As a child I can remember loving rub down transfer books, but I haven’t seen one for a long time. It’s certainly not something that my 7-year-old has ever seen before. When Usborne Publishing contacted me about the recently published The Wild Garden, it brought back so many memories from my childhood. I couldn’t wait to see the book for myself and introduce Monkey to the concept of rub down transfer books.
The Wild Garden is the sort of book that you can enjoy completing alone or as a shared family activity (recommended for children aged 5 years and over). It would make a lovely birthday or Mother’s Day present too in my opinion. We all need to take some time out of our busy lives at some point and it’s been wonderful to immerse ourselves in this activity over the last few days.
The 24 page books comes with some lovely transfer sheets full of flowers, butterflies, frogs and other mini beasts. The transfer sheets are stored in an envelope inside the front cover of The Wild Garden.
As you go through the pages of the book, you find one page with a line drawing to colour in and on the opposite page, the colour version, all ready to apply transfers to.
With a wide selection of scenes to complete, my son and I decided we’d work on The Summer Meadow, and add poppies and cow parsley to the picture along with a few mini beasts.
I explained the concept of rub on transfers, basically to place your transfer in the required place colour side up and then you colour over it with a biro. Once completed, gently peel away the paper and the transfer is left in place on the page. My son has been fascinated by the experience. Little things.
I’ve been really impressed with how considered Monkey has been, with both the placement of the transfers and the actual rubbing process. It’s been lovely to watch him at work. The Wild Garden is providing us with some much-needed chill out time after school, and a lovely activity to work on together. We complete a little detail every day and are in no hurry to complete each scene.
More cow parsley is required apparently, but not without my son’s supervision. Priced at £12.99, The Wild Garden really is a lovely book to enjoy and treasure once completed. Available from the Usborne Publishing website, where you can find a wonderful selection of books for all ages. We have been fans since Monkey was a baby, they really are quality books.
disclosure: we were sent the item mentioned in exchange for an honest review
I’m thrilled to be able to offer one lucky reader the chance to own The Wild Garden for themselves. Just complete the Gleam form below for your chance – good luck!
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The giveaway will close on 26th March 2017 at midnight.
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Bluebells because they are so pretty and add a wonderful carpet of colour to so many areas of the countryside
snowdrops, after a dark cold dull winter they are a beautiful sight!
snowdrops as they are a sign of spring coming and warmer weather x
Bluebells as I love their colour and they way they hang their little heads! It is so lovely to see bluebells when walking through the woods!
I love snowdrops, they are so pretty
lily of the valley – brings back childhood memories 🙂
daisies, fond memories of making daisy chains
I love snowdrops,they are just wonderful when you see them blanketing the floor of the woods.
I love the scent of bluebells and remember my nan taking me to the bluebell woods when I was a child!
Bluebells, there was a wood near our house, we used to walk the dogs there as kids, it was full of Bluebells
forget-me-nots they are small and pretty
Bluebells because they add so much colour to scenes and are so pretty
Dandelions my mum’s favourite saying ….dont pick them you’ll wet the bed
Fond memories that always make me smile when I see them
I love clematis there are so many wonderful varieties
I love dandelions – they are not weeds they are flowers… and fun to blow the seeds off.
Snowdrops, so rarely found these days but a gorgeous reminder that spring is on the way!
Bluebells, because when you see them coming up you know that warmer days are on the way
lillies because they are so beautiful looking x
I love the colour of cornflowers x
I like poppies because they somehow look so cheerful bobbing in the wind
I love daffodils, as they are a sign of spring , and hopefully the end of winter . They also remind me of mother’s day , when as a boy I would buy some for my mother
daffodils sign of spring
I love daffodils because they make me think of spring
Daisies as they remind me of our childhood making chains with small ones!! Happy times
I like poppies because they’re such a quintessential Norfolk sight.
I like snowdrops,very pretty and it means Spring is on its way
Bluebells, they are so very pretty, I love the colour
I love daisies. had hours of fun as a child making daisy chains and perfume and pressing them. Always brings back good memories
I love poppies as my daughter is named poppy and was born on remembrance sunday 🙂
wild foxglove flower as we have lots around my area.
Bluebells, they are beautiful when in clusters and the aroma is wonderful
poppies because the red in the fields really makes the scenery pop
Poppy as it’s my daughters middle name xxxx
Daisies – spent my whole lunch break making daisy chains in junior school!
I love bluebells and love seeing them in abundance in woodland, so pretty!
Jasmine flowers for there wonderful smell.
I love daisies, we used to sit and create daisy chains in the summer at school.
Bluebells – they seem to herald proper spring, are something that remind me of woodland walks as a child, and I love the colour.
I love daffodils they really brighten up a room 🙂
I love daisies 😀 so many memories
I love daisy’s because I can make Daisy chain’s.
i love poppies, no particular reason but red is my favourite colour maybe thats why i love them !
I love white calla lilies because they’re so stunning and elegant !
Mine is poppies because they have a special meaning for me and are connected to a loved one.
I love daisies because they bring back memories from my childhood. Playing on fields.
African Daisy because they are exotic
Violets, because they remind me of the woods I roamed in during my childhood (which were full of violets).
Daisys because we love to make daisy chains.x
I love cornflowers and love the vivid blue colour of them all together in the local fields.Am now growing them in the garden with some success.
I love any flower even weeds when i was young my dad was in the air-force and we always traveled my granddad planted forget- me -knots but I am not sure if they are classed as wild . so I would say blue- bells I remember picking them for my mum one very cold spring day and she cried.
I love poppies because I really love the variety of colours and their style x
I suppose Buttercups are a weed. But who hasn’t checked to see if they like butter under their chin?
Blue wild cornflowers, I love the blue colour of them, so vivid
My favourite is cornflowers. They are such pretty little things and the colour is just so unique and beautiful.
Id say daffodils as they just brighten up a dull space so well
I like to see all wildflowers they are interesting I like bluebells and Harebells the best. I used to go for walks with my grandma when I was little. Always there were masses of them. I also like Cowslips .
Yellow Whitlowgrass is my favourite – I just love the colour, sunshine in a flower!
Primroses as they remind me of long walks in the country with my family when I was younger.
Bluebells because they remind me of going to my grans when I was a child.
Lavender, because it’s such a beautiful colour
I adore tulips, I love their shape and the beautiful colours they can be.
Snowdrops are beautiful and I love seeing them pop up in my garden.
Snowdrops, ours have just come up and I can’t stop looking at them, beautiful!
Bluebells are my favourite wild flower. love to see them especially in a woodland setting 🙂
Snowdrops as when you start to see them you know spring is just around the corner
I love bluebells as they just look so pretty and smell beautiful
My favourite has to be poppies. They are strong and vibrant, and mean so much.
I love making daisy chains with my grand-daughter.
Snowdrops have always been my favourite, they’re so delicate but they push up through the snow.
I like bluebells – they’re so pretty
Bluebells, as they are pretty :- And I can recall as a child picking some nearby the family home.
My favourite wild flower is the Poppy because of it’s significance to the country in terms of rememberance, it’s vivid red and black colour and the facet that it just seems to pop up everywhere.
I love Bluebells because they signal the start of Spring
Sweet peas, they are so delicate and yet smell so good!
I love the purple crocus as it’s a sign of spring.
Daisy’s for the daisy chains!
lilly of the valley
Bluebells – we have been for some lovely Spring walks in our local “bluebell wood”
For me i love daisies they are pretty and each one may look the same but look closer each one is unique,I love making daisy chains when i was a kids and 40 years later im still making them with the kids,
I like bluebells as they are very pretty
Love Orchids because they’re so exotic and give me nostalgia xx
Bluebells, they just change the nature of the landscape so dramatically. Love them.
snowdrops because they make me smile
I love snowdrops because they’re so pretty.
Bluebells as they remind me of Spring
Bluebells because of childhood memories & poppies because of the connotations
I like the primrose – it reminds me of days out with my grandparents
Primroses, they used to grow everywhere at my grandparents home in the countryside when I was a child.
Daisies because they remind me of my childhood when all the neighbours children would gather on the green to make daisy chains
Snowdrops/bluebells – where I used to live we had a wood below our garden and it would be covered in bluebells!
Wow now you are asking: I love cowslips as they are dainty and lovely to look at.
But Bluebells take my breath away when they make a magical blue carpet…..
I like daises as they brighten up the grass
Poppies, they are so fragile and just like the lives that they now represent
daises as they are so pretty and delicate
Wild Primroses as they remind me of my childhood and picking them for Mothers Day
i adore forget-me-nots and always have done. this book is so pretty x
i love black tulips x
I adore cornflower, I love the vibrant bright blue colour.
Bluebells they are a beautiful pretty colour and they are my mum’s favourite flower so whenever I come across bluebells they always put a smile on my face.
Daisies – I used to love making daisy chains as a child. They always make grass look pretty too!
Poppies because I love the colour
It’s got to be Bluebells! They are so dainty, delicate and such a lovely colour too!
Bluebells we had a wood near us years ago, its now part of an industrial estate, sad
We have wild bluebells that come up every year in our garden, they are so lovely
I like tulips as they are so colourful – I used to love transfers as a child
Bluebells – so very pretty
Heather – my favourite colour, love how it spreads and compliments green fields
Daisy – reminds me of making daisy chains as a child.
Daffodils as you really know spring is coming!
the lilly of the valley x
Daffodils because they let me know spring is coming.
Bluebells they are beautiful
I love Bluebells, just to see a blanket cover of them looks so pretty .x
I love Foxgloves, they’re so bold!
Bluebells, so pretty and relaxing
I love Ragged Robins – I’m always reminded of my grandma who taught me what they are 🙂
Bluebells, they remind me of lovely family walks in the woods
bluebells remind me of my honeymoon in May
I love dandelions because I pluck the petals and make wine from them which is really lovely.
I love cornflowers. They’re so beautiful and come in many colours!
i like daisys because they remind me of makiing daisy chains as a child
Lily of the valley….I remember these from walks when I was a child
Bluebells as i have fond memories of walking in the bluebell woods with my son
I love Poppies because although they look so delicate they are also robust.
I LOVE SNow drops because they remind me of my mum childhood memories
Bluebells, they are a gorgeous colour and such a pretty flower x
I love daisies because they remind me of being small and making daisy chains.
I love all wild flowers but I adore blue bells as they signify the start of spring to me
Blue bells as they remind me of my dog Bluie
Foxgloves
i love bluebells, like the colour, shape and the fragrance of them
Daisies are my favourite as I used to sit in the field behind our house and make daisy chains.
I love snowdrops
snowdrops are so lovely and they are also my mums fav
forget me nots – not sure if they are classed as a flower or a weed but I have carpets of them in the spring
I love bluebells. They remind me of my childhood walking through the woods – so beautiful, a carpet of blue x
Absolutely love Snowdrops.
They make me happy as they signify that Spring is coming!
Daffodils because then I know Spring is truly on it’s way!
roses because they smell lovely
Bluebells, I have a photo of my daughter lying amongst them, its one of my most favourite photos.
Violets are my favorite wildflower, my Nana’s name was Violet and I love their beautiful little purple faces in Spring when they cover the garden…beautiful