Charlie Chick Goes to School by Nick Denchfield and Ant Parker
| Charlie Chick Goes to School by Nick Denchfield and Ant Parker | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Charlie Chick is always late and his first day at school is no exception. We had concerns about the paper engineering. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Maybe |
| Pages: 16 | Date: July 2015 |
| Publisher: Campbell Books | |
| ISBN: 978-1447277187 | |
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Charlie Chick is always late and today is his first day at school. He's having trouble getting out of bed and then getting to breakfast (trailing his toy crocodile, who - if anything - looks more awake than Charlie). The snap, crackle and pop of his favourite cereal frightens him into life - and then he has to grab his bag and scarf and rush off to school, because the bell's gone and everyone else is already there..
And that's it really, apart from a fold-out section at the back which shows the full class looking less than pleased to have had to wait for the latecomer. It's a pop-up book, so we see Charlie shocked awake by the alarm clock in 3D. Well, actually we see Charlie from the bottom of his bad, with his feet sticking up from under the duvet - and for a moment I thought I was seeing a display of parsnips in the greengrocer's shop. Charlie does appear as you open the book a little wider - looking absolutely terrified - and he's not the only one with a problem. You see, I can't get his head to go back into position so that I can turn the page - it protrudes above the top of the book and parts of the bed won't collapse. Eventually I realise that if I apply pressure to the top of Charlie's head I can ease it back into position. I don't know what Charlie thinks about being told to get up and pushed back into bed at the same time.
The cereals cascading into - or out of - the bowl work a little more successfully until I realise that one section isn't cascading quite as it should - there's one part which doesn't appear at all unless you give it a bit of a tug. Charlie running works quite well, but I couldn't understand why crocodile was trying to escape from his backpack. Yes, I know - I'm being very picky and a child is going to be engaged by all the moving parts, but the paper engineering is on quite thin card and isn't going to stand a lot of toddler love. I can't see it lasting well. The story too is a little thin and I couldn't quite work out why Charlie was heading off to school on his own on his first day.
It's an OK book, but I'm afraid that I wasn't impressed. I would like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
For another story about starting school we can recommend Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School by Nathan Hale. For an excellent example of paper engineering have a look at The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book by Eric Carle.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Charlie Chick Goes to School by Nick Denchfield and Ant Parker at Amazon.com.
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