Dusty the Digger - Nee Naw and Friends product reviews

My children love to read or be read to, especially my youngest. For quite some time now we have been reading and collecting some of Deano Yipadee's books, the Nee Naw stories have become a favourite series, and we have the whole set to date. When I saw that there was a new story about one of Nee Naws friends, I knew that my youngest would love to add it to the collection, and when he saw it sitting on the table his squeal of delight told me I was right!

The cover is vibrant and we see the iconic Nee Naw and his crew, and also, we see an image of an orange digger called Dusty, he has large eyes and what my son said was a shy smile. He was desperate to read it so we sat down on the couch and opened the book, the images are bright and vibrant, very eye-catching, and my son was trying to work out what was happening in the storyline before I started to read. This story is written with a rhyming pattern which I personally find so fun to read, and my son loves the pattern, and to his enjoyment the iconic Nee Naw song was written into the story.

The story focuses on a school picnic day, and during this day some cheeky, sneaky billy goats decide to be mischievous, which results in a hilarious situation including animals and a lot of jelly. Unfortunately for Nee Naw he was unable to achieve success and had to call in Dusty for help, we are introduced to Dusty and he seems to have a catchy song too, which I have been hearing repeatedly since reading the book a few times.

I think I enjoyed the story just as much as my son, the storyline is captivating and provides a sense of hilarity which I love in children's stories. The words are easy to read and this would be a good book for a child that has started reading confidently on their own. We hope that there will be more stories about Dusty the Digger and his adventures to come in the future, as he is now a favourite character. I highly recommend this book for young children, but in saying that my 11 year old sat there reading along with us also.

The children love Deano Yipadee's stories. He has certainly developed a winning formula for entertaining littlies and getting their attention. Mr Four is into anything to do with construction, especially diggers, and was delighted when he first opened the cover to find that the subject matter was all about his favourite activities - and his favourite character Nee Naw (plus friends). Although he cannot yet read the text, he was able to work out most of the story from looking at the pictures showing Nee Naw's adventures.

Miss Five, like her brother, enjoys singing along to the catchy songs that accompany the books, and loves Bruce Potter's bright, colourful artwork. Both children also like the rhymed format as it means they quickly learn to anticipate what is coming next; after a couple of readings, they begin to repeat many of the words with whichever adult is reading to them.

Apart from the wonderful primary colours and stylised - if recognisable - machines and animals, the humour is simple enough for the children to understand while the older family members also find it amusing. Everybody, mum and dad plus both kids, could not stop giggling at the sight of poor old Ploppy the Cow stuck on her back in the jelly. Mr Four did not think he would appreciate eating any of the jelly after Ploppy had had a swim in it. He was probably not far wrong; I don't think I would enjoy it either.

Miss Five, slightly more worldly wise than her brother, observed that Granny's goats, Plinky and Plonky, should have learned a thing or two about causing trouble by now. They were particularly naughty when they helped themselves to Granny's food - it might not have been quite so serious if they had eaten their haul - but they fell into the newly filled pool still holding the stolen jelly powder. As every child knows, you get something quite different when you mix jelly powder with water. The goats were about to get a colourful surprise! The faster they tried to get out, the quicker the jelly set. Poor old Ploppy the cow, meanwhile, did not know what had happened as she struggled to turn the right way up.

Clearly there was a rescue mission needed but Nee Naw was not big enough to help. Thank goodness his friend Dusty the Digger was on hand to save the day and rescue the three naughty gatecrashers from the wobbly mess. Mr Four and Miss Five thought poor old Nee Naw might have to empty the pool he had just filled, and replace it with nice clean water!