Really fun book which introduces children to characters from popular nursery rhymes, and if they have already "met" them, then they can encounter them in different situations.
**Story and Illustrations**
I even like the inside front cover, because there is a selection of envelopes all with addresses written on them an a stamp showing the face of the character the letter is for. When I read the book with children, we have to read all of the addresses… Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma's Cottage, Deep in the Woods; Little Miss Muffet, The Tuffet, Curds and Whey Way. And so the envelopes continue in this vein- humorous and likely to appeal to children.
So…the story. We meet Little Bear early one morning as he stretches and because he is hungry, walks downstairs on a quest for food. But…. The porridge pot had disappeared. As he stands and peeps forlornly over the top of the table, we hear a "KNOCK KNOCK" at the door. It's Little Billy Goat Gruff, who points to the trail of porridge and tells Little Bear that they have to run to catch up with the porridge monster. So off they go, Little Bear carrying his teddy bear and the Little Billy Goat Gruff carrying his sleep blanket.
They meet Little Miss Muffet who hasn't seen their porridge but offers some of her whey. Little Bear wants to accept but a truly HUGE spider plops into the bowl, and they all run to Jack's house. He hasn't seen the porridge but offers his beans.They are about to accept when….
The children at this stage start to understand the rythmn of the book. The two friends explain their predicament, they are about to accept the offer of food, and then anther character is introduced.
This time it's the giant, and a very big giant he is too, so being sensible people, they run! Little Red Riding Hood offers some jam and again they are About to accept when there is a yowling in the forest. Yes, it's the wolf. So what do they do? Little Miss always shouts "run!"
This time, they run right into the three bears who have just come back from their holidays. I get a tad perplexed at this point because each time I read the boo, I assume the bear in the story is the youngest of the well known three bears. No matter, I obviously get it wrong, because there are definitely three bears getting off the boat.
They offer Little Bear and friends some porridge and on he way to their house, they see the porridge footsteps again. Turn the page, and there in all his porridgeness is the porridge monster of little Bear's imaginings…very large, very purple, and clutching a large spoon covered with porridge.
Enter brave Mother Bear who carefully opens the door to find Goldilocks, covered in porridge and shouting a welcome "Hooray you got the invitations"
This leads us nicely to the back cover where the invitations to all of the characters are revealed…so that's what the envelopes at the front were about!
The Biggest Baddest Wolf I Wish Squash the Spider Terrible Troublesome Troll
**Other Bits of Information**
Published: 2003
Publisher: Scholastic Children's Books
ISBN: 0-439-97880-7
**What I Thought**
One of my favourites to read to young children. Considering they are introduced to nursery rhymes and traditional tales in the National Curriculum, it's a fun take on some of the rhymes and tales. A lot of the well known favourites are introduced, and children enjoy the fact that they recognize the characters. They like to predict who is coming up next and can usually guess the wolf and the giant and the spider will foil the best laid plans for breakfast by turning up at inopportune moments.
The illustrations are brightly coloured and have lots of detail, but best of all, the characters look exactly as young children expect them to. No second guessing here as to "who's who".
I have found that as they get a little older, children enjoy making there own book in the same format. Start with a character who wants to eat, when, suddenly they are foiled by another nursery character, and so the story continues. For this kind of activity, they can introduce their own favourite characters. Little Miss tends to make up her own story and talks me through it, and hers usually involves the ugly troll.
For young children, I would recommend this book. They will "meet" familiar characters and will quickly enjoy reading along with you feeling safe because they know and recognize the main players.
Thanks for reading.
Daniela xx
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How does it compare to similar audio books?
Excellent
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Excellent
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