Inside the Villains

This book is stunning! It is full of delightful surprises and even at first sight not at all what I had expected to receive. This hardback is superbly oversized, stands out from the rest and immediately draws your eye. Inside the villains looks in depth at three of our favourite fairy-tale villains; 'The big bad wolf', 'The Giant' and 'The wicked witch'. Each of these characters owns a double page spread where first they introduce themselves in first person to the reader, pompously boasting about their evil traits and inviting their audience in for a deeper, darker look into their characters personalities. Alongside this you then find lift-the-flap portraits of the villains that little hands can pick at and pull open to reveal the characters' secrets and memoirs of their devious tricks. These lift-the-flaps are exquisite and so delicately done. There are belts to open, innards to pull out and levered eggs to tug from chickens. Children will love taking the time to explore each character although I would ensure an adult is close by or reading alongside the children to guide little hands to be gentle with some small parts that will need looking after. After being introduced to the character, there is then on the flip side of the page a personality card detailing weakness, strengths and even their favourite food. This page is again superbly presented, clean and crisp, each snippet of information is kept short and sweet under digestible subheadings for young children to understand and enjoy. If this wasn't enough, the writer has also included a witty version of one of their famous tales. Use this book in class! How could you not? With so many links to fairytales and ways of looking at these that will continue to keep the children excited and re-engaged with timeless classics right the way through school. For example, children could choose their own villainous character to write in role as and introduce or produce fact files/non- fiction pieces alike the trait sheets. I really can't get over how fascinating this book is and believe it is probably one of the most original and unique picture books I've read to date. 12 pages / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Nikki Stiles, teacher.

Suggested Reading Age 5+