Ted is a RED blue whale with a lovely persona that should delight children. The font is large and bold and the story, about Ted’s under-sea playtimes with his friends, is told with simplicity and fun so that younger readers are encouraged to learn more about the ocean depths.
The rhyming verse is well written and cheerful, and presented in a way to give early readers confidence to try out matching words for themselves. I would have liked to know the name of the blobfish who narrates the story, but that was a minor niggle in an otherwise lovely tale.
At the end of the book all the characters are named with accompanying illustration ie dolphin, narwhal etc, giving the sweet story an educational slant too. A great first book for beginners, or nervous readers. Recommended. I award 4 stars.
By Deb Barwick