Fabulous Pie
Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees
Alison Green Books, Scholastic pbk
When a very bad bear bakes a very large pie-crust – ‘f’laky, warm and wide,’ he plans a wicked plan to get it filled: but what is to go in this fabulous pie? Bear certainly has ideas but his cry of “Fabulous pie! Fabulous pie! Who will help to make the filling for my fabulous pie?” is more than a little ambiguous to the other forest animals and immediately Mouse agrees to help. He collects plump juicy blackberries but bear isn’t satisfied and asks again: squirrel supplies hazelnuts and in they go but that mixture is still not satisfactory. Out goes that cry again… and again … as badger, then mother and daughter otters,

provide tasty offerings until the animals get cross at bear’s dissatisfaction with berries, honey, nuts and salmon. Things then turn decidedly unpleasant for those willing helpers when …

Seems it’s time to make a move guys and gals. I wonder who has the last laugh – or should that be bite? …

 

Simply scrummy is this offering from Edwards and Parker-Rees. Their recipe for a tasty tale is: wickedly funny illustrations liberally sprinkled with assorted animals, – drolly drawn; mixed with rip-roaringly funny, tension building textual teasing. – audiences know what the animals do not: that bear is definitely no vegetarian. Assuredly, one to put on any early years menu.

The Monkey and the Bee
C.P. Bloom and Peter Raymundo
Abrams Books
Slapstick abounds in this minimally worded, powerfully visual, fast-moving drama, the essential elements of which are, in addition to those mentioned in the title, The Banana and The Lion; oh and a large palm frond essential for waving, wafting and whacking. The question is, will the Monkey and the Bee work in tandem – once they’ve got over their differences concerning that banana –

and get the better of a very angry-looking lion that definitely did not appreciate that head-bashing he received courtesy of – you’ve guessed it – the Monkey?

 

Or does said Monkey value a whole banana more than his life? He most certainly has to run for it once the King of the jungle is on the rampage.

A completely crazy caper and one that will appeal most strongly to those readers who prefer their stories told mainly through visuals. I suspect it will be read over and over and …

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