Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson

Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson
Buy Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: A lovely, quirky book about imagination. It's a real pleasure to read and there are no tedious lessons being taught to the child. It's about joy and fun.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: February 2020
Publisher: Matador
ISBN: 978-1838593186
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Tilly is excited. She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a big grin on her face. Dad's come to collect her and her brother and he has to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guess. Dad wants to know how school was, but obviously that's not important. Could Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box? (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap book?) Well, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuff. There are sequins, glittered paper and all sorts of other things in her pocket, but that's not what she wants Dad to guess.

Imagination is a wonderful thing to give a child. If you have a vivid imagination, boundaries will fall away and possibilities become endless. I was brought up not to have imagination. Lies were what my fanciful tales were called and I've never been able to imagine anything with any degree of success. I could not make up a story to save my life - and reading Guess What I Found in the Playground I did so envy Tilly. She's being encouraged to explore, to see possibilities and she's playing a game with Dad. There's a bit of verbal jousting and it's between equals. Dad takes what Tilly has to say seriously and doesn't patronise her at all. Brilliant!

And what did Tilly find? Well, I'm not going to tell you: you'll have to read the book to find out. Tilly was right: Dad didn't guess and probably wouldn't have done if they'd stood in the playground all day! But that wouldn't have mattered to either of them. What was important was the communication between father and daughter and the pleasure which they so obviously took in each other's company.

The story is a joy to read, but a lot of thought has gone into the making of it. The style of the illustrations is pop art and they're big and bold, perfect for the story. I liked the clear font in the book too - it will be great as a book to share and as a book for the emerging reader. The vocabulary will be challenging (but what would be the point otherwise?) and help will be needed with some of the words, but a lot of discussions will be opened up too.

I'd be happy to try the book with a child who suffers from dyslexia. The font is clear and not justified, which means that it's easier to keep your place on the page. The paper isn't a bright white and there's no bleed-through from the reverse of the page which can confuse the dyslexia sufferer.

And at the end of the book, you even get to colour in pictures of what Tilly found. Highly recommended. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

For a story about the relationship between a young girl and her grandfather, we can recommend Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan.

You can read more about Victoria Thompson here.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson 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 Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson at Amazon.com.

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