Felice Arena

Awww, this book! It was one of my childhood favourites - I had it pretty much on permanent loan from the library - and I took the plunge and ordered a second-hand copy the other week. It was like coming home; I read it straight through today and it still inspired me, taught me something new and made me cry.

It's about a boy in a little Australian coastal town who was rescued by a dolphin during a childhood boating accident. Years later he's turning 13, is a keen swimmer and enjoying seaside show more life with his friend Jo when he is unexpectedly and strangely reunited with Dana, the dolphin who saved him, changing his life forever and giving him a strength he didn't know he had. It's a lovely story and definitely helped fuel my love of the water, swimming and marine mammals as a little girl!

Fun fact: Felice Arena played Marco on Neighbours, was a championship swimmer as a kid and loves dolphins too. :) show less

This was exactly what I was hoping for - just a fun little book of learning pasta vocabulary with cute art. The vocabulary is fantastic for building literacy skills. The rhythm of putting all the similar words together (which also helps with pronunciation haha) is great, and I love that it speeds up for a page. That would be soooo fun to read for a story time! You'd just need to study the pronunciation guide at the back or prepare with many post-its. :D

First sentence: These pasta words are fun to say...
macaroni
rigatoni
cannelloni
Pasta!

Is the book strictly necessary? Of course not! Is the book fun? Strongly leaning towards yes. What I can say with confidence is that THESE [pasta] NAMES ARE FUN TO SAY. So the book delivers on its promise.

The book is straightforward enough. It is a celebration of all things pasta--mostly. It views pasta as a way of life. (Almost). It's silly and exuberant.

I definitely enjoyed this one. I didn't love the show more illustrations though I did love the cover.

It reminded me of one of my favorite Sesame Street songs/skits about tortellini. show less

These pasta words are fun to say …
Spaghettini
Fagottini
Ditalini
More Grattini?
Manicotti
Agnolotti
That’s a lot-ti!
Pasta tastes delicious, but do you know that pasta names are also fun to say? Grab your fork and spoon and get stuck into this rhyming feast. It’s enough to make anyone hungry for PASTA!

From bestselling author Felice Arena and award-winning illustrator Beatrice Cerocchi comes a joyous ode to the food that everyone loves to eat.