Moto Mike the Motorbike product reviews

Mr Four is one of Nee Naw's greatest fans; he loves nothing more than to read about his adventures with his many friends. Since the books in the series all use the same format, they immediately offer a familiarity so encouraging for young readers. Children are certain in advance that they are going to enjoy the story - the characters and situations are those they already recognise. Each new character, Moto Mike in this instance, is accepted against a backdrop of confirmed favourites.

A few days before getting his new book, Mr Four saw a real police motorbike. A speeding motorist had been pulled over, and much to Mr Four's delight was being spoken to by the police officer. This was something that resonated with him when he realised his new Nee Naw book starred a motorbike just like the one he had seen in real life. This was incredibly exciting; he could not stop talking about it.

The Nee Naw chorus ("I'm a little fire engine/I'm happy I'm me") near the start of the story was joined by a contribution from Moto Mike {"On just two wheels I can twist and swerve/with bright lights and sirens I protect and serve"}. The predictable rhyme scheme meant that. after one reading, Mr Four was able to chime in with some of the words, much to his delight. After several readings, he downloaded the accompanying song: this meant he could "read" the book on his own, independent of anyone else. Watching and listening this way meant that he was able to make out many of the words without assistance, a real boost for his developing reading skills. The vocabulary is targeted towards young children just starting to read on their own, and of course the detailed illustrations help to fill in the gaps.

The story shows how friends can work together, using their own strengths to come to someone else's assistance. It all ends happily, of course, with Tom and his tractor (and the giant pumpkin!) being rescued. Mr Four admired the way Moto Mike launched himself to come to Tom's aid, and thought it was hilarious that he was dangling by the seat of his pants. He was also relieved that Granny had her needle and thread ready to repair the rip in his trousers as it would not have been very nice for him to have his bare bottom on display!

Miss Five enjoyed the book too. She was quite taken by the idea of a giant pumpkin, and wondered if it might be possible to grow one too. If she does, she will have to take a photo and send it to the author and illustrator, Deano Yipadee and Bruce Potter!

My youngest son has been a fan of Deano Yipadee's books ever since we picked up our first one which was quite some time ago. We quickly became fans of his popular characters such as Stink-O-Saurus and of course the classic Nee Naw! When I saw that there was a new addition to the Nee Naw friends, I knew instantly that we needed to get our hands on the book to see what adventures would unfold with this new character Moto Mike the Motorbike!

As with all of Mr. Yipadee's children's books the front page is full of vibrant colours and eye-catching friendly looking characters, Nee Naw is off course featured alongside Moto Mike on the cover. When my son looked at the cover initially, he immediately exclaimed that Moto Mike looked a bit like he was a police motorbike and he got excited about that idea and wanted to read the story right away to see if his assumption was indeed correct. The illustrator Bruce Potter has done a wonderful job throughout the story with the bright and detailed pictures that complement each page of the story, my son liked how it looked like all the characters were happy because they were constantly smiling in each picture.

The story starts off that the town is having a parade, so there are lots of happy people enjoying themselves, when suddenly there is a bit of drama when the bridge caused some drama to one of the farmers, and he was caught in a predicament hanging from his britches. Unfortunately, the farmer was at the start of the parade and Nee Naw was stuck behind the large queue of people in the parade, so of course he decided to enlist the help of one of his friends - cue Moto Mike the motorbike - luckily Mike was small enough to be able to make his way quickly to save the day with the help of Nee Naw and his long hose! My son was happy to see that he was indeed correct that Mike is a police motorbike, and he thought that Nee Naw and Mike make a fantastic team!

Overall, this is another story in the Nee Naw series that has become a favourite in our household, however when my son decides he is ready to, we will donate it to our small local rural school to add to their library for more children to enjoy for years to come.