The Last Chip The Story of a Very Hungry Pigeon is the story of Percy the pigeon’s quest to find food. Percy’s story highlights the desperate situation of somebody who is extremely hungry and also introduces children to the concept of homelessness and living on the streets.
The Story: Percy is always hungry but his attempts to find food at the train station are thwarted by a large gang of pigeons. He flies further and further away to try and find food but is still unsuccessful. Despite his hunger brave Percy manages to fly back to the city but will he ever find something to eat?
Percy really is down and out and, towards the end of the story, he is incredibly weak with hunger. His trips to the station, the park and the beach to find food are thwarted by other equally hungry, very dominant birds and we sympathise with Percy’s plight every time they bully him. The introduction of a kind, homeless, also hungry, stranger brings welcome relief and leads to a heartwarming, feelgood final spread.
The illustration of sad, hungry Percy on the cover evoked sympathy before we even opened the book and the story of his attempts to find food kept us turning the pages, we were rooting for Percy as we read and were so relieved that his story ends happily. We love the muted colours of Duncan Beedie’s gorgeous illustrations and, in contrast to Percy’s plight, they add humour to the story. The name of the fish and chip shop made me laugh and my daughter thinks the seagull looks great although she was horrified by the way that he treated poor Percy.
The Last Chip would be a great book to use in an Early Years / Key Stage One classroom to stimulate discussions on a variety of themes. It’s impressive how Duncan has managed to include the themes of homelessness, hunger, bullying, kindness and friendship all in one story.
When you buy The Last Chip you will also be giving a donation to charity as ‘10% of the profits from the sale of this book go to The Trussell Trust, supporting a network of 425 food banks across the UK.’
Age Range: 3 +
Author / Illustrator: Duncan Beedie
Thank you to Templar Books for sending The Last Chip. We’re huge fans of Duncan’s work.
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