What an unusual story this ‘lets-find-a-story’ story is!
Translated from the original Spanish, this book is a whirlwind of ideas and jokes for children who are ready for a few more words in their picture books.
Each page is a busy mix of story text, illustrations, signposts, and chat. Yes chat – the pictures all talk (their comments are in red so as not to get int the way of the main text). Even the page numbers keep a running commentary as you turn over each page!
While this is fun and exciting, it might be a bit overwhelming for younger readers, and can make it difficult for an adult reading the text aloud to work out what order to read things in! But, for children who love to spend ages exploring each page as if it were a map, there is a lot to find on every one of the 22 spreads.
The main characters are Thingummies, creatures that look a little like fingerprints with eyes. They go off looking for a story and find several as they adventure their way through the Fairytale Trail, Future Freeway, Poetry Path and Bedtime Boulevard. And just when you think its all over, they discover another signpost, leading to the Maze of Mumblings, where they have their biggest adventure of all.
Each of the places they travel to explores some basic ideas about storytelling. Past, present and future; beginning, middle and end; obstacles and solutions; heroes and villains. This makes Has Anybody Seen A Story? ideal for Year 2 or Year 3 children who are beginning to explore their own story writing in more depth.
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