After much too long of a hiatus, I’m back with a new episode of Mama’s Storytime! I hope you enjoy it!

No time for the video or not in a place where you can turn the sound on? Here’s the written version of my review for Cleo Can Tie a Bow by Sybrina Durant:

about-the-book-2

Cleo loves bows. She wears her hair in a bow and decorates her room with bows. Cleo is bow crazy. Learning to tie a bow is very difficult for some people but Cleo remembers how to do it from a cute story she once heard. It is about a little rabbit with very long ears and a very helpful fox who shows her what to do to keep them clean. This is the story of how Cleo learns to tie a “bunny ear” bow. Exercises in manual dexterity build self-esteem in children. Knowing how to tie shoe-strings, scarves and more into a bow is a useful and rewarding skill. “Teach a child a useful skill. Build confidence and self-esteem that lasts a lifetime.” Other books in the “Learn To Tie With The Rabbit and the Fox” series are the book with that name in English, Spanish and Tagalog plus “Nellie Knows How To Knot A Neck Scarf” and “Ned Knows How To Knot A Neck Tie.”

Amazon

My Thoughts

Cleo Can Tie a Bow is a fun, new attempt to combine a sweet children’s story with the life skills lesson of learning to tie a bow. Although the artwork and context of a young girl of loves bows may appeal more to girls, my ten-year-old son also found the story interesting and helpful. In the video you can see his first impressions and concluding thoughts regarding the story and its helpfulness in learning to tie bows (something he still struggles with). As a parent, I won’t claim the story is super fun to read. This isn’t one of those books you’re going to be excited to pick up again and again. However, it’s practical application is a much-appreciated tool I plan to utilize in helping my struggling child to finally master this skill. That the artwork is well done and the story is cute will help to make this process less painful. One of the things my son struggles with is perseverance. The story element of this book turns what would be a boring practice session into a fun story time with mom. The value of that cannot be overstated. If you’ve ever battled a willfull child over learning something they didn’t want to deal with, you understand what I mean. Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with a child ready to or struggling with learning to tie bows. I asked my son to help me review this book and shared the video on my website.

Here is the tail end of our conversation about Cleo Can Tie a Bow:

Me: “What would you say to parents thinking about buying this book?”

My son: “It’s good for a starter book and it’s also good to buy it if their kids are having really trouble tying and it’s also really good for, like, basics.”

Me: “So it’s a good introduction to tying bows?”

My son: “Yes.” Me: “And what do you think of the artwork?”

My son: “I think it’s really good.”

Me: “And do you like the story?”

My son: “Yes.” (with a smile & no hesitation)

Me: “So you think parents should buy this for their kids?”

My son: “Yes.” (very confident tone)

Amazon

Disclosure of Material: I received a complimentary copy of Cleo Can Tie a Bow from JustReads for the purposes of review, but was not required to post a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are 100% my own and 100% sincere.  View My Promise To Readers HERE.

Do you have a favorite children’s book? Do you enjoy children’s books that contain practical instruction? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

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