The Hill and the Rock (Picture Puffins) By David McKee

When Mr. and Mrs. Quest move the rock that blocks the view from their hilltop house, the hill deflates and the Quests find themselves living in a valley. The Hill and the Rock (Picture Puffins)

This is Henry's favourite of the books we got from the mobile library this month. The pictures are lively and interesting, and the story is a modern fable.

The house is the only house on the only hill in the region, so merry visitors flock to entertain Mrs Quest, seemingly stuck at home with no job and no kids. The view from the kitchen window is half-blocked by a large rock, which she badgers Mr Quest into pushing down the hill. Happily, no-one is squished, but without the rock to plug the hole in the hill, the hill does mysteriously deflate over the coming days (somewhat tricky answering Why? with this one), until it is instead at the bottom of a valley. Both the Quests are miserable with their complete lack of view, until one day the rock comes tumbling down the slope and back into its original hole. It totally blocks the kitchen window now, but Mr Quest has the fine idea of painting a beautiful landscape onto it so that the view is good. With the leak in the hill blocked, it reinflates back to its normal size, and everyone is happy.

So a great, original tale, marred only by tedious gender stereotyping. I'd have thought McKee could have done better on that front by the 1980s. Childrens

I thought this book was funny and entertaining. I liked the illustrations throughout and how the book was about problem solving. However, I didn’t like the gender stereotyping included where Mr Quest got to go to work and Mrs Quest had to stay at home and spent most of her time in the kitchen. In addition I thought the only criticism with the illustrations was that there wasn’t diversity amongst the characters. They all appeared to be the same colour. KS1 or EYFS would be most suitable for this book and you could link it to science from the perspective of the hill sinking as the rock was moved, have the children ever known this to happen etc. Childrens This book is about a family who lives on a hill.I like this book because the family solves a problem.I will recommend it to a kid who likes a book with problem solving. Childrens It's A Very quirky story. Fans of McKee's other works will not be disappointed. Childrens Brilliant. Childrens A fab read highlighting how we should appreciate what we have Childrens

Free read The Hill and the Rock (Picture Puffins)

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