Today’s team review is from Judith, she blogs here http://judithbarrowblog.com/
Judith has been reading Jimmy The house Spider by Raymond T Davies
I received this book as a member of Rosie Amber’s Review Team#RBRT in return for an honest review
We gave Jimmy the House Spider 3.5*out of 5*
Our Review:
Our review is set out in two parts’ Mine and Seren’s (our (almost) eight year old granddaughter)
Judith: Jimmy The (House) Spider is a short and simple, straightforward story to be read to young children (I would imagine the book is aimed at five – seven year olds). The themes of kindness and respect are threaded throughout. And the book encourages empathy to all living creatures.
Seren: It is a good story. It’s very interesting and teaches children about spiders and being kind. Of course it is a bit young for me. I will be eight in four days. I can read properly.
Judith: It’s also a useful to explain to children that house spiders are nothing to be afraid of.
Seren: I am not frightened by spiders. And I like wood lice.
Judith: The language isn’t patronising – though, on the other hand, some of the words are a little difficult for a young child, such as “laboriously”, “peril” and “retreat” and would need explanation: (that isn’t to say that’s wrong; just pointing it out) . Also some of the sentences are unusually long for this age group and there is little of the repetition of words and phrases that are in most children’s books.
Seren: I knew all the words but some of them are a bit difficult to say out loud.
Judith: Each character is well drawn through the narrative and the dialogue is straightforward and portrays each character well.
Seren: I liked Jimmy, he was funny and I liked Grandpa, he was kind. He has a beard like my Grandad.
Judith: It’s a slender book; twelve pages in all, most of which have lovely colourful drawings on them that illustrate the story beautifully.
Seren: I liked the drawings very much.They make Jimmy look like a friendly spider.
Judith: We enjoyed reading the book together
Seren: I read it to Nanna It is a good story. I was glad Jimmy was safe.
Judith: There are some details that needed explanations, which is quite good and gives extended knowledge of Nature. However Seren didn’t understand the joke about “silverfish and thrips”; perhaps if it had been made in conjunction with a reference to Grandpa eating fish and chips at the same time it would have made more sense.
Seren: I learned that an Orfe is a fish.
Judith: All in all a delightful story.
‘I have spent a good deal of time teaching my children and grandchildren to respect the other creatures we share our world with. Many children and even many grown-ups, suffer from arachnophobia with unfortunate results for themselves and the spiders; particularly those who inhabit our homes. My hope is this house spider adventure will dispel some of those fears and influence children and their parents to look kindly on these useful and harmless little creatures and indeed, all life forms which make up our world. They all have their part to play in ensuring our unique planet and the life it supports, will continue.’
Rosie Amber 