Life's so unfair! (It's So Unfair! - Pat Thomson)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	It's So Unfair! - Pat Thomson
Date:	11/10/07 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lovely story and illustrations

Disadvantages: none

'It's So Unfair' is in my opinion a really great picture story book for young children. I'm sure that most children will really love it mainly because it's very funny in a way that appeals to young children.

The book is written by Pat Thomson and illustrated by Jonathan Allen. It focuses on the events that happen on a farm one day when a mischievous looking cat is apparently rather unfairly treated by the farmer's wife!

It all starts with the cat being thrown out of the house in a very unceremonious way by a very cross Mrs Prout who is heard to say 'OUT, CAT, OUT!'. The cat meeows and claims that it 'is so unfair'. Of course all the other animals want to know what has happened and why Mrs Prout is so cross, so the cat procedes to tell them...

First he tells the hens that he only drank a little milk and of course they think that that is really unfair so they tell the ducks what has happened. The ducks agree that the way Cat was treated was very unfair although at this point Cat remembers to tell them that he only nibbled the baby's breakfast as well! The ducks then tell the turkeys about Cat's unfair treatment - I mean he only drank some milk and nibbled the baby's breakfast! Although at this point Cat remembers that he only paddled in the pudding mix as well!

Well you can see the way that this story develops - the reports of Cat's unfair treatment spread like wildfire around the farmyard whilst all the time Cat is remembering another misdemeanour to add to his list of sins! This goes on quite a few pages with more and more animals becoming involved as the list gets longer, until finally all the animals tell the farmer. He also thinks that Cat has been vey unfairly treated by his wife and says that Cat must come back inside...Only at this point Cat remebers the small puddle that he made on Farmer's favourite chair! The book finishes with the farmer shouting 'OUT, CAT, OUT!' and the cat saying 'That's so unfair!' Somehow, at this point, there's a sense of deja vue and you can imagine the story going around again!

I think this is a great children's book for a number of reasons. Firstly it is a very funny story and one that many children can relate to - being treated in a way that is 'so unfair!' The funny thing is though, that as the story progresses and the cat owns up to more and more things, you can't help feeling that the farmer's wife was actually quite justified in her actions. Accompanying all these confessions are some wonderful illustrations showing just how bad it really was! There are some great pictures of the cat up to his knees in the pudding mix, and also one of Granny looking horrified as she discovers the mouse that Cat hasleft in one of her slippers! All of these actions and pictures are very amusing and both my daughters tend to be in fits of giggles as we read it together.

I also find the repetition of the cat saying 'I only...' quite amusing too and reminds me of my own little girls who often say 'I only did ...' and probably feel that things are 'so unfair' if I have to tell them off!Also, my mum is happy to remind me that as a child I was a great one for saying 'It's so unfair!'

We also love the cumulative effect of the story. It starts off with the cat having only drank some milk and this is what the hens tell the ducks. When the ducks discover about the baby's breakfast, this is added to the list of what they tell the turkeys. When the turkeys tell the sheep they have to add that the cat paddled in the pudding mix as well. Each of these pages follow the same pattern though. It starts with the animals saying 'Listen'. They then start by saying 'Cat only ... and then go on to list the transgressions. These are always in the same order and on each page have one more added to the end. This obviously starts to become quite familiar, and towards the end of the book my four year old is joining in with what the animals are saying. Also, every speech ends with the animals saying:

'...and Mrs Prout said, 'OUT, CAT, OUT!' and swept him out of the door.

My daughter absolutely loves being able to join in with this on every page and enjoys putting on her crossest voice ever!

THere is also some lovely language in the book and a great deal of alliteration which is fantastic for my four year old who is just becoming aware of her initial sounds. Such examples are cat paddling in the pudding mix, climbing the curtains and nibbling baby's breakfast.

The other thing that this book does rather well is introduces the idea of speech bubbles. As well as the main text telling the stories there are a number of speech bubbles on most pages with the animals saying things like 'How awful!', 'Such cruelty!' and 'Can you believe it?' My daughter is very interested in these and loves to know and then copy what the animals are saying. This does tend to add to her overall enjoyment of the story.

So overall we all thing that this is a very funny story which is brightly and boldly illustrated. Both my two and a half year old and my four year old enjoy the story and laugh a lot as we read it. My older daughter is also able to join in as well though because of the repetition and the cumulative story telling. This hugely boosts her confidence as an emerging reader.

We really do recommend this book. We have a hardback copy which has a RRP of £10.99 although I have to say that I paid much less than that by buying it as part of a package through The Book People.

Summary: A good story to share with youg children