The Ugly Five

Product Information

The Ugly Five’’ is a lovely book that combines some hidden education with an uplifting story. The narrative is a simple one; you meet a particular creature and observe their features and then they meet another similarly ugly pal. This goes on until the titular five are together. If this had been the entire plot, the story would have been too dry for most young people as there is almost an educational quality as you learn about the animals. However, this is not all the story. The surprise ending of the book is what makes it and leaves you feeling all warm inside as everyone is pretty to someone. Look through the story and sort some of the words that the author uses to describe the animals (e.g. ugly, spindly, graceful, divine). Which ones are positive and which are negative?

The Ugly Five are an odd-looking bunch with a bad reputation. Yet each of them has their own unique and fascinating story. Some are vital to their ecosystems, while others dazzle us with spectacular wild shows. I got the idea for this book when I was on a safari in South Africa. We had just spotted a herd of wildebeest. The reader would need to have experience of empathy and support so they could put themselves in that situation and see what it may be like to feel that you are not beautiful or wanted. The story teaches about friendships and the importance of family. It allows children to explore ‘beauty’ and how there is more than what meets the eye. However, when exploring the narrative of this story teachers may need to be wary of the past experiences that the children may have had before digging deeper into the teachings the story could hold. So it is with a heavy heart that I have to report that The Ugly Five was something of a disappointment. For a school librarian, this is as close to sacrilege as you can get. This time the story is about some animals in the Savannah who are, shall we say? Less than attractive.I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. Due to the rhyming nature of the story it is a great read aloud book. The repetition allows the children to join in with any repeated refrains and encourages them to notice and predict the rhyming words at the end of each sentence. Therefore could be used with Nursery children or lower Key Stage 1. However, much like the marabou storks, vultures have a crucial role to play in nature. They’re respected members of Africa’s ‘ clean-up crew’ for their ability to keep our wildlife reserves tidy.

The ugly five is a repetitive and rhyming book which could encourage children to join in with the story. Therefore, I think it would be suitable for reception, year one and year two class. Everyone enjoyed hearing about the Marabou stork, which poos on its legs - apparently to cool itself down - and there was fascination about exactly what the meat was that the hyena and the vulture were eating. One nature-documentary watching child thought that the answer would not please the wildebeest.Fortunately for them, they got a friendlier portrayal in The Lion King. Most people think of them as the loveable, slightly daft ‘Pumbaa’.Which, in Swahili, actually means ‘to be absentminded, careless, foolish, ignorant, lazy, stupid, and negligent’. A new book by Julia Donaldson is always a thrilling event for a primary-school librarian. Her books - the best-known of which is The Gruffalo - are guaranteed crowd pleasers, easy and fun to read aloud. They are often used by our key stage 1 teachers as the basis for a term’s project work. She is also one of those rare picture-book authors whose name the children recognise, and they are genuinely excited when she publishes a new book. Sure, they have a rather odd posture, an unflattering grin, and a slightly sinister face. Their portrayal in The Lion King didn’t do much for their reputation either. But hyenas are hardly hideous, and their cubs are even particularly cute.