Beetle Bottoms and the sticky situation by Sarah Hill, Madison Holroyd and Fiona Whyte

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Visible Love Publishing, 2014. ISBN 9780987595904
Highly recommended for repeated read-alouds. Visit the website here and find out much more about Beetle Bottoms!
The Beetle Bottoms and their adventures have become firm favourites around here, especially with Miss Mouse (5 years old).
In this new episode, the big kids - Nut, Thorn and Petal - fly off on their tiny birds for an outing, leaving little Pip behind as she is too small yet to fly.
Pip, like a lot of littler playmates, is pretty peeved about the whole situation so decides she will follow them on her dad's bird, Bill. As one might expect, this turns out to be a VERY BAD idea! When Bill is startled, he tumbles Pip off and she falls down, down - into a wormhole, very dark and very slimy. The bigger Beetle Bottoms try their hardest to get her out, first making a rope of grass, without success. How will they save her before the worm comes back along its tunnel and crushes her?
Thorn's brilliant idea is to sneak up on Fang, the local scary and very grumpy spider, and 'borrow' some spider web. Like many bright ideas, this one is a bit of a disaster when both Thorn and Petal fall into the spider web and are stuck fast. With the sticky situation looking pretty grim as Fang realises he has two intruders, Thorn's bird swoops them away in the nick of time!
However, luckily, the pair do have enough spider web clinging to their legs to rescue tiny Pip - but oh oh! Here comes the worm!!
The entire concept of these story-play books is fantastic and the mother and daughters team do a superb job - not only producing the books but other imaginative play items for young children.
At the end of this book there are lots of interesting 'facts' about the Beetle Bottoms, their homes and their lives. As always, exploring the garden and looking carefully for any Beetle Bottoms that might be hiding there.
These are delightful read-aloud books for your little people, which will fire up their imaginations and their interest in their natural environment. If you haven't been to the Beetle Bottoms website yet, you really should go and visit - it's a joy!
Watch the trailer here.
Sue Warren

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