Tiddler

Tiddler? Tiddler? TIDDLER'S LATE!

Tiddler is a modern children's classic of a book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Sheffler, the pair who provided us with the wonderful The Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child stories, as well as many more.

The story revolves around the eponymous Tiddler, a little fish famed for his story-telling which he uses as excuses for being late for school. The tales get more and more fanciful, and less and less believable, but as they grow in popularity, they spread around the undersea world.

The tale has a wonderful rhythmic cadence when read aloud, redolent of The Cat in the Hat and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. We also have the famous pantomime chorus of "Oh, no he didn't!" "OH, YES HE DID!", and wonderful, colourful illustrations by Sheffler, depicting all the undersea fish and other creatures. I particularly like the classroom scenes, where "Miss Skate" calls the register to her class full of different species of fish:

The humour is guaranteed to warm the heart of any toddler and their parents - my four-year-old is certainly a fan!