There's a bull ant in the bedroom by Adam Wallace. Illus. by Shane McG

The bull ant which unsurprisingly bites the boy on his bum is only one of the animals which invade the house in this laugh out loud verse story. Each one seems to end up in his sister’s bed, making the reader aware that each line will end with that sound (bed) so will be eager to suggest and predict the rhyming words as well as say the line along with the reader.

The bull ant is not the only unusual thing to find in the house. There’s a camel in the kitchen, a lion in the laundry, a chameleon in the closet that is very hard to find, a gorilla in the garden, a llama in the lounge room, a tiger in the toilet, a piranha in the pool and a hippo on the hallway, all of which end up in sister’s bed. But when he goes to bed he finds that his sister has taken a stand.

Readers will love the odd animals found in the house, the rhyming lines, the alliteration, the build up of animals in sister’s bed, and laugh at the outcome when the children go to bed.

The vibrant illustrations add another level of humour to the funny tale, and eager eyes will look at the detail, as well as the attributes of each animal shown and its interaction with the children. I love the looks on all the faces, especially the sister’s as they all end up in her bed. And the end papers with their reprisal of some of the details from the pages will intrigue eager eyes.

And what an introduction to an array of animals for the classroom.

Themes: Humour, Animals, Verse story, Family.

Fran Knight