View source for Get Well Friends by Kes Gray and Mary McQuillan

{{infobox2
|title=Get Well Friends
|author=Kes Gray and Mary McQuillan
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Beautifully illustrated story about feeling poorly and getting better - it would make a lovely 'Get Well Soon' gift for a poorly toddler. 
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=32
|publisher=Hodder Children's Books
|date=July 2011
|isbn=978-1444903812
|website=http://www.kesgray.com/
|video=
|aznuk=1444903810
|aznus=1444903810
|cover=1444903810
}}

Nurse Nibbles has a hospital full of patients - who can we see who is poorly?  There's a hamster whose whiskers got caught up in his wheel, and a centipede who sprained 98 ankles playing hockey!  Will Nurse Nibbles be able to make them feel better?

There's lots of repetition in this book, ideal for little ones to follow the pattern of the story.  So ''Morgan the mole is poorly.  He tunnelled straight into a well.  Dipak the Dalmatian is poorly.  His spots came out in stripes.''  All of the animals have been involved in a funny situation leading to them being poorly in some way.  I personally like poor Tiffany the tortoise who has a flat shell thanks to an elephant treading on her (as he ran to get to the ice cream van!)

The illustrations are what really bring the book alive.  The animals are all very cute, and their situations are depicted in humorous ways.  Poor Connie broke her tooth biting a rhino's bottom, and we can see the rhino walking off in the distance, red tooth marks in his bottom!  There's lots to look at in the pictures and discuss as you see what has made each animal poorly.  The ending shows all the animals lined up and we're told that they all took their medicine (a hint to any reluctant toddlers!) and they all got better in the end.

This is a lovely book, especially for any little tots suffering from a cold or chicken pox perhaps who need a nice pick-me-up gift.  It is quite simple, so wouldn't hold the attention of pre-schoolers for long, but I think the simplicity works perfectly for older babies and younger toddlers, reinforcing the story through repetition and with lovely, bright pictures to look over and talk about together.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: For more about doctors and nurses try [[A Day with the Animal Doctors by Sharon Rentta]]. Slightly older children might enjoy the medical emergencies in [[Choking Wolf (Urgency Emergency!) by Dosh Archer]]

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[[Category:Kes Gray]]
[[Category:Mary McQuillan]]