Billy and the Beast

Product Information

Loved this- it's got a great story with just a little peril, Billy is a brilliant character and very resourceful. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. This will be a great book to use, probably within KS1/lower KS2 and can be used within a variety of cross curricular tasks. She 'thinks fast' and comes up with ideas she is able to achieve, including her power of reading and writing. Energetic, giggle-inducing, and driven by a little girl’s wit, Nadia Shireen’s Billy and the Beast is a blast of picture book brilliance.

Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen | Goodreads Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen | Goodreads

After a lifetime of doodling in the sidelines, Nadia decided to pay some attention to drawing and in 2007 was accepted onto an MA course in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Then they walk home but all the forest animals have disappeared because a terrible beast wants to put them all in a soup. To see someone strong and brave, full of creative ways to stand strong against a hungry beast helped my children to feel bold and strong. Children will adore the repetitive read-aloud text, endearing characters and just the right amount of peril for a bedtime story - with a highly satisfying ending. Seemed similar to story plots I have read before, however wonderful pictures and does have some shock factor!

While the title may nod to a certain fairytale there's not even a whiff of ballgowns or romance in Nadia Shireen's joyous monster-slaying adventure. On another hand, the kid had stuff in her hair (it was a strange idea) and gave sugary food to her cat (I'm narrow minded with unhealthy foods and feeding very inappropriate things to pets).

Billy and the Beast - Puffin Schools PICTURE BOOK INSPO: Billy and the Beast - Puffin Schools

Luckily Billy has many alternative ingredients for the beast to have instead in her hair as she saves the animals and the beast is banished. Although within the story itself, there is a limit of conversation which could be had due to it not really having a clear theme or moral to take away. Our mission is to inspire children to feel they can be and do anything, and to create readers for life. The 'Stomped and crunched' parts have worked well when I've been reading with children before as it gives them a chance to act and join in. Billy (whose big curly hair contains a multitude of useful things like doughnuts and crayons) and her monobrowed friend Fatcat are enjoying a delightful walk in the woods when they notice that the bunnies and mice have gone missing.

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Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen tells the story of our - Twinkl Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen tells the story of our -

I also found it had similarities to the Gruffalo and The Three Little Pigs– with Billy being able to outsmart the beast like the mouse could outsmart the Gruffalo and the pigs outsmart the wolf. I think that there is a strong underlying message here in the sense that we should always face our fears and we start doing that by talking. It's still all too unusual to see a brown girl star in such a brilliantly funny and very commercial picture book and Shireen has created Billy in fantastic style.Billy’s power resides, at least partly, in her curly black hair, and it’s delightful to see a picture book feature a brown-skinned girl protagonist outwitting the rather stupid Beast. Their friends hedgehog, fox, mice and adorable bunnies were also caught by monster to fill his yummy soup. However, also appropriate for older children if they want to read it on their own, some words include 'suspicion' and 'impressive' - so not just sight words. We also have a fabulous (and FREE) Daily Reading Activity Pack based on this amazing story available to download now. Happy ending, although could have given the beast a chance of redemption rather than the bunnies trapping him in the pot.