Slug Needs a Hug by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
| Slug Needs a Hug by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: A slug seems an unlikely choice as the main character in a story, but he somehow manages to seem endearing! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: April 2015 |
| Publisher: Andersen Press | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781783441198 | |
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Growing up, my experience with slugs mainly revolved around spotting them in the garden and being sent out with the pot of salt to send them to a salty (and frankly, disgusting) death! My mum was forever waging war on these creatures that were hell-bent on eating everything in her garden that she loved best. Since those happy childhood moments, I have had other difficult moments with slugs including the one who dared to come into our house, into the lounge, and who I trod on in the dark one night. Yuck! All of which means that, to be honest, I wasn’t sure this book would be very enjoyable for me! Still, I’m never one to say no to something illustrated by Tony Ross, and he and Jeanne Willis make a reliably good team, so I put my salt pot away and sat down to read.
Slug needs a hug. He’s getting pretty desperate and he just doesn’t understand why his mummy never, ever gives him a hug. Poor slug begins to fear that the reason she won’t hug him is because he’s so ugly. His friends all have lots of suggestions as to how he can make himself more huggable, including kitten who says slug needs to be more furry, so slug dons a hat and a furry jacket. Bird suggests a beak, Piglet says he surely needs some trotters, and a tail, and a squeak. You can probably imagine how poor old slug is starting to look now!
Dressed from head to toe (do slugs have toes?) in a fabulous costume, Slug makes his way home to his mummy. Of course, she doesn’t recognise him and he has to reveal himself. His mummy, in an expectable mummy-ish way, declares that she loves him just as he is. She does, in fact, have an extremely good reason for not giving him a hug (I’ll let you see if you can figure it out yourselves…) and poor old Slug gets a nice kiss from his mum instead!
Written in an unusual rhyme scheme for a children’s book, the story has a nice lilting feel to it. I ended up looking up the type of poem for you all since I had no idea how to describe it! I think it can be described as a sestet. You learn something new every day, even whilst reading a children’s picture book! I’d advise a quick glance over before you try reading it aloud though, just so you can get to grips with the pattern. Once you’ve got a feel for it, it flows wonderfully well. The story is, of course, terribly silly, and the items of apparel suggested to slug make him look more and more ridiculous. It’s very easy for small children to follow along as you see each new item being worn by slug, and you can talk about the animal who is suggesting the item too.
The illustrations are, of course, delightful. Tony Ross manages to create a slug that verges on being cute! My favourite picture is towards the beginning, when Slug is simply wearing a hat and jacket. His little face is so happy! The animals are all fun to see, and the colours are bright and cheerful. I can’t say that I feel particularly more charitable towards slugs now, but it’s certainly an enjoyable read!
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You can read more book reviews or buy Slug Needs a Hug by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross 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 Slug Needs a Hug by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross at Amazon.com.
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