Manners maketh men and wolves! (The Scallywags - David Melling)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	The Scallywags - David Melling
Date:	20/10/09 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fun book for young children

Disadvantages: none

There are so many wonderful picture books out there that you sometimes wonder how you can ever read enough! Since renewing our acquaintance with our local library though, my daughters are suddenly discovering a host of new authors and stories that they never knew existed - and it's not costing me a penny. On our last visit, one of the books that we picked up was The Scallywags by David Melling which they have both thoroughly enjoyed.

This is a story all about manners or in some cases the lack of them so this book provides brilliant subject matter for young children. In this book, there are many different animals that live in a forest including a group of unruly wolves called the Scallywags. They have no manners at all and generally cause mayhem with their slovenly ways. They flick food at the table, have poor hygiene skills and eat everyone else's food. As all the rest of the animals are thoroughly upset with them. They decide to stop inviting the Scallywags to meals and suddenly they discover that life can be much more civilised! (although maybe it can be a bit more boring too!)

When the Scallywags realise what is happening they decide that they need to show all the other animals that they are not so bad. They decide that the only way to learn to be better mannered is to follow other people around town and copy their actions - which they do. Soon their manners are unrecognisable, they know how to dress well and to remember their please and thank yous! They decide that they are ready to go and see all their old animal friends who do not recognise the Scallywags now they are dressed up in their finery and they invite them to stay for a meal.

At first everything goes very well and the Scallywags' manners are impeccable. However they go a bit far when they started picking up all the rest of the animals on their manners! But then a full moon rises and if you know anything about wolves, you'll know that the moon will make them restless. Soon they revert to all their bad habits and the rest of the animals are amazed as they realise who have been sitting at their table. But in fact they are also very glad as the old Scallywags are actually much more fun than their rather reserved alter egos!

This is a thoroughly entertaining book that I am sure will appeal to many small children. There is a fun story line with a few disgusting actions thrown in for good measure. My daughters loved reading about the wolves and all their antics and they loved all their wonderful names too - Earwax, Jumble, Scribble and Grub to name just a few! There is a lot of humour in the story and also in the wonderful illustrations too.

The language is really accessible for early readers but that does not mean that it is dumbed down and there are some really good descriptions throughout. There is also not too much text on any page which makes the reading very manageable for young children. My daughter, who is heavily into reading with 'expression', loved the fact that some of the words are emphasised through larger bolder font, and she read all of these with relish! There is also one double paged spread that you need to read from an entirely different angle and this has lots of fun with the words are shaped too. All of these things seem to contribute to a much more interesting read as far as my daughter is concerned.

Overall this book is so much fun and we all recommend it. It can be bought on Amazon for £3.99.

Summary: Great book!