Day: June 11, 2021

Blog Tour: Children’s Book Review: Barty Barton: The Bear That Was Loved Too Much

Today I am part of the blog tour for Sue Wickstead’s children’s picture book Barty Barton: The Bear That Was Loved Too Much. I really enjoyed this on and I am sharing my 5 star review. For those of you in the UK there is also a giveaway going on!

Book Description:

What happens when we outgrow our teddy bears?

Should we let them go?

Thomas loved his teddy bear, but over the years, Barty had become tatty and old.

However, Barty was no ordinary teddy bear, and he wasn’t about to give up on being loved.

Title: Barty Barton: The Bear That Was Loved Too Much
Author: Sue Wickstead
Illustrator: Jo Anne Davies
Published: October 27, 2020
38 Pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: June 10, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars

Jessica’s Review:
Barty Barton is just the cutest children’s book! We all had that most favorite toy when we were kids, but what happens to said toys when we grow up? This is the question that Barty Barton faces as his owner Thomas grows up and starts a family of his own.  Is Barty to worn out from Thomas’ love as a child for the new and upcoming generation? The answer is no if Mum/grandma has anything to do with it! 

I really enjoyed this short children’s book and thinking about some of my favorite toys growing up.  I really enjoyed the illustrations that are well done. I liked how the illustrations show a toy pillow bus, which references Wickstead’s picture book series about various buses.  Both children and adults will enjoy this picture book for different reasons and will leave a smile on your face. 

There are pictures of the **real toys** that the toys in the book are based off of. We also get to see pictures with Mum (the author herself) her son ane his young child. I always enjoy seeing how Wickstead’s stories seem to come from actual people, toys, buses, and events.

Wickstead’s picture books are recommended!

Purchase Links:
Website (UK)
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Waterstones
Barnes and Noble

About the Author:

Sue Wickstead is a teacher and an author and writes children’s picture books with a bus theme. She has also written a photographic history book about the real bus, which is where her story writing began.

Sue once worked with a playbus charity based in Crawley. This led her to write the photographic history book about the project. The ‘Bewbush Playbus’ book was published in 2012.

Sue then began to write a fictional tale about the bus. ‘Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus’, his number plate JJK261 gave him his name and has now been followed by more picture books (ten to date) which all indeed have a bus connection as well as links to her teaching journey.

Gloria is the most recent bus book and is based on the summer play-schemes which operated during the school holidays providing a safe place to play and to meet other children. (published 2020)

‘Barty Barton; the bear that was loved too much’ was also published in 2020. Barty was written for both her son and grandson.

Some of Sue’s books have been entered and shortlisted in ‘The Wishing Shelf Book Awards’, her book ‘A Spooky Tale’ was a silver medal winner in 2019. It is a story written with her class in school and is aimed at the younger reader.

Contact Sue:
Website
Twitter  @JayJayBus
Instagram @jayjaybusbooks

Facebook: Playbus Page

**UK Only Giveaway**

Win a Lego bear and some teddy bear colouring sheets, plus a few more goodies.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box above.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.