The Incredible Runaway Snot

 The Incredible Runaway Snot by Josh Pyke and Heath McKenzie

(Scholastic) ISBN 9781760 971083 RRP $17.99 PB HB

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

The Incredible Runaway Snot by Josh Pyke and Heath McKenzie

(Scholastic) ISBN 9781760 971083 RRP $17.99 PB HB

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Josh Pyke is an award-winning Australian singer/songwriter whose debut rhyming picture book is loaded with fun.  Eric is a snot who rules his nice cosy snot world. He manages to dodge the nosepicker much to the envy of all the other snots. Being the hero of all snots, he creates a snot school and all the snots become successful dodgers of the nosepicker, too. There’s an explosion of snot population and this creates unhappiness inside Eric. Whatever will Eric the snot do?

The text that has a natural rhythm and flow and the narrator’s voice, is both humorous and clever. Josh Pyke uses interesting vocabulary such as perpetual and prudent. And he has used questioning in the right places to propel the story forward. The words create lots of laughs for both the adult reading the book and a child listening. ‘Don’t cry for me, snots, just stay safe in this nose.’

Heath Mc Kenzie is an award-winning author and illustrator of countless books. His use of simple strokes for the eyes and mouth on each snot have created snot individuality. The green and pink on many of the spreads draw the eye directly to the characters and the action. His images of a finger entering a nose depict the chaos delightfully well. He has masterfully created lovable snot characters. The illustrations in this book are sure to inspire children to want to create their own snot characters too.

The Incredible Runaway Snot is a picture book for 3-8 years that captures the joys of childhood humour and imagination. It’s in rhyme and is sure to bring many tummy laughs.