The Runaway Pea by Kjartan Poskitt and Alex Willmore

The Runaway Pea is a wonderfully funny and vibrant tale of what happens to a pea after he pings off the plate (and we have always wondered where they go!). An adventurous story of triumph over adversity, this book has won the prestigious accolade of Daddy Reader’s new favourite!

Verse? Yes

Peril? None

Illustrations ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How on earth you start to make a vegetable look expressive I have no idea, but Alex Willmore has managed brilliantly to give all of our plant-based characters real personality! Wee Reader loves the boldness and brightness that leaps off the pages, and is especially fond of the spread where our little pea friend burns his bottom on the toaster (because 2 year old boys… 🙄😂).

Repeatability rating (mine) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is just so fun! Great to read aloud, with a fabulous, lovely and, I thought, unexpected ending.

Repeatability rating (WR) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wee Reader just loves it. As well as it’s visual attractiveness, he is a huge fan of a bit of onomatopoeia, so with its “twang”s, “splat”s, and “plop”s it was bound to be a huge hit!!

Influence ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story has prompted lots of conversations about chain reactions, and we’ve even set up some chain reactions of our own. We’ve also talked a lot about how we grow vegetables and where our food comes from. Will it encourage WR to eat more vegetables? I’m not sure. More likely he’ll try and send his peas off on adventures of their own!

Overall rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Quirky, bold and fun, this book is the perfect read-aloud for the whole family – it makes us very ha-pea! (Sorry not sorry).

With thanks to Toppsta and Simon and Schuster for our gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. The Runaway Pea is available to buy now.

Book Bairn