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Mixing colours, patterns and styles was the delight of Miss Abigail Knightly...
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When I first saw this book it reminded me so much of my niece Abigail from the red hair down to the outfits! so I asked to review this so we could read this together.she was super excited when the book arrived and we couldn't believe how much like Abigail the main character was. The main character Abigail we absolutely loved! and feel that she would be reliable for any little girl. We loved that she was a free spirit and loved dressing up and didn't feel like she had to dress like anyone else or stop being creative a important message for all children to be who they are.
The illustrations really suit the book and look beautiful done in the watercolour style and very much suits the free spirit of Abigail making this story extra special to read. This book is also a great reminder that all kids are different and it's important to let them find their own way and style. This book has been read many times aT home and all the kids at kindy loved the story also. This is a book that my niece Abigail will treasure and read for many years to come and the paper doll has been pinned to her wall as a reminder of how special she is.
I really wanted to read this book to my 5 year old daughter to show her that she can be as adventurous as she wants with dressing herself in the morning and that it's OK to not look just the same as everyone else. As long as she is happy then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of her outfit.
Abigail Knightly is a great little book that shows a strongly willed little girl who loves to dress up and think outside the norm. The neighbour doesn't approve and her mother reluctantly convinces Abigail to wear "normal" clothes which makes her miserable. Eventually her mother sees the error of her ways and starts to think more like Abigail.
For the price of this book you really do get a lot. The story is great and the water colour images are fantastic, you can really see the personality of Abigail come through in the pages. The last pages of the book are interactive with a paper doll which you can cut out. I couldn't bring myself to cut up a brand new book but I'm sure my daughter will persuade me in time. It's a great idea for a book and means that my daughter can play with the doll while reading the story.
My daughter loved the story and even made a slight adjustment to her outfit the next day to include a big floppy hat. It was great to see how a story can have an impact on a child's self esteem. I think this would be a great book to have in childcare centres or school librarys as these are usually the places where children dress the most wildly... who am I kidding, children dress wildly everywhere so this book should be available everywhere.
When I first read the story of Abigail Knightly I had to wonder if the Author Latesha Randall had confused the main character of Abigail with my own 3 year old daughter Chloe as the 2 of them were very, very similar in character. Like Abigail, Chloe loves to dress up each day as a doctor, a princess, a cook and even as a dancer. Now that she has gotten older Chloe also loves to pick out and choose her clothes for the day, something that like Abigail's own mother in the story, takes me a while to get used to as I am a matching freak! However as an Early Childhood Teacher I know how important it is that we allow children to express themselves as they please! So if Chloe wants to go to town in a beautiful dress, a stripped jersey and a pair of half ripped gumboots then so be it, I have learnt to adjust to this!
The pictures in the story have been beautifully done in water colours, and they capture Abigail's personality in the book perfectly. At the end of the book there is a page dedicated to the Author Latesha Randall and the Illustrator Esther Tattershall and gives you a small insight into their lives and inspirations. There is also a paper doll template and cut out on the very last page, where children with help from an adult can cut out a picture of Abigail and various different clothing, and dress her in - a great additional activity for the book.
My daughter absolutely adores the book and we have read it many, many times - already her big floppy hat has also made a comeback, as it is similar to the one Abigail wears on the front cover. She loves how Abigail like her just loves to dress up, I have caught her many times sitting with a bundle of teddies reading this book and have also seen her rummaging through her draws for clothes and dress ups similar to those which Abigail wears throughout the book, a great book for encouraging role playing that's for sure.
Being an Early Childhood Teacher I have read this at mat times several times now and the children just love it. Chloe was most excited to share this with her good friend Abbie, who was stoked to see a book just about her, so much so that she rushed to show her Mum at pickup! As her Mum flicked through the pages she couldn't help but giggle that the little girl in the story was like her very own Abigail. The children and other teachers really respond to this story and love that it encourages children to be themselves rather than who there friends or others want them to be. This book has been great in retelling the children that it is ok for boys to dress as princesses and girls as fire men, that boys can draw with purple and girls with blue, something I feel is very important in today's society as everything is so gender based!
I think at $21.99 the book is a great price, only a few dollars more than you would pay for any other book. Buying this book also supports a small printing company and a local author and illustrator which I think is fantastic. A book worth buying if you have or know a little girl who likes to dress up, create and be herself just like Abigail.
Abigail Knightly is a picture book that reminds us all that conforming to society isn't always what is best for us. Abigail is a girl that likes to dress up and pretend. Her mother is pressured by the neighbour to make her daughter dress sensibly. This book could have been written about my 6 year old. She has always loved to dress up and even when in normal clothes has her own distinctive sense of style. I have to remember that she is expressing herself and every famous fashion designer was like this.
It is a delightful book with watercolour illustrations that really suit the essence of the story. The last page of the book is a paper dress up doll of Abigail. We have not tried this yet as there was a bit of a discussion on who would get to play with it first. It would be easy to create your own clothes for her too.
The book costs more than most picture books but that is probably because it is published by a small company. It is certainly worth getting a copy to read both as a lovely story for the children and reminder for us older (but not necessarily wiser) people.
It was by chance that I stumbled upon this book. My daughter, Abigail, and I were attending The Women's Lifestyle Expo in Hamilton. We met the author of the book, Latesha Randall, at the Raglan Coconut Yoghurt stall. When she found out that my daughter's name was Abigail, she suggested that she could send me a copy to review through KIWIreviews. Of course, Abigail was so excited to know that there was a book coming about her. Now that I have the book in my hands, it really could be about her in so many ways!
The main character in the book is Abigail Knightly and she is so much like my daughter. It is almost as though the book were written about her. Abigail Knightly is such a free spirit. She loves dressing up and being creative. She doesn't like adhering to what is expected of a young girl. This book reminds parents how important it is to let children find their own way when it comes to what they wear and how they wear it etc. I felt Abigail Knightly's pain when her mother tried to dress her in clothing that was deemed appropriate for her. It was like her essence had been taken away from her.
The illustrations did a great job of backing up the emotions set by the text. Reading this story was a good reminder to me that I am doing the right thing with my daughter. If she wants to wear a beautiful dress with a pair of old track pants and gumboots then she should! We were lucky enough to go to Playcentre for a number of years and I learned the need to let children be children. Some parents find it very hard to let go and let their children be their own person. They can be too worried about what is appropriate. I would expect that this book could help parents to challenge their own views on how children should behave and dress. I know that I would much prefer to have a happy, creative child like Abigail Knightly than to have the sad version of herself while being dressed in 'appropriate' clothing.
My daughter has taken this book to kindy a number of days in a row as she has wanted to share it with her friends and teachers. She shared it for news and announced that she wanted to act out the book at mat time at kindy. Her teacher read the book and Abigail beamed and did the occasional movement to go with the words in the book. Her favourite was doing a pirouette like a dancer. This book has had a huge impact on my daughter and although she has always been keen to dress up in my clothes or interesting combinations of her own clothes, she is now digging into the dress box. She has also discovered that she loves role playing. She is involving Mr Six in all sorts of role plays and my husband and I are often finding that we are the subject of all sorts of first aid treatments while she is a doctor for the day!
The character Abigail is depicted in the book using gorgeous watercolour illustrations. I think that Esther Tattersall really did a fantastic job of pairing Latesha's words and the character of Abigail Knightly with these wonderful illustrations. The combination certainly worked for me.
Something to note is that this book is published by an independent publisher, RSVP Publishing. They use local authors, printer and where possible use New Zealand paper products. This support of local industry is bound to push the price up but I think that it is worth supporting. With this in mind, I am giving a score of 10 for the price on this book.
This is a book that my daughter will treasure and I know that it will be one of those special books that will be kept for life. Of course, this book is extra special to my daughter Abigail and me because of the name of the main character. I also think that any child would enjoy the creative, fun-loving nature of Miss Abigail Knightly. I wonder if there will be more books to follow on from this one!
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