Reviewed by annieb123 on
Narwhal's School of Awesomeness is the 6th book featuring the charming and delightful Narwhal and Jelly written and illustrated by Ben Clanton. Due out 7th Sept 2021 from Penguin Random House Canada, it's 88 pages with easily read text, and will be available in hardcover and audiobook formats. The story is adorable and relatable for kids - what happens when a "school" of fish needs a substitute teacher? Narwhal and Jelly to the rescue, of course! I like that there's an intermission roughly in the middle of the book with a lot of cool factoids about real life fish, birds, waffles (!!) and jellyfish. There's also a couple of page story toward the end of the book (as in the previous books) illustrated in a very different style to differentiate it which reminded me of a similar technique Dav Pilkey uses for cutaway stories inside of his books (as the main characters are drawing or telling another story inside the main story).
It's just such an exuberant book. The illustrations are wonderful and the story itself is a lot deeper and more meaningful than the happy bouncy surface would imply. I think this book (and indeed the other books in this series) would make worthwhile reading group or classroom reads for younger readers. The characters are so relatable and real and the fact that they're anthropomorphic makes them more accessible. There are abundant possibilities for many silly voices if reading with a young friend or relative. This would be a great choice for school library acquisition, childminders, school reading circles, families with young kids, and similar situations.
I am a huge fan!
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 21 August, 2021: Finished reading
- 21 August, 2021: Reviewed