Sloths are by nature slow and Slow Samson is no exception! He’s kind and has lots of friends but is so slow that he always arrives at a party once it has finished. We’ve fallen in love with Samson, his story shows the importance of kindness, caring and looking out for your friends.
The Story: Samson is a popular sloth but he just can’t get to parties on time. It doesn’t matter whether he talks to his friends on the way or ignores them, he’s always late. But can Samson’s friends come up with a plan to ensure that he doesn’t miss the next party?
Slow Samson is adorable, helpful and cares about his friends so of course he helps them when they need it. But sorting out arguments and chatting to them on the way to a party slows him down even more. Ignoring them on his way to a party is even worse and on the way to the third party they all rush away leaving him feeling lonely.
But Samson’s friends really really care about him too and they’re determined that he won’t miss the next party…
We absolutely love Bethany Christou’s illustrations, they’re so vibrant and full of life. Samson and his friends are adorable and include a toucan, a snake and an anteater. We love this spread showing Samson drawing pictures and the way that Terry is hugging his portrait to his breast – it’s so cute how happy he looks!
We also love the page showing the friends’ plans to get Samson to the party on time – balloons, roller-skates and rocket packs all feature. They really do care about making sure Samson doesn’t miss out! But will their plan work?
The Slow Samson endpapers are fabulous, we love maps in books. This is the front endpaper showing the forest where Samson lives, the final endpaper is the same with a few extra details added…
Slow Samson is a wonderful celebration of the power of friendship and caring. It’s a fabulous story to introduce discussions about friends in an Early Years / Key Stage One classroom and children could also come up with their own ideas to help Samson get to the party on time. It could also be used to initiate an invitation writing activity.
Age Range: 3 +
Author / Illustrator: Bethany Christou
Thank you to Templar Publishing for sending us a copy of Slow Samson. We think it’s a great book and look forward to reading more stories from Bethany Christou.
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