Eddie Meer & Barter in the Bush!

Introducing a new illustrated novel written for children, ‘Eddie Meer and Barter in the Bush’ is a wonderfully unique book from independent publishers Barker & Barker Kids.
The first in a series of stories featuring Eddie Meer and his gang follows the meerkats’ scrapes and adventures in the Botswana Bush. From umbrella hats and dictionaries to toothpicks and swimming goggles, the trio of meerkats work hard trying to sell their swag to lions, giraffes, hyenas and hippos, often with hilarious results!

I was really delighted when Barker & Barker offered to let me read their new book – I have always loved reading and want to pass on that love to Alyssa too… though her current idea of a good book is one she can chew on!

When the book arrived, I was immediately taken in by the illustrations as I had a quick flick through. The characters had such detail but also had a childlike quality to them as everything is purposefully not coloured within the lines, or patchy in places which I think is a nice touch and actually helps to “humanise” the characters.

When flicking through at the images, I could instantly tell that this book was not for someone of Alyssa’s age. There was quite a lot of words/story and some of the words were quite big. Never fear though because my 9 year old nephew Rowan, who is a bit of a book fiend was happy to step in and try the book for me instead – which meant he could read it himself.

Rowan had no problem reading this book and told me he thought it was funny and a little bit random. I have to agree… three Meerkats that think they are Del Boy and Rodney is definitely quite random. There are also sudden snippets of information… one of the MeerKats speaks with a Welsh accent despite having no connection to Wales whatsoever,,,, okay!

 Rowan had a slight blushing moment when Eliza the lioness asked the King for a kiss and then we had… “But do Lions kiss?!” Which was quite an amusing five minutes. Overall, he thoroughly enjoyed the story and said he would definitely read another book in the series to find out what those Meerkats got up to next. He probably took about 10 minutes to read the book but as I said he is a very good and very fast reader.

As I said, I read the book as well and I have to say I was impressed that Rowan understood all the language used as there were some big words and some lesser known phrases and idioms but he didn’t seem to have a problem and obviously neither did I. It was really funny to see what the Meerkats would do with the random items they collected and what they would be able to get for them. I would definitely recommend this book for kids to read from about 8/9 years upwards but think this would be enjoyed by children a bit older too.

 To go along with the release of their new book, Barker and Barker have released some home furnishings with the wonderful images from the book on them. It’s definitely worth heading over there and taking a look by clicking here where you can also buy your own copy of the book! Don’t know about you… but I see a new nursery coming on!

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