Hogbert by Briony May Smith

You might like to begin with my Meet the Illustrator post where I introduce Briony May Smith. Her art is so appealing and surely you cannot resist the sweet image of Hogbert on the cover of this latest book.

When you pick up Hogbert twist and turn the cover. It is scattered with gold. Then, when you begin reading this book with your young reading companion you will encounter a truly delightful word - snufflebugs!

Here is a word list (not for a lesson) just to delight you: guzzled, snuffled, snorts and snuffles, let's hop to it, nattered, rumbling and grumbling, fiddlesticks, drizzle, and aroma.

This story is filled with references to fairy tales (some are very subtle). Hopefully all of these will be very familiar to your child or preschool group - Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel and The Frog Prince.

Here is a detailed interview with the author filled with art from this story and photographs of her forest adventures.

Publisher blurb: When Mommy Boar sends her little snufflebugs to explore the forest for the first time, she cautions them to stick together. After all, the Big Bad Wolf could be near! But Hogbert’s keen nose has other ideas, and after following a trail too far, he finds himself trembling alone in fear. What’s that rustling in the leaves? Just a little red squirrel on her way to visit her sick granny! What’s that growl coming through the trees? Just a snoring white doe who took a bite of an apple that made her sleepy! With each temporarily scary encounter, Hogbert finds that the world is a less frightening place, and that the same sense of smell that led him into trouble may just lead them all out of it again.

The skilled depiction of the sylvan setting includes lovely flowers, towering trees, and constantly shifting light and shadow. This low-key adventure is a pleasant diversion that effectively capitalizes on the appeal of timeless tales. Kirkus