The King Who Didn't Like Snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator)

From TheBookbag
Revision as of 10:42, 18 September 2021 by Sue (talk | contribs) (Created page with "{{infobox1 |title=The King Who Didn't Like Snow |sort=King Who Didn't Like Snow |author=Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator) |reviewer=Sue Magee |genre=For Sharing...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigationJump to search


The King Who Didn't Like Snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator)

TKWDLS.jpg
Buy The King Who Didn't Like Snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator) at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: For Sharing
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Reviewed by Sue Magee
Summary: An engaging story which will encourage children to talk about their fears. It's well-written with great illustrations
Buy? Yes Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32 Date: October 2021
Publisher: FullMedia
External links: Author's website
ISBN:

Share on: Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn



In the kingdom of Cornovia, King Mark lived in Windy Hill Castle along with a time-travelling wizard called Bertram Ebeneezer Rufus Tagtangle (Bert to his friends) and a little white bookworm called Broderick. Broderick lived in Bert's book of spells and despite the fact that he'd been told not to read them, he did - and turned bright green and grew as big as a cuddly pillow. He'd zapped himself. Obviously, he couldn't now live in the book of spells but King Mark solved the problem when he made Broderick the royal librarian and allowed him to live in the library. That was quite handy, as Bert and Broderick took to playing tiddlywinks in the library.

Then one day it snowed. Everything which had been green was suddenly white. This caused a problem in the castle as King Mark really hated snow and demanded that Bert do something about it. Bert protested that there was nothing he could do about snow but King Mark was insistent. What seemed like the best idea was to turn the snow green, so that everything looked normal when the king looked out from his castle which worked well until he decided to go for a walk and got very wet when he tumbled into a green snowdrift. That was the point at which Bert had his best idea.

He and Cody, the royal carpenter, made a toboggan for every child in Windy Hill Village, plus an extra one which they kept secret. When the king saw the children having a great time, he decided that he wanted to try it too - and this was where the extra toboggan (complete with a cushion for the royal bottom) came in. And, of course, he had a wonderful time. Suddenly, the snow didn't seem quite so bad after all.

Sometimes children are frightened of things that are completely natural or normal - even children who are kings can suffer from this. It's pointless trying to change it as that can often make matters worse. The best thing to do is to accept that it's happening and then try and make the most of it. Sometimes, you might just surprise yourself and have a great time! It's a gentle message which will reassure children that their own fears are not unreasonable or even unusual and to give encouragement to have a go at whatever is worrying them. It's also a brilliant opportunity to start a conversation about other worries: it might not be snow that worries your child. It could be dogs, or escalators - or policemen. The list of normal things which can worry a child is endless and The King Who Didn't Like Snow provides a valuable opportunity for discussion.

Jocelyn Porter tells the story well, in language which is accessible but appropriately challenging. The font is suitable for the emerging reader and Michael S Kane's bright and cheery illustrations give neat breaks in the text as well as a small nudge as to what that elusive word might be.

Just a word of warning: you know you're going to end up playing tiddlywinks, don't you? And they get everywhere, just like Christmas tree needles.

I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy. For more from the same stable, try One Night in Beartown by Nick Jones and Si Clark. For more fun in the snow, we can recommend The Snow Beast by Chris Judge.

Please share on: Facebook Facebook, Follow us on Twitter Twitter and Follow us on Instagram Instagram

Buy The King Who Didn't Like Snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator) at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy The King Who Didn't Like Snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator) at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.

Buy The King Who Didn't Like Snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator) at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy The King Who Didn't Like Snow by Jocelyn Porter and Michael S Kane (Illustrator) at Amazon.com.

Comments

Like to comment on this review?

Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.