Scrummy! by Leigh Hodgkinson

Scrummy! by Leigh Hodgkinson
Buy Scrummy! by Leigh Hodgkinson at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
Summary: Another wonderful Sunny McCloud book, presented in Leigh Hodgkinson's brilliant and unique style. An absolute delight of a picture book. Highly recommended. Leigh Hodgkinson was kind enough to be interviewed by Bookbag.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: September 2010
Publisher: Orchard
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1408309360
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Sunny McCloud is back after losing, then finding, her smile. This time she's considering what kind of sandwich ingredients her family are. When her sandwich turns out to be a bit of a mundane cheese sandwich, she wonders what would spice up her sandwich and her family, going wild with bananas/monkeys and ice cream/penguins. Ice cream in a cheese sandwich? Hmm...

Here at Bookbag, we're massive fans of Leigh Hodgkinson's work. Smile!, the previous Sunny McCloud book, is still a firm favourite, and the newly released Limelight Larry also blew us away. She has a unique style that taps straight into a sense of childlike imagination, balanced with a strong sense of design and character. Words and pictures are in perfect harmony, and every page looks amazing. Seeing the monkeys as family members, and other wild ideas play out, are hilarious.

Sunny is a wonderfully sweet kid, and the way she views her family will stimulate thought and love amongst all young readers. There's a lovely blend of humour and heart exuding from every page - a gentle message and a funny story all in one. The bread (Sunny's mum and dad) could have been problematic, as it could come with an implication that only two-parent families can work. It's been phrased absolutely spot on - rightly allowing for all family situations, but without tripping over itself to very obviously sound knowingly inclusive. Sunny makes the point that in every family, there are one or two people who hold everything together like the bread, and in her particular case it's her mum and dad. The whole book is smartly written, with an ear for a child's voice. There's snappy vocabulary and excitement in spades. Very young children will enjoy having it read to them (and perhaps getting to grips with the idea of simple metaphors for the first time). As they get older, the quality is such that they'll love reading it to themselves.

If forced to pick between Scrummy! and Smile!, I'd go for the original as the core joke works better after repeated readings. However, if both is an option, then go for both - they complement each other very well, without feeling at all like the same book. I really hope that there'll be more Sunny McCloud books too. If picking between Scrummy! and most other books, I'd happily plump for Scrummy! Highly recommended.

Huge thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

Three By The Sea by Mini Grey is another beautifully designed book that exudes quality. Bedtime Without Arthur by Jessica Meserve has a sweet message about family. For more food-based fun, check out Too Pickly! by Jean Reidy and Genevieve Leloup.

Leigh Hodgkinson was kind enough to be interviewed by Bookbag.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Scrummy! by Leigh Hodgkinson 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 Scrummy! by Leigh Hodgkinson at Amazon.com.

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