This is a bit of a mixture as its not like any review and not like any post I usually do. I couldn’t avoid posting this though because it goes back to my childhood, make sure you read to the end to find out why and see some of my old photographs from 1996.

First let me mention that I have reviewed Sue Wickstead’s previous books on Amazon and GoodReads and not on here as a blog. Sue’s books are for younger children and are very bright and colourful. I had a personal reason for first coming across them and thats simply because of her first books about Jay-Jay The Supersonic Bus; for those of you who don’t know my nickname from school years was JJ because my maiden name was Jarratt. Thats where I started my journey when Sue and I crossed paths virtually.

You can read my reviews of her previous work by clicking on the titles below. 

Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus

Jay-Jay and his Island Adventures

Jay-Jay and the carnival

A spooky Tale

Sue’s new book is about Daisy Daydream The Nursery Rhyme Bus and what a delight to read, hold on a moment let me tell you more here:

Blurb

A children’s picture book with a message about a Playbus. Daisy was a happy red bus who loved travelling the busy streets of London. When newer and shinier buses came along, the older buses like Daisy began to disappear. would Daisy become one of the forgotten buses, or was something else planned for her? A story based on a, once real, Playbus. The Playbus was a much-loved haven for children to come along and play. This is the fourth book about the Playbus and begins with a red London, double-decker bus which is being updated by newer shinier buses. A picture book for children aged 5 – 8 With a theme of recycling the story has a message that not everything old should be thrown away. Any child who enjoys stories about transport will love this and of course will want to find a Playbus to play on.

My Review

I was incredibly excited to read Daisy Daydream as I have read the previous books by Sue and relating to Jay-Jay The Supersonic Bus. My children have enjoyed reading her books with me and this time was no difference, in fact it was even more special as we had the lovely DIY bus’ to colour and build together. 

Daisy Daydream was bright and colourful with a different story, the book is easy to read for my two children (ages 8 and 6) and the story is easy to follow. There are some similarities to Jay-Jay but it was a delight to see how it was a part of the birth of Play Days. In fact I was taken down memory lane to see the photo’s and discover how it was the model for the popular 80’s/90’s children’s television programme. As a parent reading the book with my children it became a little sentimental to me, I told them all about what I knew and why I was getting excited about this discovery. I then had to tell my husband all about it and he had a read, the perfect book for a parent and child when there is a value placed to the book and this is what Sue has done with Daisy Daydream.

5 stars given from me. Sue is becoming a household author to our family.

Here are the little DIY bus’, the bus on the left is printed in colour and the one on the right is so you can colour them in yourself. My eldest daughter (Sophie -8) spent a long time replicating the colours on hers as she wanted it to be identical, she was proud of her work when completed. I think this brings Sue’s stories to life.

Let me take you down memory lane…

One of the reasons I was excited to discover that Daisy Daydream was connected with Play Days was that in 1996 I met some of the cast of Play Days and I believe I was a part of an episode. My family were in London when we came across them and I would have been 8 years old. I have managed to recover some of the photographs of the occasion here, enjoy…

Here I am on the left.

Here’s my autograph from Why Bird herself.

Thank you Sue for taking me for a trip down memory lane. I really enjoyed reading Daisy Daydream and discovering the link.

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