Evie and the Animals (Evie #1)

Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin

Rating: really liked it


There were some jerks, but that’s inevitable!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

April (Aprilius Maximus)

Rating: really liked it
1.) Evie and the Animals ★★★★★
1.5.) Evie in the Jungle ★★★★★

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"Your real talent isn't talking to animals, Evie", she said after a while. "It's kindness."

representation: Hindu, dyslexic side character, Black side character.

[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]

★★★★★

Matt Haig's books are so incredible. i loved this so much and i loved how he subtly discussed climate change and environmentalism which is super important for kids to be aware of!

trigger warnings: loss of a parent (in the past), snakes, spiders and other scary animals, murder, kidnapping.

J. Lieutenant of Barad Dur

Rating: really liked it
Meh...neither good nor bad.

The first part of the book is interesting and touching. Then he began to exaggerate. Hence the four stars.

The story of Dr. Dolittle has long been told.

However, there are more than a few wonderful sentences that really made me think.

There is still hope for Matt Haig, given the "Midnight library" fiasco.

It's nice to have a pet, it's nice to love animals, it's even better to save an animal. ❤❤❤

Life is good.

Jasmine

Rating: really liked it
Matt Haig truly is a national treasure. Whether it's his adult books or his children's book, every single one is more precious than the last. I am by no means a child (my mother would argue otherwise), but this book was really special. It talks to children about the importance of kindness in a cruel world, about how social media and the internet is great until it's not, about how your true friends are almost always the unexpected ones.

This book was fun and intriguing. There was an intense plot that held my attention the whole way through and I know that, if I read this to my sisters, they would be captivated by every last word. I mean, what's not to love about a telepathic connection to animals and a centuries-old hidden talent? This was a great book by a great writer, is all I can say.

Lygeri

Rating: really liked it
We read it with the boys, one chapter every night. They loved it! A very interesting book with plenty of information about animals, I think it doesn't aim to adult readers so much, though.

Naomi

Rating: really liked it
Matt Haig
Evie and the Animals
Illustrated by Emily Gravett

“Everything is impossible until you can do it…”

“Evie was a girl who loved animals. She didn’t just know facts about them. She also had a very special skill. A very unusual skill…”

Evie’s “very own secret superpower” is that she can telepathically talk to animals, she can hear what they are thinking and, sometimes, she can talk to them.

This superpower, running through generations of family on her mother’s side, has to be kept top secret because it puts her life in danger, just as her mum’s life had been endangered by the bond-like villain of the piece “Mortimer J Mortimer”.

Such a talent cannot be kept under wraps for long however, and Evie embarks on a series of dramatic adventures to save the planet and avenge her mother’s death.

This is a very traditional adventure story in one way – a hero, a villain, a dilemma, a resolution. The universally appealing premise of being able to talk to the animals has drawn comparison with Hugh Lofting’s Dr Doolittle from a Century ago. This is written in a very modern, casual style. Lots of dialogue, illustrations, lists, jokes, lots of current cultural references. It addresses themes like bereavement, friendship, being different, climate change, animal rights. It could have been very earnest, but its all done with a very light touch and laugh-out-loud funny in places.
It is also a real page-turner, Matt Haig has a superpower of his own for writing cliff-hangers to end a chapter with. I read this book with my own children and without fail they begged for just one more chapter each time!

It’s a great example of using dialogue in writing and of characterisation – the villain is a classic comic book villain. The really skilfully drawn character is Evie herself though – one of the very clever things that Matt Haig achieves with this book is to make it sound like an 11 year old girl. Not just Evie’s dialogue but the narration and the point of view of the narrator has that particular, pre-adolescent quality of speech and thought that every parent of an 11 year old will be familiar with. I understand that the author has a young daughter himself – and you can hear her role as both muse and consultant in every page of this book!

For all these reasons, I think it is a book that is enjoyed by its intended audience (6 upwards but ideal for early KS2) more than adult readers – our pleasure lies in hearing them all shout “oh just one more chapter – pleeeease!”

Dreximgirl

Rating: really liked it
I read this in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it. Evie is such a great character and I found myself rooting for her. I really like how much she cares for animals and there are such positive messages from this book. I found it very heartwarming. Top notch read from Matt Haig.

Steph

Rating: really liked it
A lovely story about the importance of being kind (to humans AND animals), being yourself (even when everyone tells you not to be) and looking after the world. I bloody love Matt Haig SO much.

Elwen

Rating: really liked it
There are many books about children who can talk to animals. But this one is special. Its about kindness to all species on earth, about the connection we all have and as a plus the animals are still animals and not humans in animal form. It really gives you all the warm and fuzzy feelings when reading and have I mentioned the amazing illustrations? Highly recommend (as almost every book from Matt Haig 😊) !

XOX

Rating: really liked it
Evie can talk to animals. But her dad didn't want her to use her talent.

She talks to dogs and she got into trouble when her teacher lied about where she found the rabbit.

There is more to her story. A bad guy killed her mom because her mom can talk to animals too.

That lead to a story of how Evie got into danger and then finding out the right thing to do.

Interesting story on how humans are bad for locking up animals and how animals could see humans as sometimes kind too.

Stefani

Rating: really liked it
Very cute, but not my favorite from Haig.

Tammie

Rating: really liked it
Read- August 2019 for The N.E.W.Ts (My E in Care of Magical Creatures), The Basically 24 Hour Readathon and The Magical All Nighter
- I have to say that Matt Haig is one of my all time favourite authors. I haven't read any of his adult novels yet but I've adored all of his middle grade novels. Haig manages to put such important topics into his books in the most subtle ways.

Alana

Rating: really liked it
SBC 2020.

Absolutely adored this book!! Matt Haig has done a FAB job of writing this story! It is great to read a story about animals in such a different light to 'normal'. I grew very fond of Evie as her warm-hearted and caring personality is shown towards the animals and humans.
This adventure story is great to use with children in KS2 as there are lots of key messages and features that can be explored. For example, writing about setting and characterisation.

Elizabeth Clarke

Rating: really liked it
This book is sone amazing. It teaches us all about animals which I think is great. I also really like it's sequel "Evie and the jungle". I recommend this for all children.

Jos M

Rating: really liked it
Absolutely delightful middle grades read. Sweet, thoughtful and funny. Jam-packed with animal facts, and some real wit, but there's also a deeper level here, for kids finding out how to be emphatic in a world filled with sadness without become either overwhelmed or hardened (the answer is advocacy!). This makes it sounds preachy, but it is funny and adventurous, and that helps. I really liked all the exploration of what freedom is like for different animals -- being free to dig, being free to sniff, being free to swim, being free to fly. For Evie being free to be herself, to have the talents and skills she has and be the person she wants to be, even if her Dad is worried that the world will be cruel to her is handled quite nicely, I felt.

One aspect I enjoyed less is that there’s a bit of Evie being not like the other girls – she isn’t into trivial stuff like makeup, her appearance, social media etc unlike her frenemy Leonora. I am a bit torn about this generally -- there's a lot of stuff about mean 12 year old girls who love the internet as being vapid mean girls both in this and in middle grades fiction generally, and people can like makeup and still be kind empathetic people! Girls can be socially adept with a lot of friends without being necessarily horrible. You don't see much of this sort of bullying coming from boys of that age in fiction. I mean, don't get me wrong, you see it heaps in real life, sure! But not so much in fiction. Having said all that, on the other hand, it seems quite believable that Evie would have a bit of trouble fitting in -- her interests are quite niche, and in the same grade 6 or year 7 cohort you can get range of behaviour, from kids who act like children to kids who act like teenagers. So maybe it's just realistic? I don't know, I guess not that much of the book covers this particular theme, so it doesn't necessarily matter.

Anyway, really lovely reading!