Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Timo's Party
Illustrator: Dean Griffiths
Fiction Series
For ages 5 to 7
Pajama Press, 2017 ISBN: 978-1772780086
It is a beautiful fall day and Timo, who loves fall, is happily picking apples in his orchard. The orchard is perfectly quiet, the sun is shining, and all is well with the world. Then Timo’s friend Hedgewick arrives and he shows Timo the newspaper.
Apparently Madame LaPointe, a famous food critic, is coming to Toadstool Corners this weekend. Hedgewick aspires to become a successful chef and he wishes that there was event taking place in town so that he can show off his culinary creations. Unfortunately, no one is having birthday party over the weekend. Timo suggests that perhaps “someone can throw another kind of party.” Without really meaning to, Timo finds himself volunteering to host an apple festival in his orchard, just so Hedgewick can showcase his culinary prowess.
Timo is appalled when he is alone once more. Why did he come up with the idea of having a party? How did he get stuck with the job of hosting it? Timo likes spending time with his friends, but large crowds of people, and therefore parties, make “his fur stand on end.” Timo decides that writing a to do list will make him feel better about the situation. Making the list helps him to see that the only things that he will need to do is to take care of the invitations, decorate the space, and come up with some games for the guests to play. That’s not too bad.
Diligently Timo writes invitations and he and Suki deliver them. He makes decorations with Rae’s help and then he and Bogs puts them in the orchard. On the day of the festival everything is ready except for one thing. Timo is still not convinced that he can be a good host because he always gets nervous at parties.
Children are going to thoroughly enjoy this delightful seasonal story. Timo’s concerns about being able to manage a crowd of people is something many children will understand and appreciate. They will enjoy seeing how the kind-hearted rabbit manages when he is forced to do something that he is uncomfortable with.
At the back of the book children will find a recipe for Hedgewick’s Happy Apple-Banana Cake.
