Cards on the table....I'm a huge fan of Ross Montgomery. I loved 'Midnight Guardians' last year (and if you did, too, just wait until you read 'Chime Seekers' later this year!). So I am absolutely thrilled to have been asked to take part in the blogtour for his latest title: picture book 'Ten Delicious Teachers', especially on its release date today, the 5th August!
I'm writing this review as I'm on holiday back in Ireland, with my own 2 children, 9 and 7, and spending time with my twin nieces, 4 next month. Given that I'm a teacher, I suspect that I may not be the primary audience for this book (more like a target of a different sort - dinner! What's the deal, Ross!? I'm intrigued to know if the teachers are based on real-life experiences!?). Instead, I've been able to share and watch each of these four children and their reactions, and can tell you without doubt, this is a smash hit!
They've loved the overall premise of the story....what children wouldn't!? A bunch of tired eachers miss their bus (This was laugh number one...silly teachers!) then decide to go in the woods ('That's never a good idea in a story, is it!?') and subsequently fall into the traps and become the dinner of various monsters along the way (Cue laughs every time!).
I loved the rhyme and pace of the story...it's funny and frivolous, and the descriptions of the monsters as they lie in wait, alongside the brilliant and bright illustrations by Sarah Warburton, are sure to elicit joining in as the numbers dwindle to the last teacher.
My audience of four loved counting up, down and around the pictures, and I'm sure pupils in classrooms around the country will love doing the same!
My favourite element though, is the twist in the tale as the monsters pick on the wrong teacher as their last course....an Early Years teacher!
'Used to dealing with all kinds of noisy, smelly creatures', she doesn't put up with the monsters' nonsense one bit, and very clearly puts them in their place!
I loved the class photo as the last image of the story...it was nice to see the tables turned on the monsters after the rest of the teachers got so messily dealt with through the story!
This is another brilliant story from the award-winning Ross, and I can't wait to use the book in class next year and hear the laughs! Please support and buy from an independent bookshop!
Thank you to Rebecca at Walker Books for the review copy and for having me on the blogtour.
Find out more at www.walker.co.uk/Ten-Delicious-Teachers-9781406389821.aspx
Author Ross Montgomer is online at rossmontgomery.co.uk and on Twitter as @mossmontmomery
Hear him reading from the book here:
Illustrator Sarah Warburton is online at sarahwarburtonillustrations.co.uk and on Instagram as @s_warburton_ish_
Review by Rich Simpson (@richreadalot) August 2021