Unlikely Friendships for Kids: The Dog & the Piglet : And Four Other Stories of Animal Friendships is a great little book with four heart-warming tales of strange animal friendships.
An excellent choice for a child just venturing into chapter books – especially if they’re an animal lover.
I’m liking
My 5 year old daughter loved this as a bedtime read-aloud, and was extra keen on the stories when she realised that they were all true, and that the photos in the book were all of the actual animals! She is so used to ‘made up’ stories that she was fascinated by ‘really real-life true’ ones.
The book itself is a good quality hardcover binding, which will easily survive multiple nights of being read to death, falling off the bed once the lights go out, and being stepped upon in the morning.
Lovely colour photos and large print make this an inviting book for children who are just getting started with chapter books. The suggested age range of 7 and up seems about right to me if you’re wanting the child to read it themselfves but it works well as a read-aloud for younger children.
Things that made me go hmmmm
When I first read it to myself, I felt that the writing was a bit stilted and awkward, but this turned out to be not a problem when I read it to my daughter – the slower pace of reading-aloud, and the pauses for her to examine the pictures meant that the story worked really well. I am not the target audience, after all!
The conclusion
This was a really lovely book, and would be enjoyed by a child who loves animals, and likes to know unusual things.
It is bound to be welcomed by any parent looking for a beginning chapter book who is sick unto death of fairies, princesses and super heroes 🙂
