Hodge Podge Lodge by Priscilla Lamont
New Frontier Press, 2018. ISBN 9781925594287
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Rubbish. Recycling. Subtitled A
rubbish story, Lamont tells her tale of recycling and the
impact rubbish has on our environment through the use of a squad of
animals and the unthinking owners of Hodge Podge Lodge, the Pigwigs.
They are not careful about their rubbish: in fact they love to shop,
and collect things, unwrap things, bring things home, be they
unnecessary thing or things they really do not want. But everything
comes wrapped. Sellotape, and wrapping paper, plastic filling,
string and ribbon is all taken off and left where it lies.
But one day a wind springs up and whisks all the clutter away. The
Pigwigs are happy, it is no longer their problem, but then the
animals that live nearby are made only too aware of their rubbish.
The owl has wrapping paper around its face and bumps into a tree,
the duck has fishing line wrapped around its feet and cannot move,
the deer has a toy on its antlers, the mouse goes into a cardboard
box to have her litter but when it rains it proves not to be the
shelter she is after, and so on. Each animal in the vicinity becomes
embroiled in the things the Pigwigs have discarded and decide to
take action. They march on Hodge Podge Lodge and point out the
problem to the family, bringing along the rubbish that has blown
their way. Miss Pigwig comes up with a very good idea and later
invites all the animals back to HodgePodge Lodge for a fair where
she presents all the rubbish recycled and reused. She gets some bins
with signs on the side to help reuse, recycle and compost the
rubbish they have while one bin is for the things that are totally
useless.
A cute introduction to the ideas behind recycling, this would help
younger children understand the impact that rubbish has upon our
environment and the animals that live there.
Fran Knight