Momo and Snap are NOT Friends!

This playful, innovative picturebook is wordless but the two animals in the story, a monkey and a crocodile, communicate  through facial expression and  gesture as well as through sounds and noises.  The story begins with each creature content in what looks like a warm, sandy environment with palm trees and water. Then their paths cross and they scream at each other and begin a series of competitive moves – juggling fruit, making images in the sand with sticks and diving for fish.  The body language and grunts show a suspicious and unfriendly relationship. Then things change…

Lying exhausted after their exertions side by side on the sand they become aware of predators rapidly approaching.   Sheer terror causes Momo and Snap to cling together and to learn the importance of co-operation and friendship.  Snap lifts Momo to safety and the predators retreat. The monkey and the crocodile have found a way to get on well and to meet each other’s needs.  The illustrations are luminous and the changing expressions on the animals’ faces are superbly shown.

The best picturebooks can be enjoyed by different age groups. Here there is huge scope for using the story as a starting point for discussion about relationships, those based on fear and rivalry as compared with those that arise from a wish to support and co-operate. The powerful theme could also usefully be explored through improvised drama and by writing, perhaps ‘in role’ or in poetic form. The possibilities for art work for children of different ages are also exciting – perhaps cartoon strips of parts of the story could be created with the animals’ thoughts made verbal in speech balloons.  So this picturebook has great potential as a classroom resource as well as being a good ‘read’ for its own sake.