It’s a real pleasure to join the blog tour for children’s book Dig It, Digby! by Jodie Parachini, illustrated by John Joven. My thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part. I’m sharing my review today.

Dig It, Digby! is available for purchase on Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Dig It, Digby!

Although Digby enjoys building cities with his fellow trucks, he also loves to twirl and groove. Being true to both aspects of his personality will really shake things up at the construction site. The foreman may be gruff and scary, but dancing trucks can really get the job done!

Dig It, Digby! targets all fans of truck/construction books, yet also pushes the boundaries of the typical ‘boy’ book genre. By incorporating dance, it challenges gender roles using nonhuman characters that all children can relate to. Told in joyous rhyme, Dig It, Digby! is 360 words and has the lyricism of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site and the stereotype-breaking ethos of Giraffes Can’t Dance.

My Review of Dig It, Digby!

Digby needs some excitement in his job.

I always like to comment on the physical attributes of children’s picture books because it’s likely they are going to take quite a bit of handling. What is brilliant about Dig It, Digby! is that the hard back not only has a strong robust cover, but also comes with a slip cover to protect it further. I loved the fact that the end papers are tyre tracks too as they are in keeping with the industrial setting of the story.

And what a lovely story it is. Digby feels his job is becoming boring and he and the other construction vehicles begin to dance, play music and thoroughly enjoy their lives. Dig It, Digby! is a smashing encouragement to children (and the adults sharing the book with them) to get moving, have fun and express their love of life. This is such an important message to all ages. I can imagine children acting out the jumping and bouncing in the story and thoroughly enjoying it.

Told in excellent rhyme that never feels contrived Dig It, Digby! will really appeal to young children and makes it easy for any adult to read aloud effectively. The alternate end rhyme is so good at promoting children’s own vocabulary and language acquisition as they might be able to guess some of the words coming but will also be introduced to unfamiliar vocabulary so that Dig It, Digby! is educational as well as fun and entertaining. There’s also an excellent balance of text to image.

The illustrations are perfect to accompany the text, bringing the story alive. The construction vehicles have anthropomorphic features that are just right for the target audience and the shapes of the trucks mimic toys children will know so that they have a super frame of reference. There are no insipid colours here either. Each page is vibrant and colourful so that the illustrations convey happiness and vivacity alongside the story.

I really loved Dig It, Digby! and think children will adore it too.

About Jodie Parachini

Jodie Parachini is a children’s author and editor. She lives in a village in Hertfordshire, England, where she loves swimming, gardening, and taking long, rambling hikes with a smelly dog.

For further information, visit Jodie’s website, follow her on Twitter @JodieParachini or find her on Instagram.

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