posted on 07 Apr 2024

Animal Crackers by Ruby Wright

Plenty of small children plead with their parents about owning a pet without quite understanding practical factors like costs, space and overall responsibility for grooming, cleaning, feeding and exercising. They might also lack the experience and imagination to recognise that the novelty might soon wear off (I speak from personal experience). I was pleased to see that the smiling child on the front cover looked delighted with animals in cracker form, but would this satisfy her desire for a pet?

My three-year-old friend enjoyed identifying all the colourful animals shown on the food products that illustrate the front- end covers. He decided that he would like either the dancing elephant on the castor sugar packet or the lion on the ‘Speedy Soup’ carton, but then changed his mind to choose the rather gloomy looking panda on the bag of rice. We spent some time discussing whether this would be a sensible choice with his older sister pointing out that the UK climate was highly unsuitable. So, even before the story begins, there is plenty to look at and talk about. 

We meet Maisie, a little girl wearing a comfy looking pink onesie who loves animals. She feeds the birds on her balcony, talks to the cat on her street and shows off her extensive knowledge about monkeys. She desperately wants to have a pet of her own but her Mum explains that the flat where they live is too small, and they don’t have a garden. She mentions some friends who are allowed to have pets despite living in small spaces but is disappointed when Mum still gives a firm refusal.

Luckily, there is plenty of magic in the air and Maisie is soon comforted by the monkey from the Animal Crackers box who has stepped into her kitchen ready for a cuddle. Next, the pelican flies down from her cereal packet and is soon joined by all the other creatures that we spotted earlier. Soon she is engrossed with caring for all of them, giving them a sloshy bath in the sink, cleaning up their mess and trying to keep the peace between those that didn’t get along. She is just about managing to keep them all happy until she realises that she really can’t cope with all the poo on the floor and that they have already eaten all the food. The animals co- operate with going back into their two- dimensional form and she is left curled up under the table feeling in need of a good rest.

Her ever-resourceful Mum comes up with an excellent plan to cheer up her daughter which involves lots of cutting and sticking while Maisie is asleep. When she wakes up in the morning, she is thrilled to see that her bedroom has been transformed into a Wildlife Park, but one without any mess at all, well hardly ever! Children will be inspired to to look closely at the packaging on food products at home and perhaps even persuade their parent to try something similar. 

Published by Rocket Bird Books, you will be able to buy this debut picture book which has a distinctive illustrative style from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

Karen Argent

April 2024