The Big Blue Thing on the Hill

by Yuval Zommer

This crazy animal caper will have you cheering for the little guys!

When the Big Blue Thing (a camper van to us humans) arrives on Howling Hill, the local wildlife all agree it has to go. First the wolves try to scare it away, then the bears, boars, and foxes have a turn. Finally the wise owls suggest sending the smallest critters — the insects — to do the job. A cloud of bees, flies, and dragonflies make sure that the Big Blue Thing runs away at top speed!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Humor, Nature

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Yuval Zommer graduated from London’s Royal College of Art and has worked as creative director for many of the U.K.’s top advertising agencies. This is his debut picture book, inspired by the animals he came across on a trip to the zoo.

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

"How about burying it?" suggested the foxes.
So the foxes, the badgers, and the weasels gathered around, and they DUG and DUG and then DUG some more.

But, just as it looked as though their plan might work... the Big Blue Thing made a grumbling, RUMBLING noise.

"IT'S WAKING UP!" shouted the animals. And they all fled back to the safety of the Great Forest.

This book is just okay. A strange blue object appears on the hill one day, disrupting the peace and quiet of the Great Forest. It is quickly dubbed The Big Blue Thing by the concerned animals. But human readers will recognize it as a camper.

The animals all attempt, in various ways, to get rid of the Big Blue Thing, but it seems resistant to all attacks - even the pigs boars attempt to push it downhill.

Eventually, the animals call a forest meeting with the wise owls, who suggest using the forest's smallest denizens (mosquitoes, wasps, midges and snakes) to invade the inside of the Big Blue Thing and crawl into its smallest cracks, nipping and stinging.

This works, of course, and the (never seen) campers leave in a hurry, giving the animals their forest back and providing a happy ending.

Until the aliens land, that is. LOL This last-page surprise really provides the only laugh of the book.

While I appreciate the book's idea - sometimes the smallest people are the ones who can get the job done - the book itself is not terribly interesting. And the illustrations are ugly.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for older elementary read aloud.

[Feargal · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this today to a room of five year olds. great plot. suspense, pacing, twist ending, talking animals. it had it all.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

selles loos tuleb metsarahval toime tulla metsa ilmunud suure sinise asjaga, mis kipub lärmakaks ja tülikaks osutuma. kuna karud, hundid, metssead ja rebased ei suuda matkaautot paigast liigutada, küsitakse abi targalt öökullilt, kes soovitab lahingusse saata väikseimad olendid - sääsed, parmud, kihulased ja igaks juhuks paar madu ka. see muidugi töötab ja kutsumata külalised põgenevad. lõpp.

meenutan seda lahendust ühel päeval kuskil matkal kindlasti hea sõnaga.

[Gayathri Sreedharan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually laughed at this book. It was quite funny! It's a story set in the forest and had several animals in it. A great little book to read to the kids, whom I'm sure will squeal with laughter too at the end.

[Venus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally posted on Children's Atheneum

This book is a bit of an odd duck. The illustrations were adorable, but at times, some of the animals looked a bit strange and demented. At no point do any people emerge from the big blue thing (aka camper) for unknown reasons. I mean, we know that there are people inside so why not let us see them at some point? I wonder how the animals would react then? However, the storyline itself, of anthropomorphized animals being afraid of something innocuous like a camper was cute and funny. A bit of a mixed bag, I am sure there will be kids who will love it, even if it is missing any sort of internal logic.

[Laura Giessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that the story is told from the point of view of the animals who wonder about the "big blue thing" that has invaded their peaceful forest. (Loved that foxes were "right again" when the animals were discussing what it was!). The animals problem-solve to try to make it go away, and finally the Wisest Old Owl has an idea that works, involving some of the smallest forest creatures. I liked the funky font changes that encourage the reader to make this a rollicking good read aloud.

[Maddypictures · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the forest animals are thrown into a tizzy by the arrival of a mysterious "big blue thing" which rumbles fearfully and doesn't seem intimidated by wolves, foxes, wild pigs or bears. Readers will instantly recognize the mystery object as a big blue van. Finally, wise owl decides to send an army of mosquitoes after it. Sure enough, that sends the "big blue thing" Varying typefaces emphasize the action. Endpages feature chiaroscuro hills.

[Janni]

This is the oddest book. A camper appears in the forest. The animals understandably enough don't like it. So after several failed attempts to get rid of it, they send a bunch of stinging insects in the windows to attack the humans within. The camper leaves. The (happy) end.

Wildlife lover that I am, I still was left wondering if I was the only one who found this more than a little disturbing.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining story of a bunch of animals in a forest who aren't sure what to make of the big blue thing that shows up, and their attempts to make it go away. Personally, I didn't love the very end, but up to that point enjoyed it - however kids may find that ending more humorous than I did.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I (and I would imagine a lot of kiddos as well) couldn't help but think of the people inside the camper freaking the heck out during all of this. What were they doing in there is what I want to know.

[Boni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming book-text and art both lovely. I wish the storyline had been a bit stronger- the big blue thing should have been more of a problem for the animals to warrant them needing to get rid of it. That part fell a little flat for me, but otherwise a delightful book.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colorful, playful romp.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. However, I found the telling of it rather annoying and the illustrations were uninspiring.

[Anders Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, with good themes on the unknown and different approches to it. :-)

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story about animals chasing off a big blue thing (a Volkswagen bus). Reminds me of how I feel about camping!

[Benji Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this one, especially the ending.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for storytime, especially in the summer.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story grew on me. My biggest issue is the way that the wolves are drawn, to me they look deranged.

[pati · Rating 1 out of 5]

Implausible! Why didn't the people ever get out of the "big blue thing"?

Just silly!

[A.V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite like the accuracy in the art.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes the who's scared of whom theme on a fun romp. Good for teaching point of view

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

a super cute story with adorable illustrations.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a bit bizarre.

[Brindi Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really liked these illustrations

[kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute! Love Zommer's illustrations. Will try this with my 3s&4s

[Andrea Labonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was an okay book.

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

seemed a little forced. okay story, a little wordy

[Mr Bramley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put this book on my List as I had read another book by the author that really impressed me, however this one fell flat in my opinion.

The book is sweet and a nice easy read, full of sound and colour and humour. However where I think the book falls short is the moral or rather the entire point of the story. The story follows the forest animals mission to get rid of the big blue thing (a camper van) off of their hill.
Of course they succeed with the help of some smaller animals and bugs, but that is the entire arc. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of gripping point or moral besides the general working together, which isn’t really a main point even so. Of course not all books need a moral, but in my opinion that is what makes a good and enjoyable book: the feeling of understanding and thought that’s comes from the journey of a story.