Ou-ou-ouch! Who did that? No bottoms are safe in a mischievous jungle story sure to elicit peals of laughter.
All is quiet in the jungle. But not for long! "Who bit my lovely green bottom?" shouts Frog. He rushes to tell King Lion, who will surely know just what to do. But soon Monkey (eek-eek-eek!) and Zebra (ya-a-a hooo!) encounter something mighty and bitey, too. Can the King of the Jungle save them all? What kind of creature would test its super-sharp teeth on everything it meets? Vivid illustrations, rhythmic language, and a surprise perpetrator combine for a rollicking read.
Ronda Armitage is the author of many children’s books, including the Lighthouse Keeper series. She attended University of Auckland, 1963, 1969, and Massey University, 1965; Hamilton Teacher's College, certificate of teaching, 1963, diploma of teaching, 1969. She lives in England with her husband, illustrator, David. They have two children.
Frog was sat minding his own business enjoying the peace and quiet of the jungle, suddenly something bit him on his backside. Ou-Ou-Ouch said Frog. He didn’t know what had bitten him, but he did know that it hurt and that he didn’t want it to happen again. He decided he needed to tell Lion, the King of the Jungle, as he would know what to do.
On the way to finding Lion, Frog bumped into many of his jungle friends, but when one by one they all get bitten too they decide to join Frog in finding Lion. Someone needed to stop this ‘Mighty Bitey Creature’, but just what was the creature that was taking a bite out of the animals.
‘A Mighty Bitey Creature’, is a very amusing short children’s book. At 40 pages long, and with only a few words on each page, it is a quick read, but it certainly contains a whole lot of fun.
The illustrations are beautiful, and shiny. They are big, bold and brightly coloured. I love the expressions that the illustrator, Nikki Dyson has given the animals, especially when they have just been bitten.
This book is a lovely light-hearted read that will keep children amused, not only with the brilliant plot, but with the superb drawings too. I can see this book being the perfect bedtime story, one that will be asked for over and over again.
Something is biting animals in the jungle, what is this vile beast doing these things?
So I was definitely looking forward to this book, it just seemed so cute, so adorable, plus i just needed to know what kind of creature would be biting other animals in their bums. :P
Sadly though, the stupidity of the creatures was just too much. Instead of just checking what bit them in their bums, they run in chaos to their King (poor dude, he must get so tired of his idiot underlings coming to bother him at any moment of the day). I know that they are scared, but really, if you see what is the actual culprit I can't imagine that this would a) hurt someone that badly b) make such a big impression. For most of the book I actually thought the whole creature would be a mosquito Now that would have been funny to see (though also a bit absurd).
I think it also didn't help that the book was just repetition all the time. We meet x animal, he gets bitten, runs away to the King, comes across a creature, said creatures gets bitten, runs with the first animal, and so on. I thought the King would be a bit different, but no.
Giving this book 1.5 stars is only because of the art (well, not the art of King Lion, but the rest was pretty nicely done, especially those two spreads at the beginning and the end).
This is a funny story with some great illustrations. The paperback is around A4 in size although a bit wider and filled with thick glossy and very colourful pages. The story is a good one and very funny, all is quiet in the jungle until…Frog screams because he’s been bitten by something mighty and super-sharp bitey. He decides tell Lion, who’s King of the Jungle because Lion will know what to do.
The whole story relies on repetition and it’s very funny. As Frog rushes to see Lion he bumps into other animals, who all suffer the same thing in turn. Every animal he meets wants to then join Frog in going to see Lion. And when they finally meet Lion, you can guess what happens to him. I won’t reveal the very ending of the story or what seems to be biting everyone as I know it would spoil a funny book. I do like the ending, although to be honest I was expecting it to be more funny or silly. For a kids book with such a build up with all the repetition and silliness I felt the ending was a bit flat. However it’s that repetition that really makes this story work and it’s something I do love in picture books.
The illustrations are brilliant. They are all very colourful and funny. I really like the style of the pictures and couldn’t help but see a bit of similarity between them and a well known animation, given the way the faces are expressed and the way Lion looks on the last page. I think kids would love this book for the pictures alone. They are more detailed than it first appears and there are extra things to spot such as bees and butterflies. It’s also worth going back and looking at the pictures again after reading the book as you might spot something else hidden in the images.
Overall I think this is a very fun book and one lots of kids will enjoy. Although I’d prefer a better ending, perhaps one with a bit of repetition seen throughout the book, it’s still a good ending and the with all the funny pictures and silly repeating story, its a book that kids and maybe a few adults will enjoy looking at. -Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy.
A Mighty Bitey Creature by Ronda Armitage, illustrated by Nikki Dyson. PICTURE BOOK Candlewick Press, 2017. $16. 9780763698782
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
A little green frog is bitten on his bottom and as he goes through the jungle warning other animals of something that bites, that mystery something bites them too. All the animals go to the lion, because he is the king of the jungle. When the lion is also bitten he uncovers a bush baby and the only reason it’s biting everyone is because it’s hungry, so the lion feeds it.
I liked how the mystery builds up as to what is biting everyone. I also liked the illustrations because they are bright and the confused animals’ expressions helps build the tension. Once I found out it was just a hungry baby animal it was kind of disappointing and it would have been more fun if there were clues in the illustrations of the bush baby. I thought it was going to be a flea or something small, because the animal isn’t shown at all until the lion finds it.
This story has some of the most colourful and cute illustrations of animals that I have seen in a while in a children's picture book. Featuring some popular animals from the jungle including a monkey, frog, zebra and lion who are having a hard time - there's a creature in the jungle who keeps biting their bottoms! Guard your bottoms folks, this mysterious creature is out to get the animals and King Lion is determined to face the culprit to get to the bottom of all the sore bottoms.
The illustrations are vibrant, funny and really beautiful to look at, taking up the entire page. The writing is witty and has some fun elements to make reading (and making funny noises) more exciting for small readers. Ultimately an excellent picture book to add to your little readers growing collection. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.
In this picture book, something is biting the bottoms of the animals in the jungle! Starting with Frog, a long trail of animals goes to Lion to find answers on what could be biting everyone, and to their surprise, while talking Lion also gets bit by the mystery biter. After getting bitten, Lion and the other animals follow the sounds to discover a baby animal who had been separated from his family and was scared and hungry. In the end, everyone gets exactly the food they want and everyone is filled. I didn't really like this book because the creature at the end doesn't look so much like a real animal and the story has an odd rhythm to it. I think it could be used in a classroom to teach kids about different animals and the ways that letters of the same sound can be used differently, it just won't be my classroom.
I loved reading this story aloud to my family. The story is similar to the Chicken Little story and even has a lion to go tell when a creature is biting them. Kind of a tattle-tale story lead-in to discussion in a classroom. The creatures live in the jungle but are not necessarily native to rainforests/jungles-frog- monkey - zebra -lion-kinkajou (maybe) and lizard. But the story was funny for me and is funny to kids who liked what the creature did to the animals to make them mad.
This book is about different animals in a jungle and it starts off with a frog being bit in the butt. So, the frog wants to find out why and who has bitten it's butt, so he sets off to tell the Lion. This same cycle happens to every animal that the frog encounters: Lion, Zebra, Monkey. Since the Lion is described as the mightiest in the jungle, he is determined to find out who is biting these butts, a bush baby
I read this book in preparation for the jungle storytime this week. The jungle animals are being plagued one after the other by something biting their bottoms! This book is absurd in all the good ways that will make readers laugh. The ending is questionable in what it's trying to reinforce and it gives the book an odd tone. Regardless, the kids in my group LOVED it.
For: readers looking for a silly book.
Possible red flags: some readers may worry what behaviors this could reinforce to young readers.
LMAO!!! I had a good time with this book. The pictures are awesome and the story was so much fun. All I could think about as I was reading the book was how much fun ALL would have reading and listening to this book. I knew in the end it would have to be some cute and adorable creature, I thought however that it would be some kind of rabbit. The end of the book was heart warming as well.
Frog, Monkey, and Zebra get bitten by something with sharp bitey teeth. They rush to find King Lion who certainly knows what to do. King Lion sees that it's only a bush baby who's hungry. Instead of eating the bush baby, King Lion and the others all settle down for a delicious snack.
3.5 Stars. An extra half a star for a cute creature that bites bums. A fun little story about a mysterious critter that bites bottoms. Not a Frog, Zebra, Monkey or Lion tush is safe. Can anyone figure out what this critter is and why it is biting all the butts?
Read for Storytime October 31st Theme: Spooky Stories
I laughed with this book when reading it on my own. I laughed while reading it to the kids. It is fun to read and the kids loved it. It might be a new favorite.
1.5 stars for the artwork. meandering and pointless with very little to be said about the characters and story to make this recommendable for young kids. (or the parents reading too or with them)
You could compare this funny little story about the mystery of who's biting who to traditional folk tales like "Why Mosquitoes buzz in people's ears" by Verna Aardema or Chicken Little.