Home > Categories > Books > Kids - General > Munkle Arvur and the Bod review
Colour illustrated childrens book.
Oh, this canyon was famous! It was clean. It was great. As a tourist attraction, it was voted 'first rate'.
Munkle Arvur, dear Munkle, he cared for it all... until once upon onetime, the Bod paid a call...
A waste not, want not' story with language in a style reminiscent of Dr Suess and illustrations that leap off the page.
Product reviews...
This is a really fun Dr Seuss style book - but kiwi styles!! It features' pookies' (pukekos) and huhu grubs. It instantly screams of kiwi identity! I really love this and it is something i consider when buying books.
The writing is fantastic, there are bold bits and it fully rhymes. It really is up to the same standard as Dr Seuss. The start of the book is slightly confusing and my son didn't understand the name of 'the bod'. Apart from this, the story sends a fantastic clear message of 'renew, reduce and rethink'. This is fantastic, as it seems to be a new kiwi motto, and as seen coming through in children's books.
This would be awesome in schools or daycares. Our daycare has a really vivid policy on recycling and the kids all get involved, so my son understood the environmental message in the book.
The illustrations are great, nice and bright and HEAPS to look at! As soon as i read this, my son wanted it reread - so that's telling you something about the re readability of the book! Another feature that is uncommon in children's books, is that the pages are numbered, i really like this as it adds another tool to be used in teaching little ones when reading to them!
Overall this is a fantastic book - a must in any personal collection! Nikki Slade Robinson is an asset to New Zealand writing!
If you like Dr Suess' s 'The Lorax' then you will love this. We do! This book has the same rhyming language as used by Dr Suess and the same focus on the impact of a wasteful society on the environment. This story goes one step further however in that Munkle Arvur makes good, and implements a reuse and recycle scheme that allows him to get rid of all the dumped rubbish and restore his beautiful gully back to how it used to be.
The rhyming language and alliteration is a bit of a tongue twister at times but I really enjoy reading this out loud as its great for your elocution!
With a New Zealand theme this is a book that is fantastic for using with your children to educate them about the damage that rubbish can do to the environment and the benefits of reusing things that we ourselves no longer want.
I liked the inclusion of pukeko's and huhu grubs as these are clear indicators this is a New Zealand book! Miss Five has requested that we now plant snowberries in our garden so I hope they exist....
We have a fantastic recycling centre in Hamilton, as other parts of the country must have also, and this book reinforces the importance of not just discarding things we no longer need, but if they can't be donated to charity then perhaps they can be of use and given to the recycling centre. After all one persons "junk" is another's treasure.
Most schools and kindergartens are focussing on the environment and this would be a great addition to any school , kindergarten or home library. Absolutely brilliant!
Random listing from 'Books'...
Two mice, Marvin and Marigold, live next door to get other. When Marvin gets cold, Marigold has to find a cure to save her mouse house. Told in Mark Carthew's classic lyrical rhyme.
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every two hours?"
unattributed