Alison Green Books The Highway Rat Gift Edition

I love all of Julia Donaldson's books. The rhyme and meter are wonderful, and the artwork is delightful. The kids love every one of the books.Strangely, though, this one I'll only give four stars to. I can't put my finger on why, but when you compare it to The Gruffalo, Stick Man or Zog, it just doesn't quite measure up to them.It's still a nice book, and the kids enjoy the ryhming and stuff, but the concept of a highwayman is a bit beyond a 3 year-old. Dragons, check, monsters, check, sticks, check, 17th-century criminal archetypes... not so much :)I still enjoyed it, and I think the kids did too. It's a nice bedtime book, and may possibly stretch the kids minds with some concepts of property and ownership.

I must have read this to my granddaughter a hundred times during lockdown, mostly over Skype. She loves it because I do all the voices (Spoiler alert: The Highway Rat is from Essex) and my wife hates it for the exact same reason.Much, much better than The Gruffalo. Buy it and read it to a 4 year old, and take your mind off all the bad stuff in the world for a few minutes. Then get ready to read it again. And again. And again.

My son is 3 and loves reading. He is probably one of the only children in the world who isn’t a huge fan of Julia Donaldson books. Not that he knows the books by author but We had issues about the gruffalo as it had been over read at his nursery& turns out it frightened him half to death. Unfortunately, in every book with the same illustrator-there are either indirect or direct references to the gruffalo (gruffalo biscuits in the shop etc) & even the rhyme & story are similar. I also have to cut out the odd line for my own sanity. He likes it but only on small doses & then I find it tucked away at the back of his books-facing downwards

We realised my niece didn't have a copy of this book - shockingly! - after watching the animation at Christmas, so quickly ordered one. As usual with Julia Donaldson's text and Axel Schefler's illustrations, both reader and listener were engaged from the very start and there was plenty to talk about on the pages (Gruffalo cookies were quickly spotted!). There was also the opportunity to discuss the themes and morals (stealing, fairness/unfairness, echoes etc.) and to spot rhyming sections. Overall, a hit!

Like so many of the Donaldson/Scheffler books this is an absolute beaut. It's lovely to read, the rhyming and rhythm is perfect and I just love a good villain! My three year old loves this book and it's inspired a lot of his play. Definitely up there with Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo in our house.