Archive | August 10, 2017

When the World is Full of Friends

When the World is Full of Friends

When the World is Full of Friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the World is Full of Friends

Gillian Shields

Anna Currey

Bloomsbury, 2017

32pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9781408849668

Albert, Tom and Flossie Rabbit played very well together.  Each had their favourite thing – Albert liked to be very active, Tom liked to dress up and Flossie liked to invent things. Their little brother Pipkin just liked to lie on his blankie in the sun beside the stream.  Each day they had a marvellous time playing together but one day Flossie wished that they had some friends to play with too.

As it happened some squirrels, who are about the same size as rabbits, came to live in a nearby tree.  And while they waved to each other as friends do, they couldn’t play together because the stream was too wide.  Flossie though tying a lot of balloons to a basket and flying across might solve the problem but it didn’t.  And the stream was too wide for Albert to run, hop and leap across. Would they ever get to meet up and play together?  Then at last Flossie has an idea…and by all bringing their particular favourite activities to the party they not only solve the problem but have a lovely adventure as well.

This is a wonderful story for early readers about problem solving and perseverance and the children will have a lot of fun suggesting ways that the rabbits can get across the river and comparing the emotions before and after the problem is solved.  They might even try to copy Flossie’s suggestion to see if they can design something similar. Gentle watercolour illustrations complement the text making it a perfect read-aloud to accompany a theme of friendships and working together.