Dim's Write Stuff

If you’ve got a truck, car, vehicle mad toddler in the house, find yourself a copy of these two brilliant picture books, stat. I love the sheer vibrancy and verve of Wheels and Tractors – two separate standalone titles that fulfill every wheeling, tractor obsession you could want. Wheels is my personal favourite but the other titles by these best-selling creators in the Roadworks series are equally compelling. Two kids are witness to a never-ending parade of wheels. Rumbly, grumbly wheels, yucky mucky wheels, tiny shiny wheels . We are told wheels go fast and wheels go slow , but the trick is guessing exactly which vehicle belongs to each spread of wonderful wheely verse. And wonderful it is. Perfect rhythmic, onomatopoeic descriptions draw youngsters in and set them up for the fun reveals. Visual clues provided by Lovelock’s energetic pigmented inked illustrations further enhances this excellent guess-what-it-is experience. Tractor is equally attractive in sound and visual a...

They've been around for a while, jigsaw puzzles that is, since the 17th Century in fact. I reckon there is nothing more frustrating and fun, challenging and rewarding nor consuming and relaxing as completing a humble puzzle. It's oddly addictive; you can't just fit one piece and walk away to feed the cat. I don't have a cat but if I did, it would be starving by now because like thousands of others around the world at the moment, we are 'puzzle people'. There's something intensely therapeutic about persisting with such a simple yet complex situation. It's an outcome we should be able to control (unless your cat eats a piece) and that gives one a sense of tenacious purpose; to finish it, for me at least. For others it might be the absolute joy of recreating something so utterly pretty and spectacular. Perhaps that's why so many confined to their homes right now are dragging out old favourites and spending more money than they would on an oversea...