The Great Snortle Hunt by Claire Freedman & Kate Hindley (Children's, Picture Book, 8/10E)

2nd August 2012, Simon & Schuster

32 pages, Hardback

Review copy

Themes: a monster hunt, being scared, facing a fear, people ending up totally different to how they are perceived, a little humour, mild peril

Summary from Simon & Schuster

On a hill bumpy-steepy, there's a house scary-creepy,
And it's said that a Snortle lives there,
Now nobody's been, so nobody's seen,
But Mouse whispers, "Come, if you dare!"
Have you seen a Snortle? Would you want to? If you're brave enough, join Mouse and his friends as they go on a night-time Snortle hunt. Aaaaaagh! What's that?

Nayuleska's thoughts

This reminds of a certain bear who loves honey when he goes on a hunt with his friends. The friends hunting the Snortle are very scared, but together they can face anything. Each page of their adventure is filled with detailed pictures which tell have their own stories to tell. For example, in the water scene there are two jelly fish, one which is awake and another which is asleep. I think the sleeping one must be family to feel so content while the other jellyfish looks out for it.

My favourite character is the bunny in pink boots: Im a fan of bunnies, and this one looks ever so cute in the boots. Bunny is often the one hiding behind things, so Im guessing it's the most fearful of the friends.

The illustrations are finely detailed, but they gave the book an 8/10 because I got scared during the tale due to the colouring of the pages. They match the feel of the story, but isn't quite for me. The way the sentences rhyme is cool, and I like how the action told by the sentences fits the illustrations and takes on various shapes and sizes.

You can find out more on Claire's website.

Suggested read

For another of Claire's (with Ben Cort) books with monsters, try Monstersaurus