Book Review-Not Without My Tractor

As the parent of two tractor mad little boys, I think the thought of them not being able to take their tractors with them anywhere is unfathomable.

Not Without My Tractor, written by Finn-Ole Heinrich and Dita Zipfel and illustrated by Halina Kirchner is therefore right up the street of my empathetic children who were outraged that anyone would even think of going anywhere without a tractor.

The book documents a really well thought out argument between a child and a parent about whether or not their beloved tractor can move with them from the country to the city.

Just like in real life, every argument the parent puts forward as to why the tractor cannot come, the child comes back with a reason it can and why they won’t be going if it doesn’t.

Not your average farm picture book, the illustrations are really bold and bright and a little bit abstract. The boys loved pointing out the different animals throughout the book.

They also really liked looking at the different things tractor can do and, if I am not mistaken, were probably making mental notes themselves just incase I ever say their own tractors cannot go with them somewhere.

As a parent reading it to her children and as a parent of a girl and two boys, I particularly liked the fact that it is never mentioned whether the child is male or female and you don’t really see he or she in the book at all.

The repetitive ‘Not Without My Tractor’ is very appealing to young children and, after the second time I read it, they were all saying it with me.

The book was originally written in German and it was noticed by Irish publishers, Little Island Books.

Siobhan Parkinson is the award winning author of over 30 books and translated the book into English.

As the parent of two tractor mad little boys, I think the thought of them not being able to take their tractors with them anywhere is unfathomable.

Not Without My Tractor, written by Finn-Ole Heinrich and Dita Zipfel and illustrated by Halina Kirchner is therefore right up the street of my empathetic children who were outraged that anyone would even think of going anywhere without a tractor.

The book documents a really well thought out argument between a child and a parent about whether or not their beloved tractor can move with them from the country to the city.

Just like in real life, every argument the parent puts forward as to why the tractor cannot come, the child comes back with a reason it can and why they won’t be going if it doesn’t.

Not your average farm picture book, the illustrations are really bold and bright and a little bit abstract. The boys loved pointing out the different animals throughout the book.

They also really liked looking at the different things tractor can do and, if I am not mistaken, were probably making mental notes themselves just incase I ever say their own tractors cannot go with them somewhere.

As a parent reading it to her children and as a parent of a girl and two boys, I particularly liked the fact that it is never mentioned whether the child is male or female and you don’t really see he or she in the book at all.

The repetitive ‘Not Without My Tractor’ is very appealing to young children and, after the second time I read it, they were all saying it with me.

The book was originally written in German and it was noticed by Irish publishers, Little Island Books.

Siobhan Parkinson is the award winning author of over 30 books and translated the book into English.

Not Without my Tractor will costs £7.99. ISBN 978-1-912417-21-6 and is aimed at age 4+ but my tractor mad 2 year old enjoyed it immensely. It is out now.