Sunday 5 June 2011

Review - The Fearsome Beastie by Giles Paley Phillips

When Giles Paley-Phillips very kindly sent me "The Fearsome Beastie" to review, I was a little dubious as to whether it would be suitable for his age and might be a little bit too scary for Oliver, my three and a half year old, who has been known to have been a bit of a wuss at times!

It’s a wonderfully amusing, colourful rhyming tale about, strangely enough, a fearsome beastie, who roams the streets looking for small children who he befriends then eats!  The child that he doesn’t eat, runs to find an adult to help (there’s a couple of lessons to be learnt there I feel!) and an amusing twist ends the tale. 

Ollie was quite quiet when we read it, but when we got to the end, he yelled AGAIN, AGAIN at the top of his voice, which told me everything I needed to know really.  When we reached the end of the second reading, he wanted to read it AGAIN!  I asked him what he liked about the book and he said he loved the pictures and when we read it a third time he had also laughed and remembered the rhymes and joined in with some of the words.  He said he thought it was very funny!   Not a bad recommendation really from a three and a half year old!

The book is illustrated by Gabriele Antonini who has created the most amazing, vibrant images which illustrate and complement the story perfectly.

I want to compare this book to The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson which is another fantastic book that Oliver, like so many other children, adores.  I hope that Giles is flattered by this comment, as The Gruffalo is a complete classic kids book.   It is intended to be a massive compliment.  We loved this book and it will certainly be one that we read time and time again, and have already! 

I shall definitely be looking out for There's a Lion in My Bathroom: Nonsense Poetry for Children by Giles Paley-Phillips and Matt Dawson.  If you would like to find out more about Giles and his work, you can check out his blog here or you can also check out his author page at loveahappyending
.com

1 comment:

Pauline Barclay said...

That must have been a wonderful sound to hear... again and again! Having no children, I think I am missing out on some good reads! Good luck Giles and wishing you great success!