Books Review and Giveaway + Year-end Pop-Up Author Special featuring Emily Lim

It can be very tricky trying to handle three kids during bedtime reading, especially when one reads fast and likes lengthy books, another is learning to read and does it slowly, and a third who never fails to disrupt our session in one way or another.

That said, it has been years since we started this habit and we still do it as best as we can every night. Yes, every single night. I'm just thankful to see that our efforts have paid off and the kids have developed a love for reading and a thirst for knowledge.

One of our favourite local authors is Emily Lim and you can read our reviews of the renowned Toy series here and the Tibby series here and here. Up till now, they remain as two of our most-loved series - the kids still take the books to read and have also brought them for Show & Tell in school so they can share these inspiring tales with their friends. What I love most about the books are the underlying values and morals, like how they encourage you to stay true to yourself, remind you that it is okay to be different, and make you realise that you have to first accept yourself before others can accept you.

In today's post, I will be sharing with you on two of Emily's latest books, which are namely Tibby and Scaredy Snout and Benji, Yumi, Origami!. With the festive season approaching, I would also like to encourage you to consider giving away books to the little ones instead of toys or apparel. Books are one of the best ways to learn about our world, our surroundings and ourselves - and motivate us to strive to become better, stronger and wiser people. For all A Happy Mum readers, you can now get to enjoy special discounted prices for many of Emily's award-winning titles and her recent releases too. I also have a giveaway at the end of the post, so read on to find out more!

Tibby and Scaredy Snout

Tibby the tiger-bunny has come a long way from being a shy, insecure bunny who likes to roar and squeak to a courageous, confident bunny who can now motivate his friends and even guide them in overcoming their fears.

In this third book of the Tibby series, meet Scaredy Snout - a young boar who is scared of everything. Yes, literally everything. He is afraid of scary creatures that come out at night, of getting roasted by the afternoon sun, of monsters hiding in dark places, of giant worms beneath the ground and of monsters in the lake.

As a result, Scaredy Snout does not do what boars naturally do and not surprisingly, he has no friends. When Tibby meets Scaredy Snout, he encourages his new friend to come out of his shell and shows him how fun and joyful it can be to have a picnic in a cave, to dig for sweet potatoes, to splash around in the lake and to have a game of tug-of-weed.

At every step of the way, Tibby would be there to encourage his friend, to dispel his fears and to cheer and support him to keep trying. Eventually, Scaredy Snout plucks up the courage to come face to face with the monster he is so fearful of - which all along existed only in his imagination. In the end, he realises all the good things he has been missing out on, gets rid of his fears and even manages to make new boar friends too.

The story is a simple one with a powerful message that teaches the little ones to have the courage to face their fears and overcome challenges in their lives. This comes at a perfect time for us because I've been telling the girls recently that they need to care less on what others think of them, to conquer their fears and to be able to stay true to themselves.



Likewise with the previous two books, we totally love the vibrant illustrations by Jade Fang which help to bring the characters to life and give the book so much more colour. I also love the new character Scaredy Snout because I feel that his personality and circumstances can resonate with many of us - not to mention that he has such an adorable name too!

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Benji, Yumi, Origami!

Did you know that I took up Japanese classes for nearly a year when I was abroad? Yup, not that I can remember half of what I've learnt but the fact remains that I am still very much in love with the language which is music to my ears. So, I was very thrilled to receive a copy of this book which, though written in English by Emily, has a Japanese translation! Yup, time to practise reading those hiragana and katakana! Moreover, I loved doing origami - the art of paper folding - as a kid so with the story revolving around it, this book spoke to me on many levels.



The story tells of Benji, who receives a present from his new neighbour Yumi, and it turns out to be origami paper and instructions on how to fold them into animal shapes. He starts making frogs, bugs, squirrels, lobsters and dinosaurs but alas they all turn out to be crooked, lopsided, crushed, mangled or out of shape. This causes him much agony and makes him give up on trying.

When Yumi shows up at the door, Benji brings her to the playroom where she picks up the origami animals one by one. Instead of mocking his lack of skills or teasing him about the weird looking animals, Yumi shows her kindness and gives creative, tactful responses such as "This frog (with the twisted mouth) looks like it is humming quietly" and  "This (crumpled) frog is staring at his reflection in the water ripples". Before long, they start to play a game and come up with scenarios for each of the animals - for instance putting the squashed bug under a toy cowboy's boot and drawing a web for the mangled bug.



After that, Yumi suggests folding more animals and when Benji doesn't seem so confident about it, she offers her help. They end up having such a fun time folding origami the whole afternoon. Benji is so grateful and delighted that he adds a last scene with two cut-outs of pirate children and fills a treasure chest with all their origami animals - to present as a gift for his new friend and neighbour.


Awww, I love the sweet ending and the illustrations by Kazumi Wilds on the final two pages are out of this world too. These cute origami pictures bring back so many fond memories for me and I can just recall those childhood days when we were free of electronic devices and treasured the times we got to play with things that we could literally feel, stack, fold, play, throw and build.


The big girl loves this book and while it gives her a glimpse into Japanese culture and why it is the most polite nation, I am more in love with the fact that it reminds her on how friendship is a two-way street and not a one-way road, how we can learn to see things from different perspectives, and how important it is to persevere and not give up when we run into obstacles.

So, we will definitely keep our bedtime reading sessions coming no matter how long it takes or how little time we have, and I truly hope that the kids' love for reading will be here to stay.

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Year-end Pop-Up Author Special at A Happy Mum

If there's one thing we can never get enough of, yes, it's BOOKS! (Okay, that and love, and family time, and hugs, and cuddles). If any of you feel the same too, good news, all readers of A Happy Mum can now buy autographed copies of Emily Lim’s award-winning titles and enjoy free delivery during this promotional period from now till 31 October 2017. These books will make an awesome Christmas present for the little ones, so why not get them something to read this festive season?

Below is the price list for the books. All readers can enjoy a 30% discount for the books that we have reviewed in this post.

Prince Bear & Pauper Bear - $12
The Tale of Rusty Horse - $12
Just Teddy - $12
Bunny Finds The Right Stuff - $12

Set of all 4 Toy titles (English) - $36 (4 for the price of 3)
Set of 3 Toy titles (Chinese)* minus Prince Bear & Pauper Bear (Chinese) which is out of stock - $24 (3 for the price of 2)

Tibby the Tiger Bunny - $15
Tibby & Duckie - $15
Tibby & Scaredy Snout - $10 (30% off usual price)

Set of 3 Tibby titles - $34 (25% off for 3 titles)

Benji, Yumi, Origami! (hard cover) - $10 (30% off usual price)

Finding My Voice - $14 (30% off usual price)

To order your books, fill up the form here and drop me an email at summer@ahappymum.com.

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Giveaway on A Happy Mum

For those who would like to lay their hands on the two books we've reviewed above, here's your chance to win one of the two sets that we're giving away!

To participate, leave a comment in this blog post with your name and email address, and tell me which is your favourite book by Emily Lim and why. Indicate that you have done so and to increase your chances of winning, you can choose to carry out the rest of the options. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure: We received a copy of each book in return for writing this review. The year-end pop up special is a collaboration between A Happy Mum and Emily Lim and we will receive a small commission from the orders. All opinions are our own.