Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
February 25, 2021/in Picture Book Under 5s Pre-School/Nursery/Infant /by bookskeeps
BfK Rating:
BfK 247 March 2021
Reviewer: Andrea Reece
ISBN: 978-1471188602
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: Under 5s Pre-School/Nursery/Infant
Length: 32pp
Buy the Book

Slug in Love

Author: Rachel BrightIllustrator: Nadia Shireen

Meet Doug. Doug is a slug, who needs a hug. We can all identify with that right now. Emerging from a discarded ice-cream carton, stickily and a little mucky around the chops, but with an endearing smile, Doug is surely irresistible. Apparently not. No-one wants to give him a hug, not the ant, caterpillar, worm or spider. On plods Doug, alone. And then he meets Gail, a snail, also icky, mucky, yucky and sticky. Surely they’ll make a perfect couple. But that’s not how love works and there’s simply no spark between this slimy pair. Just as it seems Doug will never get his hug, love comes flying by, as it so often does. After the emotional rollercoaster of the story, readers are left with the gorgeous, happy image of a slug in love.

Told with extraordinary economy, every line, word and image delivers feeling and intent, and simple as it seems, there’s real emotional depth to the story. Doug’s despair at ever finding love is echoed in a rainy landscape, flowers drooping, and it’s heartbreaking, while the scene in which Doug and Gail realise they are not meant to be is brilliantly, wordlessly explained, the turn of a page changing everything. Superb.

Read our Q&A interview with Rachel Bright and Nadia Shireen.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/slug-in-love.jpg 499 500 bookskeeps http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png bookskeeps2021-02-25 16:51:532021-05-30 17:15:40Slug in Love

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue BfK 255 July 2022
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Sarah Hagger-Holt wins the 2022 Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction 2022

July 21, 2022

Maisie Chan and her editor Georgia Murray of Piccadilly Press win the 2022 Branford Boase Award

July 14, 2022

Valerie Bloom wins the CLiPPA 2022

July 8, 2022

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2022 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
The Forest of Moon and Sword One Little Bird
Scroll to top