The Really Abominable Snowman
By Valentina Mendicino
Published by Walker
The Really Abominable Snowman, by Valentina Mendicino, is the last book in my winter theme reviews and what a lovely one to end on! And it couldn’t be more perfectly timed as where I live is actually expecting snow tonight! Yippee!
Who would ever think you could feel sorry for an abominable snowman? But in The Really Abominable Snowman, this yeti is lonely and very misunderstood and you can't but not help feeling sad for him. His name is Milo and he lives in a deep, dark cave high in the Himalayas. It's been said that he eats children, is huge and terrifying, hideous and smells like old cheese…
...But Milo isn’t any of these things, he likes to make cupcakes, do craft time and is also very neat! But none of this matters, as everyone still sees him as the terrifying abominable snowman which of course makes Milo very sad. All he wants is a friend to share his cupcakes with that he lovingly bakes. Milo decides its time for a makeover, he tries posh, punk and even French as new looks, but he’s not happy with any of them. He then wants to try social networks as he had heard they were great ways of making new friends. Milo tries to send a “tweet” but doesn't use the conventional way of a computer and is confused when him shouting 'Tweet' through a megaphone doesn't get any results.
When all looks lost, Milo comes across a notice in the Himalayan Times for The Society of Misunderstood Creatures - a meet up for all kinds of creatures who aren't quite what people say they are. Milo decides to pop along to see if there's a chance of meeting some new friends. The meet up is buzzing with dragons, fleas, robots, octopuses and even Dracula! They're all chatting and having a good time but when Milo arrives, even these creatures misunderstand him and run away! Will Milo ever find a friend?
It turns out that not everyone has run off, there's one creature left who happens to be an abominable snowman just like Milo, and her name is Sophie. Although she's not quite the same size...
There are lovely touches in this book that make it a gem. You'll find surprise fold out pages to show the huge size of Milo’s new friend, there’s also lots of visual jokes hinting at popular culture within the brightly coloured illustrations. Watch out for the poster in Milo's cave, the 'Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes' poster made me chuckle. You'll spot birds using phones to go on twitter when Milo thinks he has to say the word tweet. I also loved the fact that Milo thinks that Facebook is reading a book to find friends instead of going online. Little children may not get all the jokes but it will definitely amuse the adults reading it.
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