Boa's Bad Birthday Paperback – 4 July 2016

Poor Boa - it's his birthday and all his friends get him gifts that he can't use - a piano?! A pair of mittens?! Won't any of his presents be ones he can use??My son loved trying to guess the presents, and telling me why Boa couldn't use them( "he has no hands, silly mummy!").I liked Tony Ross' illustrations; as always, his style suits Willis's text. The best present is a nice surprise and a good lesson in patience.At the library, we read this to a group of 1-4 year olds at Storytime and it went down well with both the children and their parents. Not too much text on each page. Lots of questions you can ask a child. Lots of animals to recognise.

Ein sehr amüsantes englisches Kinderbuch. Ich werde es in meiner bilingualen Kindergartengruppe einsetzen und ich bin mir sicher, dass es gut ankommen wird.

This book sends a great message to children about how it is important to say "thank you" for gifts even when they are not gifts that are necessarily wanted. I thought the illustrations were cute enough and the text was basic enough that a small child would appreciate it. That being said, the last jungle critter to be introduced (the dung beetle), and his present (guess), might throw a few parents for a loop. There is one line that Boa thinks that made me crack up, but I can see some parents not so thrilled with it. Overall, I felt this book teaches a good lesson. Boa is pouting about gifts others are getting him, but others are also getting him gifts they themselves like. It does not feel as if any of the other characters thought about Boa at all when they bought gifts for him. In this respect, the book teaches kids not only to be thankful for what gifts they get from others, but also to be thoughtful when they give gifts to others.

Great great story!!!!! Teaches a lesson on being grateful. So glad I have this to read with my grandchildren. Should be apart of all children’s libraries.

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