Beautifully Brilliant Books are a collection by Nicholas Rumble, who has long dreamed of writing and publishing books. The collection currently consists of 7 books, which are written by Rumble. Some are illustrated with Rumble’s own photography and others with the illustrations of others.
I’m liking
For me, the highlight of these books is Rumble’s lovely nature photography. For example, Kim the Greedy Kingfisher contains a great selection of images of native New Zealand birds and landscapes and my children very much enjoyed looking at these. Similarly, Sam’s First Swim contains some great images of seals at Kaikoura. I also enjoyed Mandy Hodge’s images in Mr Penguin and the Rainbow Stones and there was a nice fairy tale quality to this story.
Things that made me go hmmmm
If I’m honest, I found that sometimes the moral was a bit heavy-handed in these books. The good guys won and the bad guys were punished. It’s not that I object to this, it’s just that it wasn’t particularly subtle.
The conclusion
Self-publishing is a challenging business and Rumble should be commended for giving it a go. There are some lovely images in these books and their very pretty to look at. The pictures are great for young children and my 5 year old enjoyed reading them out loud to her sisters. You can buy the books from the Beautifully Brilliant Books website.
