5 Fun Rhyming Stories: Ultimate Boy's Collection by Lily Lexington

Ages: 2-6
Pages: 87 total


Sssssooo good to meet you!  I am Jake the Sssssnake and I love rhyming books!  They are ssssuper.  I want to tell you today about a collection of sssstories that iss all about the boyss!  5 fun rhyming sssstories with moral lesssons that are perfectly rhythmic and perfectly fun!   I think the illustrations are sssuper-duper, too!  Be sure to look at the bottom of the post for quessstions I want to assk you!

Danny and the Great Beast is about a little boy who dreams of saving a princess in a castle, only to find she doesn't need rescuing she is fine all on her own.  (Adults: I love the feminist undertones!  Girl power!)  

Best Stanza: 
He entered the tower, the grizzly beast roared.
Danny looked round while he reached for his sword. 
He announced, “I am here, as is my duty.   
“To rescue the princess, a true natural beauty.”

Best Words: fantastical, unwillingly, conquer, restrained

My Dinosaur is Scared of Vegetables is about Jack and his dinosaur.  The dinosaur is so scared of veggies that they refuse to eat them.  Jack gets very weak from not eating and realizes that he needs the vitamins from the vegetables to have energy for his activities.  He tries them and finds that the dinosaur is not scared anymore and that veggies are quite tasty! 

It was a little odd that Lexington spelled veggies as "vegies", but apparently that is also an acceptable way to spell it according to the Oxford Dictionary.  Must be the British version.  I had no idea.  

Best Stanza:

He’s frightened of carrots and broccoli and peas, 
Beetroots and squash cause the poor beast to sneeze. 
They will destroy him with one single bite, 
That is the reason he stays out of sight.”

Best Words: beetroots, vitamins, bleary

The Great Dinosaur Race is about two brothers who compete against each other by seeing whose dinosaur is the best in a series of obstacles.  When they fall into a hole, they realize they need to quit bickering and use teamwork to get out.

Best Stanza:

There once were two brothers, who loved to compete,
Losing was sour and victory was sweet. 
The brothers possessed their own dinosaur pet, 
“My dinosaur’s better,” the brothers had bet.

Best Words: bolted, transform, breached

The Six Pirates is about a band of close knit-friends, named in Seven Dwarfs style, who argue over the best island to sail to.  Finally Wise tells them to go to sleep and he takes control and sails to one place.  Then they work together to gather food and loot.  This was the weakest of the stories, but it was also fun.

Best Stanza:

He let loose the anchor. Their ship started moving. 
Wise took the helm and soon they were cruising.

Best Words: ballads, shanties, helm, aft, sharp tongues, persevere

Cowboy Billy and the Smelly Bank Robber has Billy dreaming up a fantastic story about a smelly bank robber after his mom makes him take a bath. One problem I had with this story was that I am not sure what the phrase "His mum followed wielding a broom" means, but it sounds like she hit him, doesn't it?

Best Stanza:

Smelly opened his mouth and flashed Bill a grin, 
He was missing his teeth, at least nine out of ten!   
Billy pondered and puzzled on how to defeat,
The Smelly Bank Robber with smellier feet.

Best Words: haste, frantic, flourish, foul

Ben's Book Briefs:
E/S = Emotional & Social Development 
F = Funny 
LC = Language Concepts
X = X Marks the Spot (Adventure)













Jake the Snake wants to know:

• Which of these 5 ssstories sssounds the most interesting to you?
• Have you ever dreamed of being a knight?
• Do you eat your vegetablesss?
• What do you think of a dinosaur race?
• Have you ever fought with your friendsss?
• How would YOU capture a Ssssmelly Bank Robber?