SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: The Armadillo Who Came for Dinner
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.stevesmallman.co.uk/
CITY: Staffordshire
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
LAST VOLUME: SATA 392
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in England; married, 1980; wife’s name Ann (a nurse for children’s hospice); children: four.
EDUCATION:Cambridge College of Art and Technology, degree (vocational graphics).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Children’s book author and illustrator. Character developer and artist for animated television programs, including the series The Raggy Dolls, Sesame Street, and Postman Pete, beginning c. mid-1980s; creator of licensed characters. Muralist for schools in the United Kingdom. Presenter at schools, festivals, and libraries.
AVOCATIONS:Gardening, walking in the countryside.
AWARDS:Commended designation, Sheffield Children’s Book Award, Red House Children’s Book Award shortlist, and Stockport Schools Book Award shortlist, all 2007, and Silver Star award, Norfolk Libraries Children’s Book Awards, and Portsmouth (England) Book Award shortlist, both 2008, all for The Lamb Who Came for Dinner; commended designation, Sheffield Children’s Book Award, 2008, for The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom; Sheffield Children’s Book Award overall winner and award in picture-book category, both 2009, both for Smelly Peter the Great Pea Eater; Best Reads selection, Red House Children’s Book Awards, 2010, for Gruff the Grump, 2012, for Dragon Stew, and 2013, for Icky Little Duckling.
WRITINGS
Contributor of illustrations for comic books and magazines. Author of numerous “Santa Is Coming to …” novelty picture books, illustrated by Robert Dunn/Liberum Donum Studio, published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.
Don’t Wake the Bear was recorded for television broadcast. The Lamb Who Came for Dinner was adapted for children’s theatre and produced in Sweden.
SIDELIGHTS
British artist and illustrator Steve Smallman created art for stories by writers such as Michael Denton, Helen Arnold, Kay Umansky, and Claire Freedman before starting his own storytelling career. In the mid-2000s, Smallman began handing illustration duties to others, and a raft of entertaining children’s stories, including Bumbletum, The Lamb Who Came for Dinner, Cock-a-Doodle-Poo!, Who’s Bad and Who’s Good, Little Red Riding Hood?, and A Friend for Bear have been the result. His works, often told in verse, are noted for their engaging human and animal characters, their warm-hearted humor, and their child-friendly, easy-reading narratives.
Smallman began working as an illustrator while completing his degree in vocational graphics in the early 1980s. He created art for several “Postman Pat” and “Raggy Dolls” media tie-in books as well as developing characters for the animated television series they were based on. Soon illustrating educational books, such as level readers, occupied much of his time, and Smallman gradually took on author/illustrator duties as well. His efficient technique allowed him to keep up with publisher deadlines: After sketching out each story in twenty-four pencil sketches, he spent another three weeks coloring the illustrations, opting for either opaque acrylics or translucent water color depending on the effect he desired.
Illustrated by Joelle Dreidemy, The Lamb Who Came for Dinner features Smallman’s characteristic mix of humor and whimsy in its story of a hungry wolf that winds up dining with—rather than dining on—a little lost lamb. Full of interactive story-time possibilities due to the sound effects featured in the text, The Lamb Who Came for Dinner was dubbed “a sure winner” by School Library Journal contributor Judith Constantinides; it also inspired a humorous sequel in The Wolves Who Came for Dinner. Smallman’s story of an insect that learns the downside of not sharing, The Very Greedy Bee features a similarly “rousing text, replete with sound effects,” according to DeAnne Okamura in another School Library Journal review.
Nighttime jitters are the focus of There’s No Such Thing as Monsters!, one of several picture books in which Smallman has teamed up with artist Caroline Pelder, and his story here shares a little bear’s experiences during his first night along in his big-boy room. An impatient young bear cub befriends a slow-moving tortoise in A Friend for Bear, where the ambitious youngster learns the trade off between hurrying and scurrying and enjoying the beauty of small things. Another furry brown cub forges a friendship with a young fluffy rabbit in Scaredy Bear. Brought to life in what a Kirkus Reviews critic praised as Pedler’s “luminous, realistic” illustrations, Scaredy Bear shares what the reviewer described as a “warm, affirming story of friendship and overcoming fear.”
A bear of a far more dour and grizzly mindset is the star of the story in Gruff the Grump, and the friendship story Smallman shares here is paired with artwork by Cee Biscoe. A Kirkus Reviews writer confirmed the author’s skill in appealing to the toddler imagination, writing that this “warm tale” about a lonely bear and a brave little bunny “has a clear, logical plot development that young listeners will apprehend.”
Smallman’s rhyming text in The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom treats readers to a folksy porquois tale enlivened by tropics-inspired artwork by Nick Schon. In this picture book, all the animal residents of the jungle floor are a dull, earthen brown in color. A monkey decides to change all that, using a brush and a box of paints to make his animal friends as brightly colored as the birds of the air. The “chipper verse” in The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom “moves along at a crowd-pleasing, bouncy clip,” asserted a Publishers Weekly contributor, and a Kirkus Reviews critic praised Smallman’s ability to “let … the story unfold in stages so young readers can gleefully anticipate every twist.”
Sure to attract readers due to its title, Poo in the Zoo! takes the concept of cleaning up after wild animals and makes it the subject of verse. “Colorful, cartoonish illustrations” by Ada Grey incorporate “playful details, while the narrative’s rhythm and rhymes keep things peppy,” noted Shelle Rosenfeld in her Booklist appraisal. In Cock-a-Doodle-Poo!, a story told in verse, Farmer Jill plans to identify the barnyard animal that has created a mess on her new hairdo, focusing her attention on Rooster, who has been attempting to fly. “Smallman’s rhyming tale of mystery and derring-poo will definitely elicit giggles (and offend a few),” in the opinion of a Kirkus Reviews writer.
Another story featuring illustrations by Grey, Hiccupotamus treats children to a cumulative tale with rhythmic overtones, as a squeak from Mouse sparks several nearby animals to contribute their own special sound. “The energetic wordplay coupled with cheery images makes this an easy crowd-pleaser,” concluded a Kirkus Reviews critic, while Laura Hunter wrote in School Library Journal that Smallman’s “musical romp in the jungle … is sure to elicit some giggles.”
Smallman’s story in Scowl comes to life in Richard Watson’s colorful illustrations and introduces a grouchy owl that must convince his animal friends that he is happy just the way he is. Writing in School Library Journal, Julie Roach wrote that the text here has a sophisticated theme in introducing the concept of “embracing one’s own feelings and moods while extending some empathy and acceptance toward those of others.” Emma Yarlett shouldered the illustration duties in Bear’s Big Bottom, in which a friendly but rotund bear finds his weight creating problems when he tries to play with his smaller woodland animal friends. Praising Smallman’s “crisp rhyming text” in this humorous tale, a Kirkus Reviews writer added that the “snippets of dialogue incorporated into the illustrations add to the fun” of Bear’s Big Bottom.
Part of Smallman’s quirky “Fairytales Gone Wrong” series, Who’s Bad and Who’s Good, Little Red Riding Hood? follows the title character’s unusual journey to her grandmother’s home. Suspicious of a wolf that surprises her in the forest, Red later places her trust in a kindhearted bunny that, unfortunately, has ulterior motives. According to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Who’s Bad and Who’s Good, Little Red Riding Hood? offers “a serviceable reminder that ‘yell, run, and tell’ is a good start.” Reviewing Blow Your Nose, Big Bad Wolf, a story illustrated by Bruno Merz in which another traditional fairy tale jumps the track in a humorous fashion, Jayne Gould wrote in School Librarian that Smallman’s story is “entertaining and accessible without being didactic.”
Smallman, working with illustrator Esther Hernado, released Maggie Sparks and the Monster Baby in 2021. Maggie is a magician. Her magical powers make her family proud, especially her wizard grandpa. Things go sideways for Maggie when her parents go to the hospital to exchange her mother’s large stomach for a new baby, according to Maggie. Everything is flipped upside down for Maggie when her brother, Alfie, is born. She wonders about her own worth. If she were so great, as her parents always point out, why is Alfie even here? What everyone else seems to see as some new delight horrifies Maggie. Alfie must go. Laura Fields Eason, writing in School Library Journal, called Maggie Sparks and the Monster Baby “a delightfully magical take on a familiar situation, enhanced by pitch-perfect illustrations.” Eason also declared the title “recommended for all early chapter book collections.”
An unlikely pair brings home a surprise in Smallman’s book The Alligator Who Came for Dinner, illustrated by Joelle Dreidemy. Best friends Little Lamb and Wolf stumble upon an egg while out for a walk. Wolf would love to make the egg into an omelet, but Little Lamb puts a stop to that plan by reminding Wolf that the egg is merely the temporary home of a baby that will soon be born. Soon after they arrive home with the egg, it hatches and out crawls a tiny baby alligator. Little Lamb names the baby alligator Omelet. Omelet is smitten by Wolf and snuggles up close. One morning, hungry Omelet trashes the kitchen in search of food, horrifying guests. Wolf explains that Omelet is harmless, but the guests disagree. When a rainstorm comes, the animals watch as a group of baby ducks is swept downstream. Omelet heroically saves the baby ducks and disappears back under the water. In Kirkus Reviews a contributor reviewing The Alligator Who Came for Dinner concluded, “Appearances can be deceiving in this delightful tale.”
[open new]The mix-and-match animal hijinks continue in The Tiger Who Came for Dinner, bringing back Wolf, Little Lamb, and Omelet the alligator, who happens to find a drenched tiger cub in the woods. Although Omelet would love to keep Fluffy, Little Lamb and Wolf insist they return her to her parents—and along the way hungry Fluffy gets a hankering for lamb chops. Little Lamb and Wolf are clueless, but Omelet is on guard by the time Fluffy alerts her parents to the dinner she brought home. Noting that Omelet “may not be a fuzzy or cute pet …, but he’s a devoted one who saves the day,” a Kirkus Reviews writer summed up The Tiger Who Came for Dinner as a “sly tale of trickery and familial bonds.” In Booklist John Peters affirmed that this story holds “a deliciously thrilling surprise for storytime audiences.”
A fellow in a shell is the guest in The Armadillo Who Came for Dinner, with Dizzy rolling into Wolf, Little Lamb, and Omelet’s picnic like a boulder and slamming into a tree, so hard Little Lamb invites him home to recover. A tough guy, Dizzy accepts the hospitality but refuses the hugs Little Lamb offers. When she needs saving from a real boulder, however, Dizzy can offer help as well as a helping hug. Finding the narrative “meandering” and “sweet” as Dizzy learns he “doesn’t have to be thick-skinned,” a Kirkus Reviews writer praised the “lighthearted lesson in letting down barriers.”[close new]
Smallman told SATA: “I had no great ambition as a child to be an author but I’ve always loved drawing and painting. Once it belatedly occurred to me that I could maybe make art a career rather than just a hobby, I was totally focused on illustration.
“UK children’s author and illustrator Colin McNaughton tutored me at College and was a big influence in my decision to illustrate children’s books.
“I worked as an illustrator for about 20 years but became increasingly frustrated that I was illustrating texts that I didn’t particularly enjoy reading. So I decided to have a go at writing my own picture book which went on to become The Lamb Who Came for Dinner which received a lot of critical acclaim and started me on a new creative journey as an author! I’ve since had over 100 books published with several more in various stages of production.
“Children are the biggest influence on my work. My wife Ann and I had four children and because I worked from home, I got to spend a lot of time with them. My memories of them growing up inspired and informed my writing. I learned the value of listening to children and the wonderful way that they use their limited vocabulary to tell you things. For example my son Sam, then aged three told me about bees.
“‘They do a lot of ‘bizzing’, they are stripey sort of colour and you have to be careful, they might ‘pin’ you on the knee with the nettles in their bottom!’
“My children are all adults now but these days I have eight wonderful grandchildren to inspire me!
“Most of my books start in my sketchbook. I play around with a basic idea, draw sketches and jot down notes to create a sort of mood board for my story. Then, for a standard picture book, I plan the storyline out in 12 sections, each representing a double page spread of the book. If the book is going to be a rhyming story, I play around with a few different lines and when I have some that are working well it decides the verse structure for the whole book. I don’t deliberately write things with children in mind. I write things that make me laugh and that I know my grandchildren will find funny too. I sometimes have to edit things to make my ideas accessible to children but I never ‘write down’ to them. After the initial first draft I work with my editor to hone the script until it flows well and works with the illustrations to tell the story effectively and succinctly. Often a little bit of descriptive text can be cut as the picture renders it unnecessary.
“Although the text is fairly set before the illustrator starts working on it, minor changes can be made right up until the final proof stage.
“Children’s books, especially picture books are for sharing. The experience of sharing a book is all the better when the adult enjoys the story along with the child. When I’m writing a funny story I spend a lot of time chuckling to myself which is a good sign that the story will be enjoyed by the parents who are reading it as well as the child being read to. I’ve read some of my sillier pictures books to a mixed, family audience and had adults (mostly men to be fair) crying with laughter along with the children.
“I want people to enjoy my stories, laugh at the absurdities, titter at the ‘rude’ bits, be surprised by the plot twists and be satisfied by the ending.
“My gentler stories are designed to engage children from the first page and while there may be tension, drama and even mild peril within the story it will be tempered with gentle humour. The ending will leave them feeling calm, happy, reassured and hopefully sleepy.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2015, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Poo in the Zoo!, p. 69; February 15, 2023, John Peters, review of The Tiger Who Came for Dinner, p. 58.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, February, 2014, Jeannette Hulick, review of Bear’s Big Bottom, p. 336.
Daily Mail (London, England), April 17, 2015, Sally Morris, review of Hippobottymus, p. 59, April 20, 2018, Sally Morris, review of Cock-a-Doodle-Poo!, p. 32.
Express & Star (Wolverhampton, England), October 8, 2010, “Children’s Author Steve Smallman Is Starry Eyed.”
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2007, review of The Lamb Who Came for Dinner; September 1, 2009, review of Gruff the Grump; September 1, 2009, review of There’s No Such Thing as Monsters!; September 15, 2009, review of The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom; September 15, 2011, review of Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Bunny?; April 15, 2012, review of My Dad!; September 1, 2012, review of Puppy’s First Christmas; January 1, 2014, review of Bear’s Big Bottom; November 15, 2014, review of Blow Your Nose, Big Bad Wolf; January 15, 2015, review of Hiccupotamus; July 1, 2015, review of Poo in the Zoo!; January 15, 2017, review of Who’s Bad and Who’s Good, Little Red Riding Hood?; May 1, 2017, review of The Girl Who Cried Wolf: A Story about Telling the Truth; January 15, 2018, review of Cock-a-Doodle-Poo!; July 15, 2018, review of Scaredy Bear; January 1, 2020, review of A Friend for Bear; March 15, 2021, review of The Alligator Who Came for Dinner; December 1, 2022, review of The Tiger Who Came for Dinner; June 1, 2024, review of The Armadillo Who Came for Dinner.
Publishers Weekly, October 19, 2009, review of The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom, p. 50; April 23, 2012, review of My Dad!, p. 50; September 10, 2012, review of Puppy’s First Christmas, p. 54.
School Librarian, summer, 2006, Joyce Banks, review of Bumbletum, p. 78; summer, 2007, Heidi Barton, review of The Lamb Who Came for Dinner, p. 53; fall, 2014, Frances Breslin Davda, review of Big, Bad Owl, p. 160; winter, 2014, Jayne Gould, review of Blow Your Nose, Big Bad Wolf, p. 224.
School Library Journal, May, 2007, DeAnn Okamura, review of The Very Greedy Bee, p. 108; October, 2007, Judity Constantinides, review of The Lamb Who Came for Dinner, p. 128; July, 2012, Debbie Lewis, review of My Dad!, p. 63; October, 2012, Madeline J. Bryant, review of Puppy’s First Christmas, p. 86; June, 2014, Julie Roach, review of Scowl, p. 93; February, 2015, Laura Hunter, review of Hiccupotamus, p. 80; April, 2015, Judith Constantinides, review of Blow Your Nose, Big Bad Wolf, p. 134; April, 2020, Laura Fields Eason, review of Maggie Sparks and the Monster Baby, p. 134.
Times Educational Supplement, July 24, 1987, review of Wilkes the Wizard and the S.P.A.M., p. 23.
ONLINE
Steve Smallman website, https://www.stevesmallman.co.uk (January 3, 2025).
Writers & Artists, https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/ (September 16, 2024), “Q&A with Author Steve Smallman.”
I've always loved to draw. I used to spend hours as a child copying cartoons from comic books or pictures of animals from encyclopaedias. I remember when I was about 10, painting a picture of a man fishing and being so engrossed in it that I didn't notice that the house was on fire!
At one point I thought that I might like to be zookeeper so that I could work with the animals all day and draw them in my lunch break. When I was 17 my careers teacher at school suggested that I might like to be an artist instead. I could still draw and paint the animals but I wouldn't have to shovel any poo! It was a moment of revelation to me. It had never occurred to me before that you could get paid for something that you did as a hobby!
I decided to go to art college (Cambridge College of Art and Technology) where one of my tutors was the brilliant Colin McNaughton who inspired me to become a children's book illustrator. I was lucky enough to be commissioned to illustrate my first 4 books while I was still at college and over the next twenty years did illustrations for books, comics, magazines, licensed products and for television programmes; most notably 'The Raggy Dolls' (ask your Mum!)
Lamb who came to DinnerThen I decided to have a go at writing. I'd written a few very short reading scheme stories as part of an illustration project. They had gone down well so I tried my hand at writing a picture book.
It was called, 'The Lamb Who Came To Dinner' which was published by Little Tiger Press in 2006 and was shortlisted for The Red House Book Awards, Commended in the Sheffield Children's Book Awards, translated into several different languages, turned into a theatre play in Sweden and read on TV by Meatloaf. I've now written over 100 books with more on the way.
Nowadays I spend a lot of time visiting schools, libraries and festivals. I love reading my stories and drawing pictures to a live audience. I also paint murals in schools, libraries and homes (even dog's homes).
I am so lucky that I get to do all these fun things, call it my 'work' and get paid for it too! It certainly doesn't feel like a 'proper job'.
I've been married since 1980 to my wonderful wife Ann who deserves a medal for putting up with me for so long. We have 4 great children who are all grown up now but my memories of them growing up inspire and inform my writing as do our 8 adorable, energetic, hilarious and exhausting grandchildren.
Q&A with author Steve Smallman
16th September 2024
Article
5 min read
Clare ADMIN
Edited
16th September 2024
Steve Smallman, author of the Maggie Sparks series, discusses why he loves writing friendships in children's fiction and the rewards and challenges of writing series fiction.
Maggie Sparks
Can you tell us how you created the character of Maggie Sparks?
The publisher, Sweet Cherry, had a general idea of how they wanted Maggie to be in terms of her age, ethnicity and her tendency to get into magical mischief but as with any character you write you get to know them better as you write them. I may well have been influenced by memories of my children and grandchildren at a similar age.
Maggie and Arthur’s friendship is heart-warming and I loved how they’re both so different, yet get along so well. Why do you think friendships are such an important part of children’s fiction?
Friendships are so important to children. They form really strong bonds with each other and can be heartbroken if they fall out. The strongest friendships are the ones that are not based on whether you like the same fashion or pop star or dislike other people for whatever reason. Having shared values, being kind and caring to one other in spite of your differences is the bedrock of true friendship. Which is just as well for Maggie and Arthur who are as different as chalk and cheese!
Do you have any advice for children’s fiction writers who want to balance frights and laughs in their writing?
Even in books for very young children a bit of mild peril can really help a story along. If it’s tempered by humour it’s even better. You can build up tension with a bit of perceived danger and with a page turn, release it all again with a funny resolution. A storyline should be a bit of a rollercoaster ride but don’t leave anything too scary unresolved, we don’t want the children to have nightmares!
As Maggie Sparks is a series, how do you plan writing each book? What advice do you have for writers who are also writing series? What are the rewards/challenges?
We started the series with a very sketchy plan for what each story was about but we made a few changes as the work progressed. I personally don’t have a very well defined story plan. I kind of start writing and see where the story takes me. My first draft is often too short or too long on word count but my lovely editor Tori, is very good at suggesting where we might expand or cut the text back as needed and keep me on track. One of the great things about writing a series is that you get to know your characters really well! You discover things about them as you go along and their personalities have time to develop. You can build on the relationships you’ve introduced early on and bring back characters that have barely had a mention before to the foreground of a plot line. The downside is that you can use up a lot of ideas in the first few books and then you’ve got to try to think up a load of new ones going forward. Luckily the more you get to know your characters the more ideas they whisper in your ear!
Steve Smallman is an award-winning author and illustrator who has been illustrating children’s books for over 40 years (and writing his own stories for slightly less). He also teaches illustration workshops in schools, including mural-painting. Steve is the author of Maggie Sparks, but might also be known for writing Poo in the Zoo, and was the winner of the Sheffield Children’s Book Award 2009! When he’s not writing or drawing, Steve enjoys watching films and television, gardening and walking in the countryside.
Smallman, Steve THE ARMADILLO WHO CAME FOR DINNER Tiger Tales (Children's None) $18.99 8, 6 ISBN: 9781664300439
An armadillo discovers that he may be armor-plated, but he doesn't have to be thick-skinned.
This unusual friendship trio--Little Lamb, Wolf, and Omelet the alligator--get an unexpected visitor, yet again. The three have just sat down to a lovely picnic when suddenly a boulder crashes through their tasty spread. But it's not a boulder--it's a rolled-up armadillo who smacks into a tree. Little Lamb invites the dizzy friend home for dinner to recuperate. She offers a hug as well, but Dizzy refuses, peevishly replying, "I'm a tough armadillo, so I don't need hugs, thank you very much." During Dizzy's stay, Little Lamb offers more hugs, with tiny woolen arms stretched out wide--comforting ones and congratulatory ones--but Dizzy rebuffs each hug. He's too tough for those. Until, that is, Little Lamb finds herself in a tight spot, with a real boulder crashing toward her. Dizzy saves the day and just might accept a grateful squeeze from a friend. The sixth installment in this U.K. series is a bit meandering, but it's sweet nonetheless. The expressive animals display a range of emotional states, from joy at one another's company and unsteadiness after a bonk on the head (complete with unsteady eyes) to concern when one of them takes a tumble.
A lighthearted lesson in letting down barriers. (Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Smallman, Steve: THE ARMADILLO WHO CAME FOR DINNER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A795673972/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6989e56b. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
The Tiger Who Came for Dinner. By Steve Smallman. Illus. by Joelle Dreidemy. Mar. 2023. 32p. Tiger Tales, $18.99 (9781664300224). K-Gr. 2.
In a deceptively sweet-seeming tale with both figurative and literal teeth, Smallman and Dreidemy depict a loving, if unconventional, family: Wolf, Little Lamb, and Omelet, their doglike alligator. It's Omelet who comes trotting out of the woods bearing not the usual stick but an adorably fluffy tiger cub. Awww. Time to take the silent, big-eyed tyke back to its no doubt worried family. Only Omelet notices the rather predatory way Fluffy cozies up to mice, fish, and even Little Lamb along the way and so is poised to come to the rescue with a terrifying SNAP! when the tiger cub summons its delighted parents with a sudden shout of "MOM, DAD. I'M HOME! AND I'VE BROUGHT ... DINNER!" Variations on the titular play on words have seen long service for tales with benevolent final twists; consider this as a deliciously thrilling surprise for storytime audiences set up by the likes of Ken Brown's What's the Time, Grandma Wolf? (2001), Margery Cuyler's Skeleton for Dinner (2013), or Jessica Olien's When a Tiger Comes to Dinner (2019).--John Peters
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
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Peters, John. "The Tiger Who Came for Dinner." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2023, p. 58. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A738954439/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fbfd0c4a. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
Smallman, Steve THE TIGER WHO CAME FOR DINNER Tiger Tales (Children's None) $18.99 3, 14 ISBN: 978-1-66430-022-4
A lost tiger cub is fluffy, cuddly, and conniving.
Readers were introduced to the odd household trio--paternal Wolf, childlike Little Lamb, and their alligator, Omelet--in Smallman's previous works (The Lamb Who Came for Dinner, 2006, etc.). Omelet has since grown and now loves to play fetch. Unfortunately, sometimes he brings back other items instead of the stick. When he triumphantly brings back a sopping wet tiger cub one day, Little Lamb is thrilled. A new, cuddly pet! But alas, they cannot keep her. They must help her find her way back home. On the journey back through the woods, Fluffy the cub becomes increasingly interested in Little Lamb. She eagerly licks Little Lamb while salivating, with expressive eyes that reveal how much she wants a tasty snack. Little Lamb and Wolf think the attention is adorable, but Omelet sees through the ruse. When they make it to Fluffy's home, will Little Lamb become dinner? Little Lamb's and Wolf's obliviousness amps up the silliness, eliciting groans from readers, who will be well aware of Fluffy's true feelings. Omelet may not be a fuzzy or cute pet (slippery scales and pointy teeth and all), but he's a devoted one who saves the day. Making use of vignettes and graphic novel-esque panels, Dreidemy's cartoonish illustrations brim with warmth. Text and art make crystal-clear that found family can be the best family. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sly tale of trickery and familial bonds. (Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Smallman, Steve: THE TIGER WHO CAME FOR DINNER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072739/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a4259e14. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.