Plum is Humber's little sister and, like Chloe in Chloe, Instead, she's a bit of a pest. But when Granny gives Chloe a toy rabbit and Humber a book, he's jealous. And when Plum won't let him play with it, no matter what he offers to trade, Humber hits her.
It was at this point in the book that my boys went still and silent. I can't think of another book we've read where a child has hit another child and they were clearly intrigued.
Humber and Plum's mum reacts in almost exactly the same way I would. She doesn't shout and she certainly doesn't hit Humber, she sends him to his room and very calmly discusses why what he's done is wrong. Of course Humber apologises and the book ends with Mum cuddling Hum and saying "Well done."
I really loved this book. I loved the storyline and the illustrations are beautiful. It was lovely to see a relatively serious subject dealt with in such a simple and gentle way. This is the third Humber and Plum book and I'll definitely have to check out the other two.
This sounds like a great book - like you say, really interesting for a picture book to deal with an issue like hitting and something I think would be valuable to read with my three year old (who has an 18 month old sister!)
ReplyDeleteWe have enjoyed the second Humber and Plum book - My Baby Sister, it is a gentle and lovely book about the arrival of a sibling. I didn't know there were others, we'll be looking out for them now! Thanks for the review :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you. We will definitely look out the other books.
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