Theodore the Unsure by Pip Smith

Published: 1st August 2019
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Illustrator: Beau Wylie
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

King Theodore is the Ruler of the Whole Animal Kingdom.

When his mane keeps growing and growing and growing, he must decide whether to cut it or keep it.

But Theodore is always so unsure! What will he do?

This is a very cute story. Poor Theodore has been crowned ruler of the animal kingdom but he dislikes making decisions. When the summer heat gets too hot for his growing mane, he can’t decide whether to cut it off or not. Enter the vote!

I liked the humour about Theodore’s reign and how he rules the animal kingdom when he’s never left the savannah. Travelling to the different habitats also showed off the differences in all the animals and their experiences. It was clever how Smith shows the misunderstanding between habitats for while Theodore is too hot with his mane, the polar bears for example worry if he cuts it off he will freeze. The in-jokes about the voting systems were divine, and I loved the comments of the animals because they were clever and had jokes that made adults laugh if they understood the references.

I’m not sure whether Smith or Wylie made the comments for the animals in the pictures but they were the best. I absolutely loved all the illustrations in this book, Wylie’s pictures of the different animals were brilliant; snakes in hats and cockatoos with fancy dos were only some of the joys I experienced reading this. I also loved how the uncontrollable mane started to take over the literal page while Theodore remained undecided.

There is a fun solution to Theodore’s problem and once again it shines through with Wylie’s illustrations. The story itself is very cute, but getting to read it while also seeing the fun, clever and adorable illustrations was a much better bonus.

You can purchase Theodore the Unsure via the following