The You’re Series by Shelly Unwin and Katherine Battersby
Oh, those first five years of a child’s life, how they sweep by, each day a miracle, each birthday a momentous, memorable milestone. Throughout each new year of baby’s life, so many small but wondrous discoveries take place. Many of them are divinely captured in Unwin’s debut picture book collection, The You’re Series.
Five buttery looking and feeling board books describe in gorgeous rhyming verse all the wonder, curiosity and excitement experienced by youngsters (and their besotted parents) throughout their early childhood years. Each tummy tickle, new step, fresh experience (like puddle splashing!), bike ride, new friendship and so on paint a happy picture from which to draw on your own ‘first time’ memories.
Far more than just number inspired, counting books (although the gentle nod to numeracy skills is fabulous), You’re books are true keepsakes. One and Two are genuine board books; thick sturdy pages will defeat the most dedicated page rippers. By Three, solid board gives way to robust paper pages, which along with the more refined text, acknowledges the developing child and their increased ability to comprehend and appreciate the importance of their age. By age Five, the concepts are more sophisticated and pre-school pre-emptive; we are introduced to the five vowels and five days of the school week for instance.
Battersby’s illustrations, an addictive combination of drawings and collage, are superbly character driven and oozing with cute appeal. I love the whole package, all five of them! The You’re Series was released as a complete five book collection so would make the perfect gift pack for expectant parents or indeed singularly at any point of pre-school age celebration. And the best bit? Each gorgeous compilation ends with a tender reminder to enjoy the age that you are now, ‘take it nice and slow’ as we’ll never be that age again.
Allen & Unwin May 2017
shelly unwin 