When I was a child, the name Knickerbocker Glory conjured up images of enormous ice cream sundaes topped off with whipped cream and a cherry that were only ever reserved for extra special occasions. We recently laughed about this because my dad was the same and, as you can see from the picture below, even today, kids still react in the same way - just look at this picture of Sophie from last year ! (She hasn't got some strange skin disorder by the way, her face had been painted earlier in the day as a tropical sunset scene !)
Well, Philippa is a little girl that we can all relate to because she, too, loves ice cream and can't wait for Saturdays when she's allowed a Knickerbocker Glory as a special treat. She even has a special ice cream eating-tiara, which made the girls giggle !
One day, as she gets ready to tuck into her ice cream, she is magically whisked away to a land where everything is made of ice cream, including an ice cream castle with a strawberry syrup moat and multicoloured sprinkles wallpaper. The illustrations are lovely because they're totally childlike and represent exactly what a child would draw if you told them to imagine a world made of ice cream.
The attention to detail, both in the drawings and the text, really brings the story to life and helps young readers to identify with the characters in the story - for example, we learn not only that Philippa's fluffy white cat is called Miss Whiskers, but also that she has a purple collar with a bell.
The tale is an enchanting slice of make believe, but also has a slightly serious message for kids, about why it isn't good to eat ice cream (or anything else for that matter) ALL the time. You won't get a moralising "eat your five a day" message though and we all giggled when she decided to exchange her ice cream fetish for fairy cakes ! Sure enough, there is a sequel in the pipeline called Philippa Fairy Cake !
Once you've read the book, you might like to head over to the Philippa Knickerbocker Glory website where you can download colouring sheets and find a knickerbocker glory recipe to try out yourselves !
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £7.99
- Paperback: 32 pages
- Publisher: Gibson Publishing (26 Mar 2012)
- ISBN-10: 0957081138
- ISBN-13: 978-0957081130
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My little girl and I love reading and sharing stories together and I am always on the look out for new books to read with her. After reading your review I will definitely be looking for this book!
ReplyDeleteI love the illustration style - will look out for this for my niece.
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