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"Storytime"
This review is from Pauline Hager
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Storytime by Liana Metal

Five Stars: A delightful children’s book

Liana Metal is a talented writer of children’s stories and it shines in her latest book Storytime. The book comprises three short stories. The first story, The White Snail is about a happy, lovable white snail, who wishes his “home” was brown like all the other snails. He meets a lovely female snail, who admires his beautiful white home, and the white snail soon realizes that the grass is always greener on the other side.

iends who get together to do something nice for their... More > shy friend, Tom. His birthday is the following day, but he is staying with his elderly grandma, who is unable to throw a party for him. His faithful friends come up with an idea so that Tom can have a birthday party and gifts.

The final story, Achilleas’ Pet, is about a boy who loves pets. He already has four, but he wants one more, different from all the others. He finds a tortoise and keeps it against his mother’s wishes. After Achilleas thinks the tortoise is lost, it eventually turns up with four little ones, then to his surprise there appears five more, one of them “very big.” He is puzzled, how many were there?

Children of all ages, including seventy plus year old grandmas will love these stories of universal themes and truths, and parents will enjoy reading them to their children. The illustrations, done by Liana Metal, are cleverly designed. Young children who do not read yet, can easily follow the story while looking at the lovable animals and the happy children.

Pauline Papacalos-Hager


Pauline Hager
Email:
pauline@thehagers.org

Website:
www.ilovetoreadbooks.com

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"STORY TIME! THREE STORIES FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES!"
The book, as the title itself suggests, contains three stories. The first story, The White Snail, is about a snail that differs from the others in that he is not brown but he is white and so he thinks that he is not as beautiful as the rest of the snails. As a result, he decides to paint his “house” brown! But what will happen? Will he be able to achieve his goal? Will the other snails laugh at him or accept him as he is? And finally, will he ever realise that to be different is not bad?

In the second story, Let’s Bake a Cake, the twins Nadia and Toby and their friends decide that they have to do something for Tom’s... More > birthday because he is staying with his grandmother and consequently he will not have a birthday party or presents. What they come up with is to bake a cake and organise a surprise party in Nadia and Toby’s backyard. How are they going to bake the cake? They do not know how to cook or any cake recipes. Is the party going to be a success or a complete failure? Will Tom be happy to have such good friends?

Finally, the last story, Achilleas’ Pet, is about a young boy (Achilleas) who loves animals and has already got four pets but he desperately wants one more; a tortoise that he found in the fields. However, his mother does not allow him to keep it at home, so he has no choice but to hide it in a flower pot. Unfortunately, one day the tortoise is nowhere to be found. Will Achilleas find it? Will he convince his mother to keep it?


“Story Time” is an excellent example of the writer’s ability to enter the children’s world of imagination. Written in a simple language without difficult verbal images or exaggerations and double-spaced, it is a book that is suitable for very young children as well as for the “older” ones. Moreover, it is fully illustrated by the writer herself and this is an aspect that makes the book more interesting and entertaining. Most important of all is the fact that the writer tries and succeeds in introducing young readers to concepts such as discrimination, racism, friendship, love for animals and being helpful in an amusing and easy way. Through these three stories Liana Metal conveys three different morals. It is absolutely a book that caters to everyone!
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