by Kyle Mewburn and Deborah Hinde
What’s not to like about The Hoppleplop! And I’m not even in the age range of its intended audience – pre-schoolers and a little beyond.
It’s important, of course, that the adult reader enjoys such a book too – they’re the one who has to do the reading. In the case of The Hoppleplop this is almost guaranteed, which is just as well, as they’ll have to repeat it over and over.
The story is simple enough. You’re invited to move from room to room of a house in a search for a creature called hoppleplop. The fascination comes with relating the pictures to the text. The two are very well integrated.
There are a couple of mysteries in the story, and the solutions are revealed by study of the illustrations.
It’s an attractive, well-produced book, with silky cover and pages children will love to touch as they examine the full colour pictures.
This is a re-issue of a book first published in 2004, with three extra pages giving details of the production process.
Author: Kyle Mewburn; Illustrator: Deborah Hinde
Publisher: Lizard Lane Books
ISBN: 978-0-473-35529-6
Available: bookshops