Piglet’s Picnic by Jessica Souhami

On a sunny day, Piglet posted a note about a picnic by the river, just bring your favorite food to share.  She headed off to the river with her friend Mouse.  Both carried covered baskets with their favorite foods in them.  Some crows fly up with a bundle, two frogs come with promises of something crunchy.  Dog arrives with a newspaper packet and two sheep bring a knitted bag.  It was then time to open the parcels of food.  But as each is opened with a flap that the reader gets to open, the other animals are disappointed to see what is there.  Luckily they all brought enough for each of them to each their favorite food, the food they brought.

This friendly and fairly predictable story has plenty of toddler appeal.  Small children will enjoy opening the parcels with the flaps as well as the surprise of the final foldout page that shows the entire picnic laid out.  Nicely, different concepts are layered in the book unobtrusively with numbers and addition as new animals arrive.  Souhami’s cut paper illustrations are bright and bold enough to show nicely to a group. 

A simple story perfect for toddler story times or sharing with your own small child.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.