Tag Archives: Ben Redlich

Jul3

Don’t Wake the Troll by Ben Kitchin and Ben Redlich

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IMG_0859Don’t Wake the Troll by Ben Kitchin and illustrated by Ben Redlich, paperback picture book, published by Scholastic Australia in 2013.

A group of dwarves make a plan to creep deep into the mountain to steal back their treasure from a giant troll. They wait until the troll is sleeping and down the tunnel they go, they have to be very careful not to wake up the troll. As they tip-toe along, there comes a noise, kerlunk, kerlunk. It is their shields banging into their armour, so they ditch the shields, the noise might wake the troll, and on they sneak. But then there is another noise….

A wonderful and amusing adventure with treasure and a big smelly troll. The story is clever and exciting. I just love the illustrations too! There are some very funny pictures that made both my preschooler and second grader laugh out loud. The dwarves look so funny, especially as they start to leave their armour and weapons behind. The troll is very well drawn, covered in hair with great dirty nails, a big warty nose, and flies surrounding his stench, he is funny, yet a little scary at the same time. My kids really got into this book. My preschooler wanted to make all the sounds as the dwarves move down into the troll’s lair. Don’t Wake the Troll also has a very fitting ending. This is a book to be read and read again, especially with preschoolers and children in lower primary school.

 

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Jun11

T-rex’s Terrible Tooth by Kathryn England and Ben Redlich

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IMG_0445T-rex’s Terrible Tooth by Kathryn England and illustrated by Ben Redlich, paperback picture book, published by Koala Books in 2010.

Young Tyrone the T-rex has a toothache. A toothache so bad that he is unable to eat his normal meaty diet without horrendous pain. Convinced that he is about to die of starvation, he breaks down wailing. A passing Brontosaurus informs Tyrone that soft fruit and vegetables are plentiful, and by changing his diet he will certainly survive. Tyrone gives his new diet his full attention with unexpected results.

This is a delightfully humourous rhyming story featuring dinosaurs, one of my kids’ favourite topics, so it is a hands down winner in our house and has been read numerous times to both my preschooler and second-grader. We love reading this book out loud to make the most of the rhyming text, and it always makes us laugh. My preschooler likes the meat meals Tyrone dreams of but can’t eat, such as Triceratops lollipops, while I like his melodramatic response to his toothache. The ending is very satisfying and my kids think it is hilarious. A great book for preschoolers and lower primary school children, I highly recommend T-rex’s Terrible Tooth for every little dinosaur fan!