The Suitcase

By Author / Illustrator

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

Genre

Representation & Inclusion

Age range(s)

Publisher

Nosy Crow Ltd

ISBN

9781788004480

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

02-05-2019

Synopsis

When a strange-looking animal arrives pulling a big suitcase, the other animals are curious. What on earth could be inside that suitcase? A teacup? Maybe. A table and chair? Perhaps. A whole home and hillside with trees? This stranger must be fibbing! But when the animals break into the suitcase and discover a very special photograph, they begin to understand what the strange creature has been through, and together they create a very special welcome present . . .

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Reviews

Lucy

The Suitcase is all about making new friends, particularly with those that seem different from you, and deciding whether to believe tales that people tell you.

As a strange animal approaches a group of friends, he tells them all about the magical things he has in his suitcase. The other animals find it tricky to decide whether he is telling the truth or not so, when he is sleeping, one of the animals decides to open his suitcase and see for themselves! The animals are shocked at what they find, and then troubled that they have broken into his suitcase, and search for a way to help set things right. Luckily, instead of being cross that the animals had doubted him in the first place, the stranger decides he may have some new friends after all.

This is a nice story with some interesting opportunities for several moral discussions - trusting people, making new friends, dealing with difficulties with others, and how we treat 'strangers' who probably have more in common with us than we think.

Picture book / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Lucy Newton, teacher