All for one (All for One - Jill Murphy)

Member Name: juicy_lucy

Product:	All for One - Jill Murphy
Date:	27/10/06 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Focuses on friendships

Disadvantages: The concept may not be understood by very young children

All for one.

Another book by Jill Murphy, who over the years has been quite a prolific children’s story book writer

This one focuses on friendships, and is a great book to read to children who might be going through problems with friends, and who may feel they are being left out of things.

THE STORY AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

The story begins with Marlon, who is a dragon, and also the main character in the story, running out of things to do. He had done all of his favourite things, like drawing and making secret caves, and goes to his granny to say that he wished he had someone to play with. Granny and mum get him to tidy up his mess,and he goes outside where he finds his friends hitting each other with swords. They are playing the Three Muskateers and when Marlon asks if h can join in, they won’t let him, because there are of course only three needed for their game.

At this stage in the story, children do tend to talk about times when they have been left out of games, ad fingers are pointed!

Marlon rushes home, and of course, granny and mum dress him up as a muskateer, but when he gets back to his friends, they are all dressed up as pirates, so once again, Marlon isn’t allowed to join in. Poor Marlon, he rushes back home and dresses as a piate (I think we are seeing extreme peer group pressure here), but by the time he finds his so called friends, they are doing gymnastics, and a this point, Marlon gives up and goes home.

Marlon begs his mum to fill the paddling pool, which of course she does, with warm water. Granny brings him some cake, and when it rains mum fixes an umbrella over the pool. It’s there we leave Marlon, leaning back in his pool, with the parasol over him, sipping juice and eating cake, and playing at being an underwater explorer.

His friends see him as they are walking home, and o course, since at this stage, Marlon is looking “pretty cool”, they want to join in. Theydo indeed look very envious of Marlon, and berate themselves for not having thought of the game. Clever Marlon, leans back, takes a sip of juice, and says the words they have used all day to him “I’ll think about it”

The illustrations throughout are bright and colourful, and highly detailed. I would love to be the kind of mother who can just find outfits as quickly as Marlon’s mum seems able to. Marlon’s friends are portrayed as quite unpleasant characters when they are refusing to let him play, not just through what they say but the expressions on their faces, which are very dismissive. A lot of the appeal of the book is the illustrations, which almost tell a story themselves, and which children find very appealing. I like the fact that it is a dragon being given human features and feelings because I think I would find it overly sad seeing a child portrayed as being ignored by friends.

OTHER BITS OF INFORMATION

The book was first published in 2002 by walker books.

ISBN 0-7445-9489-8

OTHER BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

As I mentioned before, Jill Murphy has written many books for children, and most classrooms usually have some of her books.

Marlon himself has appeared in some of the books, and this is one where he has grown up a bit; he was a real youngser in The Last Noo Noo.

She has also written favourites such as Five Minutes Peace, A Piece of cake Whatever Next! And the Worst Witch series.

WHAT I THINK OF THE BOOK

I think this is a useful book to help children discuss how they would deal with things if others keep changing the game, and the rules. It is a common playground concern, that some children are left out of things, so it’s handy to look for solutions. Children like the fact that Marlon doesn’t take it lying down but comes up with a game he knows the others want to join in, which is a great solution, because it makes him feel better without having to be unkind. We do guess that the next day, he will let his friends join in, because he is kind, and ultimately wants to be friends with them.

I usually read this with lower Key Stage 2 children (about 7-9) years, because they are old enough to discuss the issues, but I have read it on numerous occasions to younger children, who enjoy the story, especially if they have “met” Marlon before.

A useful book to have at home and to read from a young age, because it does begin to teach children that whatever happens, they don’t have to resort to hitting others and helps them understand hat there is a solution to most problems.

Thanks for reading.

Daniela xx

Summary: A great book to talk about friendships