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A review by katykelly
The Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson
5.0
Wordplay abounds in an enjoyable story of giants and 'little people' - us!
After so many of her picture books, I was curious to see Julia Donaldson's skill at, not only prose, but a book for older children.
You are unlikely to recognise her trademark style here, a prose story about giants and humans, but the usual readability is there, and her way with words.
A young giant, Jumbeelia, believes her mother's stories about little people (iggly plops) and, as a collector, determines to go out and find some and add them to her collections. Managing to grow and climb down a beanstalk, she comes across the Jones children, a brother and two sisters. They suddenly find themselves in a sack with a sheep and sit-on lawn mower and on the move...
And so here starts the story of their escape and their adventures in the giant world. It's a great reversal story for children, seeing themselves as the toy, the plaything, the tiny object.
I loved the giant language, many words of which you can see roots of in English. Thank goodness for the glossary!! There are two actually, one English-Giant (not sure why - for fun after reading?) and the other Giant-English, which I had bookmarked as I went along!
A great little adventure story, not too long and with a lot of chapters. Could be read to younger children but the wordplay will appeal most to the 8 and above age range.
Definitely one to try if you have a fan of Donaldson now grown out of picture books, a fan of fairy tales that are a little different, or just someone in need of an appealing story. Gender neutral, with strong central characters of both sexes.
I'd like this to be used as a class reader, it would form a brilliant basis for creative writing in giant language, and lots of word games and imaginative tasks based on the giant world.
After so many of her picture books, I was curious to see Julia Donaldson's skill at, not only prose, but a book for older children.
You are unlikely to recognise her trademark style here, a prose story about giants and humans, but the usual readability is there, and her way with words.
A young giant, Jumbeelia, believes her mother's stories about little people (iggly plops) and, as a collector, determines to go out and find some and add them to her collections. Managing to grow and climb down a beanstalk, she comes across the Jones children, a brother and two sisters. They suddenly find themselves in a sack with a sheep and sit-on lawn mower and on the move...
And so here starts the story of their escape and their adventures in the giant world. It's a great reversal story for children, seeing themselves as the toy, the plaything, the tiny object.
I loved the giant language, many words of which you can see roots of in English. Thank goodness for the glossary!! There are two actually, one English-Giant (not sure why - for fun after reading?) and the other Giant-English, which I had bookmarked as I went along!
A great little adventure story, not too long and with a lot of chapters. Could be read to younger children but the wordplay will appeal most to the 8 and above age range.
Definitely one to try if you have a fan of Donaldson now grown out of picture books, a fan of fairy tales that are a little different, or just someone in need of an appealing story. Gender neutral, with strong central characters of both sexes.
I'd like this to be used as a class reader, it would form a brilliant basis for creative writing in giant language, and lots of word games and imaginative tasks based on the giant world.