The Frumpling

The story behind 'The Frumpling' is atypical in that the main character isn’t just accepted as he is - he is told kindly that something has to change. This surprised me as so often our book characters are allowed to be left and just accepted as they are. In taking this stance, the author creates an opening for discussions about how you can have difficult discussions with friends and still be kind.

The rhyming of the book and the limit of generally around 4 lines per page makes it ideal for younger readers, family reading, or reading to a class. The watercolour illustrations add beauty and depth to the story and the book is printed on high quality, thick paper. The vocabulary is mostly everyday language with a few high interest words to extend younger readers or engage older ones - and a couple of completely made up words for the reader to use inference skills!

Overall I would happily use this book for any class, though would most likely use it as a class narrative for years 1-3, or as part of a puberty awareness unit for year 6-8 students (I am certain they would enjoy it just as much!)