This is a delightful story that incorporates not only the responsibilities of owning a pet, but the enjoyment they bring to family life. Nick Price’s illustrations are bright and cheerful and my children and I love the way they bring the Snaggle Grollop’s character to life. Not only this, but they very cleverly interweave a secondary story into the book too.
The Story: Sam would like a pet, either a cat or a dog, but both his Mum and his Dad say no. However, when Sam asks for a Snaggle Grollop they agree; after all, there’s no such thing as a Snaggle Grollop, is there? “Yes, but…no, but…but – oh heck,” is Dad’s spluttered reaction when it turns out that, not only does a Snaggle Grollop actually exist, but he also requires quite a lot of looking after too. Although the Snaggle Grollop loves his new family he finds he is sometimes lonely, until one sunny afternoon when he meets Emily’s unusual pet, a Quibblesnuff. This is the beginning of a new adventure for him, told beautifully through the illustrations.
I don’t want to give the game away but we very often read this story twice, once to listen to the words and once to follow through the pictures. This is one of those beautifully illustrated books which encourages the adults to pay as much attention to the pictures as the children do.
Age Range: 3 to 6 (although Joanna says 3 to adult as she loves the book so much!)
Author: Daniel Postgate / Illustrator: Nick Price
About Joanna Gray
‘I live in Leeds with my husband, our three children; Nathan (6), Will (5) and Karin (5) – yes they are twins, and our dog, Buster. I work in the Head Office of a Bank where my day job is analysing numbers. It is about as far away from what people expect from an author as possible!
I’m a very energetic, happy person and I love to live life to the full. I love spending time with my family and friends, usually running around with the children having fun.’
Joanna’s debut picture book The Little Raindrop was published earlier this year and is one of our favourite new picture books. It was a finalist in The People’s Book Prize in Spring 2013. You can read our recommendation and how we used the book to learn about the water cycle here.
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