Hurry Up Alfie product reviews

The title 'Hurry Up Alfie' caught my attention as I am constantly telling my 3 year old to hurry up. Was keen to see how Anna Walker was going to capture this in a children's picture book. I loved how the book is hard covered and liked the look of the illustrations that were very simply drawn using a few different colouring techniques.

The story is very simply written and although I found myself giggling through the book as I could relate to the situation I did question as to whether my 3 year old was actually following the story. He seemed to enjoy it and could relate to what Alfie was doing - he had actually re-enacted some of the thing Alfie does in his own morning routine and has told me 'Alfie does that'.

Looking at this book with my teacher eyes on I did find it a book that was difficult to talk about pictures, or what might happen next. I would of liked to at least seen the spoken text put into speech bubbles so that it was obvious to the reader/listener as to what was being spoken. This could then of been used as a teaching book.

Although it is a great book and one just to read for fun (and you do need those types of books) by not having other things to look at, predict or learn then the life span of the book is short lived.

This book has become my toddler's firm favourite. It's a hard cover book, which is great. It makes it sturdy to carry around. The pages are thick and glossy, though she has occasionally hurried through it to my horror as I watch the pages getting yanked about, I am pleased with how it is holding up. That is not a suggestion that you hand it to a 2 year old though!

Alfie is a wee crocodile who is running on toddler or pre-schooler time. He has so much to do, and his mum keeps coming in trying to "help" or hurry him along. It's a book that I think we can all relate to in this house. I relate to it, because it's always me saying "get dressed" or "find your shoes". I understand the mum in this book, and what it is like for a 5 minute job to suddenly take all morning.

For my kids, they know the story from the other side. They aren't in a hurry. They are taking their time, discovering boundaries and understanding their world. My toddler especially wants to do everything herself. This book helped me marvel at her a bit more. I realised that she has great determination and heart. She really wants to do things for herself, and it does take longer because she hasn't got the concentration or the dexterity needed. If anything it reminded me to slow down, which has to be a good thing.

The ending is funny and honestly exactly what you would expect. I loved the wordless page towards the end as well, which showed one battle won by Alfie. That made me giggle a little too. We have all had that battle that seems too hard and we have had to pick something else more important. While this is my toddler's favourite book, her big sister enjoys it too. She says that it makes her think of her sister a lot. It's funny, how distractable toddler's are and she can see that in the book compared to her sister.

There's not a lot to the book either. It's quite a quick read. That's a good thing though. You need a book like that for days when you really need to get them in bed so you can have a break. So I'm all for the books that take a few minutes to belt out.