The Snorgh and the Sailor by Will Buckingham and Thomas Docherty
| The Snorgh and the Sailor by Will Buckingham and Thomas Docherty | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Kerry King
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| Summary: Snorghs don't have visitors. Snorghs don't share soup. And Snorghs most definitely do not like adventures. But then a bedraggled sailor arrives telling thrilling stories of exotic lands - and the Snorgh finds himself going on an adventure after all. This is the tale of an unlikely friendship and a rather exciting voyage of discovery - if we only dare to go. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: April 2012 |
| Publisher: Alison Green Books | |
| ISBN: 978-1407116525 | |
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The Snorgh lives alone in a little shack on a windy and quiet stretch of beach that is known for its rather fabulous crop of samphire, upon which the Snorgh munches. Lucky little devil, isn't he?!
It's a solitary existence, until one day, a rather bedraggled little sailor bunny knocks on his door. The Snorgh isn't really much of a social animal and attempts to shoo the little bunny away. But the sailor bunny is a persistent little chap and he's having none of it. He ignores the Snorgh's protests that he does not want to hear about the bunny's adventures and makes himself quite at home in the Snorgh's little shack. In spite of himself, it's not long before the Snorgh is hooked and rather desperate to know how the adventure turns out. But the bunny has disappeared!
I was a bit thrown by the title of this book. I like to confidently be able to pronounce the name of the story and I wasn't quite sure where to go with Snorgh – but that's a small point. Because honestly, Snorgh describes this creature rather perfectly. Like Mr Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street. Anyway, I digress – I stumbled briefly and then decided I'd pronounce it in my own way and find out later if I had it all wrong. Like my 4 year old is going to know what a Snorgh is anyway, let alone correct my pronunciation!
So, we meet the Snorgh – he's a funny little chap; not terribly sociable but rather appealing all the same. And we also meet the adventurous sailing bunny who is a different kettle of fish entirely (no pun intended).
This book is such a delightful read, with exciting adventures involving a journey out to sea in a bathtub, great whales and desert islands and even sea monsters. It's such an imaginative ramble that the reader certainly feels he or she has been dropped into the wild dreams of someone who grew up on a diet of books like Swallows and Amazons.
More importantly, my pre-schooler loved it. In particular, she was especially partially-thrilled and partially-mock-horrified that the sea monster (what appears to be a giant octopus) picks up the bathtub in which the Snorgh is sailing and drops it on a beach. It was a tiny bit too stimulating as a bed time read (even funny sea monsters can appear in dreams that are not quite so funny at 3am) in light of its newness on our bookshelves, but as a daytime or group read I must heartily recommend it to you.
In summary, The Snorgh and the Sailor was just a little bit wonderful and the only reason I have deducted half a star is because I can't really use it at bedtimes (which is our favourite time of day to read).
For further reading and perhaps a more recognisable creature feature, we think you should take a look at Tyrannosaurus Drip by Julia Donaldson or, equally exciting, but in a gentler way, you may like to try The Big Adventure of the Smalls by Helen Stephens which has the best, huge fold out flaps in the middle.
Lastly, we at Bookbag would like to extend our thanks to the kind people at Alison Green Books for sending us this copy to review.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Snorgh and the Sailor by Will Buckingham and Thomas Docherty 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 The Snorgh and the Sailor by Will Buckingham and Thomas Docherty at Amazon.com.
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Will Buckingham said:
Hello, Thanks, Kerry, for the lovely, kind review. I thought I'd email about pronunciation! I say it with a hard "G" ("SnorG"). It would sound nice, too, with a kind of guttural Scottish tone. All the best, Will
