Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap (Underrated Babies Book 1) by Justine Avery and Daria Yudina
| Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap (Underrated Babies Book 1) by Justine Avery and Daria Yudina | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: Three cute baby trolls learn persuasive language techniques - ask nicely, don't demand - in a story that will teach youngsters a skill as well as providing a message that every voice is important and pre-judging is bad. Lovely illustrations which add to distinctive characterisation. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 22 | Date: January 2020 |
| Publisher: Suteki Creative | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1948124287 | |
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Horatio, Saul and Grizelda are three baby trolls who are fed up that everyone forgets about baby trolls. They are ignored in books and TV shows and films in favour of their very scary grown ups. Our three heroes want equal rights for baby trolls. They want to be seen and heard and they've started a petition about it that they want you to sign. But how should they go about it?
Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap will teach its young readers the valuable skill of persuasive language: ask nicely, don't demand and stamp your feet when what you want isn't immediately forthcoming. Explain yourself. Show yourself. Be polite and cheerful. When Horatio, Grizelda and Saul suddenly appear on the first page, shouting SIGN OUR PETITION!, it's impactful. Young readers have no idea what petition they're being asked to sign and are likely to say, No! Why should I?. But, by the end, they'll be raring to get out their pencils and put their name after Santa Claus's in the clever final panel, which is an illustration of the petition itself. And a good conversation can be had about why. Good picture books incite such conversations between parent and child and Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap succeeds brilliantly in this criterion.
The underlying message, of course, is that you shouldn't prejudge anyone, troll or otherwise and that everyone's voice should be heard. And that very often, people you think might be scary because you don't know anyone like them turns out to be not scary at all when you do get to know them. It's a book against ignorance and othering.
Those are the serious bits! But the fun bits are also there. This short little picture book with its minimal text packs so much characterisation into its three baby trolls, it's an utter joy. Horatio, the biggest, is clever and earnest but can be a little bit pompous. He uses some quite long words in a slightly self-conscious way. Saul is the naughty-but-nice one who quite likes the idea of being a little bit scary when he grows up to be a big troll and has some hilarious put-downs. Grizelda, the littlest, considers herself to be more princess than troll and loves attention. Daria Yudina's energetic, lively illustrations capture Avery's characters exactly and add lovely detail - Horatio squinting behind his glasses, Saul squiggly mouth when he makes his best scary face (not scary!), Grizelda's tongue poking out as she gazes at her ice cream.
Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap is fun to read, teaches children new language skills, makes important points about listening to every voice, and introduces three fabulous characters for children to make connections with. What more could you want?
When they get a bit older and are reading for themselves, and if they still love trolls, they'll enjoy the storytelling and magic in Troll Blood by Katherine Langrish. You might also enjoy You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap (Underrated Babies Book 1) by Justine Avery and Daria Yudina 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 Baby Trolls Get a Bad Rap (Underrated Babies Book 1) by Justine Avery and Daria Yudina at Amazon.com.
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