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Never judge a book by it’s cover, but what about its opening lines?

Some of my favourite first words include:-

“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”

“All children, except one, grow up.”

“‘Where’s Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.”

“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

“The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come from? Nobody knows. Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness.”

(prizes if you can name all the books in the comments!)

And now there’s this to add to the mix:

“Once upon a slime, there was a Slodge.”

This is how Jeanne Willis introduces her latest book, The First Slodge, joyously illustrated by Jenni Desmond. The first words are simply a delight to read, to roll around your tongue, to let slip and slide into a smile as you read this story about sharing and friendship.

Slodge delights in the sunset, the moon and the stars, believing they belong to her alone. It comes as a huge shock to discover that there’s a second Slodge with whom she must share her delights. Squabbling over something neither wishes to forgo, they tumble into terrible danger. Will they work together to save themselves or will pride and selfishness get in the way?

Funny, gentle, and full of life The First Slodge is a warmhearted parable about how things are better together when shared with generosity. The youngest of listeners will recognise the delighted squeals of “Mine, all mine!“, as well as the tussles over treasures. However, everyone ends up full of the feel good factor, quietly reassured that they see they do not have to face the dangers of the world alone.

Written like a spider’s web – delicate and strong – The First Slodge contains equally impressive illustrations, full of flowing movement and energy with a sumptuous palette of soothing and sophisticated greens and blues. Several spreads strongly echo Desmond’s Red Cat, Blue Cat (you can read my review here) in composition or concept (the slodges/cats fighting, the twist at the end), which I found slightly surprising but both books remain lovely reads I recommend seeking out.

Sharing The First Slodge as a family left us eager to make our own slime and Slodges. We set up a slime factory to test three different recipes:

Slime 1

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for about 10 minutes as the mixture thickens. The low heat is necessary in order that the condensed milk doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan. Once suitably thick, leave to cool before creating your Slodges. This slime is actually perfectly edible, but as we were playing with other slimes too, I didn’t encourage taste testing.

Slime 2

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and whisk over a low heat for about 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. Leave to cool and then start Slodging. We’ve never used this slime recipe before and it was the most exciting; its texture and appearance is quite unlike any other slime we’ve made, with a rubbery, almost bouncy feel, with great stretchability!

Slime 3

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture is no longer sticky to touch. Leave to cool and knead into fairly solid slime. Some of you may recognise this as a playdoh recipe.

Once we had our three slimes we delighted and disgusted ourselves with the sensory experience as we made our first Slodges.

We rated our slimes in terms of appearance and texture, the yuckier the better.

The winning slime was the one made from psyllium husks – definitely a sensory experience worth trying out!

Whilst making slime and slodges we listened to:

Other activities which would go well with reading The First Slodge include:

What are your favourite books about sharing and working together? Where have you come across really revolting slime? What are your favourite opening lines in picture books?

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of The First Slodge from the publisher.

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Boa’s Bad Birthday

by Jeanne Willis & Tony Ross, illustrator

Andersen Press USA         2/6/2014

Age 4 to 8               32 pages

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“It was Boa’s birthday. It was going to be the best one ever. Or so he hoped. He invited his friends round. They would all bring him presents. Or would they?”

Opening

“It was Boa’s birthday.”

Review

Ah, birthdays. That one day of the year, that belongs only to you. Everyone who sees you will say, “Happy Birthday!” Throw a birthday party—the best way to celebrate your day—and everyone invited will bring you a present. Since they are all your friends, each one will know exactly what you like. It will be a grand day, indeed!

Today is Boa’s birthday and his mother is throwing him a birthday party. All of Boa’s friends are invited and each brings a present. Orangutan’s present is so big he lugs it on his back. Boa hopes against odds that the gift is not what he thinks it is. It is. What was Orangutan thinking? Boa’s mother said,

“It’s the thought that counts.”

An excited Monkey told Boa, “You’ll love it!” Boa doesn’t. Mom said,

“Third time lucky.”

Friend after friend forgets to think about Boa when getting him a birthday present. Now, one friend remains and mother and son are certain Dung Beetle brought a pile of, um, of . . . well, it isn’t a pile, but a big ball of . . ., um, must I say it? Dung Beetle? Okay? Good. Boa and his mother are right. Dung Beetle did bring a huge ball of, uh, yeah, that stuff. Poor Boa. I could say the nicely written, fun to read aloud, birthday story is the most fantastic birthday story ever written for a boa . . . if only the author had thought about Boa when she wrote in the presents. Kids will love the terrific illustrations, but the images also could have been fantastic . . . if the artist had remembered to think of Boa.

From Here on, Some, Not All, of this Review is Written in Jest – No Spoilers

Willis and Ross have collaborated on at least four other books. Those books must be fantastic else the publisher would not offer Boa’s birthday story. What went wrong? Do they not like Boa? Did they have a big fight and take it out on Boa? The awful mood made the writer so testy she had Dung Beetle leave his gift . . . then makes it rain. Dung’s ball stinks up Boa’s world as it slowly washes away until, only a small mound remains. The mound will forever leave reminders of Boa’s Bad Birthday.

Young kids will love Boa’s story. Parents can easily read Boa’s Bad Birthday in such a way as to make their children laugh. So may animal voices to use. A big orangutan, a funky monkey, a sleek jaguar, a happy, athletic sloth, and a, um, a . . . dirty dung beetle all offering an array of voices kids will love. Ah, but there is more. Willis and Ross made Boa’s already bleak world rain. Dung Beetle, being the last animal placed into the story, noticed the foul direction of Boa’s Bad Birthday and took to spying on Willis and Ross. What did Dung find out?

Dung has never liked the way creatives portray him. This time, Dung learns it’s his friend Boa who will be disappointed. Mad, the mischievous Dung decides to stop Willis and Ross’s total destruction of Boa’s birthday. “Let it rain,” said Dung to no one. Inside the ball of . . . that stuff Dung had to bring, he hides something. That something will turn Boa’s Bad Birthday into a fantastic birthday. Dung’s only disappointment is in his the inability to change the title. Still, I imagine—with a big smile—that the writer and artist are not happy Dung hijacked their story. Why? Because they once more captured the last word. The two countered by adding one more spread. I just don’t understand what a child has to do with Boa’s Bad Birthday?!

End of Jest

Boa’s Bad Birthday is cute. I love the alliterated title. Actually, I like the entire story. When Boa tries to use each gift, it will bring belly laughs from young children. I’ll admit Boa made me smile. Readers will understand Boa’s unhappiness and feel bad for him. Kids will also start to learn the importance of thinking before giving someone a gift. Parents should not mind reading Boa’s Bad Birthday multiple times. The story does not waste words. The illustrations add understanding to the text. Willis and Ross made a, dare I say, a “Fantastic” birthday story. Boa’s Bad Birthday contains an opportunity for children to empathize with Boa, laugh, and enjoy a terrific twist—Dung Beetle’s present. By next year, Boa’s friends will have learned the lesson of this story and Boa will have a fantastic birthday. One endnote, Mr. Tony Ross, considered one the world’s best illustrator, has illustrated a mind-boggling “over 800 books for young readers.”

BOA’S BAD BIRTHDAY. Text copyright © 2014 by Jeanne Willis. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Tony Ross. Reproduce by permission of the distributing publisher, Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Minneapolis, MN.

Buy Boa’s Bad Birthday at Amazon—B&N—Book Depository—Lerner Publishing—at your local bookstore.

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Learn more about Boa’s Bad Birthday HERE.

Meet the author, Jeanne Willis, at her website:  http://www.jeannewillis.com/

Meet the illustrator, Tony Ross, at his short Lerner bio:  https://www.lernerbooks.com/Pages/Author-Illustrator-Details.aspx?contactid=957

Find more books at the Andersen Press USA website:  http://andersenpressusa.com/

an imprint of Andersen Press, Ltd.:     http://www.andersenpress.co.uk/           

distributed by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.:    https://www.lernerbooks.com/

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ALSO BY JEANNE WILLIS & TONY ROSS

Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog

Fly, Chick, Fly!

Hippospotamus

The Pet Person

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CONGRATULATIONS TO

An Andersen Press Children’s author, Berlie Doherty, winner of the Carnegie Medal, is shortlist for The 2014 Stockport Children’s Book Awards, for her middle grade novel, The Company of Ghosts.  If you know Ms. Doherty, please congratulate her.

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As some of you know last term I started reading regularly to two classes of 5 and 6 year olds at M and J’s school – reading great stories just for fun, to show them that learning to read isn’t all about phonics and literacy but also about exploring, delighting and laughing.

The sessions went better than I could have hoped for and this term I’m been asked back but on slightly different terms – I’m now being given an hour every Friday afternoon to read and do book related play with the kids. Can you imagine how happy this makes me ?

Today I have my first session; 30 kids (a mixture of 5,6 and 7 year olds) and our theme is books and libraries.

I’ll be starting the session with Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson and Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes and I shall round it off with Delilah Darling is in the Library by Jeanne Willis and Rosie Reeve and Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates.

In between the two reading sessions we’re going to make our own pocket libraries.

To do this the kids will first decorate some blank matchboxes with bits and pieces (we’ll be using regular matchboxes rather than craft ones as we didn’t have time to order them). Then the kids will be taking a few of the mini books I’ve prepared (folded card with a small piece of paper stapled inside) and choosing frontcovers for their books from a wide selection I’ve cut out from publishers catalogues. They’ll glue their covers to the front of their books and once they’ve got 3 or 4 they’ll put them inside their matchbox and have their very own pocket library.

A pocket library being read by some playmobil!

If there’s spare time, or the kids just want something else to do, they’ll be able to make their own mini versions of the bookshelf wallpaper M, J and I made here.

Click to view full size image ready for you to print if you wish to use yourself.

Kids will be offered a shelf of their own to paint and encouraged to come up with book titles for the books on their shelf. There will be plenty of book characters to colour in, cut out and eventually stick on to their shelves. To start with we’ll be using Gruffalo, Octonauts, Eric Carle and 3 Comments on A book loving reading session at school, last added: 9/16/2011