Milo's Pet Egg by Rebecca Elliott
| Milo's Pet Egg by Rebecca Elliott | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
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| Summary: A sweet and gentle tale of a lemur and the egg he's looking after. The youngest book fans will love its beautiful illustrations and relaxed tone. Worth a look. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: August 2010 |
| Publisher: Bloomsbury | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1408802007 | |
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Milo the lemur discovers a pretty pebble one day. He prods it, and to his surprise it moves! He listens carefully, and finds that it's breathing, so he realises that it's an egg, calls it Snappy, and the two of them get up to all sorts of adventures.
Milo's Pet Egg is a lovely, gentle book. It's awash with the sweetness that always comes with such birth books. The text is simple but engaging, with enough scene-setting and denouement bookending the appropriately sparse action. It's a relaxed book for the very youngest book fans, but there's enough charm and heart that they won't grow out of it too soon.
Although egg stories are fairly well-trodden ground, Milo's Pet Egg doesn't feel derivative or tepid. Snappy is the making of the tale: he's treated as a definite character who does stuff within the text, but in the pictures he's just carried around by Milo. There are no comical hands and feet sticking out of Snappy's shell; that touch of realism somewhat at odds with the text isn't hammered home, so is a pleasant garnish that survives subsequent readings.
Rebecca Elliott's illustrations are suitably cute without being cutesy. There's a softness and comfort to them which will strike a chord with all readers. The delicate brush strokes provide a wonderfully inviting African landscape, with a mix of grass, water, trees, and lots of little bugs in the background to reward poring over all the pages. There's a real talent to her work, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she does in future.
Whilst Milo's Pet Egg won't always be the first book you grab from the bookshelf, it's a nice one to have in the mix as a change of pace, particularly if winding down for bedtime. Eggs is eggs, but sometimes a good egg is exactly what you want. Worth a look.
My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
For other eggy books, take a look at The Cow That Laid An Egg by Andy Cutbill, Baby Blue Egg by Mij Kelly and Mary McQuillan, The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett and Chick by Ed Vere. Marvin's Funny Dance by Sarah McConnell features other African animals, but is more cartoony than Milo's Pet Egg.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Milo's Pet Egg by Rebecca Elliott at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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