'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Saturday 17 November 2018

Review: Tiggy and the Magic Paintbrush: A Birthday Party Trick (Book #3) and A Musical Show (Book #4)

Tiggy is a cool and creative little girl. She has a huge imagination, she’s curious and she’s friendly.

But like all kids, sometimes Tiggy feels nervous. Sometimes she worries about things.

Luckily, Tiggy has a super special sidekick! She owns a very magical paintbrush that allows her to paint things to life. 

If she needs a hat, she can paint one into existence. If she needs a parrot, it’s a paint stroke away.

A Birthday Party Trick and A Musical Show are books three and four in this great junior fiction series.

In A Birthday Party Trick, Tiggy is having a birthday party, but the magician who was coming to perform gets sick, and Tiggy worries that no one will have fun without the performance. 

She jumps into action and paints herself a new magician, but his magician skills aren’t what she expected.

In A Musical Show, Tiggy is getting ready to perform a fruit salad performance with her classmates. 

When nerves get the better of her, she paints replacement singers to take her place, but teaching them the fruit salad song proves to be tricky. 

Tiggy and the Magic Paintbrush is an amazing and magical series for junior readers. 

The text is simple to read and the plots are engaging, exciting and very relatable to kids. 

Author Zanni Louise has struck the perfect balance of real and relatable and super fantastical.

At the end of each story, Tiggy always solves the problem she faces in her adventure, and it always revolves around themes of believing in yourself, learning to trust yourself and worrying less. 

I love these messages for kids. The books show children that it’s okay to feel big emotions, and it’s okay to be nervous and afraid, but the answer to our problems can sometimes be found inside ourselves, if we are only willing to believe in what we are capable of achieving. 

The books are packed with illustrations by the talented Gillian Flint. The pictures beautifully break up the text on every page, and on some pages, there are more illustrations than words — great for readers just starting out. The books also have a lovely colourful surprise: every time Tiggy uses her magic paintbrush, what she paints appears in vibrant colours! 

All these things combined make this a great series for young independent readers, but it's also a great series for parents and carers to read to young ones who are ready for something a little longer than picture books. 

Each book stands alone, so you don't need to have read books one and two, but if you love these ones, you will also adore the others. You can check out a junior review of Tiggy and the Magic Paintbrush A School Day Smile (Book #1) over here. And for more stories by Zanni Louise, check out Archie and the Bear

Title: Tiggy and the Magic Paintbrush A Birthday Party Trick (Book #3) and A Musical Show (Book #4)
Author: Zanni Louise
Illustrator: Gillian Flint
Publisher: Hardie Grant, $12.99
Publication Date: 1 November 2018
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760685683 (Book #3)/9781760685690 (Book #4)
For ages: 5 - 8 
Type: Junior Fiction