Better than a goldfish

New babies can, but some can better than others. When Daughter was born she arrived bearing a gift. Her brother was delighted with his new road mat, which was just what he wanted. Whereas, in this New Royal Baby book by Martha Mumford, with more of those cute illustrations by Ada Grey, it seems the New Royal Baby gives Royal Baby George a goldfish.

OK, so he did want a goldfish, but it doesn’t take long for him to discover how boring they can be, swimming around the same way over and over again.

In Hooray! It’s a New Royal Baby! we witness Royal Baby George’s doubts over this brotherhood business. It’s quite possible that the New Royal Baby will dribble all over his favourite toy dinosaur. Better with no New Royal Baby at all.

But once the boring goldfish has been ignored again, Royal Baby George discovers that the New Royal Baby is actually a lot of fun.

Even for non-royal children this book might help with the transition of having someone new join the family.

A big welcome to the New Princess! (Although I do think a road mat would have been better.)

Happy Birthday, Royal Baby!

If they hadn’t obligingly brought out this royal baby birthday picture book just in time for the royal witch’s important day, I might have sighed a little. You know, like it’s not Prince George’s birthday until July, and will they publish a new book every year? And so on.

But just as I rather enjoyed  Martha Mumford’s celebration of little George’s birth last summer, this is fun. The Palace is in upheaval, just to make this a marvellous experience for the little Prince.

His Auntie has a lot of party ideas, and the rest of the family pitch in. You can just see how the poor boy will be overwhelmed by all this fantastic-ness.

Great Grandma has the solution, however, when all else has failed. Naturally.

Those Olympics people have a lot to answer for. That woman will be parachuting out of flying contraptions for years, if no one sees fit to let her rest.

Prince George is no different – well, not much – from other one-year-olds, really.

Sweet royal illustrations by Ada Grey. She has caught everyone just so.

Oh baby!

At last! We have a royal baby. We also have loads of baby picture books for some reason.

Before there can be a baby, you need romance. (Sort of. Usually.) A Royal Fairytale, Kate & William by Joanna Rivard and Adam Larkum deals very nicely with the royal romance.

Told in traditional fairytale style there is a prince and a beautiful girl, and they are all lonely before they go to university (now, that’s not such a common ingredient) and meet and fall in love. There is a wedding. Finally the stork calls

and they live happily ever after.

(I’m OK with the stork. I’m fine with the corgi. But the sheep? Have I missed something?)

Once you have your baby, you need for it to sleep. There are helicopters to fly and countries to rule. Everybody needs some rest.

But the baby in Martha Mumford’s and Ada Grey’s Shhh! Don’t Wake the Royal Baby! just will not sleep. They all take turns, doing what parents have always tried. Trips in the helicopter. Golden dummies. Plane trips with the Queen, who then does her famous parachute jump (with the baby; not to escape its crying).

You can tell which royal family the author had in mind. Except, we appear to have gained a King somewhere. Picture books need kings. This one sings.

Pippa and Harry are a bit too noisy, and so are the corgis. But eventually all sleep. Even the baby, who at all times is dressed in a genderless babygrow.

These stories will definitely appeal to all but the most dyed-in-the-wool anti-royals.