Alfie gives a hand - Shirley Hughes

.../> The story begins with Alfie finding a letter with his name on it. He is nursery age so that's pretty good of him to point out to his mum that the letter is for him.
Mum explains that it is an invitation to his friend, Bernard's party, and Alfie starts to get excited.
The day of the party arrives and Alfie is excited as mum bathes him and talks about what happens at birthday parties. He puts on his new clothes and then reality hits ...
...there," said Alfie.
Alfie finds his old comfort blanket and waits downstairs for mum…what a sorry figure he cuts in the picture as he sits on lfie "But do you know what it did then?"
Oh my goodness, he threw the crayons in the air and then got into trouble from his mum while Alfie stood looking sorrowful.
They play with the bubbles and Bernard is in trouble for pushing, and is REALLY in trouble for bursting the ... more

I haven't seen this book for ages and read it for the first time the other day specifically because I was asked to.

So, there I was reading it to a class of 5 and 6 year olds, and here I am saying that "no, it's not my favourite book!"

**The Story**

The story begins with Alfie finding a letter with his name on it. He is nursery age so that's pretty good of him to point out to his mum that the letter is for him.
Mum explains that it is an invitation to his friend, Bernard's party, and Alfie starts to get excited.
The day of the party arrives and Alfie is excited as mum bathes him and talks about what happens at birthday parties. He puts on his new clothes and then reality hits him when he realizes that mum and Annie Rose aren't going to the party with him. "But I want you to be there," said Alfie.
Alfie finds his old comfort blanket and waits downstairs for mum…what a sorry figure he cuts in the picture as he sits on lfie "But do you know what it did then?"
Oh my goodness, he threw the crayons in the air and then got into trouble from his mum while Alfie stood looking sorrowful.
They play with the bubbles and Bernard is in trouble for pushing, and is REALLY in trouble for bursting the big bubble which lands on Min.
The story kind of goes on in this vein with nothing really happening.
They have tea but Min will sit next to only Alfie.
Bernard is a bit rude when he is eating his party tea.
Alfie continues clutching his blanket
After tea, Bernard wears a tiger mask and scares the other children.
"Grrr! Grrr! Grrr! GRRRR! ACHT!"
All the children are seriously terrified of this and Min starts to cry again.
Poor Bernard is in trouble again and mum makes everyone get into a circle. Bernard continues to wear his TERRIFYING tiger mask and grabs hold of Alfie's hand.
However, Min wants to hold Alfie's hand and "cried and cried"
So, there is Alfie with Bernard holding one hand and that blanket in the other hand, and Min crying to hold his hand. What do you think he does? "…Alfie made a brave decision".
Yes folks…he finally puts down that blanket so he can hold Min's and Bernard's hands.
HURRAY!!
They now have a fabulous day, playing games, and eating more food.
When mum comes to collect Alfie, Bernard's mum congratulates her on having such a helpful child and wishes that Bernard would learn to be helpful.
On the way home, Alfie thinks he may leave his blanket at home next time.

That's the story in a nutshell, and believe me, there is very little else to tell because nothing much happens.

**Illustrations**

I quite like the illustrations which are quite true to life line drawings in muted shades which actually look as though they would originally have been water colours.
The sizes of the drawings varies depending on what is needed to emphasise the story.
Some of the pictures are full page and some are double page spread; one example of this is the actual party when the children are eating and the text is just shown in text boxes.
Sometimes, the pictures are very small, for example, when Alfie is sitting at the bottom of the stairs with his blanket, possibly to emphasise how small and insignificant he felt at that time.
Drawings and writing are mixed and interspersed to good effect.

**Publisher**

My copy is published by Collins Picture Lions (1985), ISBN 0-00-662379-4
The book was first published by The Bodley Head (1983).

**Price**

I am going to give the usual advise to have a look on Amazon- I should imagine there are a few of these books for sale.

**Other Books by the same author**

A Brush With The Past
Ella's Big Chance
Alfie and The Birthday Surprise
Alfie Gets in First
Alfie Wins A Prize
Alfie's Feet
Annie Rose is My Little Sister
Abel's Moon
Alfie's Weather
The Charlie Moon Collectioncret
Up and Up
Stories by Firelight
Dogger
Sally's Se

Shirley Hughes wrote her first book, Lucy and Tom's Day in 1960, and has been a prolific story writer ever since

**Verdict**

I read this recently and remembered reading it when I first started teaching, and it's my opinion which has definitely changed, perhaps with the range of books now on offer.

The story actually started to irritate me and I found myself wanting Alfie and Min to get some life!

And how bad am I? I ask children all the "right" questions but in reality was hoping they wouldn't give the answers they thought would please me, ie that Bernard is a naughty boy. In reality, he is a normal Nursery age child who was having fun at his own party, only to have his high spirits dampened by people crying and carrying blankets around the place.

The illustrations are excellent and are almost like stage sets, complementing the text perfectly, although some of the clothes are a bit dated and children will notice this. hey, there's not a pair oftrainers in sight.

There are alot of Alfie stories around and I don't have an intense dislike of all of them, and not of this one either; I just think that nowadays there are some excellent picture books, whether you want a story for the sake of a story or want a story with a message.

i found that I was trying to make the story more exciting, and the children were certainly not particularly inspired.

It's a story which will probably found in most Primary schools and I am sure people are going to tell me that they love it. I did read it later that day to my 4 year old, to get a bit more first hand experience, and although she loves story time she was not enamoured with this one. In fact, she was just a bit confused as to why Alfie wasn't enjoying the party at first, because to her, parties.

There is probably a very strong case for this book if a child was having problems with parties and boisterous children, helping them to see that they can overcome their fears. i just think there are better books.

I am going to recommend it because I do think it has a place in some circumstances

So, to conclude, I think this is one book I will read when asked to and I don't think it will become a much clamoured for bedtime story.

Thanks for reading

Daniela x 

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