Sally's Children's Book 2/8

The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was None of his Business

By Werner Holzwarth & Wolf Erlbruch

This picture book tells the story of ‘the little mole’ who woke up one morning only to discover that someone had ‘done their business’ on his head. The story then follows the journey of the mole as he interrogates all the animals that he comes across in order to discover who the culprit was.

I chose this book as it is a unique story which engages children through the use of humor, as the story is playful, fun and innocently crude. This gives children who may not commonly enjoy reading the opportunity to laugh and perhaps find a genre of books they are able to engage with. This is a key aspect in picture books as if the reader is unable to engage with or enjoy the story then they will be less inclined to read the book again and truly comprehend the story.

The book also uses very descriptive language throughout the story which allows the reader to relate the illustrations to the language used, meaning they are able to develop their literature comprehension. For example the author wrote,

‘’And rat-a-tat-tat-fifteen little round beans shot past the mole’s ears. He saved himself with a daring leap.’’

This language perfectly describes the illustration and allows the story to be a cohesive whole.

The illustrations used throughout this book are vital to the story, as the author never specifically describes what ‘the business’ is, although it is depicted in the illustrations. Therefore the story relies heavily on the pictures that accompany the text, and essentially the story could easily be told by just viewing the illustrations without the text. This displays the high quality and thought that has been put into the illustrations, which is clearly a crucial element in creating an effective picture book.

‘The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was None of his Business’ shows the important role that illustrations have in picture books, as in some cases without them a story may lack an in depth plot. Illustrations have the ability to tell their own story and convey a different element or bring new meaning to the text.