My Friend's a Gris-Kwok (Little Gems) by Malorie Blackman and Andy Rowland
| My Friend's a Gris-Kwok (Little Gems) by Malorie Blackman and Andy Rowland | |
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| Category: Dyslexia Friendly | |
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Reviewer: Margaret Young
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| Summary: Shape shifting side slapping fun in a dyslexia friendly format for early readers. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 104 | Date: September 2013 |
| Publisher: Barrington Stoke | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1781122440 | |
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When Mike discovers that his best friend Alex is a Gris Kwok or shape shifter it looks like they are in for some real fun. Not only can Alex change into any creature he wants, he can change anyone touching him as well. There are only three hitches. The first is that Alex can only change three times a day. The second is that his sister has the same powers. The third is that Alex is babysitting and if you think babysitting ordinary siblings is difficult just wait until you see all the mischief a shape shifting toddler can get into.
This is fun story as Polly is determined to make babysitting a difficult job for her brother, and the shape shifting soon turns into a battle of wits. Polly's final switch seems to come up trumps... or has it ? This is a fun story to read when you are in the mood for something silly, but it opens up plenty of opportunities for children to imagine what adventures they might have with a similar ability. It moves along very quickly with plenty of laughs, and a nice ending which shows the good side of having siblings as well.
This book is part of Barrington Stoke's Little Gem's line for developing readers. This series is designed to support children taking their first steps to independent reading, whether they are dyslexic or not. Working with a team of experts in the field, Barrington Stoke have developed their own font which is especially designed to make reading as easy as possible for children with dyslexia. They also print all of their books on a thick, off white, non-glare paper to minimise distractions which can make reading more difficult. Although created as dyslexia friendly, this format makes reading easier for all children. My own son has often commented on how much easier it is to read these books, making reading into a truly enjoyable experience for young children.
Little Gems books have all the features of Barrington Stoke's books for older children, but are designed for a younger age group. The easy to read text, high quality illustrations and exceptionally high interest stories give these books a wide interest range, with a relatively low reading age. Little Gems have a reading of age 6. They are recommended for children from 5-8 with average reading abilities, and ages 7-10 for struggling readers.
I think this book will best suit a younger audience. My five year old really enjoyed it, and I feel this would be a nice book for sharing with children as young as age 3. This has all the qualities of a really good read-aloud book in a very supportive, easy to read format to help children build confidence and competence in reading. I would very highly recommend this for ages 4 - 7. I do feel age 8 is approaching the upper limits for this book though, and while my 8 year old did enjoy it once, he didn't get nearly as much from the book as his brother did and it isn't a book he would read a second time.
If this appeals you might also like to have a look at:
The Wickedest Witch in the World by Kaye Umansky and Gerald Kelley
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You can read more book reviews or buy My Friend's a Gris-Kwok (Little Gems) by Malorie Blackman and Andy Rowland 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 My Friend's a Gris-Kwok (Little Gems) by Malorie Blackman and Andy Rowland at Amazon.com.
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