Oh Dear, Look What I Got!

About this book

A child goes to the shops to get a carrot, but things don’t really go to plan when they get a parrot instead. 

Next, it’s a trip out for a hat, but the shopkeeper hands the child a cat wrapped in brown paper. A request for a coat goes badly awry when a goat is offered instead, and a shopkeeper proudly presents the child with a bear when asked for a chair. What is going on? 

Yet, later in the day, there’s a knock at the door and a line of all the shopkeepers carrying the items that were asked for. Fantastic! 

This new story from national treasures Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, the author and illustrator team behind the much loved We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, is full of warmth and joy. 

Oxenbury’s pencil and watercolour illustrations are deeply nostalgic, giving the book a comforting feel, even though this is a new book complete with a beautifully diverse range of characters. There’s so much brilliant detail to be found in her illustration that adults and children alike will love coming back to the book again and again to look at the cakes in the bakery and chuckle at the expressions of the animals. 

Rosen’s Dr Seuss-like text, with its bouncy rhyme and repeating call-and-response chorus, is perfect to read aloud; as ever, Michael Rosen is a master of the picture book, able to set up a story immediately and engage the reader with a simple but brilliant idea. 

Oh Dear, Look What I Got! is funny and sweet, with a simple message about making the best of things when they don’t quite go your way, and everything coming good in the end. Utterly delightful. 

About the author