You're all animals by Nicholas Allan

Tuesday Treasure

sort of...

Billy Trunk starts at a new school.  He looks around the classroom but no one looks like him.

"One had teeth all down his nose
One was slimy
One was spotty
and one smelt really bad."

Billy is a young elephant. I guess you saw him on the cover. In his class there is a giraffe, a crocodile, a snake and an owl and other 'animals'. Now comes the first BIG mistake. When he gets home Billy tells his mum and dad he wants a friend "who's just like me."  Dad (wrongly) suggests they look on the computer:

MY NAME'S BILLY TRUNK I'M 7 I LIKE SKATEBOARDING

Billy gets a reply from someone called Frank who says he is also 7 and who also likes skateboarding. Billy replies saying he likes buns! That afternoon there is another answer from Frank. He likes eating buns too especially the crumbs. Now for the next MISTAKE:

DEAR FRANK I GO TO ROSEHILL SCHOOL FROM BILLY

Frank arranges to meet Billy at school. Billy describes himself as grey with big ears and a long nose. Frank says he is grey too and big-eared and he has a long nose! Has Billy found another elephant to be his friend? No Frank is a (spoiler alert) a mouse!

Back in 2000 perhaps we were not talking with children and teens about online stranger danger. I am sure Nicholas Allan did not intend online safety as a focus of his book. There is a 'message' in this book about making friends and accepting difference but today I would use it as a springboard to discuss the danger of posting your name, address, school and more online. This book is a Tuesday Treasure because it was recently culled from my former school library. Perhaps that was a good decision but I would like to suggest instead that you keep this book and share it with teachers who could use it with more mature students.  I do think this book will generate some very meaningful discussions.

Here is a quotes from a GoodReads reviewer which explains that this is a book to approach with caution:

"The book fails to teach children about the importance of e-safety as Billy talks to and meets with a stranger he has met on-line. This is a point I had to address following the reading which could lead on to teaching about safeguarding."