Simpkin

by Quentin Blake

As the irrepressible Simpkin goes from warm to chilly, from sensible to silly, young readers can only be sure that he is up to no good. By the award-winning illustrator for Matilda.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Poetry, Humor, Art, Family

30 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Sir Quentin Saxby Blake is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator he won the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. From 1999 to 2001, he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate. He is a patron of the Association of Illustrators.

Reviews

[Zoe Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read with a lot going on. I liked the use of antonyms and rhyme running through this book. I would maybe get children to see if they can think of similes to go with each picture.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice illustrations. Lots of use of opposites and rhyming.

[Cuong Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Simpkin warm, Simpkin chilly, Simpkin sensible, Simpkin silly.” Who exactly is Simpkin?
From the author who broke all the rules about colouring within the lines of a picture. Quentin Blake gives us this delightful insight into the fun world of Simpkin. Despite the short phrases in the text Quentin Blake does what he does best, illustrating. His masterful sketches provide enough context for the reader to follow the adventures of Simpkin.
A nice little book to assist in building vocabulary on opposites and describing qualities. Quentin Blake makes use of pace and rhyme. His pictures provide a starting point for kids in early KS1 to discuss where Simpkin is and to formulate their own story through a Q & A session.

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do it when Blake writes as well as illustrates. This is a simply but very catchy little poem which follows the antics of Simpkin. He is like many children - lost in his own world, a daydreamer, a racer and runner, a little mischievous, at odds with his sister, at one with his sister, racing around lanes and falling from walls he shouldn't be on the first place.

All this is captured in Blake's immutable style with those scrawling, washed pen and ink illustrations of Blake and with only a couple of words adorning each page. All is wild and jovial until we reach an abrupt halt at the end. Who's in charge of the narrative pace? Simpkin is of course!

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoy Quentin Blake's illustration style, and stumbled across Simpkin on the Open Library site. It is a story which I somehow missed in childhood, and I thought that I would read it fr nostalgic purposes. The rhyme scheme is simplistic but effective, and the crowning glory is - of course - Blake's artwork. A fun little book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, very simple book with few carefully chosen words, great illustrations. Great for beginner readers or for reading to and with children. Easy for them to relate to, and lots to discuss.

[Sarah Coles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple rhyming book that would work brilliantly for young children to act out themselves to get them up and moving!

[RhiannaH · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming story/poem that will entertain audiences of any age.

[Charsch Pradhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quentin Blake has written this lovely story in a playful manner which is funny and children will definitely find it to be a fun read. The book is about a boy called 'Simpkin' who goes through his days doing lots of things. There are times when he may be misbehave and other times he is gentle and sensitive. He comes across as a hyper-active individual who likes to try new things and not scared to take chances like for example climbing really high atop a wall and then jumping off it. He represents childhood's highs and lows like when he has to carry the shopping bag (guess if this would be his high or low).

Mr. Blake has used this story really well to give a little insight into a child's life. He has also used this book to help children or in my case 'I' learn adjectives using visual illustrations. By giving contrasting adjectives, it makes it easier for children to identify differences between these antonyms and to gain better understanding of these adjectives, for example Simpskin NASTY and Simpsking NICE. As a teacher or a parent reading to one's children, one could make use these adjectives to animate your facial expressions or gestures. The way it's written can make following it easy, especially with hand gestures or actions. Great book for kids and educators to be used in classroom for various learning objectives.

[Nil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simpkin fat, Simpkin skinny, Simpkin sensible, Simpkin silly. This book creates a hilarious and memorable character known as Simpkin, which is fantastically illustrated by Quentin Blake. The book has a few words introducing children with a bank of describing words. It is great to build their vocabulary through the use of rhyming words and opposites.
It is excellent for children in Early Years Foundation Stage to present different adjectives that are used in the book. The illustrations in itself shows children typical behaviours that they can relate back to and find it funny and humorous.

[Meryem Citak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simpkin is a spirited little boy who Blake brings to life through a catchy narrative. The rhyming couplets format gives the reading a song like flow and uses a series of adjectives to describe Simpkin in a variety of contexts e.g. "Simpkin warm, Simpkin chilly, Simpkin sensible, Simpkin silly". The use of antonyms/comparative adjectives is a very effective way of beginning to teach younger (EY) children the basics of word association. The bright pictures used to illustrate the story of Simpkin also addresses children with EAL, making this book a great resource to have as a way of encouraging and promoting inclusion.

[Monowara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my niece and she loved it. Its about a boy called Simpkin, and various descriptive words are used to describe him and what he does, it is written in the format of rhyming couplets, which children very much enjoy as they can join in with the reading. There are not many words to each page. The book is full of illustrations, and is illustrated by one of my favourite illustrator, Quentin Blake, who also does illustrations for Roald Dahl books. It is good book to read to and with the EYFS children.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book of opposites featuring a young boy named Simpkin. We see him in various ways ("Simpkin fat and Simpkin thin") and all along we're chuckling at the illustrations which show his stereotypical boyish behaviors. He's an average kid, 100% lovable.

[Seán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nursery /Reception age. A fun book by Roald Dahl’s long-time illustrator Quentin Blake, Simpkin lists adjective opposites such as Simpkin fat, Simpkin Thin in funny rhymes. It has a clever narrative and shows that Simpkin can be anyone and everyone, being a contradictory and inspiring figure.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really simple, but effective. It contains lots of comparison/oxymoron/antonym, by using the character as the point of comparison. I think it would be useful for FS/KS1 when looking at words which mean the opposite to one another.

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blake introduces readers to Simpkin with fun rhyming text and silly quirky illustrations.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the classic Blake illustrations. Love that my daughter recognizes his style as "The Magic Finger" and "BFG" guy. Would be great for working on opposites and rhyming with PK/Kinders.

[Alec Longstreth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A silly, rhyming early reader book, with Blake's inimitable ink and watercolor illustrations.

[Morag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book, easy to read, rollick through before bed kind of story. Opposites to discuss and fun rhymes to predict/alter (as rude as you choose for after Simpkin Chilly...).

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The simplest of stories, perfectly paired with typically witty and intricate illustrations.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of today's charity shop finds to add to our ever growing Quentin Blake collection. Very much at the young children's end of his books, it is filled with Simpkin in 'opposite' situations.

Showcasing his iconic style of illustrations, the content almost feels irrelevant as you just end up soaking up the artwork. 4 stars.

[Jessica Judd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the illustrations and and text. Although it’s a picture book, I feel it’s for slightly older children. Some of the illustrations show some dangerous/physically painful situations. Toddler and young preschoolers may not get the silliness of it. I could see some of the toddlers I work with trying to recreate some of the things they see.

[Caroline Dougan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some great illustrations, catchy little rhymes. The book has a great pace and the bouncing between different moods and activities is relatable to most children and probably some adults too...

[Jennifer McCallum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet, short book about Simpkin, that demonstrates that children can be anything and everything and all at once. It shows a normal relationship with a sister, where they get along and then don't. The story is told through short rhyming lines and it keeps a quick pace to the book.

[Alice Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny book with lots of opposites. I would use this with young children and get them to create their own opposite examples of naughty things for Simpkin to be doing. We could learn this by heart and use drama to act bits out.

[Lauren Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple book with great rhyme and lots of opposites. The opposites are shown in the colourful illustrations which will help children understand each word and will also help those readers who are not as confident.

[Cheryl]

I thought this was going to be something like "you're special, like everyone else," and it is, kinda. But it's more like Calvin without Hobbes or the brilliance. I don't particularly care for it, but I can see why some would adore it.

[Tea73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rhymes are both silly and apt. I'd only know Blake as the illustrator of Roald Dahl books, but he's quite brilliant doing the whole shebang. Don't know how I missed it for my kids when they were little.

[Clare Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun & mischievous. Antonyms on each page

[Dhwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

QB has the quirkiest ideas for books