I love the Miffy books. I have fond memories of library trips when I was little, hunting in the wooden boxes for the little square books with the gorgeous yet simple illustrations. I'm not the only one, the Miffy books were first published in the UK in 1963 and hold a special place in the heart of many people in this country. Now the English translations of the classic Dutch Miffy tales have been updated to appeal to a modern British audience, and we were sent a selection of the new Miffy books to look at.
The new translations are by award-winning UK poet Tony Mitton. They are designed to remain true to the books' original voice, and yet use contemporary language that will appeal to the modern young audience. The first mini hardback to be published is Miffy at the Zoo
Along with the new translations, there is also a brand new range of paperback story books, colouring, sticker and activity books. Miffy's Play Date is all about a scenario very familiar to all young children, having a friend over to play. Miffy and Grunty play and craft happily together, enjoy a snack, and tidy up together before Grunty has to go home. At the back of the book is a double page spread of stickers, three of which can be added by the child to each page of the story. It's a very sweet story, and even when the stickers have been stuck it can still be enjoyed over and over again.
We also received a copy of Miffy's Day Sticker Activity Book. This book contains over 50 Miffy stickers which can be used to solve a series of simple puzzles or just to add to a background scene. The puzzles are mostly very simple, with shape matching, counting and early number skills. Mia is 2 1/2 and was able to complete most of the puzzles with a little help which was great. I have found that some activity books are aimed at children a little older, while this book is geared perfectly to the Miffy audience.
If you loved Miffy, your children love Miffy, or you want to share the Miffy stories with your children, then you can't go wrong with these books!
We received these three books to review, Amazon links are affiliate.