Author & Illustrators
One Monday morning, Horace Norton finds that a bear has broken his bicycle!
How ever will he get to work?
On Tuesday the bus is too busy, on Wednesday a scooter is too small, and when he tries a pair of roller skates on Thursday it doesn’t end at all well.
Will Mr Norton find the perfect vehicle and finally get to work on time?
Packed with vehicular chaos and an accumulative text that begs to be read aloud, this is a future classic in the making.
Who’s ever heard of a flying penguin?
Clive Penguin is back, and, affronted by the narrator’s praise for ‘majestic’ swooping seagulls, is determined to take to the sky himself.
He’s going to fly!
Who says penguins can’t do it?
A funny, deadpan tale of reaching for your dreams and ignoring naysayers.
This is a delightful book – both the story and the illustrations are joyous. While the story is a simple one, it gives a powerful message of kindness and acceptance.
Mr Norton, the book’s main character, is endlessly patient as each part of his person and home is taken over by a variety of animals. The language is gentle and engaging, with the use of alliterative descriptions of the animals that find their way into Mr Norton’s clothing, bike and home. The cumulative storytelling will encourage children to join in, with each page adding a new creature to the list of creatures that inhabit Mr Norton’s life. The story would welcome children’s predictions of what might next appear and where it might decide to take up residence!
Corey Egbert’s illustrations capture so well the emotions of Mr Norton and the many animals and birds in the story – I particularly liked the ‘selection of stoats in his satchel’! Each page is used differently by the illustrator, either filling the page with detail or using the white spaces around the images to emphasise the clear drawings with muted and subtle colours. It is a super addition to any bookshelf.
Written by a real-life polar explorer, this is not the book you were expecting and is full of dead-pan humour.
Clive simply doesn’t like the cold and is determined to do something about it. Penguins are usually cuddly and cute, and Clive really isn’t that sort of penguin. The story is told with Clive’s ‘voice’ showing his displeasure at his situation. The text is simple but effective and Clive comes across clearly using few words. The illustrations are in a similar vein, using limited colour and a serious-looking penguin, for a very unserious book.
The pictures show the story’s humour perfectly; ultimately concluding that that you may get what you want, but it isn’t always what you need. Clive’s voice is strong and children will love with dry humour in the the story just as much as adults do.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments