Hello Twigs: Time to paint by Andrew McDonald & Ben Wood

Friends, Ziggy Twig, Red Twig and Stump love to watch Noodle Twig, the artist, paint. Creative Noodle wears the blue beetle as a hat and knows exactly what she wants to paint, she just needs her friends to assemble the materials. Stump helps by mashing up green grass, red berries and yellow leaves while Ziggy holds up a leaf canvas. Red Twig puts the paints together with a huge dollop of red claiming to have ‘equal' amounts. The only problem is that they have no blue paint. The inventive method of getting some of the blue sky involves acrobatics and a see saw but the result, while successful, is unexpected. Time to Paint, one of a Hello Twigs series, has just enough challenging vocabulary for beginning readers developing proficiency as well as for enjoyable reading aloud. The simple graphics and clean clear colours, fun storyline with jokes to be shared, make these a good addition to any school library.There are teachers notes and activities provided on the website.

Themes: Friendship, Creativity, Problem solving.

Sue Speck