The Ugly Five

A good story/poem with a nice moral. Fab author she is a childhood staple in my family, we have many of her books.

A lovely bedtime story with great illustrations.

What an absolute gem of a book! The Ugly Five is everything you’d expect from the Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler duo — rhythmic, funny, and packed with heart. We’ve read this countless times already and it hasn’t lost its charm. The story follows five African animals that aren’t traditionally “beautiful” — the wildebeest, warthog, hyena, lappet-faced vulture, and marabou stork — but they learn to embrace their uniqueness and worth, and it sends such a strong and positive message to little ones. The illustrations are stunning, full of character and humour. And the board book format is sturdy — perfect for younger children who love flipping pages on their own. ⸻ ✅ Pros 🦓 Great message about self-love and embracing what makes you different 📚 Rhyming text makes it fun to read aloud 🎨 Beautiful illustrations by Axel Scheffler 👶 Gift edition board book is durable and perfect for toddlers 🤣 Kids love the animal sounds and silly moments ⸻ ❌ Cons 🤏 A bit shorter than some other Donaldson books — would love even more! ⸻ Overall: A brilliant story with laughs, learning, and love. Whether you’re building a Julia Donaldson collection or just want a thoughtful gift for a child, The Ugly Five is a wonderful pick.

The Ugly Five arrived at a house full of high expectations from my own children who will, forever more, be know as “the ugly five”. The Julia Donaldson Axel Scheffler partnership has given our family hours of pleasure with my own favourites Stick Man, Zog, Tiddler, The Snail & The Whale and the wonderful Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book. There are many many more and this new book, The Ugly Five will have been eagerly anticipated by families and book worms all over the globe. They will not be disappointed. The story is delightful. It carries you along with it’s easy rhymes and charming characters, turning page after page to find what the author has in mind for her cast of ugly heroes. There is rhythmic repetition which smaller children can join in once they know what to expect and with ‘invisible counting’ and just enough word changes in the ‘chorus’, younger readers will have to stay alert and not recite parrot fashion. Incredibly, in just fifteen pages, Julia Donaldson has also managed to squeeze in an educational benefit, teaching readers about some unusual wildlife and their habits, as well as a ‘message’ about looks that parents, teachers and carers will certainly enjoy on the last two pages. Axel Scheffler’s beautiful illustrations are detailed and gentle as always. One young reader described them as ‘realistic in a not realistic kind of way’. I couldn’t agree more. He has obviously had fun with The Ugly Five as well as the opportunity to showcase his immense skills in a compendium featuring the Big Five the Little Five and the Shy Five at the back of the book. I cannot recommend The Ugly Five highly enough.

Very emotional but beautifully put together

‘Inspired by the real-life '𝗨𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲' safari animals’, in order of appearance in this rhyme, by Julia Donaldson: ~ the wildebeest ~ the spotted hyena ~ the lappet-faced vulture ~ the warthog ~ the marabou stork Moving up from 1 to 5, with little ‘songs’ that define their individual claim to be ‘the ugliest’, the accompanying artwork is unmistakably Axel Scheffler ~ those facial expressions really catching the eye (pun intended)! ‼️N.B. By nature, there is some 'crunching on bones' on a couple of pages! The current stock images above refer. From the back cover (image below refers): ~ ‘Meet the ugliest animals on the savannah. They’re gangly, warty, bumpy, bristly, spotty, stinky, and totally irresistible! We’re the 𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞, we’re the ugly five. Everyone 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐬 when they see us 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞.’ Book with CD ooOoo Poking out from the others on our bookshelf, the wider-than-average paperback measures roughly 30 cm x 23 cm; the card cover enhanced by a shiny gold foil enhancement to the front that glistens in the change of light. Inside are 32 good quality, matte-finish pages; the rhyme running over 28 in double-page spread format. The text is clear in black on white throughout, on the left-hand page; the picture being on the right-hand one, each with that ‘the more you look; the more you see’...until we get to the last double-page spread, which brings in a change of background colour + a neat twist in the ‘song’. The final 2 pages offer the chance to ponder a while ~ ‘learning without realising’. Chunkier words include: ~ ambled ~ trampling ~ ungainly ~ ugliest ~ crunching ~ hideous ~ appalled ~ revolting ~ splashing ~ tempted ~ deafening ~ gruesome ~ perfectly ~ casting ~ peeping ~ bombshells 📝 ‘This picture book rhyme is a celebration of animals who are often unloved but nevertheless play an important role on the African plain.’ First published 2017, the 2018 paperback I received on my order has a sticker on the front (I am not keen on this idea). Some patience is required, but it did eventually remove without trace.

One of my favourite books - & the kids love it too!

Telling the true story of the “beautiful ugly” animals who are all attractive in their own natural way.