Andy & the Little Rimu Tree product reviews

Andy & the Little Rimu Tree was ideal for a four-year-old. She is able to concentrate for increasing periods of time, and could listen right to the end of the book without her attention straying. This is a milestone in her reading; although she cannot yet read the text, she is getting to the stage where she knows the story well enough to be able to make out some of the written words. The pictures help, of course, but unlike her little brother who sees only the graphics, she is beginning to understand the relationship between graphics and words.

After reading the book with her mother, Miss Four was interested in the whole topic of dreams and making a wish. She has a lively imagination and with each page she was stopping to process the implications of what might happen when you wish for something. She would love to have a little rimu tree like the one in the story so she could try it out! It is wonderful when a story inspires a child to think about what she has heard, and build on it using her own experiences. Miss Four is old enough now to know what dreams are, and to understand how they underpin Andy's story.

The favourite picture was, of course, Andy's designer bed. What an amazing place for a small child to sleep - it would certainly encourage the most exciting dreams. Any child would love to be tucked up at night in a special place like that! Archer has his own bed too, but it is nowhere near as special. We would not be surprised to learn that he would join Andy in the big bed once the lights had been turned out and nobody could see. The second favourite pictures were those of the Tipodes (or Tipideez) coming to help Andy and Archer.

The themes running through the book were highly relevant to her. Kindness as embodied by the Tipodes was important; with their help, Andy and Archer were able to retrieve their stolen rimu. Friendship was another major theme as Andy and Archer worked together. And finally, belief in yourself was a factor in making the magical rimu tree grant its wishes.

Miss Four was also delighted with the illustrations. The inclusion of an activity in the form of line drawn pictures taken from earlier pages was a bonus extra as she could colour them herself, either by consulting the originals, or using her own colour choices. We really liked that idea! And she hoped that, when the little rimu tree got too big for its pot, Andy would plant it outside his bedroom window so he could look out on it and remember his big adventure.