Author: Sean Taylor
Illustrator: Hannah Shaw
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Format: hardback/paperback
Publication year 2013.
Mr Tanner is a farmer with no conscience. He pollutes the land and mistreats the farm animals something rotten. No wonder they all want to run away! But where can they seek refuge? Someone suggests the moon. Glowing brightly in the night sky, it looks like a peaceful place to bring up the kids and chicks.
The animals build a rocket but, before they can all climb in and take off, they have to launch a test flight. A chicken, a rabbit and a sheep all volunteer as test pilots - only to crash land back on the farm with their dreams of space travel in tatters. It looks like the poor animals will never see the back of Mr Tanner after all. Until the greedy farmer discovers their secret and decides to appropriate the rocket.....
This is a zany, fun story that had the three little readers I tried it on hooting with laughter and joining in. The text sparkles with naughtiness and the comic book drawings more than do it justice. I loved the bold primary colours and the quirky angles of beaks and noses. The ending has a satisfying twist in the tail and, like all good pictures, leaves the reader wanting more.
There are two versions of the book, one in a big picture book format and a second which is part of the I Am Reading Series, created in consultation with literary expert Prue Goodwin.
A must for all bookshelves!
Review by Saviour Pirotta
website: www.spirotta.com
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1 comment:
Lovely to see a review that includes Hannah Shaw, as Hannahj kindly helped with the artwork for the Awfully Big Adventure Blog. This sounds a brilliant book and it's always good to get real audience feedback. I think that there's lots of good stuff around in series just now os good to have this series highlighted. Thanks, Saviour.
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