Nick SharrattAnmeldelser

A variety of animals in a variety of assonant vehicles, sung to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”

Not to be “that person” about a kids book but, this is anti-bus propaganda. The cool thing about The Wheels on the Bus is that it’s about the normal, everyday occurrences of riding the bus! There’s no need to change the lyrics unless you find riding the bus completely unrelatable, which my niece won’t if I can help it! (I do actually enjoy this book.)

Author: John E. Brewton and Lorraine A. Blackburn
Copyright Date: 1980
Title: In the Witches kitchen
Illustrator: Harriett Barton and Thomas Y. Crowell
Publisher: Garrard Publishing Company
Tags: Spooky
Genre: Poems
Grade: 1st and up
Rate: 3
Reading log #8
This book was probably the most entertaining overall for this second set of journal entries. Maybe because it was because they were all poem about Halloween and it is just around the corner, but it definitely got me into the spirit. As far as actual content of all the poems that were presented in this book, not all of them were the best in my opinion. There were a couple that I thought were funny or amusing and even interesting but as it can be sometimes I wasn’t a fan of them all.
When it came to the illustrations I think that they were very well done. I think for a children’s book they made them “scary” yet kept them very age appropriate. Another think I liked about the poems was the variety that they had. Some about witches, others haunted houses and even some about pumpkins, allowing the reader to find something that they may be interested in. I don’t believe that there is a real overarching message to this book other than enjoying Halloween. Maybe just taking a holiday that is traditionally scary and putting their own relatively comical twist to it, making it unique in and of itself.

A review from my ten year old daughter:
Rent a bridesmaid was a smashing book, it was very funny but I liked the part where Tilly realises that her dad has a thing with Miss Hope, her teacher, and is totally cool with it even though she yelled at her to 'stay away from her dad!'

Cute to read on his own... lots of repetition that builds his confidence and a teensy bit silly, which keeps him smiling. :)

Paul Simon's '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' is recast as 'Six ways to Spare Your Index Finger and a Bonus Advice for Ignoring Onsetting Obesity'.

Whilst appreciating the publisher's ambitions for me, this has remained the only French picture dictionary I have owned.

Young children will relate to Timothy Pope who is playing with his brand new telescope at the park. Children will enjoy the humor of the story and the rhyme and rhythm of the text. They will also enjoy chiming in with the repetition of the text in each section. This is also a great book for developing visual literacy. Children can see part of an image through the telescope, and then based on this part would guess what the whole image is.

Timothy Pope scans the park with his new telescope, each time seeing a SHARK! Each time it's actually something benign like a cat or crow. The "shark fin" is revealed through round die cuts. Great for storytimes.

This book is in parts...physical "flip' a portion of the page parts. There is text on the left and graphics on the right...in four flip sections per page.

The book begins:
"Goldilocks" First flip part...
"was bossed around by two horrid stepsisters" Second flip part....
"and fell asleep for a hundred years before being woken by Third flip part.....
"Little Red Riding Hood's granny" Fourth flip part.

After randomly choosing 3 different flip parts I ended up with: "Sleeping Beauty / Grew and Grew to the size of a house / And climbed a huge beanstalk at the top of which was / Little Red Riding Hood's Granny"

I thought this to be a very clever, silly and amusing book, not only for children but those of us who have occasional child-like tendencies.

48 months - Fun interactive book for early readers.

38 months - O thought it was very funny and would tell me which food she'd rather eat each time. This was a library book and the openings were often torn and in bad shape so it might not be a great choice for a kid that is hard on their books.

This is quite a good idea, to mimic a foggy landscape by printing images on vellum. Unfortunately, the execution was disappointing, at least for me. There was too much overlapping of the figures and the artwork itself was fairly mundane. I was hoping for a Rackham or a Pieńkowski.

Fun book with great pictures. Repeats most of the story so it is great for interaction.

British children's author and illustrator Nick Sharratt delivers a fun-filled witchy lift-the-flap adventure with this latest book aimed at younger children! Just in time for Halloween comes What's in the Witch's Kitchen?, which provides two answers to its own question: one naughty, and one nice. (Oops! Sorry, wrong holiday!). With clever accordion-style flaps, that reveal one image when lifted one way, and another when pulled in the other, young readers are in for both trick and treat!

Although quite familiar with Sharratt's name, I can't think of any other work by him that I have happened to read. I wouldn't say that this first foray has completely blown me away, but I did find it pleasantly engaging, and I imagine young children will enjoy lifting these flaps, and trying to figure out how they can be lifted on both sides, to reveal different images. Recommended to those looking for Halloween appropriate titles for the younger, pop-up book set!

The illustrations, consisting of a black-and-white silhouette of a fairy tale scene (which is then revealed in full colour on the next page) are clever and fun. I especially like the pictures of the ogre doing yoga and Cinderella and Snow White spraying each other with water pistols. However, the constantly recurring question "What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" and the resulting answers to said question are rather unimaginative and not all that complementary or even complimentary to the deliciously fun and humorous illustrated scenes.

The Foggy, Foggy Forest is thus to be primarily recommended for its illustrations. This would be a good book for an inquisitive and imaginative child, especially if the rather mundane text is either ignored, or primarily used as a starting point for further discussion and independent storytelling.½

Fairy tale characters and fantastical creatures are hiding behind vellum pages in this unique novelty book. For those who like I Spy games, they will love this new take on the hide and seek format. Creatures such as a unicorn are hidden in silhouette on the right side, but when you turn the page, the creature that was hiding is show in full color. I am interested to see if Nick Sharratt finds another creative use for this technique.

This is an amazing interactive book to get children excited about books and Halloween. Each page the option to go one way or the other in the pictures. Letting the children decide which way to turn the photo really gets them paying attention and enjoying the book. The same scheme is followed throughout the book about "left or right?". This could also teach children which way is left and right. The illustrations are bright, fun, and cartoon-like. I would highly recommend this book for story time for a pre-k class. I personally had a phenomenal time reading this to children and having them react so enthusiastically.

I thought this was a really great book for children. The pages have simple, short text and the illustrations are wonderful. They're bright and vivd. Also, the illustrations have an interactive aspect with tabs you can pull to change the colors of Mollywitch. It's almost like a child can see the magic tricks come to life at their own fingertips.

There's not really much of a story to this book but the artwork is nice. Unfortunately the pieces are rather flimsy and easily lost so you will need to keep an eye on your child as they play with this book.

This lift-the-flap book is in rhyming form, and it is cool! The first page has a fridge that can open to the left or right. (“Will you like what you see? Or will it give you a fright?”) If you open it from the left, you find bats with fleas, but if you open it from the right, you find tasty cheese – it rhymes! Each page will keep readers guessing about the contents (Nasty! Goblin’s PEE!! Nice! Strawberry TEA). It’s got all the right elements to keep readers interested, including gross-out factor, and also reinforces the directions LEFT and RIGHT and UP and DOWN. Very clever and very cool!

This book is incredible, and like nothing I have ever seen. The pages are made of tough but thin and semi-transparent glossy paper that looks cloudy. Each page asks, "What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" And when you turn the page, there is a colored illustration of a fairy tale creature or story there for you to discover! On that page there is also a cleverly rhyming description of what you see, like "a little elf all by himself," or "an ogre doing yoga." The book also features Cinderella and Snow White in a water fight, A traveling fair, Little Red Riding Hood selling ice cream, a unicorn playing a horn, and Goldilocks with a candy box. The characters are colored in details, while the backgrounds remain monochrome black on transparent cloudy paper.

This story has incredible rereading potential; children will love reading the book again and guessing what they are about to see on the next page.

From lollipops to rabbit plops, burnt ghosts to hot toast, strawberry tea to goblin pee there are many things to be discovered inside the witch's kitchen. Open the refrigerator door to the left and you may discover something yummy, but open it to the right and you may discover something terribly yucky.

My two year old daughter adores this book! This is another book that I was weary of with all the flaps and openings because she is unfortunately very brutal on books (well, everything). Not that she always does it on purpose, it's just that our sweet Littlebug is a bit of a klutz. So how do I know when she truly loves a book? Well, in the case of a pull/lift/flap/etc. book I know because she treats it with extra special care and that's exactly what she's been doing with What's in the Witch's Kitchen?. She's been bringing it to me quite often over the last few weeks and I've even caught her one or two times opening and closing the little flaps with the utmost care.

Each page has the option of opening a different item in the witch's kitchen to discover either very yummy or yucky things by flipping the flap to the left or right. To be honest, at first I couldn't figure it out. It took my four year old son showing me how to do it (yes, my four year old is smarter than I am). The flaps, though appearing to only open one way can actually open either and it's so so neat! Both the kiddos and myself have sat flipping the doors back and forth for quite some time because it's just so much fun. Then, at the end you have the great surprise of a full two page pop-out witch coming to life before your eyes!

What's in the Witch's Kitchen? by Nick Sharratt is a creepy spooky story that even the littlest Halloween fans will appreciate and their parents will happily read to them. Filled with delightful rhyming texts and adorable illustrations it's easy to help the very youngest of readers enjoy a sometimes scary holiday. As you flip back and forth the doors, cupboards and more readers will discover just exactly the witch has hidden in her kitchen. Could it be a yummy treat or something dreadfully yucky?

My original review was posted at There's A Book.

This book has movable parts that are great for interactive storytime. Highly recommended for pre-K.

Timothy Pope looks through his telescope. He sees shark fins every where. Nice flow to the story. Excellent book for reading aloud. Does he see a shark? Read to find out.

A very interactive and engaging book. The pictures are blacked out on one side, and it asks you "what could be in this foggy foggy forest?" and it shows the picture on the next side. It is a very cool format and a great way to have your students start predicting.