The Thing

By Author / Illustrator

Simon Puttock, Daniel Egneus

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Egmont UK Ltd

ISBN

9781405283717

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

01-06-2017

Synopsis

One day, the Thing falls from the sky and four strangers stumble across it.

Together they decide to work together to take care of the Thing. But before long a media circus builds up around the creature they are protecting and the debate about the Thing spreads far around the world.

What is the Thing?
Who does it belong to?
What does it do?
And is it any use for anything at all?

This captivating picture book will be many things to many people: a story about thoughtfulness, an adventure in friendship and an intriguing and gentle social commentary on the search for meaning in modern life.

Daniel Egneus' unique and engaging artwork beautifully illustrates this enigmatic story and brings the strange Thing to life. With a similar feel to Alexis Deacon's Beegu and Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing, this is the perfect bedtime story for children and adults to enjoy together.

Praise for The Thing:

\"Enigmatic, charming and quite beautiful\" - The Sunday Times

\"Touching on themes of compassion, kindness and belonging, this quirky tale will undoubtedly instigate crucial questions and topics for further discussion across all age groups\" - Picture Books Blogger

Simon Puttock was born in New Zealand and, as a child, wanted to be a vet or an archaeologist. Instead, and after some considerable time and doing other stuff, he became a full-time writer. He has written over 40 books for children and has won several awards, including the 2016 Scottish Children's Book Award for Mouse's First Night at Moonlight School.

Daniel Egneus was born in Sweden and has had successful collaborations with clients such as Haagen-Dasz, O2 UK, Marie Claire, Time Magazine, Penguin Books and Random House. He was voted best illustrator by the Association of Illustrators in the UK (2005). He has published many books including Little Red Riding Hood (Harper Collins) and Hot Dog cookbook (winner of the Prix Gourmand for Best Illustrated Cookbook in France).

View Extract

Reviews

The Thing is a book that constantly leaves you asking questions. Throughout the book, we never find out just what is The Thing that just suddenly appears one day. We are left to use our imaginations. My Y1 children decided that it was an alien spaceship, an egg, a cocoon, a butterfly and most interestingly of all, Mickey Mouse (the shape of it does look similar). The book is set around four strangers who are brought together by chance after they stumble upon The Thing. None of them have any idea what it is and as the story develops, their curiousity towards The Thing draws them closer together. Before too long, The Thing has become a huge part of their lives and has become a global phenomenon. It is very clear to see that author has deliberately chosen to use strangers at the beginning as a way to show the journey friendship can take. This allows the book to be used as a great tool during PHSE lessons around making and maintain friendships. The sense of mystery around the object is something that I enjoyed - even if we never find out what The Thing is. It would be quite interesting to see this text used within English lessons as initial discussions around a picture of The Thing could inspire some excellent deeper level thinking. Work around writing questions using correct punctuation could also be a lesson linked to the text as the animals think about what to ask The Thing. Lots of art opportunities could be woven in a learning sequence and I would even be inclined to allow children to create their own 'Things' With many hidden meanings and massages, this text could easily be used across the primary age range.