Cover Image: The Giant from Nowhere

The Giant from Nowhere

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Member Reviews

Funny and clever. Makes you laugh and cry.. and think too. Your must-read book. Every person - young and old should read it to relax and have good time. I loved it!

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A straight forward story about wanting to belong and fit in somewhere. This book was okay but nothing great. I noticed a few flaws and the writing was very simplistic and felt dumbed down. Found it slightly off.

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A very lonely giant decides to leave Nowhere to find friendship. He wants to find a place where he will belong. He ends up in the village of Somewhere, a small village in the middle of the countryside. He looks scary and too big, and the people in the village are afraid of him. Will he be able to show them that he means no harm, and that he just wants to find a place where he isn't lonely anymore? Are the villagers going to accept him?

This is a story about accepting differences, belonging, and being kind to others. The illustrations are beautiful, but for a young audience, there needs to be more of them. The story is quite wordy and did not hold the attention of my grandson. There are fun activities at the bcak of the book, allowing children to become more involved with the story.

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Initially I didn't think that the story was anything particularly thrilling or different, but it's explained at the end that it was the result of a project in a primary school, which actually adds a lot of charm to it. The Giant's name, Sam Boady (as in 'somebody') has a much better feel to it when you know that children have helped shaped the idea. It doesn't solve the fact that some of the story seems a bit lazily plotted or too-cliched even for a fairy tale-like tale written with children (the Giant and Giantess immediately arrange to get married etc.).

I'm not sure the grammar is particularly spot-on in many places, and though the majority of the text comes on a separate page to the pictures, it doesn't always look great on the few occasions where the text is over an illustration (such as the planning of a Lonely Hearts message where text and newspaper edge clash).

As a collaborative project in a school this evokes a feeling of warmth, though as a picture book overall it just feels very average.

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A little too wordy for a children's book. A good story of inclusion all the same. Would have liked to have seen more pictures included.

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A simple story of a giant trying to find a home and cure his loneliness. It is a bit long, but when you read in the back about how the story came about it makes sense. And it makes the story even better.

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The Giant From Nowhere by Frances Dickens. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Children's Fiction. Pub Date 19 Jul 2018.

5 Stars. Great, colorful illustrations with interesting text and a beneficial message about including those who are different from us. A great read-along with your young child.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ebook for review.

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A very lonely giant decides to leave Nowhere, a desolate place where only he resides. He is seeking friendship and wants with all of his heart to belong and be part of a community. He ends up in the village of Somewhere, a small village in the middle of the countryside. He immediately is spurned by the locals because he is huge and scary to them and too big for their liking.

"And the tiny people were terrified. They cried. They screamed. They shouted.
Go away, you're too big to live here. Go away, we don't want you!"

His frustration and anger of being rejected by the village-folk cause him to stomp so hard that the ground shakes violently, taking roofs off of their houses, breaking their windows and decimating their shops. After his temper tirade subsides he quietly walks away... totally heartbroken.

How are the villagers going to restore their beloved village? It is in shambles. They decide to write an article about him in the newspaper which successfully aids the police in apprehending the giant. After an outdoor village meeting with the despondent giant present the harried crowd finds out the truth as to why the giant acted the way he did. Could they find a way to restore their beloved village, accept him into their community and perhaps even find a way to make him less lonely? Luckily for him they make his dreams of belonging come true and they even take it one step farther. They find him a special someone to share his life. So the giant from Nowhere is now live happily in Somewhere with his beloved Someone. I love a happy ending don't you?

The illustrations are so well done and they enrich the story greatly by pulling the reader right into the midst of this modern day fairytale. The story teaches kids to be kind to others and accept them for who they are. The author has included fun activities at the end of the book allowing kids to have more interaction with the story. I recommend this book.

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Reading the book, it felt like a book written by a child with English as an additional language. It felt long winded with unnecessary words and sentences. On finishing and reading the bio of the author it made sense. An interactive workbook made sense. Good premise but didn’t flow correctly for me.

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Simple story about a lonely giant. It didn't draw me into the story especially as I use children's books a lot in the classroom.
There could of been more pictures etc but the pictures were informative.
Thank you to Netgalley for me to read and review it for an honest review.

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This was an alright story but definitely not my favorite. Don't have much to say about it other then the fact it was definitely different.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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The Giant arrives in Somewhere, looking for a place to belong where he doesn't feel lonely. He looks scary and too big, and the people in the village are afraid of him. Will he be able to show them that he means no harm, and that he just wants to find a place where he isn't lonely anymore? Are the villagers going to accept him?

This is a sweet story about accepting differences, belonging somewhere, and being kind to others. It is funny and imaginative, allowing children to empathize with the lonely Giant and understand that being different isn't a reason to treat someone badly.

Beautifully illustrated, this is a wonderful book for children. Moreover, there are fun activities at the bak of the book, allowing children to have more fun and get more involved with the story.

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