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The Ravenous Beast
Ravenous little readers will eat up this deliciously illustrated read-aloud and be hungry, hungry, hungry for more!
The Ravenous Beast is hungry, hungry, hungry! He's so hungry he could eat a whole house. Gobble it up! Swallow it down! But all the other animals are claiming that they're the hungriest of all. What can the Ravenous Beast do to prove them wrong? Niamh Sharkey's droll, strikingly stylized illustrations lend a fanciful flair to this comical tale of beastly competition - and insatiable appetite.
The Ravenous Beast is hungry, hungry, hungry! He's so hungry he could eat a whole house. Gobble it up! Swallow it down! But all the other animals are claiming that they're the hungriest of all. What can the Ravenous Beast do to prove them wrong? Niamh Sharkey's droll, strikingly stylized illustrations lend a fanciful flair to this comical tale of beastly competition - and insatiable appetite.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published August 11, 2003
3 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 3, 2012
“I am the Hungriest Animal of All,” said the Ravenous Beast. “I’m hungry, hungry, hungry! I’m so hungry I could eat the big yellow house on the hill. Gobble it up! Swallow it down! Not THAT’S what I call hungry!”
The Ravenous Beast claims he is the hungriest creature of all but there are also many other creatures who claim to be more ravenous than he, from a little white mouse to a gigantic whale. Each page of this book has a rhyme about a hungry creature listing the many unusual and wonderful things they could eat. The list of items each creature claims that he can eat gets longer and sillier as the book goes on. Each of these items can be found on the page which adds a fun interactive element to the story. The reception class I worked with particularly enjoyed this story and would always request it during story time. For this reason I discussed with the children what they liked and then looked for books which had these features.
This book is great for supporting children’s language skills as it uses repetitive language and has lots of great adjectives.
What the children liked to eat (This could be anything) and many children come up with long lists of things (including all the teachers). We also went on to make and design our own junk model beasts and used lots of descriptive language and problem solving skills throughout this process.
The Ravenous Beast claims he is the hungriest creature of all but there are also many other creatures who claim to be more ravenous than he, from a little white mouse to a gigantic whale. Each page of this book has a rhyme about a hungry creature listing the many unusual and wonderful things they could eat. The list of items each creature claims that he can eat gets longer and sillier as the book goes on. Each of these items can be found on the page which adds a fun interactive element to the story. The reception class I worked with particularly enjoyed this story and would always request it during story time. For this reason I discussed with the children what they liked and then looked for books which had these features.
This book is great for supporting children’s language skills as it uses repetitive language and has lots of great adjectives.
What the children liked to eat (This could be anything) and many children come up with long lists of things (including all the teachers). We also went on to make and design our own junk model beasts and used lots of descriptive language and problem solving skills throughout this process.
May 1, 2012
The Ravenous Beast by Niamh Sharkey has a very very very hungry beast in it. Ravenous in fact!
The story charts his hunger in a fantastic and thrilling way. The words used are evocative of eating in many ways ‘Nibble nibble!’ ‘Gnaw ‘em! Gulp ‘em!’ ‘Munch ‘em up! Crunch ‘em down!’ and the things that the beast eats are more and more entertaining. The images that the words create will make children laugh and they can join in with the refrain at the foot of each page of ‘Now that’s what I can hungry!’ with glee. The beast compares his hunger to that of progressively larger and larger animals. The superlatives fly from all of them about the amount of weird, wonderful and large things they could eat, until the climax of the book in which the beast eats all of them!
This could be used in story time for fun, but could also be used to discuss what animals really eat, or as a stimulus for drawing the food that they each eat with the opportunity to changing their diets for healthy things that they could eat instead.
This is suitable for Early Years Foundation Stage up to year 2 and might be stretched even to year 3.
The story charts his hunger in a fantastic and thrilling way. The words used are evocative of eating in many ways ‘Nibble nibble!’ ‘Gnaw ‘em! Gulp ‘em!’ ‘Munch ‘em up! Crunch ‘em down!’ and the things that the beast eats are more and more entertaining. The images that the words create will make children laugh and they can join in with the refrain at the foot of each page of ‘Now that’s what I can hungry!’ with glee. The beast compares his hunger to that of progressively larger and larger animals. The superlatives fly from all of them about the amount of weird, wonderful and large things they could eat, until the climax of the book in which the beast eats all of them!
This could be used in story time for fun, but could also be used to discuss what animals really eat, or as a stimulus for drawing the food that they each eat with the opportunity to changing their diets for healthy things that they could eat instead.
This is suitable for Early Years Foundation Stage up to year 2 and might be stretched even to year 3.
March 1, 2021
Each of the animals in the book tries to claim they are the hungriest animal but the Ravenous beast proves he is the hungriest by eating all of them. A funny book that I'm sure FS and KS1 children would love. Each page follows a very similar structure which makes it easier for early readers to follow. The book could support learning about inverted commas and speech. It could also be used to test children's memory as at the end of the book, the Ravenous beast eats all the animals in the order they spoke in the story. A fun read-aloud story for younger children.
December 27, 2019
I'm not even sure if this is sold in the US (I've never seen it anywhere), but this has been one of Isaac's favorite books over the last couple of months. Scott's parents sent it to the kids when they lived in Ireland over a decade ago, and it has been a favorite of all of them.
April 22, 2023
Grappig, kleurrijk, en simpel-absurd in de juiste mate.
De tekst voelt soms wel geforceerd, maar dat ligt wellicht eerder aan de vertaling.
Onze kleuter is in ieder geval fan. Laat je als verteller niet eens uitspreken terwijl ze al aanwijst waar er allemaal happen uit zijn genomen.
De tekst voelt soms wel geforceerd, maar dat ligt wellicht eerder aan de vertaling.
Onze kleuter is in ieder geval fan. Laat je als verteller niet eens uitspreken terwijl ze al aanwijst waar er allemaal happen uit zijn genomen.
March 20, 2019
Kid is usually scared of monsters and beasts but she loved the main character.
The participation of the animals helped too.
The participation of the animals helped too.
October 2, 2019
Easily became a favorite!
November 21, 2022
This book has always been a favourite. It hasn't got amazing literary value in my opinion but the ending is unexpected so there is always a reaction from the children at the end
August 29, 2013
"I AM THE HUNGRIEST ANIMAL OF ALL," said the Ravenous Beast. "I'm so hungry, hungry, hungry! I'm so hungry I could eat the big yellow house on the hill. Gobble it up! Swallow it down! Now THAT'S what I call hungry!"
However, it's not as simple as that! The Ravenous Beast has to prove how hungry he is. The Little White Mouse, Marmalade Cat, Gigantic Whale and other animals all claim that they can eat the most. Delicacies on their eating list include a ticking clock, the Queen's dressing gown and an aeroplane. Just when it seems that the Ravenous Beast is not as ravenous as he makes out, he trumps all of the other animals by revealing that he is going to eat them all!
The excellent poetry and creative illustrations bring this funny story to life. The repetition on each page makes it fun to read for children and adults alike. An animated story DVD is included with the book. This would be an excellent resource for introducing poetry to a class and the literary devices that come with it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to using it in my teaching where possible.
However, it's not as simple as that! The Ravenous Beast has to prove how hungry he is. The Little White Mouse, Marmalade Cat, Gigantic Whale and other animals all claim that they can eat the most. Delicacies on their eating list include a ticking clock, the Queen's dressing gown and an aeroplane. Just when it seems that the Ravenous Beast is not as ravenous as he makes out, he trumps all of the other animals by revealing that he is going to eat them all!
The excellent poetry and creative illustrations bring this funny story to life. The repetition on each page makes it fun to read for children and adults alike. An animated story DVD is included with the book. This would be an excellent resource for introducing poetry to a class and the literary devices that come with it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to using it in my teaching where possible.
June 18, 2012
The Ravenous Beast is a children’s book written and illustrated by Niamh Sharkey about an extremely hungry beast who shows how hungry he is by eating all of the other characters in the story, who themselves have eaten a huge variety of things in the run up to being eaten by the beast.
The quirky but charming way in which the characters are portrayed in her illustrations combined with the repetition, rhyme and ‘nonsense’ language the characters use when proclaiming how hungry they are make this book a superbly fun and humorous read. I have read the book on numerous occasions with my 2 year old daughter and she never seems to get bored of shouting ‘now that’s what I call hungry!’ with each character at the end of their dialogue. This book would be a great addition to a KS1 classroom where acting out the exploits of all of the characters would be great fun during story telling.
The quirky but charming way in which the characters are portrayed in her illustrations combined with the repetition, rhyme and ‘nonsense’ language the characters use when proclaiming how hungry they are make this book a superbly fun and humorous read. I have read the book on numerous occasions with my 2 year old daughter and she never seems to get bored of shouting ‘now that’s what I call hungry!’ with each character at the end of their dialogue. This book would be a great addition to a KS1 classroom where acting out the exploits of all of the characters would be great fun during story telling.
September 18, 2013
Helen for www.bigbooklittlebook.com
This is a lovely, fun picture book. Ravenous beast announces that he is ‘Hungry, Hungry, Hungry!’ and is the hungriest beast of all. The other animals all tell him how hungry they are too, they want to eat lots of weird and wonderful things (‘a bucket and spade and some red lemonade’). So we have to read on to discover who really is the hungriest of all.
This is written in rhyme and my children chant along with parts of the story. They giggle at all the different ways the animals are going to eat ‘munch ‘em, crunch ‘em’ and so on. There is great use of repetition which always makes things catchy.
The pictures are cute, bright and colourful and illustrate the animals weird tastes beautifully.
Verdict: This is a great, light-hearted book for children.
This is a lovely, fun picture book. Ravenous beast announces that he is ‘Hungry, Hungry, Hungry!’ and is the hungriest beast of all. The other animals all tell him how hungry they are too, they want to eat lots of weird and wonderful things (‘a bucket and spade and some red lemonade’). So we have to read on to discover who really is the hungriest of all.
This is written in rhyme and my children chant along with parts of the story. They giggle at all the different ways the animals are going to eat ‘munch ‘em, crunch ‘em’ and so on. There is great use of repetition which always makes things catchy.
The pictures are cute, bright and colourful and illustrate the animals weird tastes beautifully.
Verdict: This is a great, light-hearted book for children.
June 24, 2015
This book is about a beast that is very hungry. He lists the different things that he could eat and then a mouse tries to one-up him, then other animals join in, saying that they are so hungry. At the end the ravenous beast says that he’s going to eat all the animals, he’s so hungry! And he gobbles them up! I thought this book could be fun with children because of the different lists of somewhat random objects that you could find in the pictures with bites out of them. I think I would just use this book as a fun reading book. It could help some children associate the names of things with what they look like through the pictures and teaches a new word for hungry: ravenous.
January 12, 2012
This book is a great book for children who are developing language skills. It contains a diverse selection of words embedded in a rhyming story about hungry animals. It's hilarious to read and the story, accompanied by fun and colorful illustrations, easily captures a child's attention. I've been reading this book to my son since he was about 5 months old and it's one of the few longer children's books that he can sit through.
October 12, 2013
Both of my children love, love, love this book! It has a lot to do with how it's read to them, but the book has so many characters that using different voices is just FUN! And there is so much you can do with this book beyond the words on the pages. The pictures have great detail and are so silly, the children love to hear them described and add dialogue when they deem necessary (which is often!).
February 27, 2016
One of the sad things about your children becoming independent readers is that eventually you leave behind all those books you loved reading to them as a child, and one of my biggest regrets is we no longer read The Ravenous Beast by Niamh Sharkey.
to read the rest of the review go to http://thebookbubble.com/2016/02/rave...
to read the rest of the review go to http://thebookbubble.com/2016/02/rave...
February 2, 2012
Read this book to your toddlers a few times and they will know what the word "ravenous" means, as well as dozens of synonyms for "eat". It's funny, and it also is a good book to read over and over so you have a chance to discuss the words in it.
June 23, 2008
I love the clever repetition in this book, it's one I check out every few months from the library to re-read. Darling pictures too!
July 15, 2008
Great fun! I am squeamish about the ending, but I think the young ones will find it a hoot.
November 30, 2008
I love the clear but detailed illustrations in this book.
The silly words and different sized text requires you to loose your inhibitions and get really involved in reading this book aloud.
The silly words and different sized text requires you to loose your inhibitions and get really involved in reading this book aloud.
February 20, 2009
Food Storytime
March 5, 2009
A cute, but slightly odd story about various animals who claim to be hungrier than the last. Colorful pages, silly cartoon illustrations and lots of onomatopoeia make this book fun for children.
Read
April 1, 2013good story about bragging and one upping others
October 16, 2013
Funny!
February 13, 2014
Great for groups - expressive and great pictures
January 14, 2015
Funny...until the end when the ravenous beast showed all of his/her friends how hungry he/she was.
September 15, 2016
We thought this book was funny because the beast ate everyone.
March 22, 2020
A Child book
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews