Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: Grandma

  • Stop That Dinosaur!

    Stop That Dinosaur!

    What an exciting adventure story Stop That Dinosaur  is as from the beginning we are catapulted into an outrageous adventure. It isn’t every day that you are having afternoon tea with Granny when a dinosaur grabs her and runs away. How Dare he! 

    Granddaughter is suitably outraged, and gives chase on her scooter, shouting out “Stop that dinosaur.”  After all, what evil plan does he have for Granny? As the chase continues through the countryside, the young girl’s legs are becoming tired and the reader wonders just what will happen to the dinosaur’s captive.

    Stop That Dinosaur so much fun to read, as we are not sure exactly why the dinosaur has chosen Gran to run off with. The little girl falls off her scooter and all is revealed. Really, the dinosaur is just after a Gran of his own. Happily, there is enough love and cake for all.

    The writing of the story is rhyming, lyrical and fun. When the girl falls off the scooter she, “Flew right through the air and then I wobbled to the side. I scraped my knee and bumped my bum.” The text varies in size, especially when the girl is shouting.  The illustrations are colourful and give the story additional information and impetus.  The story and presentation are excellent and promise to bring a smile to every face.

  • The Biggest Thing of All

    The Biggest Thing of All

    The Biggest Thing of All is a carefully and creatively constructed story with sensitive illustrations that tell gently the very informative life message that everything, no matter how big or small, is a part of something bigger.

    Lily loves to help her grandparents in the garden. They cut, dig, plant and pick the flowers and vegetables that they grow. Sometimes Mum and Dad help as well. Grandpa talks about the many things in the garden: how an ant can become a colony, a bee part of a hive, a raindrop part of the river; how something, no matter what, is always part of something bigger.

    Grandma stops coming into the garden. She spends a lot of time sitting in her chair eating lavender brownies and drinking lavender tea. Soon she stays in bed all day, until one day, she is not there anymore.

    Grandpa is very sad. He stays in his room and does not want to go into the garden. Mum and Dad are also very sad. Lily runs into the garden and cries, stomps and feels so very sad, so lonely and upset all the time. Winter comes to the garden early, with lots of snow covering the garden beds, the trees and the plants. She feels a terrible; exactly like the way the garden looks, cold, sad and very wintery until the Spring comes and she begins to understand that everything is part of something bigger, even Grandma’s passing.

    For children struggling with the concept of grief and learning to understand their emotions in a time of great stress, the metaphor of the life cycle in the garden is perfect to illustrate that after the sadness, comes life, hope and laughter once again, even though it is a little bit different to what was there before.

    Well considered and carefully blended the watercolour illustrations from Romina Gallotta complement the delicately worded story by Kathryn Thurman making The Biggest Thing of All a book which will help parents explain to children complex emotions, in a gentle and loving style.

  • Grandmas from Mars

    Grandmas from Mars

    A Children’s Picture Book that tells of a Science Fiction adventure is quite unusual. Refreshingly we find Martians and children have been mixed together in a puzzling, but solvable problem. Grandmas are in charge in most of the houses in the street, as parents have gone to meetings, so Grandmas become important characters in the story as well. Mostly they are guiding or organizing their grandchildren…” Give Grandma a kiss.”

    The adventure arises when we discover Martians who have been observing earth. They believe that Grandmas are respected and listened to. Gradually a plan evolves. If they want to take over earth they could do it in the guise of a Grandma, then everyone would do as they were told. First the Grandmas have to be removed, so they are beamed up to the space ship. (Much to Grannies surprise!)  Next, the Martians are beamed down to replace the Grannies. The children notice differences almost straight away. The new Grans have no rules, which are a bit scary, and some have three eyes.

    Now things get out of control as the Grannies chase the children down the street. How will they escape? Who will think of a cunning plan to get rid of the Martian/Granny’s? To this fun story we have the added interest of brightly coloured illustrations, which show subtle differences in the replaced elders. It is fun to see the third eyeball peeking out, or the tail protruding under the dress.

    The story is written in rhyme, which is catchy and predictable. “Meanwhile on Mars, there’s an awful plan brewing…Look at those ladies! They know what they’re doing.”  Scanning each page for the interesting pictures and the fast paced action will keep everyone on their toes and demanding a read; such a change from, “Homework, a bath, and bed before eight.”