After all, they are rather ugly, and it might be hard to like them--unless, that is, you are one of their babies, and then, they are as handsome as could possibly be. Wildebeest, hyena, vulture, warthog, and marabou stork – meet the five ugliest animals on the African plains. When they reach the burrows they are greeted by their offspring who tell them how special they are and retell the song with how lovely they are. This is a book about the other animals that don’t always get the limelight; the dumpy, the lumpy and the smelly.

Edward listened carefully and wisely pronounced: “It’s good that they don’t care what they look like, but I prefer The Gruffalo. In any case, each one of them is just as interesting and worth seeing as their prettier African cousins. Their unfortunate looks have earned them a spot in this classification, despite being fascinating birds. If you’ve been on safari you’ll probably be aware of ‘the big five’ of buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino.Julia Donaldson's sense of humour is perfectly matched with the cute-in-an-icky-way illustrations of Axel Scheffler. And indeed, it’s this disagreeable appearance that earned the wildebeest its name, which is an Afrikaans word meaning ‘wild beast’. Their newest effort is a celebration of the animals in Africa, but not the ones children usually come to love. On the last page Donaldson opts for a slightly different format to show the joining of the characters and how their emotions have changed throughout 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.

Yet for better or worse, these five have earned themselves an unfortunate place in the official Ugly Five listing. Sonny pondered the message of the book and told me: “At the end of the book they weren’t really ugly at all - they were lovely. It is told through rhyme which provides pace and rhythm and is great for a read-aloud class story and it could also be used to study poetry and different rhyming patterns in English. Traditionally, it’s a term that many Kenyans and Tanzanians use to refer to warthogs, thanks to the animal’s troublesome antics in African villages.Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler created the behemoth that is ‘‘The Gruffalo’ and you could forgive them producing countless books in this series, but they do not. You can always trust Julia Donaldson to deliver a top quality kids read for the little ones (that can also be enjoyed by the adults reading it to them over and over).

At the end of the book, the Ugly Five meet with their babies, who declare that their parents are just perfect as they are and that to them they are the Lovely Five. anyways, the translations by naoura work very well in transmitting the magic, better than most of the other donaldson translations into german.A fascinating fact about marabou storks is that they have hollow legs and feet that ease their weight while in flight. There are questions about the animals and safaris at the end of the book which encourage greater engagement and could also be used for paired, group or class discussion.

Donaldson’s exuberant verse and Scheffler’s strong, inimitable style are splendidly suited to these underrated, cheerful grotesques, and evoke the love between parents and children of every species. Hyenas are scavengers (which is starting to seem like a strong predictor of ugliness), making them important players in their ecosystems. Unique to these animals are their bone-crushing teeth which allow them to crush the entire skeleton of prey as big as wildebeest. Taking a warm-hearted approach, Donaldson draws our attention to "The Ugly Five": the wildebeest, the warthog, the hyena, the vulture and the Marabou stork.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. As with most of Julia Donaldson’s picture book this story is told through rhyme and song with a lot of repetition throughout. Throughout the book the words and pictures are structured in a set way with the words printed on the left hand page on a white background and the illustrations taking up the right hand page. Come and visit a prime game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal where you can witness these animals in the wild, including more than 200 bird species and a massive variety of flora. The message of the book is charming - that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder and that we are perfect just the way we are.