One of my favourite places to discover new and unusual kids books is in museum shops especially here in the UK and in the US. You can find real gems that you wouldn’t easily come across elsewhere. Last week we visited Tate Modern and after admiring the art I made a beeline for the shop. I barely glanced at the adult collections, knowing that I was here to check out the kids books which didn’t disappoint. There were loads of fabulous books some of which I had already come across but many others that I was delighted to discover. I could have bought about 20 books but I had to hold back. There was one though that I couldn’t resist and that was Captain Coconut & the case of the missing bananas.
Captain Coconut and the Case of the Missing Bananas is such a fun kids book – full of laugh out loud humour that kids (and adults) will love. Captain Coconut is a detective who is called in to solve the mind-boggling case of the missing bananas. But Captain Coconut is no ordinary dectective – he has a brain as fast as lightening or so he thinks. Mrs Y is distraught as she bought 14 bananas and 4 of these were eaten by her and her family. The next morning, instead of finding 10 bananas, there were only 6! Where have those 4 missing bananas gone? So Captain Coconut arrives and goes about solving the mystery with lots of silliness, fun and entertainment for the reader. Beyond the fun there are also some simple maths puzzles (about the disappearing bananas) that kids will enjoy solving with Captain Coconut. The graphic illustrations are so artistic and colourful using collage style art and there are lots of them so there’s plenty to look at on each page too.
Anya adored this book and after we had read it together, she went off to read it by herself. Every so often I would hear her laughing out loud. It’s a book that is ideal to read to younger kids and but also great for slightly older kids to read by themselves – like around 6-7 years. Captain Coconut and the Case of the Missing Bananas is the first book in this series but there are more cases coming soon – I can’t wait. This book is such a joy so if you are looking for something fun and a little bit different, then do check it out.
I need this book!!! It looks rather eccentric, which is right up my street!
It is eccentric and with lots of laughs and lots of fun. Also great little maths puzzles too. I love this book – could be the best book I bought this year.
I want this immediately, love the Tate too, must take the boys when we are next in London, art galleries always have the most wonderfully thoughtful curation of kids’ books, unique stories you struggle to find elsewhere, I know my boys will love to search for the missing bananas-Xander’s favourite fruits are coconut and bananas too, thank you for this darling post (Anya looks beautiful as always) and the suggestion x
Thank you too – so glad you like the sound of it. I adore this book and so happy I found it. Maybe we can plan a trip together to the museum with the kids. Love taking A to museums. x
I love the sound of this book, thanks! I am sure you know them already but we love the Flying Eye books, untamed animals is great for my 5 and 3 year old. We always have random conversations after reading them, which I love.
It’s such a fun book and a bit unusual too with some maths also thrown in. Yes, I know Flying Eye books – they are fab. Don’t have the untamed animals one though – shall take a look at that.