Tug of War

Wonderful illistrations! Great color and details! Good story about judgement and friendship. Simple and easy to read and explain to kids. Excellent book.

THIS IS ADORABLE. My only complaint
is the use of "stupid". The word isn't allowed in my classroom so I wouldn't be able to read this.

It's another version of a folk tale and is adorable (i know repeating myself).

Off netgalley free in exchange for an honest review

I fell in LOVE with this book! Want to buy this for my nearly 5 year old so badly!

Story follows the tortoise, who is small and wrinkly, and the great creatures of the forest see no point in being friends with him... But the tortoise has a plan! And he bests them with his clever tricks :)

The illustrations are beautiful.. Work of art. It was such a pleasure to read this book with my little one. Can't wait to buy the physical copy. Howarth is so talented!

3.5 stars
My favorite things about Naomi Howarth's Tug of War are the really lovely illustrations, depicting intricate patterns of jungle foliage, bright birds and butterflies, and visually appealing use of colors in general, with the brighter colors standing out against the earth tones and greens of plants, as well as the green of a tortoise who is the main character.

Tortoise wants to make some new friends, but unfortunately the elephant and hippopotamus look down on him because he's slow and wrinkly and not as big and impressive as they are. He finds a way to use their pride against them with a little trick though, and demonstrates that being smaller in size does not mean inferior. 

I do appreciate the message of the book, though perhaps it's a tad too simplistic in the way it wraps up. I would also hope that even though children will probably enjoy this story, they will learn to recognize that in real life not every insult should compel you to have to "prove" your abilities to others.

The plot's a little jarring

So a tortoise is down because an elephant and a hippo have each rejected his offer of friendship. When he tells this to a sympathetic bird the bird, rather than offering to be his friend, instead suggests the tortoise find a way to use his smarts to impress the elephant and hippo. Anyway, the tortoise tricks them and they both get muddy, which is apparently supposed to be humbling to them. Never mind that hippos and elephants like mud. So everyone ends up friends and lives happily ever after.

I guess the message is that the little guy should get even with the high and mighty by tricking them. Most little ones will like the idea of an elephant and a hippo going splat on their butts, so four stars rather than three. But to me the plot just seemed a little off.

I was provided a copy for review by the publisher.

'Tug of War' by Naomi Howarth is a story about how being little doesn't mean you can't be someone's friend.

When Tortoise is looking for a friend, he finds Elephant and Hippo.  They both laugh about how small he is.  This makes Tortoise sad, until he uses his brain to show them that he has things to offer these two huge animals.

I really liked this well illustrated story with it's message for the small.  It's a picture book to be read and thought about.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Frances Lincoln Children's Books, Quarto Publishing Group, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Beautifully Illustrated book with an equally beautifully story. This book teaches a lesson without the reader or listener even knowing it because it is so well done. We recommend it. Well done!

Oh my, are Naomi Howarth’s illustrations stunning in TUG OF WAR, a gorgeous recounting of a wise West African folktale! Readers will learn that humor and wisdom count more than brawn and that friendship is the greatest treasure of all. 5/5

Thanks to the author, Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#TugOfWar #NetGalley

One of the most beautiful children's books I have read in a long time. Such an amazing story.  It is so important to teach our young that it is not important to be the best at everything. This shows how looks aren't everything.

This was a sweet and fun story of how brains beats brawn. I'm not sure it was a good advisory on how to make friends though. The story is that the elephant and the hippopotamus both reject the friendship overtures of the tortoise because it's small and wrinkled and slow. The tortoise challenges each of them to a tug of war which they both accept, but what they don't know is that they're tugging against each other, not against the tortoise!

In the end they all become friends. I'm far from convinced that having friends that dumb and bigoted is worth all this effort, but who knows? Maybe the tortoise will be a positive influence in their lives. Hippos are known to be irascible; elephants, not so much, and they're really smart, too, so while on the one hand I resent the elephant being misrepresented, I also found the story entertaining for kids who aren't going to analyze it at all. Plus it teaches a lesson about teaching lessons, so on balance, I consider this to be a worthy read.

This book was so beautiful. I loved all the colors and pictures. The message about friendship and why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover is also nice. 

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An amazing children's story and a very important lesson on kindness for the little one's to learn. Wonderful work

A beautifully illustrated work that tells the story of a tortoise making up for his lack of pace and power with his quickness of mind and thought. 

This reads like a retelling of a classic fable but delivers the story with such gloriously full illustrated pages that the colour bursts off the page at you. 

'Tug of War' reminds me of the sort of books my parents read to me as a child, and it is certainly one I would recommend people buy to read with their own children today.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TUG OF WAR has such gorgeous illustrations and a sweet story that retells an inspiring West African folktale. Children learn that friendship means much more than strength in this charming book for young readers. Highly recommended!

Grateful to Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens and NetGalley for the early copy, in exchange for my true review.

#TugOfWar #NetGalley

"One morning, while the sun was high in the sky over the banks of the great African river, Tortoise set off on a walk.
'It's so beautiful and sunny', he said to himself.'
'I think it's the perfect day to make a new friend."


He encounters an elephant and asks him point blank, "Would you like to be my friend?"  Elephant's reply is rude, demeaning and quite shocking.    

"No thanks! I am the biggest and best beast in this jungle, and you are nothing more than a small, stupid old tortoise" 

Tortoise is saddened and walks away until he comes upon a Hippo and thinks perhaps he can be his friend.  He poses the same question and gets this reply:

"Be your friend?" roared Hippo." "Are you joking? I am the toughest most terrible thing in this jungle, and you are nothing more than a small, wrinkly old tortoise." 

Poor Tortoise, now he feels even worse.  Bird can't help but notice how badly Tortoise feels and gives Tortoise some excellent advice... advice that inspires and motivates Tortoise to concoct a brilliant plan to prove to both Elephant and Hippo that they may have  power and brawn but he has brains.  Do you think his plan will work?  Can he prove to the prideful two that just because you are smaller does not mean you are deplorable?

 "Tug of War" is a retelling of a wise West African folktale. The illustrations are spectacular and engaging and the message is positive and inspiring.  I highly recommend this wonderful book.

4★
The illustrations are five-star and worth the price of admission! The story is a simple fable about valuing friends for more than their size (or some other quality). Perhaps it is an old fable, and I just don't recognise it.

Tortoise wanders out on a beautiful day to make a new friend. First Elephant hoses him down and insults him:

“'No, thanks! I am the biggest and best beast in this jungle, and you are nothing more than a small, stupid old tortoise.'

Tortoise walked away, feeling sad.”

Next he asks Hippo and gets the same result, topped off with a spitting spray for his trouble. Same story, no luck.

[My Goodreads review includes an Illustration of Hippo laughing and spraying water on Tortoise.]

Poor Tortoise! Nobody wants to be friends with a little wrinkly creature .

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration of poor Tortoise feeling sorry for himself.]

He thinks about it and decides to outwit them by challenging each to a tug of war. Ridiculous, right? Of course it is. But like all good fables, the little wrinkly underdog (undertortoise) wins the day.

He tricks them into each tugging the other end of a long vine, and when it snaps, they fall over backwards.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration of Elephant and Hippo going bottoms-up!]

The realise how silly they've been to misjudge Tortoise, and they all make friends and presumably live happily ever after.

[My Goodreads review includes an illustration of the animals laughing together.]

The artwork is stunning. The story is so basic that very young children will understand it. I'd have rated it higher if the story had a little more to it. But older children will have fun looking for little things in the pictures, and adults will just enjoy looking at it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing / Frances Lincoln Childrens for the beautiful preview copy from which I've copied the pictures.

First, the illustrations in this book are GORGEOUS!  I absolutely loved them!  They were modern, but with a folk art flare.  Completely beautiful!  

The story was cute... I think it could use a bit more fleshing out.  I believe that the plot is a re-working of an old folk-tale.  But the lesson could be stronger and more aligned with how children should be making friends. It's a bit concerning that the tortoise seems to have to earn their friendship - like maybe the elephant and the hippo could be a bit more remorseful and want to be his friend.  I don't know something about it is just a little harsh.  I also think the author maybe should reconsider the use of the word stupid?  It's a word my kids weren't allowed to say at their preschool or in early grades when this book would have been appropriate for them.

This book is absolutely gorgeous!  I love all the colors and the wide variety of animals, birds, flowers and butterflies.  The story about animals looking for (and finding) friendship is also fantastic.  I would love to add this one to my son's collection.

Absolutely hilarious and truly in the vein of traditional African folktales where there is humor interspersed with a moral lesson.

A stunningly illustrated re-telling of an African folktale. Tortoise is small and wrinkly so Elephant and Hippo do not want to be friends with him, making Tortoise sad. So he devises a plan to trick them and in the end they all become friends. The story has a wonderful message and would be great for classroom discussions about bullying, words that hurt and including others. 

Thank you Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens for an advanced copy of this book.

With school starting very soon, this is an excellent book to read to your children, or to a classroom at the beginning of the year. Tortoise is having difficulty making friends, in fact, elephant and hippo are downright mean to him. They make him believe that he is small, ugly and stupid (I dislike this word very much, but it is used). When he finally comes up with an idea to show them that he is very brainy, the big, macho animals fall for it. Of course, they realize how wrong they are in the end and all become friends. I wish life were that simple. With a discussion about what the issues are, what is the correct way to act and treat others, this book could help young children to become better citizens and not fall into this trap of judging others based on their appearance before it happens. The illustrations are amazing. They are large, detailed and colourful. I think reading this to younger children might not get the message across but could elicit some conversations and vocabulary development just be discussing the illustrations. A wonderful addition to a school, class or family library. The publisher, Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens, generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions stated are my own.

This is the 2nd book I’ve reviewed by Naomi Howarth and I have to say my grandchildren loved this more the dragon.  It tells the story of a Tortoise who is looking for a friend but both the Elephant and the Hippo feel they are too big and important to be friends with a tortoise.   But the bird gives the tortoise an idea and he tricks both the Elephant and the Hippo into a game of tug of war.  An excellent book that is again bright, colourful and beautifully illustrated.  A highly recommended read.