View source for The First Slodge by Jeanne Willis and Jenni Desmond

{{infobox2
|title=The First Slodge
|sort=  First Slodge
|author=Jeanne Willis and Jenni Desmond
|reviewer= Rachael Spencer
|genre=For Sharing
|summary= The First Slodge is a wonderful, ever so slightly different picture book which I think will work well with a wide variety of children for a wide variety of reasons. A great read for all the family that might just make you stop and think for a little bit too.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=32
|publisher=Little Tiger Press
|date=April 2015
|isbn=9781848690394
|website=http://www.jeannewillis.com
|aznuk=1848690398
|aznus=1848690398
|cover=1848690398
}}

The First Slodge thinks everything is his, until he finds out he might be the first Slodge, but that doesn’t make him the only Slodge. Will they learn to share? They might just have to. I found The First Slodge to be a fascinating book. I loved the ideas, and I think it’s great that a picture book is managing to tackle a number of issues all at once like this without losing its own sense of story and purpose.

On the face of it, it is a book which teaches sharing, showing children how to share not only objects but the world as a whole. It is dealt with well, encouraging people to look at the sunset, the trees, and the ocean as things which belong to us all - shared ownership of the world. At the same time as doing this, it also touches on the ideas of how life began on the earth. I feel  as though this book is almost a religious story without the religion. It takes kids back to basics in terms of both morals and ideas. For me, this gives it an extra layer of value, from a reader’s perspective. 

Parallel to all the meaning which I’m plucking from the narrative is the fact that it is just a really nice book to read and share. The words are well thought out, being easy to understand but clever enough to convey meaning, even in its simplicity. The illustrations are an excellent balance between understated and funny, which is exactly what a story like this requires, I think.

This is a book which could be shared with children on quite a number of different levels and would work equally well on all of them. It is simply a nice bedtime story, or a moral story about the value of sharing, or else a simplistic way of starting to tap into things such as sharing the world, as well as the ideas of evolution. 

I think, however you decide to use and read this book, you and the children you share it with are going to enjoy it. I know we are.

If you like this book, then you might also want to try [[Mine! by Jerome Keane and Susana de Dios]] or [[Ernest by Catherine Rayner]], which are both lovely picture books with big hearts.  You might also enjoy [[That's Not How You Do It! by Ariane Hofmann-Maniyar]].

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[[Category:Jeanne Willis]]
[[Category:Jenni Desmond]]