Kevin

by Rob Biddulph

小男孩锡德打翻了一盘美食，引出了妈妈蓄积已久的怒气……可他有一个反击妈妈的好主意，“这一切都是凯文干的！”凯文是锡德的假想朋友。但是，当锡德奇幻般走进凯文生活的世界，他发现因为自己捣蛋，受训斥的是凯文，凯文的委屈和伤心他看在了眼里。锡德开始反思自己，也用实际行动去整理自己造成的烂摊子，他和凯文因此比以前更亲密了……

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen folks, this may be a children's book, but there's a great plot twist and lesson learned, and it's all done in rhyme. I'm getting it for my nephews for Christmas.

[Leilah Skelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sid Gibbons, the boy that this book introduces
Is awfully swift when it comes to excuses.
When mum points the finger he’s quick to exclaim
The numerous reasons he wasn’t to blame –
It’s sending her crazy, this constant denial
And ‘Kevin’ is Sid’s biggest fib by a mile…

A make-believe friend who is clumsy but kind
(And visible only to Sidney, you’ll find.)
That vanilla-furred, pink-spotted giant came reeling
From somewhere beyond that old hatch in the ceiling,
And Kev was the one who created the mess
That led to his mum’s current state of distress.

What would you learn, then?
And how might you feel?
If who you imagined…
…turned out…
…to be real…?

Rob Biddulph’s delivered a wonderful book
Of friendship, and learning it’s best to step-up.
How genuine ‘sorry’s will work out just fine
(And better than putting a friend on the line!)
Of how a grey world can be richer and fuller
When what you imagine can fill it with colour.

[Angela Groves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my I genuinely get excited for a new book from Rob Biddulph and with bloody good reason. They are fab! They rhyme, they're fun, they have awesome illustrations and always have a lovely moral to the story. Kevin is no exception.

**Story spoiler ahead**

Kevin is the story of Sid, a little boy who likes to blame his naughtiness on his imaginary friend Kevin, untill one night when he finds out Kevin is real and goes to his land. Sid becomes Kevin's imaginary friend there, and after making mischief realises how much his lies can upset others and learns the error of his ways.

**Spoiler done**

This is ANOTHER cracking book and after one read with the mini one, I know it's a family fave already!

[Pinkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

German edition.

In diesem Buch stimmt einfach alles: die Geschichte, die Bilder, die Farben, die Liebe, der Trost, das Reimschema, die Moral und das Lächeln, das dir am Ende auf den Lippen liegen wird.

[Lina Cankas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic tale from a child's perspective. It shows how stories differ between an adult narrator and a child for young readers.

[Nadia L. Hohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations. This is a British picture book. I realize that my library actually has many British picture books. It breaks some “rules” of children’s literature including that there is a lot of text and that it rhymes. I read the book which was wordier than what I was used to but I had to go back a second time to get what actually happened. Then again. I could just be tired. Kevin is an imaginary friend. He lives in the land of imaginary friends. The boy in the book is naughty and likes to blame things on Kevin who is innocent. This makes Kevin sad. I like the moral of the story. I like how the boy learns about changes- he learns how he hurt Kevin, tries to fix his behaviour, and keeps his new friend. But there were some phrases that I felt were more for the adult reader than the young child making this more of the type of story that is read to a child at bedtime.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sid decides to blame one of his messes on an imaginary monster friend - Kevin. Later that night, Sid discovers not only that Kevin is real but that he is Kevin's imaginary friend (when in his world). Sid deliberately misbehaves but regrets his actions when he sees how sad it makes Kevin and how much trouble he gets into. Sid reflects on his actions and decides to be nicer to his mum when he wakes up the next morning.

Miss 5 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story full of heart! It beautifully tells the importance of true friendship, looking out for each other and telling the truth. Not a super quick read aloud but it was enjoyed by a couple of infants, and I enjoyed it too.

Whilst reading I found myself starting to read it in rhythm and the message of the story became increasing clear. For some of the children the message become clearer much more towards the end, but all of us seemed to enjoy it.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin is awesome book. I love Kevin. He is my favourite imaginary friend. I loved the the imaginary world. And poor Kevin being sent to his room because of Sid, sort yourself out Sid. My heart broke when Kevin was under the covers of his bed.

The illustration on this are great! Especially when Sid is going up into the imaginary world.

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sidney does some naughty things and starts to blame Kevin. Mom isn’t having the imaginary friend excuse. But that night Kevin comes to life! In Kevin’s world, Sid is the invisible one which means he’s free to be so bad. But when Kevin gets in big trouble and feels sad, Sid feels terrible and fixes everything. He even apologizes to mom and admits the mistakes he made. Rhyming.

[Two BookWorms Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Kevin because Sid behaves like a real kid – curious, mischievous, but still totally lovable and charming. Kevin is just as wonderful. I just wanted to cuddle him!

For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always thought the idea of imaginary friends was weird because I had two younger brothers causing enough mischief. But for those kids who do have imaginary friends and they blame them for things, this book has a good message about taking responsibility for your own actions.

[Hannah Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my daughters new favourite books and it might be because her daddy name is Kevin. But I really like the story and it flows nice for a child and a bonus for me mum is spelled right!!

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

So adorable. Not a super quick read aloud, but full of heart!

4.5 stars

[Maree Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool story and fantastic artwork. Not a story to read to a class though as the print is very small and so are some of the arts details. Great for side by side reading though.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are just breathtaking.
Anyone can have an imaginary friend and they should be treasured.

[Tom Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are great and the book is not chunky
but some of the rhymes seem a little bit clunky.

[Kal Ellard]

I love this kind of reading for kids is excellent way to introduce them in tho the reading

[Liza]

Hi, everyone!
I'm working for a Russian website Papmambook.ru dedicated to children's books and children's reading. We've been building the English version of the website. Recently we published Rob Biddulph's interview where he talks about how he creates his characters, why he prefers to write in rhyme, and what he reads his daughters before bed.