Review of When we all get together

[Ochieng Omuodo]

[Following is a volunteer review of "When we all get together" by Heather Bradley.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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When We All Get Together by Heather Bradley is a pictorial children’s book about collective nouns for wild animals that, in this case, may be found in Canadian forests. Bradley’s style is to present each group of animals in dual settings. The first type of setting depicts each group of animals in a collage-like frame and has a short statement of their collective names such as ‘a colony of beavers’ and ‘a bevy of otters’. The second shows the animals in their natural habitats. The animals are presented in turn until some rather amusingly described pests turn up.

The best feature of this book is that it makes learning fun. There are humorous names for some of the animal groups such as ‘mischief of mice’ and ‘prickle of porcupines’. Even the appearance of the less pleasant ones – the ‘scourge of mosquitoes’ – is funny in the way they spell the end of the reader’s forest adventure. The colourful pictures have a pleasantly toned appearance about them. Never mind that this book is supposed to be for children, I learned a host of group names for animals. I confess, however, that I had to do a bit of research to confirm that Bradley was not making up names. The book is quite similar to another equally informative and colourful one, A Loveliness of Ladybugs by Kathy Broderick (author) and Gabriele Tafuni (illustrator).

As one would hope of a children’s book intended for learning, I did not find any grammatical or typographical errors in this one. Indeed, there was nothing negative about it.

I do not hesitate to rate this book five out of five. By blending humorous titles with colourful illustrations, it presents a creative and enjoyable way to develop children’s vocabulary. It would also teach adults a thing or two, if we are being honest.

This book would be ideal for children who are learning to read and to grow their vocabulary. However, some guidance by parents may be desirable to tease out the meanings of the collective nouns. Some phrases like ‘sleuth of black bears’ and ‘sedge of great blue herons’ may not be as easily relatable to specific animal behaviours as are ‘mischief of mice’ and ‘scourge of mosquitoes’, which are both obvious indicators of the animals they describe.

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When we all get together
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[Hazel Mae Bagarinao]

I agree that the collective nouns used by the author need more explanation to children for them to understand. But the illustrations of it are enjoyable for little ones. Thank you for your excellent review, David!