Captain Wag and the Big Blue Whale by Michael Terry
| Captain Wag and the Big Blue Whale by Michael Terry | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Magda Healey
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| Summary: An energetic pirate tale for older pre-schoolers and younger primary school children, it has rollicking story and good illustrations (as well as 40 re-usable stickers!), but the text is a bit stilted. Borrow before buying to test-read it first. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: May 2008 |
| Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | |
| ISBN: 978-0747592549 | |
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A sequel to the first Captain Wag book, Captain Wag and the Big Blue Whale has the pirate dog and his friends One-Eye Jack and Old Scratch stranded on a desert island. They managed to knock together a makeshift boat and are on their way home, but what is it on the horizon? Their arch-enemies Pirate Ginger Tom and his motley crew of cats are determined to stop them. Will Captain Wag and his people (sorry, dogs) get home safely? And what about the whale of the title?
The story is energetic and humorous. Anthropomorphic animal characters are, in this case, used appropriately and the animosity between cats and dogs (as well as all the pirate phrases) is nicely exploited for the purposes of the story.
Illustrations are definitely the strongest point of Captain Wag, rich, expressive, chunky characters and colourful background scenes (plus there are 40 reusable stickers for creating your own adventures).
The text is average, with nothing visibly (or audibly) grating but it doesn't exactly lift off: although readable aloud without major winces, there is no pleasure in the process itself either. I would be happier talking Captain Wag and the Big Blue Whale through rather than reading it word for word.
This energetic, jolly adventure will be enjoyed by older pre-schoolers and young primary school age children, and as there are extras included, might make a reasonable gift for a child that likes adventure stories in general and pirates in particular.
The review copy was end to the Book bag by the publisher - thank you!
If you like the sound of this but your child is growing out of picture books, you might also like The Three Little Pirates ..while newly confident readers would enjoy Custardly Wart
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You can read more book reviews or buy Captain Wag and the Big Blue Whale by Michael Terry 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 Captain Wag and the Big Blue Whale by Michael Terry at Amazon.com.
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