Product Review:  Little Bo in London [Hardcover] (Age 4+)

Little Bo’s Exciting Journey Brings Her Home to London with a Thrilling Conclusion to Her Globe-Trotting Adventures

Is there a crime in turning your child into a musical and cat lover before they hit kindergarten?  I may be in trouble!  My love of musicals was always two-fold.  First, I love music and dance, so that was a no brainer, but I also credit musicals as bringing me out of my shell at a much younger age than I would have normally reached out to others.  See, I was part of the local Players children’s group and I always wanted to do the musicals.  For someone who had not been very social as a child to get up on stage and sing and dance – oh Lord – yes, it was almost a mini-miracle in itself.  While I always played the dynamic duo singing and hamming it up team with my mom since I was young, that was different.  This was me on my own being on stage in my own skin.  Okay, so someone else’s clothes (and hair and make-up), but my OWN skin!  Ha!  While Guys and Dolls was probably a highlight musical for me, I always dug Julie Andrews and her magical voice and sassy characters from The Sound of Music to Mary Poppins.  So what has Ms. Andrews being doing these days?  Would you believe me if I said she was writing children’s books with her daughter?  And yes, it combines both Julie Andrews and cats!  Might as well call us the crazy cat family right now and get it over!

Little Bo in London is the latest release in the adventures of the globe-trotting cat, Bo, and her human friend, Billy, by the great musical legend Julie Andrews-Edwards and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.  Little Bo (whose real name is Bonnie Boadicea) is a world-traveling cat whose great adventures in previous books have had her interesting adventures in countries like France and Italy have her coming home to London on a sea-faring trip.  Of course, for Bo and Billy, it’s never quit as easy as it sounds and run-ins with pirates and Bo’s budding friendship with the ship cat named Panache make this quite an adventure for kids.  The details and lovely background of London is pure excitement for a child who has yet to visit and it helps that Little Bo looks a lot like our cat, Spike (Brooke likes to compare other cats to ours).  Just a fair warning, this book is quite wordy for a four year old independent reader (which is the youngest age recommendation for a reader) but I think it’s wonderful for a great read-aloud for young children.  After all, Brooke has enjoyed books like Dewey (the library cat – not a small child read) as a read-aloud and that does not have nearly as many adorable pictures as Little Bo!

Little Bo in London [Hardcover] (Age 4+)

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

List Price: $ 19.99 (Currently on sale for $13.59 at Amazon.com)