colourful birds on it and wanted to know all their names...Even on the first reading he was finding it great fun to anticipate what disaster the three silly billies were going to incur. After reading the story he wanted to know what the words at the back said.... we now have to find 'Oh no, George' for a few readings of this picture book. Thank you for such a lovely book.

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emmaMBC · 21/03/2014 13:09

I am a HUGE fan of Chris Haughton's work - am delighted that this one lived up to expectations.

Haughton's narrative is simple yet effective. Repetition of key elements each time the crew creep up on that tempting bird, render this picture book great for reading out loud - we found this really heightened sense of anticipation too!

My full review is here

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Tabby33 · 21/03/2014 16:18

Thank you for the book. It arrived this morning.

This is a very clever book. My son was smiling and asked again and again for me to read it. The nice thing about this book is it is simple enough that you can elaborate and add parts to the sorry. The pictures tell the story without the words. My nephew was telling me what he though the people were trying to achieve, which made me laugh.
The images are brilliant and stimulating.
Glad we got a copy, thank you again.

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StantonLacy · 21/03/2014 20:25

We received our copy this morning - thank you so much!

DD loved it - the colours are just lovely and the illustrations very striking.

From my review:

'The text itself is quite pared down, with only a few words per page, some of these repeated. This was great for my daughter (aged 4) as she could pick up on the repeated phrases and sound out some familiar words without being overcome by too much text.
I think it would be equally as good for a younger child, with the recurring phrases picked up so they can join in themselves!

It obviously made an impression, as my daughter spent a quite a while afterwards popping her head around door frames, looking very sneaky and 'shhh' ing me!
Enjoyable and lovely to look at - I'm sure we'll be reading this again'

Thank you again - I do love a good free book Grin

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Jenni2legs · 21/03/2014 20:30

We received this book today and it is beautiful. My daughter loved it - she said she wasn't the little character then quickly changed her mind when it became apparent that the little one was the star!

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youwish · 21/03/2014 21:35

Lovely pictures and colours, not sure about the story, didn't make much sense to the kids, even tho they liked to look at the pictures they weren't interested.maybe it will change once they look at it a few more times.

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Rhimchugh · 21/03/2014 21:52

Really enjoyed this book- it is the first one by this author that we have read but we will now be hunting down his other books! There are four of us in the family so naturally the two children very quickly assigned us roles to correspond to the four characters. My 5yr old daughter did her best to help me read along and my 3yr old son giggled at the gorgeous illustrations all the way through. My two children actually went to bed arguing over which of them was the little one in the story. A real winner- would recommend.

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Uzma01 · 22/03/2014 17:15

I'd never heard of this author before so was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the book. Got it yesterday and waited until after dinner to read it to the kids. They both seemed to enjoy it, especially my son - who I was getting to read along with me. Really lovely illustrations and vivid splashes of colour - will have to get my hands on his other books.

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dyslexicdespot · 22/03/2014 18:17

Shh! is a delightful book, beautifully illustrated, perfectly pitched and paced. The illustrations are reminiscent of Tove Jansson at her best. The book has already become one of our bedtime staples. DS (2.5 years old) has it memorised and I actually look forward to re-reading it.

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GERTA · 22/03/2014 19:26

I received the book today. Thank you very much indeed. My kids absolutely loved it. The book was easy to read and both my kids ( 4 and 2 1/2 ) loved the colours. The message was spot on, and easy to understand by young children. Will def recommend this book.
Gerga

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cavylover · 22/03/2014 22:13

Very funny book, comically illustrated with cheeky expressions on the faces of the birds when they realise they have escaped the clutches of the inept characters trying to catch them in nets. Reminded me a bit of the cartoon "Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines" who also spent a great deal of time chasing after a pigeon without success. A timeless story with illustrations that won't date and can be enjoyed for many generations to come.

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missorinoco · 24/03/2014 21:54

This is hilarious!
DS1 who is 6 read it before I had a chance to look at it, and DD has packed it to take it into school.
Thankyou MN.

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majjsu · 25/03/2014 10:33

My little girl was excited by the title of the book and couldn't wait to read it. She enjoyed the story, asked lots of questions and laughed at the characters antics. The illustrations are lovely, the writing concise, simple and repetitive, which my little girl enjoys. We were lucky enough to receive a copy of Oh No George and that book is just as good. Highly recommended.

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weathermum · 25/03/2014 11:25

I loved this book its just right for a 3 year old ...it has birrrrrds... Oh! how Jamie loves his birrrrrrds. The illustrations are really simple but excellent I can really recommend this book many thanks for the free copy.

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IreadthereforeIam · 25/03/2014 21:38

I received this book at the weekend. My original idea was just to take it into work and look at it with the children there (I work in a Preschool), and it was left by the front door so that I wouldn't forget it. Ds2 (age 7) found it, and started looking through it, and was joined by ds1 (age 9). they read through it together, and I could hear the giggles. They loved it! They took quite a while looking through it, because they were talking about the pictures as well - the possible pitfalls of the men and their various predicaments. When they were finished, ds2 told me to take it into work, because "the children will really like it, it's a funny book, and the men are very silly"!
I read it with a small group of children who also spent time talking about what the men were doing - said that they were silly, and tried to guess what they would do next - and I think the fact that there wasn't much writing on a page helped this discussion. It's been a hit at my Preschool over the last 2 days, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be reading it frequently in the foreseeable future!

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nerysw · 25/03/2014 22:31

Our book arrived on Friday and I had no idea what to expect as I hadn't heard of Chris Haughton, or read any of his books to my children. I loved it! I understand that I'm 37 and not totally the target audience but the simple colours and illustrations are really refreshing. Less is certainly more and the short and sweet text is great. The whole thing was a pleasant change from the cartoony dinosaurs etc I see so often. I have nothing against them (we read a lot of the Underpants series...) but to see something really different was great.
Anyway onto a nearly three year old whose opinion matters more... my son saw the book and wanted to read it straight away. He liked the pictures and the fact that there weren't many words seemed to encourage him to tell me the story and describe the men and what they were doing and what would happen next. He found their exploits hilarious and loved choosing his favourite of the birds. We read it several times and when his sister (nearly 5) got home from school he showed it to her and we all read it together. She thought it was 'super funny' too and I can see it staying a favourite.
To any non testers reading all three of us highly recommend it - it's one of the few kids books that has actually made all of us laugh out loud.

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StillNoFuckingEyeDeer · 26/03/2014 19:31

We've really enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations are great. DD1 loved the story, made me read it several times and kept giggling about it and even started acting it out afterwards. An instant hit!
I'll be looking out for the author's other work.

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CannotthinkofaNN · 29/03/2014 15:01

Like previous reviews we enjoyed this book. The story has enough repetition that my toddlers enjoyed anticipating the words, but they did not bore of the content of the book. The simple illustrations were a refreshing change. I would recommend this book.

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Mrswalker24 · 31/03/2014 19:08

Lovely illustrated book which I could see having appeal to boys and girls.
The story is a simplistic one with minimal words and big full page illustrations.
It reminded me a little of 'We're going on a Bear Hunt', probably in the rhythmic telling of the story.
Very sweet with a moral that's not thrown in your face.
We liked it a lot and will look out for Chris Haughton's other books now :)

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nushcar · 31/03/2014 22:25

When I first saw the book, I noted it had little text and the colours were very simple (two tone blue mostly) and wondered whether the minimalist chic of the artwork was more appealing to adults than very young children. Well, was I wrong! It proved a massive hit with my 18 month old son who insisted on it being read again and again! The bold striking cartoons and repetition had an irresistible appeal to him and it is actually made it to the coveted status of being a bedtime regular that my son will select from the bookshelf. It's clever how it has somehow tapped into a child's psyche and sense if humour so well.

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sealight123 · 11/04/2014 16:00

Very artistically illustrated, with beautiful tones. Simplistic text and a very cheeky, comical book. My daughter loved this book :)

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