A few years ago I had really enjoyed reviewing Rebecca’s
picture book, ‘The Something’. A heart-warming story about looking, thinking and asking questions. A book about
being happy with not knowing all the answers but keeping watch anyway in the
hope that something surprising will appear.
So imagine my delight when I picked up ‘Aunt Amelia’ from a
bookshop located a very posh part of South London.
As soon as I walked in the shop I was greeted by the sight
of a four year old who was demanding to be read a story from her parent and who
was racing round the shop beside themselves with excitement. Aforementioned
parent was in the phonics section selecting dreary educational books to be
bought and kept for when they were on holiday.
If only I could have placed ‘Aunt Amelia’ in the little girls
hands or at least read it aloud to her.
The story begins with two children who are in a bad mood
because their parents are going away for a day and a night and leaving Aunt
Amelia in charge. To add to their grumpiness they are told to be good. Mum and
Dad leave a long list of instructions which Aunt Amelia thinks will be very
useful.
‘Please tell the
children to be careful if you go to the park.’
The rules and Aunt Amelia’s interpretation of them form the
heart of the story. The list of instructions make up the text whilst the
illustrations show Aunt Amelia’s anarchic response to them as she encourages
the children to experiment , explore make a mess and be creative. Aunt Amelia
even turns tidying up a fun game!
In a classroom context you could read the rules out without
showing the children the illustrations asking them to describe what they think
is happening before showing them what Aunt Amelia and the children get up to.
This is a joyful story about the importance of sometimes
not playing by the rules. Definitely a must purchase for all those aunts out
there.
And no-one seems to care or comment on the fact that Aunt
Amelia is a crocodile!
ISBN 978 1-4472-4236-9
Macmillan Children’s Books
www.panmacmillan.com
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