Winnie Under the Sea by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

Winnie Under the Sea by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
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Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Jo Heffer
Summary: Winnie the Witch is a firm favourite with both my daughters and they love her wild appearance, colourful clothing, mad antics and hit and miss magical skills. 'Winnie Under the Sea' is her latest adventure where, in order to enjoy her love of diving, she turns herself and her cat, Wilbur, into exotic creatures of the deep. Valerie Thomas's funny story and Korky Paul's exceptional illustrations have combined to make this a brilliant read. The paperback version includes a story and music CD.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: September 2011
Publisher: OUP
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0192757470
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It is holiday time and Winnie the Witch has found a little island with blue sea, golden sand and coconut trees. She and Wilbur, her cat, arrive and find accommodation in a comfortable hut on the water's edge – just perfect for swimming. Winnie dives in and soon sees the most amazing fish, turtles, dolphin and coral. She wants Wilbur to see all these lovely things but, being a cat, he is not particularly keen on getting wet. However, Winnie has an idea and, waving her wand shouts 'Abracadabra' and turns Wilbur into a cat-fish. Winnie turns herself into an octopus and the two of them have a wonderful underwater adventure, although it almost goes disastrously wrong when Winnie loses her wand. Maybe she needs to think of an alternative way of exploring under the sea?

Winnie Under the Sea is another fabulous story in the Winnie the Witch series and will not disappoint Winnie fans at all. It's a typical Winnie madcap adventure where everything is very likely to go badly wrong. However, as always, more by luck than judgement, Winnie finds a way to sort things out. The text is wonderfully engaging and my daughter loves joining in with the cries of 'Abracadabra' , something she has been doing ever since she was little and we read our first Winnie the Witch book. The relationship between Winnie and Wilbur really adds to the enjoyment too, with Wilbur yet again having no choice but to go along with Winnie's zany ideas. The story is suitable for children (and parents) of all ages and more confident readers will probably enjoy curling up with this book and reading it for themselves.

Korky Paul's illustrations are also extremely funny and we love Winnie's straggly hair, red blotchy nose and stripy attire. She looks all set for action in her snorkelling mask and flippers too. The pages are always very busy though this story does not lend itself to his normal crowd scenes where it is fun to spot a number of characters who always seem to turn up. However, there are lots of little clever details and surprises to look out for on all pages so do keep your eyes peeled and spend plenty of time taking in and enjoying the illustrations.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

Winnie Under the Sea is a fun story that is sure to be enjoyed by Winnie fans everywhere. Other Winnie books to look out for are Winnie in Space and Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin, both also by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Winnie Under the Sea by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul 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 Winnie Under the Sea by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul at Amazon.com.

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