Out of Nowhere

By Author / Illustrator

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

Genre

Picture Books

Age range(s)

Publisher

Nosy Crow Ltd

ISBN

9781788008396

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

14-01-2021

Synopsis

A feel-good picture book about friendship and change, from the bestselling author of The Suitcase, translated into over 20 languages.Beetle and Caterpillar are best friends. Every day, they sit together on a big rock, sharing a picnic and looking out over the forest. But one day, Caterpillar goes missing and, try as he might, Beetle cannot find her. Just as he is about to give up hope, a very friendly (and rather familiar) butterfly appears out of nowhere. Can it be his friend? She might look different but she is still just the same and they are together again, at last.A heartwarming story from bestselling author, Chris Naylor-Ballesteros, shortlisted for Oscar's Prize 2020 and The Kate Greenaway Award 2020.Every Nosy Crow paperback picture book comes with a free \"Stories Aloud\" audio recording. Just scan the QR code and listen along!

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Reviews

Out of Nowhere is a delightful story of a lost friend. The low level suspense and feeling of lose builds up as the story progresses until we get the happy ever after! The first, short, clear sentence,'Once I had a friend' started a discussion immediately among my class.... "Once, where is the friend now? What happens to friends?" And some brilliant predictions for the story.

Beetle had a friend, they had picnics together, watched the moon, and spent every day together until... There are no words, just a cocoon, and that morning, Beetle discovers his friend has gone. Unbeknown to Beetle, his friend is very close by!

Beetle looks everywhere, until he spots something familiar way off in the distance. He packs his picnic and sets off on the very long journey, without realising he was leaving his friend behind. Meanwhile as Beetle travels on, singing and pretending to be brave, a butterfly appears from the cocoon...

This is a lovely journey tale, with a mix of PSHE (friendships, belonging, bravery) and science (life cycles). Through the suspense, children will be engaged throughout this story. The illustrations are eye catching in an unusual way as they are mainly black and white detailed sketches, with the added splash of red, keeping the reader drawn to each page.

Picture book / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Maria Faithorn, teacher