Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake by Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins
| Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake by Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Chloe Spooner
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| Summary: Small Knight and his sidekick George are sent to retrieve the Royal Chocolate Cake. Read along for adventures, songs and
beautiful illustrations. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: July 2009 |
| Publisher: Orchard | |
| ISBN: 978-1846169137 | |
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The paperback also contains a scrummy chocolate cake recipe from celebrity chef Willie Harcourt-Cooze.
Unsurprisingly, it was the gorgeous looking cover showing an enormous chocolate cake which attracted my two and a half year old son to this book! He started saying 'choccy cake book please Mummy' so I knew that I would have to review it for the Bookbag! It arrived yesterday and he eagerly grabbed it from me and asked me to read it to him.
The story tells the tale of Small Knight and his dragon George who live in the castle with Mummy and Daddy Knight. The King and Queen are coming for a party and ask for their favourite cake to be made by Big Cook. But the party is put into jeopardy when the enormous cake is stolen by the Brigands, wild and messy little people who live in the forest. It falls to Small Knight and George to venture into the forest and return the cake before the Queen and King realise it's missing.
As I mentioned, the cover is what really grabbed my son's attention and I'm not at all surprised that it did! The picture is gloriously colourful and attention-grabbing, on a vivid yellow background, you wouldn't be able to ignore this book on the shelf! It's a nice large hardback so easy for younger toddlers to help with reading and turning the pages. I hoped that the lovely illustrations on the front cover would continue throughout the book, and I was thrilled to see that they did.
As soon as we began the story, my son was absolutely mesmerised. Each page was filled to the brim with colourful, fantastically drawn pictures which tell the story perfectly. The book is set in a medieval period, which means Knights in traditional metal armour, old castles and people in old-fashioned robes. The pictures are full of colour, and it was this that made them so eye-catching and such a great addition to the book. The illustrations fill whole pages, curve around the text and even fit between the lines - the book is stuffed with pictures, great for young children who love looking at them whilst they listen to the story.
The story itself was fun to read and easy to follow for young children too. The text is a generous size, so that children learning to read will be able to help mum and dad read along, using fairly basic language, although there were a few hard words in there which were a bit too complicated for young children. However, this is also a positive thing because it will encourage children to question their parents about the words and this can open up conversation about the word and the historical period in which the book is set.
The story is like an adventure, and I know my son was absolutely hooked from the first page. It has a nice rhythm to it with a few rhymes dotted throughout too. There were even a couple of songs, to which I made up my own tune which made my son laugh, and I think this is a good idea as your child can join in with you when you sing the song to no particular tune! The characters were all basic but enjoyable, with the littlest person of the bunch saving the day at the end, helping children to realise little people can make a difference! There are some good morals in the book as well, involving the messy and wild people who live in the forest. They have no manners and are barred from the party, but when they are polite, clean and well-dressed they are allowed to meet the King and Queen and allowed to share the cake. This is good for encouraging children's manners and tidyness without them realising it!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and my son was a completely rapt audience, requesting that I read it over and over again, and he's had it as his bedtime story two nights on the trot which is unheard of! He loves pointing out the cake when it appears in the book. The characters are all so sweet, the illustrations are beautiful and this is just a fantastic children's book I'd thoroughly recommend, and one which I really enjoy reading aloud too!
Thank you to the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If you like the sound of this book, you may also enjoy The Trouble with Dragons by Debi Gliori, also containing dragons, although this time with an environmental message!
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You can read more book reviews or buy Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake by Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins 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 Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake by Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins at Amazon.com.
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