The story is about a group of animals who are frequently terrorised by a terrible monster; the Fiery Salamander, who lives in a nearby volcano. The animals decide that they must do something to stop the Salamander’s terrible attacks, so they band together and devise a plan to trap the monster. When this plan fails to work, the Salamander is more enraged than ever and the animals live in constant fear – until finally the Spider Monkey discovers a way to put an end to the Fiery Salamander. The animals live happily from then on – and the Spider Monkey is a celebrated hero.
While the book’s plot is simple, it emphasises that even the
smallest characters can have big ideas – helping to illustrate to children that
everyone has the ability to make a difference. Other themes which could be
identified in the text (and perhaps taken further in class) are; teamwork,
community or the animal kingdom- and animal characteristics.
This particular book is aimed at a younger age group than
most of Thiele’s work – and so uses more simplistic vocabulary, however it does
use rich descriptive language (characteristic of his style of writing) -
including many varied adjectives, metaphors and similes to build imagery of the
animals and the environment.
The book also includes black and white line drawings by
illustrator Mark Wilson. These images have an element of realism to them, but also
allow emotion to be conveyed through the facial expressions of the animals.
This complements Thiele’s writing – which is anthropomorphic (the animals feel
and communicate as humans would).
I think this story would be very suitable for use in a middle
primary classroom. It is a story which children are likely to find engaging –
and could be used as a starting point for a number of topics.
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