There’s always so much extra to enjoy in any Emily Gravett picture book and, like a summer pudding (recipe on the inside cover), this one is bursting with deliciousness.
The story, adeptly told in a rhyming text and witty illustrations, tells how the forest animals are getting ready to help Pete the badger cook some of the recipes in his How to Cook Fruit book. He’s ready to start when a fly interrupts, and no sooner has that been chased away, than a whole cloud arrives.
Pete, as those who’ve read Tidy know, is a badger who likes things clean and orderly, so he sends the animals out to gather up all the flies, then all the bugs and insects in the forest. The trouble is, as the animals soon realise, with the insects safely tidied into jars, there’s no-one to do the pollinating, or eat the dead leaves, or the poo.
The illustrations are filled with details to delight readers of all ages – it’s possible to spend hours poring over the gorgeous double-page spread of the insects in their neatly labelled jars alone – while in typical Gravett style, remove the dust jacket and you’ll find the cover is actually that for How to Cook Fruit, stained from use and with a wasp drawn to the painted berries in its bowl of fruit.
A comic woodland adventure, a cookbook, a guide to native bugs and insects – how many more extras will you find in this wonderful work?
A very funny picture book story in which Pete the Badger, star of Emily Gravett's award-winning books Tidy and Too Much Stuff!, learns valuable lessons about the importance of all creatures, big and small, in maintaining the harmony of nature.Pete the Badger is choosing a delicious recipe from his new fruit cookbook when his peace is interrupted by a teeny tiny fly. The fly becomes a swarm and soon all the animals are being bothered by bugs and insects of all kinds . . . before helping Pete to rid the forest of every single one. Disaster! Now nobody's around to clean up the poo, and come autumn, there's not a berry or a cherry to be found. But the lesson is learned, the bugs are released, and order is restored to the forest once again.Richly detailed, wonderfully humorous illustrations will keep readers coming back for more.Twice Kate Greenaway Medal winner Emily Gravett's delightful rhyming story is a colourful celebration of nature's equilibrium and promises fun, laughter and learning. The perfect book to read aloud.
Emily Gravett has a rare talent indeed for creating exceptional books for children.
The winner of two CILIP Kate Greenaway Medals, her skill and wit are second to none. Emily first sprang into the limelight with the ground-breaking Wolves in 2005, which has been followed by such modern classics as Meerkat Mail, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears, Monkey and Me and Again! and the fabulous Bear and Hare series for younger readers, as well as the beautiful Tidy, Old Hat, Cyril and Pat and Meerkat Christmas.
Each book is unique and different from the last – and each features endearing, beautifully drawn characters that touch the heart and tickle the funny bone.
Emily lives in Brighton with her family.
Julia Eccleshare, the editorial expert on Lovereading4kids says, Prize-winning illustrator Emily Gravett’s distinctive illustrations are always full of wit bringing the unexpected into stories and injecting them all with delightful humour. There’s magic in Spells as a frog turns himself into a handsome prince – well, almost!, excellent advice for rabbits on how to spot the danger of wolves in Wolves, lots of useful tips on how to be braver than you feel in Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears, a thoughtful exploration of how home often turns out to be best despite feelings of wanderlust in Meerkat Mail, a celebration of exuberant movement in Monkey and Me and a fresh and delightful look at Dogs.
