GIVE US A CUDDLE! (Cuddly Dudley - Jez Alborough)

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	Cuddly Dudley - Jez Alborough
Date:	22/05/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Cute, Well Illustrated

Disadvantages: None

Cuddly Dudley is one of our grandson's favourite bedtime stories. He especially loves it when Grandad reads it with all his silly voices! It's written by the brilliant children's author Jez Alborough and retails for £5.99, with Amazon selling it for £4.49 at the moment.

This cute little book tells the story of Dudley the penguin who is just too cuddly. All his brothers and sisters just can't resist giving him great big cuddles, and Dudley is fed up because he just wants to be alone.

So off he goes in search of somewhere to be alone. There are loads of brilliant rhymes in this book, and the author makes great use of Onomatopoeia (yes I did have to look that word up). The grandson loves all the "rap-tap-tapping at the little wooden door" that the penguins in search of Dudley get up to.

The story ends with Dudley finding himself a bit lost on the way home, and realising that all the huddling and waddling and cuddling isn't so bad after all. Which is just as well because all his brothers and sisters are just dying to get stuck in!

The last page of this book has a great little surprise twist on it that never fails to delight the grandson, especially when I shout it loudly and shake the book! The man who was trying to cuddle Dudley while he was on his alone-time trip reappears and chases all the penguins shouting "GIVE US A CUDDLE!"

This is a simple book that's only got a line or two of text per page, so it doesn't take too long to read. That makes it an ideal bedtime story by most parent's standards I'm sure! The illustrations are really fantastic in this, and there are lots of little details to notice splattered here and there throughout the book. I think is a book that most pre-schoolers would really enjoy.

Summary: Highly Recommended