Member Reviews
Did I enjoy this book? Or not? To be honest, I am torn between both sides for this one. Let me keep writing and then we can decide.....
Ten Nasty Little Toads is replete with wacky humor, and liberally sprinkled (well,huge rainstorm sized sprinkles) with grossness, nastiness, brattiness (looks like that one is not a word!), and all those other childhood wiles that can drive others crazy. As the title says, it is a collection of cautionary tales indeed. So beware your bad-habits, you never know what might happen if you don't get rid of those :) Even Witch Rana is not sure..
Steve Cole's writing in this book reminds me of Dahl's books with that perfect touch of dark humor; while Tim Archibold's illustrations provide that perfect accompaniment in crime to the writing and reminded me of Quentin Blake's illustrations in the Dahl books.
Each story features one or more of those character flaws humans (not just those tiny little nasty toads the book features) sometimes have, and does it so well. You have your choice of dirty, disgusting, lying, spoiled, and more! I went ewww many a time, 'lol'ed often, 'oh, poor parents' a few times, recalled specific incidents in parenting my little ones (thankfully not so often, and not for a long time now - so recalled with a smile!), and enjoyed every moment...
A moral wrapped in grossy, nasty, yucky, bratty, wacky humor and giftwrapped with those zany illustrations - that is what each story is. And when you have a collection of ten such stories interspersed with toad jokes, riddles and witches' secrets - it is worthy indeed of your bookshelf!
In Summary: Looks like I am in the 'I truly enjoyed this book' camp after all :) And please don't ask me if I have one favorite tale now, that is a tough question to answer (truly!)
A book for kids of all ages!
Thank you to #NetGalley and Zephyr for the eARC of this book. These are my toad-ally honest opinions of this book.
Great wee read for the little ones. I read to my children and they just loved it. Have it a huge thumbs up which is just the age group your aiming for
A really cute book with nasty things that some children do.
If you don't behave, the witch might teach you a lesson!
Really enjoyed the stories and the drawings. The book reminded me of my loved childhood books.
This was a cute book with funny stories and tales in it. The illustrations were kept simple but enough to ignite the imagination. My 10 year old daughter was very excited to read this book. It looks like something she'd absolutely love. Unfortunately, it couldn't keep her attention. She bored of it quickly and moved on to a different book after only reading 13% of it (I'm not one of those parents who makes her kids complete a book because I'm afraid it will cause them to no longer love book.s They must read 10% and if not hooked they may put it down).
I thought the stories were fun, however it was something I would read when bored and not necessarily excited to get back to. They really are cute stories though. The first story is about Cherry Oddfellow who hates bathing! There were moments when I smirked as I read because it is funny. I just didn't LOVE these stories though.
Humorous and charming, I found this book a delight - despite not being a member of the target audience. My daughter would have loved this when she was small.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
This is a very commendable short story collection for primary-aged children, with just the right amount of fantasy and definitely enough exaggeration for the target audience. It's very Dahlian, Walliamsish, and all, so I hope the stories of the most burpy girl, the boy who's best at lying, and the dirtiest, the greediest and so on children do well. One story stands out, however, not because it's a poor piece (it's not), it's just that it doesn't have the accumulative wackiness of the rest. Still, that barely counts as a blip – this definitely is well worth four and a half stars.
Love the illustration. It has funny and simple plot story that fits for children of all ages. I highly recommend this book for all those people who loved to reading out loud for kids.
Amusing & imaginative collection of stories full of suitably grotty children & ideal for reading at bedtime. Great appeal for Dahl & Walliams fans.
Ten Nasty Little Toads was the perfect book to read during the Halloween season. I particularly liked the fact that within each story of horrible toads were character flaws found in children. Being noisy, bratty, gross, poor listeners. My children were able to see how horrible those attributes sound when they are presented in a story.
I loved that between the stories there were facts and jokes and little tidbits of information. The stories were just long enough to give a great story but not too long to lose the kids attention.
I received Ten Nasty Little Toads as an advanced reader copy in exchange for my review. I was not obligated to give a positive review.
Thank you NetGalley and Steve Cole
Fantastic collection of stories with untraditional main characters. I know many children, and adults, who would love this book. My favorite stories in the collection have to be: Dirty Little Toad (a tale about a girl who does not want to bathe), School Hating Little Toad (a tale about a girl who spends too long learning lessons about why she needs to be in school that she can no longer attend school), and Lying Little Toad (a tale about a boy who spends far too much time spinning tall tales).
This is one collection that will make it to my bookcase.
The synopsis for Ten Nasty Little Toads compares it to the work of Roald Dahl. Well, that is quite a huge footstep to try to follow, especially considering that Dahl is one of my all time favorite authors of both kids and adult books! Was I ever surprised to discover that YES, it is just like so many of Dahl's books! The writing, the "message", the dark humor - oh the dark humor is so delicious - and the illustrations ALL are reminiscent of Dahl's work.
This is a collection of short stories, or cautionary tales, about change and changing habits that are not so good for us. There are ten little toads - uhm, I mean children - who need to change their nasty, beastly ways or they will suffer the consequences. Can they do it or will they forever remain these nasty little creatures? Even the good witch, Madame Rana, who tries to help them isn't so sure. These are stories full of humor, a lot of MESS and grime and yucky stuff every where, and most of all, a very important message. It's all wrapped up with some of the most astounding illustrations, created by #TimArchbold, that I have seen in a long time! Illustrators are my heroes - their work can really make a book and Archbold's artwork absolutely does the trick for Ten Nasty Little Toads. I guarantee that once you start reading Wanda's story - who resembles a wart with a body - you will be hooked!
As with Dahl's work, this book is ideal for kids of all ages, including those of us who have the heart (and mind?) of a child! I promise you will LOVE Ten Nasty Little Toads.
A ton of thanks to #Netgalley, #HeadofZeus, #Zephyr, and #SteveCole for my copy of #TenNastyLittleToads
A lovely book that reminded me of Roald Dahl. It was fun to read, wonderfully illustrated and it made me laugh.
I think it's a book that can be enjoyed by both children and adult.
It's well written and the humour is lovely.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for this ARC
*thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus Publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
4 stars.
Ohh this book!! Right away it was very clear that the writing style reminded me fondly of the well known and well loved famous children's book Author, Roald Dahl. Timeless. Is a word I would use to describe this. I can easily see it as being a hit now and for many years to come because this is one of those books that make it through the years as still being a great read. People of all ages can appreciate this. I would definatley be recommending this, expecually if you are a fan of Mr Dahl. On a side note, the illustrations are done by the same guy who illustrated Dahl's books. It's fabulous, fun and funny all in one. A perfect book for kids (and big kids) of all ages.