Marvin and Marigold: The Big Sneeze product reviews

Friendship. The underlying theme of this story which isn't something we can teach our kids, but for them to read it in a book and be able to pick that out...then the book must be able to make the subtle connections important for a 4 year old to make. A relatively normal friendship which just grows stronger and stronger as the book goes along, and shows how important it is to work hard on keeping these friendships. The rhyming words make the book fun and even enjoyable for us as the parents to read aloud to the kids. Both Miss 4 and Miss 13 months enjoyed this book many times over.

The book has a great tone to it, starting out as a small sneeze and steadily escalating in noise. Miss 4 was able to contribute to this escalation by looking at how the word is written. It was this book that has taught her what an exclamation point is, and what it means. Teaching while having fun reading is a win for any parent!

This was one book that after we read it the first time, Miss 4 had many questions such as why was he sneezing so much, so we could have a conversation about the book and find some answers with just a few simple questions. A great conversation starter with an everyday problem.

I love a children's book that has a good rhyme throughout and this is just how Mark Carthew has written this book. The words just roll off the tongue with joy when reading it aloud. This book has many messages which any parent or teacher would enjoy sharing with children. The story shows frustration as well as kindness.

My children could really relate to this book as we have all been dealing with sniffles and snuffles and I have been trying to get them to try my lemon and ginger recipes with not much luck. This book also encouraged discussion around why Marvin might be unwell - was his house warm enough, was he eating well, was he washing his hands. I could see my 5 year old trying to problem solve for Marvin.

When it came to Marvin sending Marigold a letter saying he was leaving so her house would not crumble I felt that the friendship message got stringer. She did not want to say goodbye to her neighbour, her friend and would do anything to make him stay. The discussion then started on what we would do if our neighbours were not nice to us (we have great neighbours). So it encouraged the problem solving of friendships and kindness.

I am hoping that this book is the first in a series of Marvin and Marigold stories as I feel it was pitched perfectly for my family and would be a perfect series as a teacher to have in the classroom. The illustrations added to the already fun and joyful lyrical story.