Alphonse, That is Not OK to Do!
Daisy Hurst
Walker Books
Natalie and Alphonse are sibling monsters, Natalie being the elder. Big sis. is generally very tolerant and accommodating and the two have a lot in common …

Sometimes though Alphonse would cross the line, such as when he adds his own marks to his sister’s creations or worse …

Then one day, he does something much, much worse: he starts consuming Natalie’s very favourite book (perhaps it was the uninspiring lunch that prompted it) and you can imagine her response is far from favourable, resulting in the title exposition, an artistic outpouring…

and a retreat to the bathroom.
Eager to make amends Alphonse suggests a spot of nifty repair work, which is ignored by Natalie and so replaced by more drastic action that sounds like …

and looks like ..

 

An Alphonse style explanation follows along with apologies for his book eating and the revealing of some finishing touches that he’s added to big sis’s picture.
Daisy Hirst’s narrative voice is spot on, her monsters are adorable and I love the chucklesome humour in her illustrations, which are a perfect complement to that deliciously droll text of hers. Alphonse and Natalie could run and run …

Lion & Tiger & Bear
Ethan Long
Abrams Books for Young Readers
We meet the trio of friends one sunny morning in Green Hills Hollow. There’s Lion doing a spot of painting in his ‘Alone Spot’ when he’s suddenly tagged by Bear, who is eager for a game. Lion however is having none of it and so off goes Bear to try his luck with Tiger. No prizes for guessing who she in turn tags; but still Lion is determined to continue working on his picture and to that end he’s willing to go to a great deal of trouble to ward off would-be taggers.

Meanwhile the game has become anything but exciting and so the taggers decide to hot up the action somewhat. But even this doesn’t deter our artist and so he moves again … and again until finally he finds the perfect hiding place.

 

Not quite though. Things finally come to a head, followed by a deal being struck which leaves Lion free to complete his masterpiece and an impressive one it is too –

though that’s not quite the end of the story …
This is I think, the start of a series featuring the three pals and as such it does the job well; we get an impression of the different personalities of the characters as well as being shown the importance of negotiation and of having some ‘me’ time.
Long’s digital cartoon style illustrations tell most of the story with the action being helped along by speech bubbles and a minimal narrative that holds the whole thing together, making it a good bet for early readers as well as for sharing with young listeners.

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