Title: Tropical Terry
Author: Jarvis
Illustrator: Jarvis
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: Children’s picture book
Book format: Paperback
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: Coral Reef City is home to the flashiest, most fancy fish in the ENTIRE ocean. And then there’s Terry…
*Free copy provided by publisher for review…
Review: I love this book, and Jarvis never fails to make me smile with his illustrations! Coral Reef City is home to some of the most dazzling tropical fish…and then there is Terry, a plain blue fish who dreams of one day swimming with the tropical fish. He spends his days with his best friends, a crab and a sea snail, he loves spending time with them but still wants to play with the others, but then Terry has an idea that just might get him accepted by all the other fish.
This paperback book is a little bigger than A4 in size and is filled with thick and very colourful matt pages. Each double page is filled with such colourful illustrations, they really pop, and a little bit of text. The story of ‘Tropical Terry’ is quite simple but has a brilliant message. Terry and his friends help him find a way of being accepted by the Tropical fish, by looking like them, but then there is trouble and Terry realises how being himself (plain blue Terry) is ultimately better and saves the day. I don’t want to completely give away the story as I find some picture books incredibly fun to read if you don’t fully know what happens at the end, but the message is obvious, that being yourself is more important than trying to fit in by pretending, and it also has a great message of the importance of friendship.
The illustrations really make this book pop and I always love just how colourful and fun books by Jarvis are. Each double page is filled with so many colours and so many things to look at. I always like the extra details in Jarvis’s books, there’s little creatures to spot among the coral, and it just all looks very fun. There are no black outlines to any of the illustrations which works well at bringing out the bright colours even more. I love the expression on all the creatures too. I doubt any kids would dislike the images as they’re just so fun and colourful!
The story is funny with a great twist at the end and a happy ending for all the fish. I like how the fish end up acting at the end and how plain blue Terry ends up being the hero of this book. It’s a great book to show kids how much they matter especially any children who may feel like they’re not important, or plain (like Terry felt against the tropical fish). It’s definitely a book I’d recommend and I’m sure many adults will like looking at the pictures too.
Review first appeared online July 2018 – now republished here.
What do you think of this book? Do you like the illustrations? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
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