FUZZY DOODLE

Written by: Melinda Szymanik

Illustrated by: Donovan Bixley

Published by: Scholastic, New Zealand June 2016

Ages:   3 – 7 years (but could be for any age)

Theme: Birth, Growth, Imagination

Opening Lines: Fuzzy started as a scribble, just a scrawly little doodle, a smudgey sort of something, at the bottom of the page.

Synopsis: The metamorphosis of a caterpillar, the metamorphosis of a creative idea, and the magic of creativity are all explored in this picture book.

Why I like it: Oh wow! Imagine a fuzzy little doodle at the bottom of the page, nibbled, chomped and gobbled scrumptious words and tasty colours which made Fuzzy grow and grow and GROW… Hello!   How creative is this! This smudgy little squiggle comes to life and we follow it from page to page watching it grow munching on words and grow into…. Well you have to get the book to see what happens. But lines like… “First he nibbled at a comment, and then he chomped some tasty jottings. He found the writing scrumptious as he hoovered up the text,” a poetic treat. Oh my! This is so clever and creative about a scribble that transforms into something wonderful and one can’t help turn the pages to see how or what he has grown into. The illustrations are amazing with the blending watercolour, the shiny, tactile branch made from various cursive words, the charcoal sketched fuzzy thing that looks right at you with a smile. What exactly is a Fuzzy Doodle? Imagine reading this book in a classroom. Kids will love it and want it read again and again.

Melinda is a New Zealand award winning author and ‘Fuzzy Doodle’ was a 2017 Storylines Notable book, finalist in the 2017 NZ Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards and a 2017 White Raven selection.

Award winning illustrator Donovan also lives in New Zealand by the crater lake of Taupo and you can find out more about him on his interesting blog…   http://www.donovanbixley.com/?pagename=biography

Resources/Findings:   Ask kids what they think a Fuzzy Doodle is?

How do you make a Fuzzy Doodle?

Ask kids to make their own Fuzzy Doodle and write a story about it.

Here is Melinda’s blog where you will find a PDF Teachers notes for the classroom on Fuzzy Doodle ….   http://melindaszymanik.blogspot.co.nz/

I’m always pleased to be able to bring you some more special books that have come my way and be able to share them with you and join other great writers over at Susanna’s Blog, where there are literally hundreds of book reviews to view.  So pop over  and visit the lovely author, Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog and find the tab for Perfect Picture Books.    Her blog is full of resources links and activities associated with books reviewed by many authors