Tuesday, 10 January 2017

Picture book review : As Nice As Pie - Gary Sheppard & Tim Budgen


Maverick recently sent us some of their newest picture books to review, including As Nice As Pie by Gary Sheppard & Tim Budgen. When he laid eyes on the front cover, Pierre's first remark was "oooh she looks like Mamie" ! Well, I suppose there is a vague resemblance to his French granny !


Mavis is a lovely, kind lady who generously feeds the birds in her garden.



She even bakes them special cakes and cookies, but more and more birds keep appearing and she can't keep up. When the birds start getting too big for their boots and rudely demanding that she hurries up with their tasty treats, Mavis decides that enough is enough.


She cooks up an enormous pie and promises the birds a big surprise ... the surprise being that they are the filling ! Pierre gasped in horror at this point before giggling and deciding that Mavis was only joking (probably !).


She promises to let them go if they stop being rude, start being a bit more appreciative of her efforts and help her out. So they do ... and they all get their happy ending, helping Mavis turn her dream of owning a pie shop into reality.


 It's a lovely tale written in rhyme, with a double-sided life lesson, on the one hand reminding us all not to take people for granted while also showing young readers that you need to stand up for yourself and not be a doormat if you want to get on in life. It also extols the virtues of teamwork, sharing and generosity. We all love Mavis's malicious streak too, whether or not she was being serious about the bird pie !

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £6.99

  • Paperback: 32 pages
  • Publisher: Maverick Arts Publishing (17 Nov. 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1848862229
  • ISBN-13: 978-1848862227
  • Product Dimensions: 26.6 x 0.4 x 26.2 cm


Disclosure : We received the book in order to write an honest review.

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