Little Why product reviews

When I saw this book available for review I was instantly attracted by the cover illustration. The illustrator has brought the story alive with her clever illustrations that capture each moment and animal perfectly. They are the kind of pictures I could see easily be put on canvas for a childrens room. I especially loved the image of little why with a subtle almost geometric pattern.

The story was instantly charming because as a parent you can relate to your children asking why. Why isn't my hair that long etc just like little why. Which of course brings out the moral that you are perfect just the way you are which is something I am always telling my children. I talked about this with my 4 year old while we read the story and we discussed how little why was special just like all the other animals.

Of course little why wondered why his legs weren't as long as giraffes and other animals also had unique qualities that little why didn't. This is a perfect book for teaching in a classroom and getting children to think about what is special about them. My after school care children loved the book especially the younger children but even the older ones enjoyed the story.
We have read the book several times and I have even found myself joking around with my son about him being little why when he asks a million questions. Such a delightful story you grow very fond of little why as he is just the typical child that can't keep in line.

The illustration on the cover of this book caught my attention. The baby elephant and tall giraffe are very carefully illustrated with each of the characters showing caring feelings. This was the same throughout the book, the animals seemed to come alive. The title of this book did not give any indication of what the book was about so relying on the cover illustration told you this book included animals.

This book took a bit of getting used to. I found that it was quite difficult to read as there was no flow of the words. No rhyme or rhythm. It definitely is a book to read very slowly and ponder after each sentence about what was being said. There was plenty of punctuation in this book so this made a great talking point with my son. What I did like was that when Little Why meet different animals he focused in on the main features, eg giraffe with long legs, wildebeest horns and the author used a lot of describing for each of these.

It was not until I had read the book once that on reading it a second time the moral of the story became clear to me. The moral being 'you are special just the way you are'. I think morals in kids' books are really great and it is a shame that this was not captured on the cover of the book so that parents/teachers knew this moral from the being. I will continue to read this book to my kids as I love the illustrations even if the flow of text does not suit my style of reading.