Oh no, the toys are sick!
Doctor Zaza is ready to help her toy friends.

Title: Calling Dr. Zaza (Calling Doctor Zaza)
Author: Mylo Freeman
Illustrator: Mylo Freeman
ISBN: 9781605373751          Language: English

Title: Zaza speelt doktertje          ISBN: 9789044812602           Language: Dutch

Classification: Fiction
Themes: doctor, pretend play

What’s it about?
Zaza’s toys are feeling well so she dresses up to play doctor. She grabs her tools and sets out to doctor each of her toys – of course they all end up wanting a bandage!

Embrace
The story is simple and easy for children to relate to. Bright and colourful illustrations draw in children – and there is lots to look at and talk about in the pictures to add to the text.

Beware
Nothing

My Thoughts
This is the second Zaza book I have read – the first being Celebrate with Zaza. What I like about Mylo’s books is the text simplicity for younger children. It gets to the point and allows children to engage in the story as much with the text as it does with the illustrations. Mylo has managed to capture what children do really well and I love that this particular book encourages pretend play – for instance at the end when one toy needs a bandage…so they all will want a bandage! This is typical kid behaviour for the target age and as an adult it gave me a giggle as well.

If my children were a little younger I would be using Calling Dr. Zaza to introduce the concept of pretend play to them. Have a doctor  play set ready so once you’ve finished the book they can get their own toys and pretend to be doctors to – thus helping them make connections with the book and themselves. Pretend play is a great way to encourage speech and vocabulary development. I’ll see about making a handy little set and post it in the teaching ideas post!

Special thanks to Clavis Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book.

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