The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat by Julia Donaldson and Charlotte Voake
| The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat by Julia Donaldson and Charlotte Voake | |
|
| |
| Category: For Sharing | |
| |
Reviewer: Rachael Spencer
 | |
| Summary: A wonderful book which captures the spirit of the original text beautifully and will, I'm sure, become a much loved title within many households across the country. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: October 2014 |
| Publisher: Puffin | |
| ISBN: 9780141332970 | |
|
Share on: | |
|
| |
I was utterly intrigued by the idea of a follow up to the wonderful Edward Lear poem, The Owl and the Pussy-cat. I thought it might have the feel that some follow ups by different authors might have, but I was very pleasantly surprised. If anybody was going to be able to write verse that could live up to the original, Julia Donaldson was, and she did.
What works incredibly well for me is the way that she hasn’t tried to shy away from the style of the original, instead embracing it completely in terms of pattern, length of the stanzas and the type of language used within the verse. It is brave, I think, to try to emulate such a well loved piece of literature and I am just so happy that it’s worked as well as it has. I love the fact that it comes with a CD read by Donaldson, as this makes it a verse which can be enjoyed by children who maybe can't read for themselves even when they don't have any adults around to read it to them.
The illustrations by Charlotte Voake only add to the magic of the book, capturing beautifully the slightly other worldly feel that the text evokes, and managing to juxtapose the old style of the original text with a modern audience. The nice thing about the images is that they tie in very well with Donaldson’s style of book which her vast audience will be accustomed to, without copying the style of Axel Scheffler.
The other thing which makes me thrilled about this book is the wide, wide audience it is bound to reach. Donaldson’s regular readers are going to reach for it automatically because of the fact she’s written it, which will then hopefully point readers towards the original text. As well as this, people who grew up with the Owl and the Pussy-cat will, in my opinion, be more than happy to receive this as a present thus making them aware of some wonderful new children’s literature. For me, the real magic of books is in the sharing and finding of new and old works alike, and this makes me find this book a particularly exciting and interesting text. A perfect book for a gift, and definitely to sit and share with all the family and any child of any age (even thirty year old ones like me).
If you are looking for some more of Julia Donaldson's captivating verses, then you should try The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
Please share on: 
Facebook, 
Twitter and
Instagram
You can read more book reviews or buy The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat by Julia Donaldson and Charlotte Voake at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat by Julia Donaldson and Charlotte Voake at Amazon.com.
Comments
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.
