Bob & Flo, Penguin & Pumpkin, Alfie & other Little Stars

October 31, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

Bob and Flo The Missing Bucket
Rebecca Ashdown
Oxford University Press
Sporting a new bow and carrying a bucket containing her packed lunch, Flo goes to nursery for the very first time. There she meets Bob. Flo is interested in painting: Bob is interested in Flo’s bucket.

Indeed he finds all manner of uses for said bucket both practical and imaginative …

Lunchtime comes and goes; Flo heads off to the slide where she discovers her bucket at the bottom and then, Bob. Now it’s time for Flo to make use of her bucket – for a while anyway.

With so much of the mystery of Flo’s missing bucket being told through the charmingly simple illustrations, it’s very much a case of showing not telling. A perfect lesson of the power of pictures and indeed picture books, and their vital importance in the journey to true literacy.

Penguin and Pumpkin
Salina Yoon
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
Unlikely as it might sound, young Penguin, curious about autumn, sets out with Bootsy on a trip to a distant farm to discover what the season has to offer, leaving behind a sad younger brother Pumpkin who is just too little. Having arrived at the farm, Penguin sees pumpkins everywhere and unsurprisingly they remind him of his little brother. So the adventurers decide to harvest their own autumn surprises to take back for Pumpkin. He meanwhile, has found his own autumnal adventure but it’s not the real thing – that’s still to come, thanks to Grandpa, Bootsy, Penguin and …

With its spare text and plethora of endearing penguin characters with their distinctive accessories, this is an appealing seasonal tale for tots.

Alfie in the Garden
Debi Gliori
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
We join little Alfie rabbit on his flights of fancy as he helps his mother bunny in the garden. He explores the jungly vegetation where he becomes a ‘bouncing, pouncing lion’, then an elephant,

makes a rainstorm and a swishy swashy summer breeze before his leafy wings carry him back to his nest and into Mama-Bun’s arms for a cosy, snuggly nap.
A gentle tale for the very young, the majority of whom just like Alfie, enjoy imaginative play. The muted watercolour pictures with their soft black outlines are a delight. The larger than life landscapes immediately attract tinies who become engrossed in a cosy world of make-believe conjured up by Alfie’s (and their) everyday playthings.

My Little Star
Mark Sperring and Nicola O’Byrne
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
A lovely bedtime treat, not so much a story more a gentle lullaby rhyme with gorgeous pictorial accompaniments of adult animals and their offspring. Every double spread is a portrayal of tenderness; it’s difficult to choose an outright favourite – each one provides an ‘aaah!’ moment – but I think it has to be either the nuzzling giraffes or the snuggling elephants.

Just the thing for sharing with the very young: it draws you in and makes you feel safe, warm and loved.
‘When the day is done and sleep draws near,
When the moon’s aglow and stars appear.’

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole

October 29, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
Walker Books
Sam and Dave, along with their dog ( watch that dog), are on a mission –a mission to find “something spectacular”. They start digging, just missing a largish gemstone,

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more digging… a larger one … oops missed that one too. They stop for a snack followed by a change of direction (the boys go their separate ways) …

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still nothing is found. Back to digging straight down again and even after the last of the chocolate milk and biscuits is gone they have discovered absolutely ZILCH. Moreover, the boys have dug themselves to exhaustion; time for a rest, a sleep in fact. Only the dog continues digging; he’s after a bone though. But then all of a sudden both boys and canine companion are cascading down, down …

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to a soft landing place.
“That was pretty spectacular” comments an impassive Sam as they come to earth. Everything looks pretty much the same.

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Or does it? Look again – at the weathervane, the plant in the pot, the fruit on the tree, the cat’s collar … another dimension? A dream world? Maybe – that’s your decision though. And that’s the thing about this very clever book where every small detail counts … it’s all in the interpretation. That, and the unspoken interplay of text and earthy coloured illustrations. Then there is the overall design of the book with the, oh so careful, positioning of the words on every spread.
All in all, pretty spectacular I’d say.
Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Buy from Amazon

Over the Hills and Far Away

October 27, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Over the Hills and Far Away
Collected by Elizabeth Hammill
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
This large volume is most definitely a feast for the ears and the eyes. Containing one hundred and fifty nursery rhymes from all over the world, it ranges as far afield as India, the Caribbean, Ghana, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the four countries of the United Kingdom. Among the voices represented are those from the Inuit, Maori, Native American, Latino and African cultures. The rhymes have been selected by Elizabeth Hammill, one of the co-founders of Seven Stories, the UK National Centre for Children’s Books: www.sevenstories.org.uk
Seventy seven artists have contributed, most often a double spread illustrating one or several rhymes, some of which are well known, others may be new discoveries for you as they were for me. The majority of the artists too, are well known names in the picture book world, but again there are some, such as Laurie Stansfield who are new to me. Her illustration of one tune wonder Tom, ‘he was a piper’s son’ playing atop a windy hill beautifully catches the feeling of a blowy day and the boy’s pleasure in making music.

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It is impossible to choose favourite spreads but among mine are Niamh Sharkey’s depictions of Jumping Joan and Janey Mac,

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Pamela Zararnski’s dreamily gorgeous scene ‘Bed is too small for my tiredness’

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and Holly Sterling’s tender depiction of father and daughter as he sings her two lullabies, one African American, the other Maori

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and, how marvellous to see John Lawrence’s wonderful London woodcuts.

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Really though I could go through the whole book enthusing, for almost every turn of the page is both visual delight and music to the ear.
Truly a fantastic way to introduce young children to the magic of the spoken word and the riches of artists and illustrators from near and far. It would make a wonderful present for any family with young (or not so young) children and I suggest at least one copy for every primary school library and early years setting. If our government really wants to encourage children’s language and literacy development then what better way to start than by giving every new mother this treasure trove of words and pictures. That, and order a daily dose of this book, rather than phonics for every child from four to seven.

Find and buy from your local bookshop: http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Buy from Amazon

The Big Princess & Princess Mirror-Belle

October 24, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Big Princess
Taro Miura
Walker Books
This is a prequel to the Japanese author’s charming The Tiny King. One night in his dreams the king of a distant land is visited by a white dove telling him of a princess child he will find in the palace garden, a princess under a spell; a spell that must be broken for the princess to become his true daughter. Failure though will result in the ruination of his kingdom. When morning comes the king rushes to his garden and there discovers sitting upon a leaf, a tiny princess. Oh joy! Both king and queen puzzle over the nature of the spell and its possible consequences but meanwhile the little princess starts to grow and grow… and grow… until she is taller than the king and queen themselves. In seemingly no time she has almost outgrown the castle and that’s when the king remembers his dream. From then on he and his wife try desperately to break the spell but to no avail. With the tallest castle tower at breaking point, the king notices something through the tower window, something tiny, shiny and black

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that could just be the key to breaking the spell.
As with its predecessor, Miura has used precision, patterned cut-outs in bright, bold colours and white, to construct simple shaped collage scenes. In addition though herein he adds embellishments in the form of separate but linked smaller, mostly black and white objects – a chair,

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a toy trumpet, a spoon for example.
An unusual, quirky modern fairy tale with a longish text and glowing, sunflower- filled ending.

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Princess Mirror-Belle and the Dragon Pox
Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks
Macmillan Children’s Books
Ellen has chicken pox; she’s covered from head to toe in horribly itchy spots; and what does she want to do to those spots? Scratch them of course, especially the one right on the tip of her nose. As she gazes in the bathroom mirror, about to do the deed, she hears a voice – no, not mum’s but Princess Mirror-Belle’s. This little madam, for so she seems, leaps from the mirror, a mirror image of herself even down to the missing slipper which she claims was stolen by a goblin, and announces that it’s not chicken pox but Dragon Pox Ellen has – eeugh! She knows how to cure it too, clever clogs that she is. And the cure? It involves a bath full of water to which one must add pretty much anything and everything the grown-ups happen to have left visible in the bathroom – bubble bath (a whole bottle), toothpaste (an entire tube), dad’s shaving foam; you can see where this is going – not the loo paper bandaging perhaps …
As she concocts the cure, the princess tells Ellen all about her enchanted life beyond the mirror, a life with knights and dragons,

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fairies, magical spells and more. Ellen is then instructed to close her eyes and count to a hundred. At the final number the spell is broken: someone is beside her but now it’s her mum looking none too happy about the state of the bathroom. Over to you Ellen.

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There’s glitter galore in this funny story, delivered for a change in prose rather than Donaldson’s more usual rhyme. Lydia Monks’ sparkle-spangled, collage constructed illustrations offer readers an abundance of opportunities for visual and tactile exploration.

Find and buy these from your local bookshop http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Grissel Hunting, Unsuitable Pets and a Dragon Quest

October 22, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

Daniel reading the story to his mum

Beetle and Bug and the Grissel Hunt
Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura
Andersen Press pbk
Some people go hunting for rarely seen animals: Beetle and Bug decide to hunt for the never before seen, Green-Spotted Grissel but then they do have a magic rug that can carry them through the air and sea. First stop is the ocean depths where they spy something red and promising looking. Up close however, despite bright green dots and ‘terribly Grisselly wiggles and loops’, the forked tail is a giveway – “IT’S A MAWK!” cries Bug.

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Off they go again, into space this time (having first donned suitable gear and taken on some air). Suddenly Beetle spies something on an asteroid, something prickly and spiny, something with peculiar curves and lines just like a Grissel. A close encounter reveals a distinct lack of green spots and the thing doesn’t seem at all friendly – time to beat a hasty retreat guys. Back home they go, more than ready for a bite to eat. But what should they find lurking in their fridge – oh no! the dreaded G-NUZZLER and what’s worse, the creature has demolished every single morsel therein.
Hungry and Grisselless the pair go off to bed. Tomorrow is another day and tomorrow’s hunt? ‘SOMETHING TO EAT’
Completely crazy, this wildly offbeat story is such fun to read aloud, provided you can keep up the breath-taking pace of Hiawyn Oram’s somewhat Lear-like rhyming saga. Don’t go too fast though; children will want plenty of time to explore Kitamura’s wacky, surreal collage illustrations.

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Melissa’s Octopus and other Unsuitable Pets
Charlotte Voake
Walker Books
Pets of all shapes and sizes inhabit Charlotte Voake’s latest offering. There is Betty’s disappearing chameleon, Arthur’s willful warthog,

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Simon’s well-behaved worm and Caroline’s gentle giraffe to name just a few;
but watch out for Kevin and Bertrand’s new pet with its long tail, huge jaws and ‘glittering teeth’. Despite his smile, he might just be the most unsuitable of all …

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A lovely playful book. Owners and pets alike are portrayed in lively, humorous pen and watercolour illustrations; and how refreshing to have the text printed in red on a grey background almost throughout.

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The Moon Dragons
Dyan Sheldon and Gary Blythe
Andersen Press
‘Long ago, when even trees had dreams, moon dragons flew through the night sky. Their scales shone silver as stars and they filled the dark with songs as old as time.’ This is the tale a traveller tells to a king, but he also tells him that a few such dragons still hide high up atop a distant mountain. The king offers a room full of gold to anyone who brings him one. From far and wide come all manner of men but none succeeds in the dragon quest. Then comes young Alina, a peasant girl from the foot of the mountain who had heard of said dragons from her grandmother and had them visit her dreams too. Despite the king’s scorn, she is determined to seek out the dragons and off she sets with her head full of long ago songs. Finally she discovers what she seeks

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but does she take the king his dragon? Read the ending yourself to discover the answer to this magical story.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Spellbinders

October 20, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Witch with an Itch
Helen Baugh and Deborah Allwright
Jonathan Cape pbk
When the little witch passes her final exams she cannot wait to start working her magic outside school. Her first subject is a frog – he’s destined to become a hat but, at the crucial moment, an itch comes upon our young heroine causing her wand to wobble and point instead at a flower – whoopsie! The frog’s still there but …

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A similar thing happens with the spider; this time it’s a toadstool not the arachnid that becomes a broom.
Another failed attempt follows and then a thoroughly frustrated little witch loses her cool completely hurling her wand to the ground in disgust.

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Suddenly beside her she notices a little girl with one hat, one pot, one broom plus the frog, spider and newt. And, she knows what’s been causing that aggravating itch; moreover, she knows how to get rid of that trying allergy once and for all.
Suitably spirited, wonderfully expressive illustrations and a lively, rhyming text that gives adult readers aloud the opportunity to let rip are the main ingredients of this diverting tale by a debut author.
Buy from Amazon

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Winnie’s Big Bad Robot
Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
Oxford University Press
Winnie’s decision to wave her wand and turn her junk robot into a real one is far from clever, all the more so when the big bad creature makes a grab for her wand and starts wielding it. Before long, not only has her house has become robotic but Winnie the Witch has become Winnie the Robot.

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Now it’s left to faithful Wilbur to retrieve the wand and restore things to their natural order once more. But can he do it?
Another crazy caper illustrated in Korky Paul’s witty, exuberant style. Those robotic rabbits, ducks and frogs are superb but all the spreads are crammed with
delicious details.
Buy from Amazon

Especially for those who like to add their own creative touches of magic to a story is:

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Spells and Surprises Activity Storybook
Marnie Edwards and Leigh Hodgkinson
Nosy Crow pbk
Best friends Princess Sapphire and Emerald the Witch become pupils at St Aubergine’s School just in time for the annual Hallowe’en festivities. First though there are all manner of lessons to be learned, not to mention costumes to be made and strange noises to be investigated. So it’s just as well that the pupils are ready to help each other out. Toasted marshmallows all round, I say.
There’s lots of fun to be had herein – glue, sequins and glitter at the ready: there are opportunities for adding to every one of the forty or so double spreads.
This one is definitely more likely to appeal to girls, probably from around five but perhaps younger depending on the individual. And don’t forget those witchy hats; time to head over to Mixtopia for some magical happenings.
Buy from Amazon
Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Strange Happenings: Seen and Not Heard & No Such Thing

October 17, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Seen and Not Heard
Katie May Green
Walker Books
Go through the gate into the grounds of Shiverhawk and you feel yourself inexplicably drawn towards the large house bathed in moonlight; follow that black cat up the stairs of the stately home and your spine begins to tingle. Enter the nursery and be gripped by further frissons of fear as you see on the wall, those portraits of ghostly children imprisoned within the frames thereon.

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Notice two in particular – identical twin girls staring impassively forwards while the others seemingly glance around. Look again at those twins’ eyes – are they moving as the black cat keeps watch? Now turn the page and see closer: there’s dainty Lily Pinksweet, the oh so polite Plumseys, clever Billy Fitzbillian, kind Percy and those De Villechild twins Lila and Vila … watch those eyes.
As the night whispers so do those eyes, seemingly saying, there’s nobody watching, time to escape from our daytime imprisonment. Those all pervasive nightmarish tones begin to fade slightly as the escapees run RIOT. All except the twins who look on from the rear as the rioters make their way down the stairs for a midnight feast..
Soon the scene resembles something from Sendak’s Night Kitchen

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but that is only the start of the fun. A climax builds; then the spookiness returns with ghostly feathers floating in the silence and it’s time to return before sunlight filters into the nursery, once more illuminating those angelic children – ‘Seen and not heard’. Watch out too for the three white mice that follow the children’s every move
A debut author/artist who manages to make a mini gothic horror movie with rhyming script within the covers of a picture book must surely be one to watch.
Ideal for an unusual hallowe’en story telling session but really for any time.

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No Such Thing
Ella Bailey
Flying Eye Books
When strange things start happening in Georgia’s home one October, she absolutely refuses to believe it’s the work of anything supernatural. She knows who has smashed that vase, pinched her socks, swiped her crayons,

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stolen the pumpkins and more besides. The evidence is right there before her eyes. Even those weird noises can be accounted for with the help of her trusty torch because well, without question, “we all know … there’s no such thing as ghosts!”
The great thing about this (or one of them) is that, unlike little Georgia, young audiences will spot the ghosty tricksters lurking at each and every turn of the page and relish so doing. That final spread is crammed full of the little spooksters having the time of their lives.

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Totally involving: Ella Bailey lets her gorgeous retro-style illustrations do most of the talking in this brilliant, tongue in cheek book.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Starting with a Fairy Tale …

October 15, 2014October 15, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Cinderella’s Big Day
Katie Cotton and Sheena Dempsey
Templar Publishing
It’s just one week before the wedding of Prince Charlie and Cinderella when a letter arrives on the royal breakfast table addressed to the King and Queen: a letter from Charlie, informing Their Most Marvellous Majesties that the ring he’s due to place on Cinderella’s finger has gone missing. Immediately the King’s suspicion falls on the ugly sisters. But is he right? There follow five further letters through which much of the narrative detail unfolds. The wedding does take place though with some notable absentees and all is made clear why through the final communication fired off by Cinders herself as she relaxes happily on her honeymoon – that and …

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Billed as ‘After Happily Ever After” I suspect this amusing novelty book is the first of a new series. Sheena Dempsey has used a palette of soft colours to create her scenes. Scenes that contain a mixture of contemporary items such as Cinderella’s heart shaped sunglasses, wry details like the mouse’s tail extending round the skin lotion bottle,

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as well as the more traditional fairytale paraphernalia. Children will particularly love the wedding fold-out scene that is crammed with characters from traditional tales and nursery rhymes.

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How the Library (Not the Prince) Saved Rapunzel
Wendy Meddour and Rebecca Ashdown
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
On the top floor of an inner city tower block Rapunzel languishes, ignoring callers: the milkman, the postman bearing a letter, the baker woman, Rapunzel’s aunt with dinner, even a prince bearing chocs and red roses.

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All exhort, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, please let down your hair.” But, receiving no response, and with the lift out of order, one by one they continue on their way. Later though, concerned on account of her lack of food, they have a change of heart and after a discussion, all (except the prince who is never seen again) decide to return to make amends. Back they go and up, up to the sixteenth floor where a hearty meal is cooked for Rapunzel and the letter duly delivered. The food restores colour to her cheeks but it’s the contents of the letter that really puts a smile on her face.
‘Rapunzel leapt up and she shouted with glee:
“I’ve got a new job at the library!” ‘
From then on our heroine is transformed: no longer does she sit idly waiting to be wooed; she spends her time enthusing about books at work and educating herself when she gets home – courtesy of LIBRARY BOOKS – what else?
Told through a longish, zingy, rhyming text and bold illustrations that are full of funny details and mischievous touches such as the crow tugging at a tress of Rapunzel’s wayward auburn hair, not to mention cats, dogs and birds galore.
A great plug for libraries and the delights of books and a great picture book debut for illustrator, Rebecca Ashdown.

Also told in jaunty rhyme is:

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Princess Sleepyhead and the Night-Night Bear
Peter Bently and Laura Ellen Anderson
Orchard Books
Night has fallen over the kingdom; in the castle all are slumbering, all that is except one: Princess Sleephead is wide awake. But kindly Owl at her window is determined to help so off he flies, returning soon with Fox and Mouse. Their sleep-inducing ideas are great fun but very energetic and only serve to wake her further. Owl however has promised three friends so who is missing? Ah! It’s Bartholomew Brownfur-Brown – a large friendly creature – aka the Sleepytime Ted clutching a collection of bedtime fairy tales:

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just the thing to cure the princess’s insomnia.
Exuberant illustrations littered with the princess’s ephemera, endearing animal characters and some enchanting sleepy-time scenes and a text that is a pleasure to read aloud, are the main ingredients of this fairy tale romp.

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SHHH!
Sally Grindley and Peter Utton
Hodder Children’s Books pbk
It’s great to see this book reissued; my original hardback copy was read to destruction. Loosely based on Jack and the Beanstalk, the manner in which this book draws readers in is just superb. With the entreaty to “Come inside” we enter the giant’s castle wherein we view and creep past, a huge-bellied sleeping mouse, a slumbering cat – enormous, a broody hen, the giant’s wife busy cooking dinner and then, the snoring giant.
Distorted perspectives, grisly domestic details such as an axe to slice the bread and eyeballs in the stew pot, retrospective flaps so readers can check whether those they crept past have been disturbed – reassuring until the final one, after which it’s a case of doing what we are told …

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Not for long though, I can guarantee there will be cries of “read it again” straightaway.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Bear Hug and other Ursine Delights

October 13, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Bear Hug
Katharine McEwen
Templar Publishing
A young bear wakes up and senses that winter is approaching: time to make preparations for the cold that is to come. His parents have prepared him well. Papa showed him how to use the vegetation to make a warm winter bed and mother taught him how to fish. On the cusp of winter, he meets another young bear. Together they fish and feast on ripe berries until as the snow falls harder, they head for the cave

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and snuggle down together, on a ‘shudder-cold night’, cosy, warm and sated for the long sleep, a sleep that lasts until birdsong calls them and it’s time to emerge once more. Out they come to greet the spring and before long, their very own little cub ‘soft as thistledown and lively as a sunbeam’. Then the cycle begins all over again.
With its elegant prose and stylized collage illustrations executed predominantly in earthy colours with occasional splashes of contrasting bright hues as the seasons change, this is a beautiful book.

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I particularly like the pictorial rendition of the birdsong through steamers of colour.

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Something About a Bear
Jackie Morris
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
There’s no doubt about Jackie Morris’s love of all things ursine: it shines out from every one of her glorious watercolour paintings in this book. We come close up to bears from all parts of the world. There’s the salmon catching, Brown Bear, the adorable-looking Giant Panda with her child from the mountains of China and the shaggy-coated Sloth Bear in what looks like the grounds of an ancient Indian forest palace.

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South America’s only bear, the Spectacled Bear is portrayed sunbathing and nursing her cubs in the tree tops; the huge watchful black Asian Moon Bear stands out starkly against the snowy mountain landscape. In contrast, the next spread reveals the Polar Bear, the largest of all bears swimming through the icy ocean. Smallest of all, the Sun Bear, despite its beguiling look and dog-sized stature, is feared by tigers and even fiercer than a leopard.
Despite the name, American Black bears can be of several different colours from black through ‘cinnamon and honey’ to white, the ‘rarest, sacred spirits of the forest.’
Magnificent every one; but as the child in us all knows, as Jackie Morris suggests, and the penultimate spread reveals, ‘the very best bear of all is …

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The final spread contains small vignettes and additional facts about each bear featured and you and any children you share this superb book with, simply MUST place your hands against those life-sized bear paws on the endpapers.
You can buy this one direct from:
http://www.solvawoollenmill.co.uk/jackie-morris-books

If you can’t get enough of bears then there is also:

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Happy Birthday, Hugless Douglas!
David Melling
Hodder Children’s Books pbk
Poor Douglas is devastated when, on his long anticipated birthday, those decidedly overbearing twin cousins of his, Felix and Mash seem determined to usurp all the fun and play things entirely their way. Upset, Douglas heads outside and before long, with a hurt leg and a dizzy head, the birthday bear declares, “This is my worst birthday ever!” It’s time for those crazy cousins to come to the rescue and put their special present into action –

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with the help of Rabbit and some not too willing volunteers. Then they all set off for a surprise birthday tea party and before it ends, Douglas has changed his mind:

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With the characteristic Melling warmth and humour, (there’s a laugh at every turn of the page) this is just the thing for sharing with under sixes on birthdays and other days.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Welcome to the Family & Little Sisters

October 10, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Welcome to the Family
Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Full of wit and wisdom is this look at families of all kinds; in fact it’s the book for you no matter what kind of family yours is. It offers a straightforward exploration of the many ways in which a child or baby becomes part of a family. This might be through a natural birth into a nuclear family, through adoption or fostering,

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perhaps by a same sex couple, through IVF, or maybe, as often happens, by the ‘blending’ of two families. Every possibility is explained in a straightforward, matter of fact manner; it’s the illustrations, speech and thoughts bubbles that supply the gentle humour. Having said that, the author doesn’t avoid potential difficulties – settling in,

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accommodating new siblings etc. are tackled head on as here:
‘It can take a while for children to settle down and get along together, and get used to the new person acting as their parent. They can also worry about the mum or dad who no longer lives with them.’
The message that shines through loud and clear from this totally affirming, all-inclusive book is that no matter how your family came about, it and you are special, different from all others, valued and valid.
This is another ‘must have’ for every primary school classroom and early years setting from the fantastic Hoffman/Asquith team who gave us The Great Big Book of Families and The Great Big Book of Feelings.

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A Guide to Sisters
Paula Metcalf and Suzanne Barton
Words & Pictures (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
Told from the viewpoint of a big sister this cute and funny book explores the pros and cons of having a sister and some of the things you (and she) might get up to, if and when you have one. We get right up close from the start with that new baby feel, noises and habits, then move on to toddling, tickling, TV tampering, teetering in high heels

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(only permitted to big sisters on their seventh birthdays), taking things apart – the model you’ve just spent hours constructing for instance,

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and much more. There are of course compensations; little sisters enjoy improving their skills at tidying up big sisters’ bedrooms for instance; and who better to snuggle up with if a big sister gets a bit scared in the middle of the night …

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There’s another troublesome little sister in:

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Tin
Chris Judge
Andersen Press
Tin is supposed to be minding Nickel, his little sister but becomes engrossed in his comic. Then ‘WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!‘ That’s Zinc the dog sounding the alarm: Nickel is up in a tree and before Tin can reach her she floats away, born aloft by a red balloon. Tin leaps on his bike and sets off in hot pursuit – all the way to the big city. Therein the rescue attempt continues with a cycle up a helter-skelter followed by a brave leap into the air

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resulting in Tin catching hold of Nickel and her balloon. The balloon then bursts and they hurtle downwards towards a passing animal parade heading for the safari park, Tin and Zinc landing on an elephant and Nickel, a giraffe’s neck. Once in the safari park the elephant and giraffe head off in different directions but a dramatic chase ensues with Tin and Zinc in hot pursuit. Eventually Nickel is stopped in her tracks by a park ranger and handed over to her brother. He in turn hands her a new balloon: oh dear was that a wise move? …
A pacey text accompanies Chris Judge’s action-packed visual narrative, but it’s his vividly coloured illustrations that show the setting to be a futuristic city

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inhabited solely (apart from the wild animals) by robots of various hues.
Great fun and just the thing to inspire a class of infants to create their own rainbow-hued futuristic city from recycled materials.

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Spread a Little Happiness

October 8, 2014jillrbennett 4 Comments

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Hooray For Hat!
Brian Won
Andersen Press pbk
If, like Elephant, you ever wake up feeling grumpy then this is definitely the book for you. When said pachyderm awakes in a very bad mood he discovers a parcel on his doorstep. Perfect timing; its contents have an immediate mood lifting effect. “HOORAY FOR HAT!” he cheers and off he goes to show Zebra, but Zebra too has the grumps,

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until that is Elephant gives him a hat. Guess what they say …
There are several other grumpy animals that day and there follows a kind of cheer-spreading domino effect. Before long Turtle, Owl, Lion all have hats but why is Lion still looking glum? Giraffe is poorly, he explains. “What can we do?” Young audiences will supply the answer forthwith …
Great art work: I love Won’s slightly whimsical style. He has used contrasting light and dark to effect with animals emerging from dark backgrounds (Turtle his shell, Owl his tree trunk and Lion his cave) into brightness as they join the ‘hat-fest’. And how well Elephant chooses each time – a party hat for Zebra, a wacky broad-brimmed panama for Turtle, a mortarboard for Owl,

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a crown for Lion.
Great message – no matter how you feel – embrace the day and with simple acts of kindness you can spread goodwill and cheer.
Great ending –

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Moreover, with its patterned language, predictability and bold clear print, learner readers will soon be able to take over and read the whole thing for themselves and I’m sure they will, over and over with great delight.

Great debut; I look forward eagerly to the next book.

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Apes-A-Go-Go!
Roman Milisic and A.Richard Allen
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
The pristine town wherein this story is set is hoping to win the ‘Tidiest Town Competition’ for the third year running. That is before the pernickety mayor notices an oversized flower in one of the beds, complains out loud and is overheard by Fussy Great Ape. His delicate touch fixes the flower but in so doing, he trashes the whole flowerbed.

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“CUPPA COCOA! APES-a-GO-GO!” he calls and thus begins a concatenation of repair and destruction as ape after ape responds to the call: there’s Mucky Great Ape, Sopping Great Ape, Thumping Great Ape, Sweeping Great Ape. Then who should turn up but Baking Great Ape, experienced in disaster fixing and what better way to fix this particular disaster than with an enormous chocolate cake. Mmmm! Before long, the mayor and all the townsfolk are tucking in and having a great time. Meanwhile those apes are busy setting the town back to rights – well almost. But who is going to clear up after the party wonders the mayor – Smashing Great Ape perhaps?

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Completely crazy: as those apes pile disaster upon disaster, their capers cannot fail to lift your mood . I can guarantee that if you share this one with a class of infants the whole lot will soon be shouting that ape-summoning refrain with you and that call might well spread out into the playground and beyond.
Order with a slice of chocolate cake for complete satisfaction and feast your eyes on those ape-filled retro illustrations.

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The Squawks
Ruth Thorp
Raw Mixture Publishing
Meet the Squawks – a troop of birds of many different shapes and sizes, mostly blue with an occasional red or yellow feathered one. These happy-go-lucky creatures get up to all manner of crazy antics such as telegraph wire teetering, dancing

and keeping fit. Avoid them though in squally weather and when they engage in board games; that’s when their tempers become frayed.
With a limited colour palette and a plethora of tongue tingling words, Ruth Thorp has created a playful picture book that demonstrates to young listeners that words are fun – fun to hear, fun to mess about with, fun to write and fun to invent. I love the way the print twirls and swirls across some of the pages in harmony with the Squawks. Just the thing to help foster a love of language for its own sake.
Buy from http://www.thesquawks.co.uk/

Grans are Great

October 6, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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How to Hide a Lion from Grandma
Helen Stephens
Alison Green Books
In this follow up to How to Hide a Lion, Iris has a tricky problem: where to secrete her leonine companion when her parents go away and her Grandma comes to stay. When she duly arrives, Grandma brings an enormous box, so heavy that it’s a real struggle to carry it up the stairs: those hats and bits and bobs must be very heavy ones think her parents as they heave it to gran’s room just before they leave. Seemingly though Iris’s worries are unfounded: her Grandma is so short-sighted she mistakes the lion for all manner of household items from a lamp to a sofa

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and she doesn’t even notice when he accompanies them to the supermarket. So why is she buying such vast quantities of milk, bananas, peanut butter and honey (clue here)? Supposedly Grandma suffers from night time hunger pangs. Why too does she ignore Iris’s pleas to play dressing up with the contents of her trunk?
If you haven’t met Iris in How to Hide a Lion, then do make her acquaintance now; she’s a delightful character. So too is her Grandma – a really endearing, fun-loving person and just right for Iris.
With a slightly retro feel, and rendered in a somewhat subdued palette, Helen Stephens’ illustrations have an old-fashioned charm and are suffused with a gentle humour.
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There’s another funky Grandma in:

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How to Babysit a Grandma
Jean Reagan and Lee Wildish
Hodder Children’s Books pbk
Young babysitters like the little girl narrator of this companion to How to Babysit a Grandad know just how to keep a Grandma happy when it’s a sleepover at her house. The recipe is pretty much the same as before, much of the information being offered in the form of lists with vital tips on such things as how to say a silent I love you and how to make shadow foxes kiss goodnight at bedtime.
With a mix of full-page illustrations and smaller vignettes, there is much to feast the eyes on: some spreads are choc full of busy details such as the shoe shop

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and decorated gran scenes, (did I catch a glimpse of Grandad and his charge in the park pictures?) Others offer space for a more reflective lingering look like that of gazing at the first star of the evening.

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Just the thing for Grandmas to share with their charges and vice versa, especially when called upon to babysit.
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A Scarf and a Half
Amanda Brandon and Cataline Echeverri
Maverick Arts Publishing pbk
Granny Mutton just loves to knit so when Little Lionel’s birthday draws near she starts making him a rainbow scarf. The only trouble is, she doesn’t know when to stop so it just gets longer and longer and longer … Having completed said scarf, she rolls it up, makes a parcel and gives it to her grandson. Excitedly, Little Lionel looks at its bulgy shape and convinced his present is a football, anticipates the fun he’ll have with his friends. Imagine his disappointment on discovering the contents of his parcel: off he goes looking decidedly bundled up and before long convinced that “… you can’t have a laugh with a scarf” abandons his useless gift. However his friends have more imagination and it’s not long before said article is being put to good use for all manner of fun activities for, as his friends all tell him, “That’s not a scarf, that’s a scarf and a half!” His Granny’s pretty cool too.
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Worst in Show and more of Stanley

October 3, 2014jillrbennett 1 Comment

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Worst in Show
William Bee and Kate Hindley
Walker Books
Albert has a special pet, Sidney – a monster no less and to prove just how special he is, Albert is entering him in the ‘BEST PET MONSTER IN THE WORLD! COMPETITION” to be televised live from the studio. The competition has five rounds: Sidney scores a grand total of zero: he doesn’t have any warts let alone hairy ones,

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he’s unable to hover, is virtually without parasites, his farts are almost fragrant and his breath barely warms a sausage. ‘GOODNESS THE EMBARRASSMENT!’ How much can Albert take?
But listen –surely that isn’t Albert and Stanley’s names on the announcer’s lips during prize giving …

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Finally, as the two make their way home, Albert concludes that Stanley’s particular qualities are just not those appreciated by the show judges; he’d much rather have a sweet smelling, large-sized, cuddly; lovable best friend after all.
William Bee’s tale is monstrously mad and enormous fun – just the thing to appeal to children’s sense of the ridiculous. Clearly it had that same appeal for Kate Hindley too; her illustrations are wonderfully whimsical. Crammed full of deliciously disgusting details – the monsters and their hangers-on; and with delightfully droll human characters – the judges, camera crew, Albert and other pet owners, each camera shot and off-stage scene is a feast for viewers of this unlikeliest of contests. That final fold-out scene is a bravura performance in itself.
An inspired collaboration this.

Willy’s Stories

October 2, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Willy’s Stories
Anthony Browne
Walker Books
Every week Willy the chimp walks through a pair of completely normal-looking doors and into a new adventure. Wither will his adventure take him this time: perhaps to a desert island with a large footprint in the sand (it’s Friday of course);

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or perhaps into the countryside and an encounter with Friar Tuck. Or maybe to a lonely road to meet an old woman who wants him to go inside a dark tree to fetch something important to her; or there’s that fall down, down into a bookshelf-lined rabbit hole chock full of all manner of strange objects? No matter where he finds himself, Willy invites readers to participate in their own flights of fancy alongside him.
Truly a celebration of classic children’s literature,

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the imagination and, for readers, of the inimitable Anthony Browne and his amazing chimp. It’s also a celebration of books as objects for in every illustration there are books be they disguised as a tree trunk, buildings, rungs of a ladder, seagulls and sharks’ teeth

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or built into a castle wall. Look out for those drawing implements wielded by some unlikely characters in some scenes too.

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Above and Below

September 29, 2014September 29, 2014jillrbennett 1 Comment

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The Something
Rebecca Cobb
Macmillan Children’s Books
The small boy narrator of this story loses his ball down a hole in his garden. Thus begins a whole host of flights of fancy about what might be lurking down in the darkness. Perhaps his red bouncy ball has caused breakfast-time havoc in the subterranean home of little mouse or maybe some frogs are having fun with it. Or, might there be something much larger and more frightening – a fiery dragon or a hungry troll? Although we never do find out what, if anything at all resides under the cherry tree, it certainly gives the lad something to talk about with his friends,

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grandparents and the dog. Assuredly the dog enjoys guarding said hole and dreaming about its possible residents.
Rebecca Cobb’s illustrations, as always are a delight; in particular those underground scenes of the disaster-struck mouse-hole with the mezzanine bedroom and that little mole sitting knitting a rainbow scarf.

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Cobb’s spare rendering of the child’s voice is spot-on allowing the pictures to provide the detail of his imaginings. Above ground, the passage of time is shown through the seasonal changes to the cherry tree beside which the watch is kept – just in case…
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Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Safari
Nosy Crow
Meet lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo, zebra, warthog, crocodile, cheetah, rhinoceros, giraffe and antelope each of which introduces itself with a jaunty, two-verse rhyme and a portrait courtesy of Scheffler. But we can also hear from a zebingo, an elephara, a wartodile

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and over a hundred other possible creatures thanks to the spirally bound, split page design of this book. The characteristic Scheffler humour is present too in the small creatures that ask “What is it” in the left-hand corner of every page, as well as in the expressions and stances of the larger beasts portrayed on the right hand pages.
I recall when I was a fledgling teacher, Penguin Education had a series of split page books and the children couldn’t get enough of them. Then there was Maureen Roffey’s Door to Door, also very popular. I foresee endless hours of fun being had with these new incarnations too. It’s as well they are printed on sturdy card and strongly bound; I’m sure they will get a lot of handling in primary classrooms and could well inspire children to try making their own split page books.
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Daisy Saves the Day

September 26, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Daisy Saves the Day
Shirley Hughes
Walker Books
Young Daisy Dobbs is sent away from home to be a scullery maid for stern, elderly sisters, the Misses Simms. She greatly misses her family and housework is definitely not her forte.

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Then one day the Simms sisters have a visitor; their niece, Mabel from America and shortly after, things change for the better for Daisy. Miss Mabel persuades her aunts to allow Daisy to borrow books from the parlour bookcase.
The story is set in London against the background of preparations for the celebrations for the coronation of King George V. When the great day arrives Daisy wants to join the other members of the household watching the procession but is told she must stay indoors. However, a determined Daisy finds her own way to be a part of the celebrations.

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Her colourful contribution most definitely does not meet with the approval of her employers. Disgraced, she is given a very hard time but eventually manages to redeem herself and in so doing is given an exciting opportunity to escape the domestic drudgery and better herself.
As ever Shirley Hughes’ illustrations draw you in and make you want to linger over each one, in this instance to explore the wealth of period detail included. Children (I suggest from around six up) can learn so much about what life was like a century ago– the clothes worn and domestic detail, by looking carefully at each and every illustration; and of course about the characters themselves – their manner, feelings and lifestyle. (You can visit http://www.daisysavestheday.co.uk where there are some related activities and Shirley talks about writing the book.)
All in all, a thoroughly satisfying book for the family bookshelf and primary school library.
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Co-operation Rules OK

September 24, 2014jillrbennett 1 Comment

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Rex Wrecks It!
Ben Clanton
Walker Books
What are T.Rexs renowned for? – destruction and Rex, the small one in this funny fable is no exception. In fact you can probably find a human one of similar disposition in every single nursery or reception class the world over. In total contrast Gizmo (a robot), Sprinkles (a cute pink unicorn rabbit) and Wild (monster) love to build. Rex would probably be deemed to have ADHD were he human; he loves nothing better than wrecking every single thing they make so “RAWR!” smash – that’s Gizmo’s OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD rocket ruined, “RAWR! RAWR!” Bang goes Sprinkles’s MAGICAL heart; “RAWR! RAWR! RAWR!” – you’ve guessed it – Wild’s ‘wooden wonder of WOWDOM’ is no more.
Out come the drawing boards: the three decide to co-construct a block castle so big that even Rex cannot topple it.

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They build; Rex destroys. Three furious friends, one remorseful (“rawry”) Rex.
Then Gizmo has an inspiration and it’s back to the drawing board, this time with Rex’s involvement at the outset,

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to build something even bigger and better and…

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eminently more wreckable.
One cannot help but applaud Rex’s playful exuberance despite its sometimes catastrophic results. (Clearly he needs help to channel it rather than misuse it.) Clanton catpures that beautifully in his pen, ink and watercolour illustrations which positively fizz with energy.
Inclusion and accommodation are the main themes that emerge from this witty portrayal of small characters and their imaginative block play.
A must have for early years settings and families with young children.

Another story where co-operation is key is:

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Bubble Trouble
Tom Percival
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
A bubble blowing bonanza leads to a bust-up in more ways than one as erstwhile best friends Rueben and Felix build bigger and better machines in their endeavours to blow bigger and better bubbles than one another. When the day of the ultimate contest dawns, their complex constructions lead to catastrophe and it’s not just the bubbles, but the machines that burst well and truly.

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Back to the drawing board chaps: it’s not technology you need but teamwork – that plus a few preparatory yoga breathing exercises perhaps.
Best friends again? It all depends on Rueben’s response to Felix’s final comment.
It’s not so much bubble talk as bubble flaps in this funny cautionary tale. There is bubble talk too and lots of other environmental print that forms an integral part of the effervescent illustrations – an additional talking point.

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The Cat, The Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf and Grandma’s Wardrobe

September 22, 2014October 1, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

I have always been fascinated by fairy tales and Red Riding Hood has always had a special place in my affections. Indeed it was the inspiration for the title of my weblog so I was particularly delighted to receive a copy of this:

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The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf and Grandma’s Wardrobe
Diane and Christyan Fox
Words & Pictures (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
I always encourage children to ask questions about stories, though I prefer questions to be saved to the end of the reading rather than during the story. The irrepressible, superhero-obsessed Dog in this tale however insists on keeping up a constant flow of questions right through the whole of Cat’s reading of Little Red Riding Hood. Here’s his first interjection on learning the story is about a little girl who wears a red hooded cloak: “Cool! I love stories about superheroes. What’s her special power?” Cat continues reading about the basket of food and ‘dainties’ she’s taking to her grandmother.
“So, kindness is her special power? Does she hypnotise bad guys into being nice? … I bet she zaps him with her KINDNESS RAY.” Cat is beginning to get exasperated. Dog too; a clear case of misunderstanding – crime fighting without a zapper?

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Exploding eggs? Whack the bad guy with a dainty? Now Cat too, despite his increasing exasperation, starts to see the story is not without its faults… ‘ “There’s NO kindness ray, NO flying basket and NO exploding eggs. She’s just a sweet little girl with terrible fashion sense on her way to see her grandmother.” ‘
The whole thing gets more and more hilarious as Dog’s imagination runs wild and Cat tries his best to keep his cool, eventually reaching his favourite part: ‘ “She arrived and said, “What big eyes you have Grandma,” and the wolf replied, All the better to see you with.” Whereupon Dog expresses disgust with the heroine. “She’s not very bright is she? I mean if there were a wolf dressed up as MY grandma, I might have noticed right away.” and then with the traditional fairy tale “And they all lived happily ever after.” finale.

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He even questions its suitability as a book for children. His summary of the whole thing is absolutely superb. But it’s his last (so he says) question that causes Cat to throw in the book – literally.
I’d be surprised if you can read this aloud without breaking into fits of giggles: I certainly couldn’t. The combination of uncrushable characters, chucklesome text and spare, brilliantly expressive cartoon style illustrations with sparingly-used splashes of colour make for an unforgettable read.
This one has a wide age appeal and is a real boon to teachers wanting to explore fairy tales with a class of older children.

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Is there a dog in this book?

September 22, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Is there a dog in this book?
Viviane Schwarz
Walker Books
Actually this book is mainly about cats –three of them: Moonpie – the sleek one, Andre – the decidedly rotund one and Tiny – well that’s obvious. Yes, they are back in their third ‘Cats book. So, what’s all this about a dog then? Seemingly this particular book has a visitor or rather an intruder; consternation all round and a plea for help to us, the readers. Time to find a better hiding place moggies. But the piano’s not satisfactory (some idiot opened it), nor the wardrobe (ditto)

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so what about that suitcase? ‘Sniff sniff’ Looks like you’ve been discovered guys.
Then comes the revelation: rather than being snappy and scary, the canine intruder seems friendly, soft and oh so strokeable, certainly to those with a feline touch. Human hands? Well, that’s another story or rather – part of this one …
Absolutely irresistible! – the cover, the book and the characters both feline and canine (oh yes that one is purple and something of a visual thinker).

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Once again this is totally interactive and involving – flaps, moggy dialogue directed straight to the reader, (and even without that, those gestures and facial expressions speak volumes) surprises galore and abundant humour both verbal and visual.
This one will be read to death – literally.
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Walks with Wonder

September 19, 2014jillrbennett 1 Comment

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Your Hand in My Hand
Mark Sperring and Britta Teckentrup
Orchard Books
As winter is turning to spring we join a mouse parent and child in a litany to nature through the seasons as they walk hand in hand. Together they encounter trees bejewelled with singing birds,

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the glorious blues and yellows of the woodland flowers, experience the wildness of the wind as they splash through puddles and wonder at a rainbow.

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Then come summer’s glowing meadows alive with birds, butterflies and other creatures large and small, as well as the delights of paddling in the warm sea. Autumn too brings gifts – of acorns, berries, conkers, fungi and leaves glowing golden, orange, red and brown as they start to tumble.

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Then when winter takes hold once more, the pair snuggle closer together through frost and snow safe in the knowledge, “With your hand in my hand … we’ll never feel lost.”
This book is an absolute joy to share with young children. Sperring’s gentle rhyming text is perfectly paced so one can linger long over each spread and savour the colours, shapes and patterns of Britta Teckentrup’s eloquent scenes along with the mouse and child.
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On the Day You Were Born
Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks
Allen & Unwin (Murdoch Books)
‘My daddy said,
On the day you were born, I wrapped you up warm and took you for a walk to see the world.’
A new father takes his new baby out into the world, and as they walk, it’s as if like his infant, he too is seeing it as new. What a truly wonderful walk it was taking them through sparkling puddles after the rain had stopped, when sleepy night creatures woke to say hello and the honey-scented air was filled with the buzz of bees,

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where a duckling found its family once again; a walk past an old tree of special significance, where friendly animals were almost overwhelming and berries glowed on the bushes, and crickets sang and butterflies danced among the glorious wild flowers. Then as day gave way to night the full moon shone to light the way home where, ‘My daddy said, …
‘I put you back in your mother’s arms and that night we were the world, the three of us together.’
This celebration of a new life is poetry in motion. Brooks glowing scenes, so rich in detail, texture and colour are the perfect complement for Margaret Wild’s lyrical text.
A gorgeous gift for a young child, new or not so new, and surely one to engender feelings of awe and wonder about the natural world.
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Fairy Tale Imaginings

September 17, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Use Your Imagination
Nicola O’Byrne
Nosy Crow
Like its predecessor, this delicious book comes with a warning on the cover – (Rabbit’s suggestion I imagine judging by what ensues therein.). Open up to find a fantastic lesson in storytelling courtesy of one large lupine librarian – who ever heard of such a thing? – and one small and so he proves – highly imaginative Rabbit, not to mention the brilliant Nicola O’Byrne.
Feeling bored, said Rabbit wishes aloud for something to happen and this comment happens to be overheard by said librarian His suggestion is to co-write a story. Having got over (more or less) his surprise at the size of the librarian’s ears – “All the better for listening to stories with, my dear,” and his eyes “All the better for reading with,” the next thing is how to begin. USE YOUR IMAGINATION! – how else? So off we, or rather they, go… ‘Once upon a time.’ That’s the beginning dealt with and oh, it has to be a fairy tale; characters next and the requirement here is a baddie. Size is important; not too small and not too big…

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wolf size is perfect. Then there’s the hero (dress unimportant) and a setting. Again, imagination comes to the fore or should that be forest, here.
Now that’s all settled, let the story start –

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Time to decide who is really calling the shots thereafter and quickly too. Over to you Rabbit…
Cheeky humour, verbal and visual, mixes perfectly with fairytale frights and just the right degree of suspense in this superbly imagined (what else?) book.
It’s one of those that makes you want to wave it from the rooftops and shout come and listen to this NOW.
I had pretty much the same reaction to:

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Dog Loves Fairy Tales
Louise Yates
Jonathan Cape
As he dusts his bookshelves, Dog comes upon a long-lost book of Fairy Tales and in so doing, steps right into an adventure. His first encounter is with an imp who insists he is under a witch’s curse and must remain in his jar. Dog however disagrees. We must find the witch and break the curse he asserts leading the imp out into the Enchanted Forest.

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Now this imp is a thoroughly pessimistic character and no matter what Dog says, he counters it with negativity.
On their journey to find the witch, Dog and imp encounter Goldilocks (in the three bears’ cottage), three little pigs on their construction site,

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Hansel and Gretel and Red Riding Hood in the wood, Rumpelstiltskin (but not Rapunzel; she was not at home – thanks to imp’s bad luck) and more than one big bad wolf before finding the witch.

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She turns out to be anything but wicked and cures imp of his pessimistic streak once and for all leaving Dog and his impish pal to continue together right to THE END and their very own ‘happily ever after’.
This thoroughly engrossing story is brimming over with fairy tale allusions, (some spoken, others shown) making this not only a delight for young audiences but also an absolute gift for teachers. It’s great to read aloud and a super starting point for an exploration of traditional tales in the primary classroom. As with her previous Dog stories, the characters are beautifully portrayed in Louise Yates’ wonderful, very funny watercolour illustrations. She manages to convey the entire range of emotions seemingly effortlessly with that light touch of hers. Cool endpapers too.
It’s me, not the imp who is bewitched where this book is concerned.

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Canine Catastrophes

September 15, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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This book just ate my dog!
Richard Byrne
Oxford University Press
Many of us avid readers devour books but here the situation is altogether different; it’s the book that does the devouring. All begins normally as Bella is walking her large spotty dog across the first page, but when he reaches the gutter, he starts to disappear headfirst

eat my dog

and by the next page has vanished altogether, his lead protruding from the crack. Along comes Ben offering to help but he too meets the same fate, as does the rescue service van, followed by a police car and a fire engine! Time for Bella to take over but at the turn of a page and a very large BURP she too falls victim to the dreaded gutter.
All is not lost however; seemingly Bella has somehow managed to slip a note out to us book-devouring readers issuing instructions on how to help her escape. Wiggle, shake and shake and shake and shake and wiggle once again …

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normality restored –more or less.

a dog
Don’t forget to read Bella’s final instructions or …. Oh well, we are bound to go back and start all over anyway.
Very clever, very funny and very, very satisfying.

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Smelly Louie
Catherine Rayner
Macmillan Children’s Books
Fresh from the bathtub, Louie has lost his unique doggy smell; instead, there’s a distinct aroma of roses and apple blossom about him. One unhappy Louie: off he goes in search of his own elusive odour. Fox, the snails, even some friendly flies all come up with helpfully pongy possibilities and then an improved, but not yet perfect Louise remembers the stagnant pond. There he wallows until his ‘Special Smell’ is restored. Back home trots a satisfied Louie with a big smile on his face; but what is that powerful aroma coming from upstairs and that noise?

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Please not –
Once again, Catherine Rayner’s characterization is superb. The text, with its scattering of alliteration, is a delight to read aloud and the circularity of her shaggy dog story so satisfying, for readers and listeners that is, although not perhaps for its determined canine protagonist. Her illustrations here exhibit a delightful blend of scribbled exuberance in Louie’s glorious messiness and the detailed, fine control evident in the small creatures such as snails and bees and the flora around them.

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One can almost smell that characteristic doggy whiff emanating from Louie on the penultimate spread and he’s definitely won my affection despite my not being a dog lover in general.

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Alternative Viewpoints

September 12, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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You Are (Not) Small
Anna Kang and Chris Weyant
Hodder Children’s Books
Size is relative, something that is explored in a very amusing manner courtesy of some fuzzy, ursine-looking creatures herein. When one orange and large encounters one much smaller and purple, he tells him so in no uncertain manner; the purple one however insists he is not small, rather, orange is big. A shouting match ensues with each side growing in number and yelling across the gutter at the other. Both sides are suddenly brought up short by an almighty

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followed by the descent of a number of parachute-borne pink creatures to further complicate matters, or rather, to enable the opposing sides to start seeing things from a different perspective. After all that, it’s time for some nosh chaps … However, it seems the new arrivals may have issues of their own.

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Minimal words per page in large type, allow the comical, cartoon-style illustrations to do much of the talking.
And talking there surely will be after a sharing of this with any group of children from around five. Not only is there the matter of size, this could be the starting point for discussions about racism, sexism and more.

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It’s an Orange Aardvark!
Michael Hall
Words and Pictures (Frances Lincoln Childen’s Books)
Five little ants (sporting hard hats of various colours) residing in an old tree stump are disturbed by a sound outside. What can it be? One – (yellow-hatted) ant decides to make a hole “Like a window!” to see what’s going on. The red-hatted alarmist ant suggests the possibility that a sneaky, grey aardvark might be out there waiting for its next meal – ants! But through the window they see orange. Not an aardvark then… “Aardvarks turn orange when they are hungry for ants” says guess which ant. More drilling by yellow hat… THUNK! blue seeps in through the next hole… “An orange aardvark wearing blue pyjamas!” alarmist ant again. And so it continues : with each new hole comes a new colour … red,

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green, yellow … and an even more outrageous elaboration on the ant-eating aardvark notion. Savvy listeners will work out what the ants will eventually see before yellow-hat makes his announcement and the ants emerge to …

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Well four of their number anyway.
Crazy cumulativeness, amusing ant talk – “Goodness!” “Gracious!” “Yikes!”, die-cuts (a-la Carle) delight audiences as do the brightly coloured collage-style images and the anticipation as each new idea is added to the imagined creature outside the tree stump. And, so cleverly written – every single word is measured for maximum impact.

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Friendships Tested

September 10, 2014jillrbennett 2 Comments

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Olive and the Embarrassing Hat
Tor Freeman
Brubaker, Ford & Friends (Templar) pbk
I think this has to be my very favourite of the Olive series. If you’ve ever been given a present you feel a fool wearing then this one is definitely for you.
Olive is given a hat that is anything but stylish by her best pal Joe and he sports one to match – almost. When the two walk out together their other, so called friends, make fun of their offbeat headwear until eventually Olive can take no more and she dumps her offending article in the rubbish bin.

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Her drastic action however, is seen by Joe, who now feels affronted and off he goes. Time to make amends thinks Olive, but how?
Our ever resourceful feline quickly puts her signwriting skills into action and steps out ready to sock it to the world

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and she doesn’t care what anyone thinks, well only Joe and there he comes…
No more will Olive be the butt of anyone’s jokes.

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What a triumph.
Both words and pictures brilliantly explore the boundaries of friendship in this hilarious story; the hat disposal sequence is absolutely priceless.

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Another winning shot from Olive and her creator, Tor Freeman.

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On Sudden Hill
Linda Sarah and Benji Davies
Simon & Schuster pbk
Best friends Etho and Birt spend countless hours in each other’s company, much of it on Sudden Hill where they entertain all manner of flights of fancy as they sit inside their respective cardboard boxes. No matter whether they’re kings, soldiers, astronauts or pirates they are always ‘Big’ friends with a two-by-two rhythm. Then one Monday along comes Shu; he too has a box and wants to join their play.

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Etho agrees; Birt keeps quiet. The three play but Birt is not happy and one night he trashes his box. No more visits to Sudden Hill for him despite invitations from the other two; instead he sits at home drawing, missing his best friend and their play together.
Then one day there’s a knock on Birt’s door and Shu calls him to come and see what they’ve made for him. Imagine his delight at what is waiting outside– an amazing “Monster Creature Box Thing”, Mr Climbfierce by name. And where better to take it than up Sudden Hill; moreover, it’s just perfect for three – Birt, Etho and Stu.

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Now Birt loves their three-by-three rhythm.
A tender, insightful look at the challenges and rewards of accommodating a third person into a best friends scenario. The spare, straightforward manner of Linda Sarah’s telling is a perfect fit with Benji Davies’ expressive paintings. Their muted colours echo the reflective nature of the story and capture so well the joys and small tribulations of childhood.

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Mine!
Jerome Keane & Susana De Dios
Orchard Books
Anyone who has ever spent time with young children will recognize this:
Horse and Fox, both bored, both notice, seemingly simultaneously, an egg shaped object and both claim ownership – no surprises there. … “But I saw it first,” said Horse. “No mine,” said Fox. “I saw it first.” “Didn’t,” said Horse. “Did,” said Fox. “You really didn’t,” said Horse. “Really did,” said Fox. (Such a familiar scenario and so well observed.)
Impasse – something’s gotta give guys.

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A realization dawns – “KIND OF SHARING?” Great idea; but then …

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DISASTER!
Perhaps not after all –

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Wonderful characterization, the dialogue is spot-on, stylish, and very funny, superbly expressive illustrations complete the package.

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Hear it from the Animals

September 8, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Bruno and Titch
Sheena Dempsey
Walker Books
Titch waits anxiously in Mrs Pinkerley’s pet shop for a “Big Person” to come along and buy him; it’s been so long – almost a year in guinea pig time already. Now imagine his joy when in comes one small boy and out go one guinea pig and one small boy together. Life at Bruno’s home takes some getting used to however –their tastes are so very different.

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And all those games are positively hair-raising for a small furry rodent but then there are other things that compensate.
Just when the friendship seems to be flourishing though, Bruno starts behaving very strangely; surely it can’t be a getting rid of pet plan he’s hatching worries our small narrator. As a pair of hands reach out, panic seizes Titch but …

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WOW! Bruno’s creation is truly amazing, only serving to prove what a good friend he is; and definitely worth that wait.
So too was the wait for Sheena Dempsey’s latest offering. Her ink and watercolour illustrations are full of fun and feeling and could well prompt young listeners to set to work to create their own pet paradises.
Also with an animal narrator is:

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I’m My Own Dog
David Ezra Stein
Walker Books
‘I’m my own dog. Nobody owns me. I own myself’’ asserts the self-assured canine storyteller at the outset and goes on to demonstrate just how he answers to nobody and is totally happy with his lot. Life is just dandy until along comes a particularly annoying itch in an unreachable (for our narrator that is) place on his back. So bad does it become that for all his talk, the bulldog is forced to allow a human hand to come to his aid.

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Then one thing … leads to another … until despite the disadvantage of having to do the cleaning up, a firm friendship is forged.

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Amusing,watercolour and pen and ink pictures created with a mix of thick and thin strokes almost calligraphic style, cleverly add both definition and personality to the two main characters in particular.
Great fun even if, like me, you are not a dog-lover.

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Mad About Mega Beasts!
Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
Orchard Books
A dozen very large creatures introduce themselves in this latest offering from the duo who brought us Rumble in the Jungle, Commotion in the Ocean and Mad About Minibeasts. There are creatures of land and sea, hot places and cold, carnivores and vegetarians; a few are extinct, most very much alive. They might be feathered, furred, scaly or smooth, scary or more friendly, but the one thing they have in common is their sheer size. Thus we meet, among others, Argentinosaurus (currently claimed to be the largest dinosaur), the Siberian Tiger, Python and even a St. Bernard all rendered in glorious technicolour in Wojtowycz’s gleeful illustrations;

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he manages to make even that python look anything but scary. Superb use of the space on the page every time, and with its mix of colourful characters and jaunty rhymes I’m sure this will become as popular as its predecessors in primary classrooms everywhere. Individual readers will delight in spotting those other – tiny – creatures that seem to have managed to find their way into every scene.

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Dance with Frances, Play with Bing

September 5, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance
Birgitta Sif
Walker Books
Frances Dean just adores dancing: even when sitting in school she finds ways to dance with her feet or fingers. Best though she loves to dance outdoors, where she feels the wind and hears the singing of the birds, so long as nobody is watching that is. The thought of people’s eyes on her make her freeze up. Then one day the birds (fans of her dancing) lead her to a smaller girl with a wonderful voice

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and that night Frances Dean lies awake thinking of how the girl was able to share her beautiful song. Next morning when she wakes to bird song she is reminded of her own love of dancing. Off she goes into the great outdoors to practise while no one is around. Gradually as she spins and leaps she begins to lose her inhibitions and shows, first the birds, then other animals and finally, other people, her moves. Before long – oh joy – not only the singing girl, but also an old lady and many others have joined her in a celebration of dance.

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A book to bring music to your heart and movement to your body, I found it hard not to throw aside my laptop and leap around in sheer delight along with Frances Dean et al. at the sight of that final spread.
Wonderful, dreamy landscapes, quirky, sparky individuals – human and animal – and a powerful message to be yourself are some of the joys contained herein.
Buy from Amazon

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Bing Make Music
Ted Dewan
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
BINGO! BONGO! BANGO!
Round the corner,
Not far away,
Bing’s been bongo-ing all day.
Get out your saucepans, spoons, tubes and keys, even your rice tub and bell, oh and Bing and Flop have a music box thing too. Then get ready to join in the glorious cacophony with the friends as that rice goes shaka shaka, keys go jingle jing, a tube goes woona woona, a bell goes dingle ding.
But oh-oh! Bing is getting just a trifle over excited with that spoon. We need to warn him, “Don’t go bongo, Bing.” Too late! BASH! – one broken music box.
A quick mend and then, it’s time for a song. Hurrah!
Who can resist Bing’s exuberance and Flop’s readiness to forgive his friend? Equally irresistible is this opportunity to join in and shake, rattle and bang along with the friends (once you’ve shared the story without additional noises perhaps).
Great for developing sound awareness too.
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Vanilla Ice Cream

September 3, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Vanilla Ice Cream
Bob Graham
Walker Books
A truck has stopped at a dhaba (tea stall) for the driver to partake of some refreshments.

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Overhead flies a curious young cock sparrow – bold and free. Down he comes to join the feast but the trucker is having none of it. Off flies our young sparrow across to his truck, a truck that happens to be carrying a cargo of rice to the port. What a feast.

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So of course, that ‘truck-stop’ sparrow stows himself safely inside one of the rice sacks, following, or rather, accompanying the food over land and then sea until finally, he finds himself in a park in a vast city where there just happens to be a small girl with her grandparents who just happen to be heading to the café for some refreshment. And that’s where our erstwhile traveller alights to partake of the crumbs on the table. In so doing he agitates the dog,

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which jerks Grandpa’s arm sending his ice-cream cone flying, thus, changing the life of little Edie in an unexpected, and, as she discovers the taste of vanilla ice-cream, a delicious, way.

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Through a spare text of carefully chosen words, the author’s small sparrow subtly demonstrates how we are all inextricably linked and how small incidents and moments can yield much pleasure if we are open to the possibilities therein: just look at those gorgeous watercolours and you will see.
This lovely, gently humorous book is endorsed by Amnesty International UK because, as it says, ‘ it reminds us that we should all enjoy life, freedom and safety. These are some of our human rights.’ If only …

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Princesses and a Postman

September 1, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Ten Little Princesses
Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty
Orchard Books
Ten little princesses trot past the castle but whither are they bound on their special day? Why, to the ball of course: but will they arrive safely and on time? When one pricks her finger, another bites into a poisoned apple and a third is charmed by a handsome skateboarding prince, we begin to wonder whether any of these damsels will reach their destination. There are piggies and a big bad wolf,

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a frog, a toothy troll

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and much more in this action-packed, bouncy, rhyming romp of a countdown that really invites joining in.
What a wealth of detail there is to talk about, and an abundance of counting opportunities, in the various comical scenes rendered in dazzling colours by Rickerty, who made me chuckle several times at every turn of the page. Brilliant fun (even better than Ten Little Pirates) by a pair that work so well together.
Great fun too is:

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Digby Dog Delivers
Tor Freeman
Macmillan Children’s Books
Digby Dog is a postman and he spends his time delivering the town folks’ mail on his trusty scooter. On this particular day he has all manner of parcels to take to Fred Fox, Ginger Guinea Pig, Annie Ape,

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Professor Perry Pig and Sally Sheep. Those duly delivered, there is just one parcel remaining in his cart and it’s a very special one for a very special person.; but whose house is he heading to? His very own and just in time for a fifth birthday party and a share in Petal Puppy’s birthday tea.
There is so much to look at and share in the wonderfully humorous, action-packed pictures, not only the double spreads of the places Digby delivers to, but also the smaller scenes on his route. In one of the latter we see such things as three apple cores lined up beside a rubbish sack and a rabbit balancing seven scoops of ice-cream on a single cone.

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Poetry Potpourri

August 29, 2014jillrbennett 5 Comments

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A is Amazing
ed. Wendy Cooling, illustrated by Piet Grobler
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books pbk
There is so much variety in this collection of poems loosely about feelings and moods arranged alphabetically. The good thing – or one of them -about this lovely book is that the arrangement does not serve as it straightjacket, rather it is an imaginative way of presenting and organizing an exciting compilation. Thus we have a traditional Polish rhyme FiZzy to represent Z, Lemn Sissay’s rap-style, The Emperor’s Cat is eXtraordinary for X and Puddle-Wonderful for P. (Oops! Why have they used capitals for its author, e e cummings?) There are poems from all over the world and from a wide range of poets (almost another A to Z – anon to Zephaniah) in a range of styles and voices, mostly contemporary –among them Carol Ann Duffy, Roger McGough, and Wendy Cope, but also Keats and Robert Louis Stevenson. I particularly love the opening poem ‘Unfolding Bud’ showing how a poem gradually unfolds the richness at its heart. And richness there is a-plenty between the covers of this book. Assuredly it’s one to return to over and over, to ponder, to laugh (try Michael Rosen’s GHEAUGHTEIGHPTOUGH Spells Potato), to wonder over and to thrill. There’s something for everyone here and for all times. I can see it being oft used in schools but I hope it’s riches are not confined to PSHE sessions; this small treasure trove deserves much wider celebration than that.
The mainly watercolour illustrations complement but never overwhelm the poetry allowing the words to speak for themselves.
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Interestingly one of the contributors to the above has a brand new collection of his own:
I’m a Little Alien
James Carter
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books pbk
Cleverly arranged, the almost fifty poems herein take readers out into space for encounters with robots, aliens, rockets, the moon, stars and planets and back to earth to meet all manner of creatures large and small as well as other representatives of the natural world and much more, from hats and shoes to mums and friends.
A fun-filled little book to have on hand in infant classrooms and at home, for those odd moments when only a poem will do and it’s a great opportunity to begin to listen to the voice of an individual poet.
Buy from Amazon

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So too, though for a slightly older audience, is the first solo collection from performance poet James Coelho
Werewolf Club Rules
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books pbk
Coelho takes the familiar primary school world and turns it into a place to generate a love of language and a delight in words for their own sake as he presents poems centering on teachers and lessons, pupils, parents and the numerous other items and small events that comprise the school day from getting there to going home. A few are very short – just three or four lines, others such as If all the world were paper, considerably longer and one or two such as Weights on a pole need to be seen on the page but I think it fair to say that all are best served by reading them aloud and there’s not a single dud among them.
The sensations brought out by Halloween’s crumble, the stifling of a child’s creativity in An A* from Miss Coo, the sights, sounds and speed of Skateboarding
are just some of the delights to savour in this exciting debut collection. If the poet continues thus, I can envisage his books becoming firm favourites alongside those of Michael Rosen, Kit Wright, Roger McGough, John Agard and Allan Ahlberg.
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Another book that will foster a love of words and language is:

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A is for Awesome
Dallas Clayton
Walker Books
Though not strictly a poetry book this is a rhyming alphabet packed with alliteration and, as the author/artist says, ‘a book about possibilties’. Thus we have for instance:
C is for CONFIDENT, COOL and COLLECTED
D is for DREAMING things never EXPECTED
It’s also about positiveness
G is For GREATNESS You’re Well on Your Way, L is for Living Life up to its fullest,
P is For PASSION PURSUING what’s Right
Others I really like are:
I is IMAGINE IDEAS all your own
K is for KIDS being Kids (that’s the coolest)
Q is For QUIET to Escape From the Madness
R is For READING But Also For Radness
V is For VALUES And Keeping Them True
W is For WISDOM Both Spoken and Written
Many of the items representing each letter not the ordinary, run-of-the-mill objects found in alphabet books, indeed some had me puzzling over them; and there are lots for every letter each depicted in Clayton’s quirky style. This is definitely not a first ABC but one full of talk potential in school or at home.
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Quest

August 26, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Quest
Aaron Becker
Walker Books
At the end of Journey, Becker left his two child protagonists pedalling their tandem towards as we now see, their next adventure. Also wordless, Quest begins with the pair having left the bike leaning against a wall, sheltering under a bridge from heavy rain.

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In the wall is a door through which a distraught-looking king bursts. He thrusts a strange map into their hands, one showing the hiding places of six magical crayons that the two children must find and so bring about the defeat of the enemies of his kingdom.

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Thus charged, the boy and girl (the latter wearing a bandolier from the king in which to store the crayons) set forth on their mission. Like Antony Brown’s Bear and Harold (of purple crayon fame) the children use their trusty red and purple crayons to draw themselves means of escape from danger. They travel to the depths of the sea

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and over land (I love that it is a rhino with a howdah and not an elephant that they draw to carry them overland) and water to a climatic rainbow-hued defeat of the evil forces of darkness

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culminating in a glowing, multi-coloured victory for the monarch and his kingdom.
All manner of architectural marvels are depicted in glorious watercolour and ink spreads that are packed with a multitude of amazing details. With a broader, richer colour-palette and greater emphasis on dramatic action and high adventure than its predecessor, this is again a stunning testament to the power of the imagination, art and pictorial story telling. Awesome.

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Toddler Time

August 24, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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A Recipe for Bedtime
Peter Bently and Sarah Massini
Hodder Children’s Books
Baby, baby soft and sweet,
Almost good enough to eat!
It’s night-night time so come with me,
And hear my bedtime recipe.
We are invited to share a bedtime ritual along with teddy (who has the perfect recipe book), and other assorted toys who help put the human infant to bed. After a snack, there’s a cuddle, clothes off, into the bath with lots of warm water and bubbles, then a rub-a-dub with a huge towel – perfect for a quick game of Peek-a-Boo,

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a tummy softening squirt– thank you elephant, into those jimjams and a drink of milk. Now put said infant into a warm place with a sprinkling of kisses and a cosy cover, not forgetting a sleep-inducing ‘Hush-a-bye’ song; now climb in everyone. Night-night.
With its tender, gently soporific rhyming text and pictures so beautifully in tune, I can imagine this becoming a bedtime favourite with many a toddler.

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Are You My Mummy?
Mary Murphy
Walker Books
In this enchanting board book we join a little pup as it travels around the farm asking the various animal inhabitants, “Are you my mummy?” After encounters with a sheep, a cow, a horse, a cat, a pig

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and a duck, our persistent pup finally finds a large dog and joy of joys, her response is “Yes … and you’re my lovely puppy!”
Cute animals, a simple patterned text and flaps to open revealing each mother’s little one are the key ingredients of this new addition to the Baby Walker series. It’s just the thing to share with the very youngest child… again and again I suspect; and slightly older, beginner reader siblings might well enjoy reading it to a baby brother or sister.

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Where Do You Live Snail?
Petr Horacek
Walker Books
Snail sets out visiting mouse, the busy bees, a fluffy bird, a shiny fish and hoppy frog asking them in turn, “Where do you live?” Each time he receives the answer, “I (or we) live in … ” The frog then asks snail about his home and discovers that snail has a mobile home on its back.

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The predictable question and answer format together with Petr Horacek’s gorgeous mixed media illustrations make for a thoroughly enjoyable addition to the Baby Walker series. This one has a wheel that when turned, makes the stars shine on snail.
Another beautifully illustrated title in the same series is:
A Surprise for Tiny Mouse
Petr Horacek
Walker Books
As we accompany Tiny Mouse through the seasons we share her enjoyment of nibbling the corn in the sunshine, moving in the crackly leaves on a windy day, feeling the crunchy night-time frost

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and the snow tickling her nose. What she doesn’t like though is splashy rain so off she scampers to hide until out comes the sun once more, and if the wheel is turned …
Cutaway pages and peep-holes further add to the enjoyment of this one.
In my experience beginning readers also get great pleasure from these books if left in early years book baskets for individuals to try reading for themselves.

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Starting School

August 21, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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A Big Day for Migs!
Jo Hodgkinson
Andersen Press
Migs’ big day has arrived; he’s starting school. Off he goes somewhat reluctantly, fighting back the tears as he bids goodbye to his mum. In the classroom, it’s a shy Migs who watches all the others enjoying themselves and then, in the dressing up corner, he discovers just the thing to boost his self-confidence.

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Before long there’s a super hero mouse roaring and rampaging around the room, cloak flowing behind; but like others, super heroes need to watch where they are going. WHOOSH… SPLOOSH! A whole pot of water spills over Rokko’s boat painting.
Even a super hero’s handiwork cannot repair the damage and a tearful Rokko makes his feelings known in no uncertain terms. But can that same super hero’s brain come up with a super plan?
Thanks to some great teamwork and creative crafting, it’s not too long before harmony is restored.

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Then it’s time for lunch, a story session and everyone departs smiling happily and eagerly anticipating another day of fun with new friends.

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Anyone who has spent any time in a nursery or reception classroom will recognize the way things can all too easily escalate from well-intentioned exuberant romp to minor mishap, and thence to complete disaster in a very short space of time. Jo Hodgkinson captures this so well here both in her amusing illustrations and the jaunty rhyming text, as she does too, those mixed feelings of excitement and apprehension about starting school.
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Dolci is fascinated by Mouse’s antics

Mouse’s First Night at Moonlight School
Simon Puttock and Ali Pye
Nosy Crow
It’s little Mouse’s very first night at Moonlight School, Miss Moon’s establishment for nocturnal creatures. The other members of the class, Bat, Cat and Owl have all arrived but there’s no sign of Mouse: She is having an attack of newcomer’s nerves and has gone into hiding.

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However, Mouse’s mother has given strict instructions about good behaviour to her offspring and so when Miss Moon calls the register, she finds herself revealing her presence and eventually creeps out to show herself. The accommodating Miss Moon responds to her “I like hiding” by suggesting a game of hide-and-seek and the class members scamper off to hide. Owl, Cat and Bat’s whereabouts are quickly discovered but where is Mouse? (Observant readers will have spotted her hiding place). A careful search ensues but to no avail;

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Miss Moon begins to worry but eventually little Mouse can contain herself no longer … out she pops just in time for midnight snack with her new friends and what’s even more exciting, shyness overcome, she has discovered something she can do better than her classmates.
The nocturnal setting of this story with its friendly witch teacher, gives it a pinch of something extra so it is not just a ‘starting school’ story. Children love the idea of the teacher not being able to find mouse but I don’t think they needed to be told her whereabouts; perhaps better to let the pictures do the talking here.
There are lots of amusing details in Ali Pye’s muted, candle-lit illustrations and I just love those gorgeous, lunar-lighted landscapes, in particular, the endpapers.

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Specs for Rex

August 19, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Specs for Rex
Yasmeen Ismail
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
Rex has new specs, BIG, ROUND and RED and very smart too; but he doesn’t think so and does everything he can to lose the dratted things.
At school too he tries hiding them, or disguising same, indoors…

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and out.

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Back inside, he also finds something – Miss Spots’ missing whistle and that’s deemed worthy of a special gold star. By the end of the day, that is not the only thing Rex has found: much more important he’s found a new friend and one who admires those super cool specs of his. Smiles and hugs all round.

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Miss Spots’ chaotic, child-friendly classroom with paints, pens and crayons strewn everywhere looks to be the very place Yasmeen Ismail produced her wonderful, deceptively slap-dash free flowing paintings through which she chooses to tell much more of the story. Clearly she is no stranger to early years settings, where overflowing sinks and the creative use of toilet paper are familiar sights.

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A spirited story showing the importance of self-esteem and the positive effects of standing out from the crowd – just a little bit. A must have book for all settings where there are young children.
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The Colour Thief

August 15, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Colour Thief
Gabriel Alborozo
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Imagine a world of unrelenting grey – all day, every day. That’s what it’s like on Zot’s planet; it’s a very sad place. It’s no surprise then that as he gazes from his mountaintop at earth sparkling with colour in the far distance, he is filled with longing. So much so that he decides to visit what he’s sure is a happy place and thus find his own happiness.
On arrival, Zot is dazzled by the colours of everything he sees on earth; so could he be happy here? Perhaps not, without his friends. Instead he decides to take the colour back to his own planet and sets to work collecting first red,

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then blue, green, yellow and the rest in his bag until all earth’s colours have gone – every single one… Oh! Not quite, for along comes a small boy with an orange balloon. Of course, our colour catching Zot must have that one too.

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So now we have one small, very sad looking boy clutching one grey balloon. Off goes Zot in his spacecraft but not far; it looks like he’s having a change of heart. Back he goes and very carefully releases his catch of colours into the boy’s world once more.
So is there a happy ending for Zot? Well, one good turn deserves another …

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Especially when you share it with all your friends.

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I am absolutely be-ZOTTED with this book: I love it from cover to cover. Zot is, despite his marauding moments, a lovable character who rather resembles a space-craft himself. A beautiful, gentle anti-greed parable with a powerful punch.

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Banana Drama, Mane Mania

August 13, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Betty Goes Bananas 
Steve Antony
Oxford University Press
Betty’s grin is irresistible; in fact Betty herself is, despite her tantrums. Tantrums she seems to throw at the drop of a hat – or rather a banana; for it’s a banana that is the cause of all the bother. No matter how hard she tries hungry Betty just cannot open her banana.

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(It must be one of the same young finger-defying variety supplied to infant schools). So what does she do? Cries, sniffles, kicks and screams

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and finally, calms down, Along comes Mr Toucan offering to help but our determined miss is having none of it: off she goes again. WAAAAH! SNIFF! SNIFF! BANG! BANG! AAAAAAAAAAAA! …
wise words from Mr Toucan … Betty bites but the banana breaks …

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here we go again, repeat performance … More timely words from long-suffering Mr T. … Betty eats YUM! Mr T. departs … but what’s that on the ground there …

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Brilliantly simple, simply brilliant. Steve Antony’s second picture book is even better than his debut performance and that was a hard act to follow.

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Monty’s Magnificent Mane 
Gemma O’Neill
Templar Publishing pbk
King of the jungle, Monty’s mane is his pride and joy. His friends the meerkats admire its glowing magnificence and flatter him about it, which pleases Monty so he allows them to play therein. Not for long though; their tugging and tickling become annoying and Monty shakes them off, taking a tumble in so doing and messing up his mane. The meerkats’ attempts to restore it to magnificence are not to Monty’s liking

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so off he stomps to check out his reflection in the waterhole heedless of a small meerkat’s warning. Now Monty’s just loves flattery and so when he hears words like “wonderful mane” coming from the green, cheeky eyed creature in the water, he’s only to happy to go nearer so he can show it off at close range… SNAP!

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Oops! One croc’s mouth stuffed with mane: one fleeing lion hotly pursued by said croc. hungry for dinner. That croc. is still hot on his heels when he gets home, so it’s time for Monty to make an difficult decision –which is more important – the lives of his meerkat friends or an always perfect mane?  Brilliant colours , and somewhat Scarfe-like, exaggerated images of Monty and croc. make for dramatic effect in Gemma O’Neill’s wonderfully textured mixed media illustrations.
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Dixie O’Day and the Great Diamond Robbery

August 11, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Dixie O’Day and the Great Diamond Robbery
Shirley Hughes & Clara Vulliamy
The Bodley Head
Hurrah! Dixie O’Day is back in a second adventure with his best pal, Percy.
When the pair head off on holiday to the posh Hotel Splendide in Brightsea, little do they know that they are driving right into more high adventure.
This time it’s an adventure involving a narrow escape en route thanks to a masked pair in a car, a dramatic sea rescue of Mr Canteloe, owner of a large house with secret passages, a hidden cave, a famous pop star Peaches Miaow, such a divinely cool character it’s easy to see why Percy adores her; a jewel robbery (this includes Peaches’ precious diamond necklace.)

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Oh woe! big drama in the hotel lobby. Then there’s a subterranean encounter – Percy, Dixie and Mr C. and the robbers, a breathless chase (involving same), a torn off sleeve (one of the crooks’s), the discovery of the stolen hoard by Mr C. Dixie and Percy (who unearths Peaches’ necklace), and an eventual arrest and identification of the criminals.
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DSCN2886 (640x607) Phew!
Percy in particular is more than a little thrilled as the friends finally set off to drive home.

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Once again there are the added extras: an introductory interview with Dixie and Percy and photo portraits of the other characters, a map (Dixie’s) and after the story, Shirley and Clara talk about their favourite holidays, there’s a maze and invitation for readers to be creative, a quiz and a taster of – oh joy – the next adventure, Dixie O’Day Up, Up and Away – I can’t wait.
Like it’s predecessor, this a perfect chapter story both for sharing with children and also for those at that tricky inbetween stage just before confident reading that is so hard to cater for. With Clara’s richly patterned, wonderfully expressive illustrations and a truly entertaining story that sparkles with Shirley’s charm and subtle humour what more can a reader at that crucial stage ask for – other than more, of course.
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Two Parties, Two Birthdays

August 8, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Dinosaurs are Having a Party!
Gareth P. Jones and Garry Parsons
Andersen Press
It’s party time at the dinosaurs’ residence and someone has a special guest invitation.

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On his arrival our young narrator finds the party in full swing with games galore and a scrumptious spread on the table. Outside is a barbeque, but where is the meat?

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And the large bouncy castle is lots of fun – at least till stegosaurus comes along.
Oh, who is taking SO long in the loo?

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O-OH! Time to grab a party bag and leave the fun behind it seems …

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But the host doesn’t want to lose sight of that special fea.. – oops I mean guest, just yet; indeed he’s hot on the (w)heels of that escapee vehicle most of the way … home. Phew! Lucky escape. Just what is in your party bag then, little boy?
A madcap rhyming story where young audiences will delight in spotting the visual warning signs from the time the narrator leaves home until his hasty departure from the party. They will also relish the twist – or rather snap – at the end of the tale.

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There’s more partying in:

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We’re Going to a Party!
Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Andersen Press pbk
“We’re going to a party,
disguised in fancy dress.
But which of us is What or Who?
It’s up to you to guess!”
Each of the animals has donned a disguise and asks readers to decide who is really the banana, pirate, princess, tiger
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and so on. Who is that in a ‘rubbish’ monster costume they wonder. Somebody none to happy about to give them a surprise …
Rhyming fun, flaps, a pop-out finale and delicious Ross illustrations: what’s not to like?

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I Feel Five!
Bethanie Deeney Murguia
Walker Books
‘How does it feel to be five?’ or six or whatever is a question often asked of children. It always seems a bit daft to me – why would anyone suddenly feel different overnight just because of a birthday. This is certainly something young Fritz ponders as he wakes up on his fifth birthday leaping joyfully out of bed

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and rushing to the mirror only to be confronted by a reflection that looks exactly like the day before’s; and he still can’t tie the laces on his new shoes. Maybe school will help him to feel five he decides. But, when his teacher asks him that inevitable question and his friends sing his birthday song, Fritz still feels just the same.
It’s a rather disillusioned Fritz –still unable to whistle, snap his fingers or do the monkey bars two at a time and still needing just one hand to count his years – who suddenly hears a voice as he sits sadly under an apple tree on his way home from school.

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The voice belongs to a little girl and she’s asking him if he can reach the apples.
One flying leap later… two rosy apples, two bite into same and could it just be one very slight wiggle from one of Fritz’s teeth; now there’s a feeling that is just a little different.

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And, he has made a new friend; things are definitely looking up.
Full of charm and gentle humour, this is a good story to have to hand in an infant classroom when children turn four, five or six.
Soft watercolours portray so clearly the ups and down of Fritz’s birthday; I love his light-surrounded leap out of bed and the contrasting, all pervading grey gloom as he sits under that apple tree, oh and those two pairs of shoe-clad feet on opposite sides of a spread –

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so beautifully expressive.

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The Dinosaur That Pooped the Past!
Tom Flethcher & Dougie Poynter illustrated by Garry Parsons
Red Fox pbk
The pooping dinosaur is back once again. Danny’s Gran is celebrating her one thousand and eighth birthday and she’s served up masses of disgusting green, wind-creating stuff. Guess who gobbles Dan’s share before Gran notices so that the pair can go out and play. Once outside they head for a creaky old swing, one that turns out to be super powered. Dizzily they loop back through time

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before finally crash landing in the Jurassic era. There they meet a trio of baby dinos, Dino Dudes A, B and C. who like nothing better than clambering on top of each other. As Danny’s dinosaur sits back to watch their games, he feels a rumble in his tum, a rumble that makes the ground crumble , a crumble that signifies VOLCANO SEASON! No time to lose; the swing must be repaired; but that alone is not strong enough to carry extra passengers out of danger. There is only one thing to do …

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Three cheers for the power of broccoli and another three for the trio of new dino pals. They all arrive just in time a hefty chunk of Gran’s broccoli birthday cake.

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Scatological, or rather poopological, humour courtesy of that huge-bellied dinosaur delivered in rip-roaring rhyme and suitably exuberant illustrations; just the thing to send young children into fits of giggles, not to mention many of the adults who share it with them.

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Count with Abigail and Pete

August 6, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Abigail
Catherine Rayner
Little Tiger Press pbk
Glorious images and colours of Rayner’s silkscreen illustrations evoke the African savannah setting of this story wherein giraffe, Abigail has to go to great lengths to pursue her favourite hobby – counting. The trouble is her numerical targets just won’t stay still:

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Ladybird scuttles away, the leaves on the tree get gobbled up, Zebra is in constant motion and Cheetah’s splotches are a definite no – he’s way too fast.

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Then kindly Ladybird suggests a field of flowers and all her pals pitch in to help with the count. Their counting skills however, are less developed than Abigails’ so a lesson ensues; but it proves a very long one. So long in fact that night is falling by the time their skills are sufficiently honed but Abigail is not one to give up easily, especially when the night sky is full of twinkling stars –

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and they are most definitely not going anywhere in a hurry.
The lovely shapes, patterns and contours of the animals’ bodies make them become real characters in their own right: in particular Abigail’s stature and grace are magnificently portrayed and one cannot help but admire her persistence.

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Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
Eric Litwin and James Dean
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
This book is my first encounter with Pete, the laid back, sleek blue character who always remains upbeat no matter what. Even when as here, the four groovy buttons he loves, pop off his favourite shirt

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and roll away one by one. As he says – or rather sings – “Buttons come and buttons go.” Despite the loss of the last button he doesn’t get upset. Why not? Because our feline friend realises that he still has his very own belly button and that too is worthy of a song.

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Such a positive message for children, wrapped up in a quirky colourful caper of a story. And, there’s that mathematical element too: this engages the very young in counting, counting down from four to zero, and the idea of subtraction.If you want to sing along with Pete you can find his song and more at www.harpercollins.co.uk/Petethecat

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A Flying Bath and a Busy Tractor

August 3, 2014jillrbennett 1 Comment

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The Flying Bath
Julia Donaldson and David Roberts
Macmillan Children’s Books
When everyone’s away, the toys will play. The particular toys in question are the bath toys at number 17 where one morning, we see the residents depart, watched by the red plastic duck on the windowsill. Then begins an international rescue operation organized by said duck and his pals, frog and turtle.

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First stop is the Australian outback to save a dehydrated kangaroo. But that’s not the only call on the services of the bath – good job they filled up before take off – so it’s,
Wings out, and off we fly.
The flying bath is in the sky!
Next stop – to help the worried bee whose flowers are decidedly droopy; a carefully aimed shower is just the thing there. Next they fly to help a very mucky pig clean up;

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then it’s off to extinguish a fire in Baboon’s tree

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and finally to rescue a frantic fish from a drought-threatened pond. As night falls the intrepid toys must return home for the children’s bathtime, with a special surprise -an extra member of the gang.

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Apart from the occasional word, the entire rhyming text is either in speech bubbles or the repeated chorus, which makes it great for audience participation.
And, as well as a punchy tale, there is a gentle science lesson on the importance of water to life embedded herein.
David Roberts’ illustrations are full of fun: those ‘telephones’ are particularly inspired.

Another rhyming narrative that imparts a gentle lesson is:

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Following the Tractor
Susan Steggall
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
We share a farmer’s year through the activities of a bright red tractor and there is plenty to keep it busy through the seasons. There’s the winter ploughing, sowing the crop,

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muck spreading, rescue work

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and when summer comes, the harvest tasks such as pulling the grain trailer, the baler and

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then the straw trailer back to the farm.
The cleverly composed, brightly coloured collage scenes have much to interest: there are of course, the vehicles but look too at the dog walkers and the various other furred and feathered animals, large and small.

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Lucky

August 1, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Lucky
David Mackintosh
Harper Collins Children’s Books
Mum’s announcement of “a surprise at dinner tonight” sends Leo and his big narrator brother into a frenzy of escalating speculation about what it could possibly be.

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Quickly those possibilities grow from crinkly chips through tickets to The Amazing YoYo Super Show, a backyard swimming pool to a prize fortnight’s holiday in Hawaii all expenses paid.

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This latter idea takes hold and before long seemingly everyone has been told about the family’s good fortune.

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Home go the brothers to pack their holiday things but what’s that Mum is shouting …
“PIZZA” Surely not. What about that celebratory free time outside everyone at school was awarded in honour of the prize? How will the boys face everyone again?
Off to the bedroom goes our narrator. Before long though, Leo who has told his parents all, is at the door shouting about a “different surprise”.

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A surprise that demonstrates that what you have already – a family who can laugh together – can indeed be sufficient to make you feel lucky.
Another of David Mackintosh’s books wherein he uses humour to make a serious point. The quirky, slightly surreal mixed-media illustrations are genuinely funny and the manipulation of fonts and integration of text within the pictures is inspired. Great stuff!

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Rory and the Monstersitter

July 30, 2014jillrbennett 1 Comment

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Rory and the Monstersitter
Rosie Reeve
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
Young Rory’s culinary inclinations lead to all manner of interesting concoctions; take for instance those lunchtime cheese bats or the hairy cakes for tea. One day when his parents go out for dinner, he and his siblings are left in the charge of a babysitter. So what delicious repast will Rory create in his parents’ absence? Well, he needs an enormous saucepan, some twigs and leaves, a splash of water, a sprinkling of salt and pepper for seasoning,

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oh and there’s baby Grub’s own special addition too; but what is the main ingredient of this scrumptious supper treat? Oops! Rory seems to have forgotten to add that something spicy, something hairy, something BIG? But not for long…
Well, Rory, that scrumptious dinner certainly had a soporific effect on the younger members of the family. Not our chef himself though, he’s wide awake when his parents return, ready to answer their inquiry, “And how was the babysitter, dear?”
Part of the fun of this delicious, tongue-in-cheek story is that we never get to see the whole of that babysitting monster, just glimpses of a pair of blue hairy feet as he slumps in front of the TV

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and later a pair of horns above the shelf. That and the gradual build up of anticipation, not forgetting Rory’s final throwaway line concerning the postman and his imminent arrival.
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It’s Time for Bed

July 27, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Max and the Won’t Go To Bed Show
Mark Sperring and Sarah Warburton
Harper Collins pbk
Take your seats for a star-spangled performance by young Max who is giving a presentation of his world famous, death-defying PUTTING OFF BEDTIME FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE SHOW. Drum roll. Said show comprises a handful of amazing feats, trick one being a disappearing act. No not Max but a cup of milk and a cookie v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y,

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followed by the second trick – the taming of a savage beast (aka Brian the family dog).
Oops! Whose is that hand pulling our young magician up the stairs? Quick! Another trick is called for – THE GREAT DISAPPEARING BOY TRICK. But where has our star gone?

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Applause called for here…
Hastily followed by trick number four: the FLOATING PYJAMA TRICK (possibly thirty minutes worth of entertainment here). Not tonight maybe. Don’t leave yet though: Max still has more magic up his sleeve, or rather … under the bed, within the wardrobe… inside the toy box.
Before attempting his grand finale – daring to demand not one but ten bedtime stories (huge round of applause for this one I suggest) – he gets two and then … yawn… curtains, lights dimmed… good night everyone.
This book requires not so much a reading more a performance (with numerous curtain calls and encores I suspect). It’s cleverly constructed, beautifully controlled (with additional manipulation of the text through the use of various fonts and integration of words and pictures)

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and bursting with energy and humour. The illustrations too abound with energy and humour: despite his diminutive stature Max is certainly a larger than life character portrayed as a cute cuddlesome infant, albeit a supercharged one. In contrast, all we see of his parents are the occasional limbs helping their offspring on his way to the inevitable.

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It’s clear that Sarah Warburton greatly enjoyed herself, playing to the gallery by appropriately patterning various items of clothing, furniture and bedding, not to mention the wallpaper and more.

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A double act winner delivered with panache and pizzazz.
For bedtime reading? Well, that all depends …

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Harry and the Monster
Sue Mongredien and Nick East
Little Tiger Press pbk
A scary monster invades Harry’s dream one night. The following night he’s reluctant to go to bed in case it makes a return visit. “Try imagining him with a pair of pink pants on his head,” suggests Mum. The monster returns, Harry imagines;

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the monster is furious frightening Harry once again. The jelly plan – Dad’s this time – for Wednesday has a similar effect, so does Mum’s monster tickling plan on Thursday; in fact that only inflames the monster’s temper more. So what about Dad’s plan for Friday night? Perhaps even scary monsters are scared of furious mums …
With a not-too-scary monster, repetition and suspense, together with funny illustrations,

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take for instance a jelly-spattered monster, or one with prickles in his bottom and sporting Christmas tree decorations, this is one to make small children giggle at bedtime or any time.

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Holidays Far and Near

July 24, 2014July 24, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Wanda and the Alien Go Camping
Sue Hendra
Red Fox pbk
Wanda and her alien pal embark on their fourth adventure – camping. Their camp site however, is not the original earthly one planned; that’s far too wet and rainy. Instead the alien takes Wanda in his space rocket to his planet and it’s there they set out to find a suitable place to pitch their tent. Even that however, doesn’t match up to expectations, certainly not Wanda’s anyhow. She finds fault with all the possible spots they visit –

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too noisy, too quiet, too wild. Oh dear, can it be that the alien’s planet is entirely unsuitable too. But what about those clouds up above; could they possibly fit the bill?
Seemingly so.

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Cloud camping is just perfect; they can invite their other friends and the rain will not interfere at all.
One cannot help admiring the alien’s perseverance and Wanda’s endeavours not to hurt her best friend’s feelings. Indeed the sight of Wanda and her alien friend always brings a smile to my face, as in my experience, it does to many a preschooler. Here, I am sure the multitudes of aliens in alien city with their Day-Glo striped apparel and varying number of eyes, and the cloud camping possibilities will particularly appeal.
Sue Heap’s delightful images are just the thing to stimulate some modeling activities with coloured soft dough, ‘Fimo’ or similar; don’t forget the googly eyes though.
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I Heart Holidays
Clara Vulliamy
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
‘ This is a happy book all about MARTHA – that’s me! Come and see my BRILLIANT new suitcase!’

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Who can resist these opening lines of the third story featuring Martha and her bunny brothers. Young Martha is busy packing all manner of items into her case in preparation for her seaside holiday and finally the entire family is ready.

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Off they go in Bluebell, their camper van and after a long tedious journey it’s on with those swimming togs and a mad dash for the sea. Brrr! Not for long though; Pip objects strongly so Martha devises another activity and then it’s time for a picnic lunch – with the obligatory sandy sandwiches. Time to go in the sea now? More objections from Pip so …
After lunch there’s burying Dad in the sand,

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ice-creams, the starry sunglasses rescue operation and a sandcastle building competition with the inevitable trashing and then finally … our young narrator has had enough. She heads seawards – alone. Not for long though for pretty soon (despite the downpour) those pesky bunny brothers have joined her for a glorious romp and guess what:
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I love the retro VW camper van, the shell face (so typical of young children),

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the portrayal of Dad being covered in sand, the exuberance of Martha and her brothers when the sun finally shines … pretty much everything that Clara Vulliamy has included in this seaside romp.
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Catch That Plane!
Sally Sutton and Sylvie Currin Korankova
Walker Books
We join a family in holiday frenzy as they rush to the airport, chase to check-in, dash to departures,

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scoot through security, trot down the travelator, jog down the aerobridge and finally, board their plane.

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Then it’s a peep through the window, buckle up that seat belt, engines roaring, racing down the runway and they’re off up … up… away! The holiday has well and truly started.
There are echoes of Walking in the Jungle, albeit at a faster pace, in this first person account by a boy setting off on his holiday with his Mum, Dad and younger sister. It’s probably more narrative information that a real story but there’s plenty to interest here with the sights and sounds of the airport and the playful, jaunty rhyme, plentiful alliteration and more. And, just in case it isn’t obvious from the context, there is a final ‘Facts’ spread explaining the terms used in the text.
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Happy Birthday, Royal Baby!

July 22, 2014jillrbennett 1 Comment

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Happy Birthday, Royal Baby!
Martha Mumford and Ada Grey
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
I have to admit to putting this to the bottom of the pile when it arrived, thinking here we go – cashing in on THAT baby again. But, when it re-emerged I thought I really should take a look and I’m glad I did. It’s actually a highly entertaining follow up to Shhh! Don’t Wake the Royal Baby! and very knowing about what amuses babes – royal or other.
What can those frenzied activities in the Royal Palace mean? Of course, it’s the Royal Baby’s first birthday. His auntie is on hand to ensure everything is just so. There’s that enormous cake being baked – a very jammy one naturally, hundreds of balloons to be blown up,

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not to mention a bouncy castle and more.
Eventually the party begins; there are presents and crazy games but “Waaaaaaah! Waaaaaaah! Waaaaaaah!” Surely the birthday boy can’t be unhappy, can he? Even opening that mountain of presents doesn’t bring a smile to that chubby countenance of his. Wait though. Who is that parachuting to the ground? And what is it that’s strapped to her front?
Great Grandma knows just the thing that will engage the royal toddler…

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Now let the party begin – in earnest.

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Ada Grey has managed to capture all those Royals beautifully and the corgis’ antics are an absolute hoot.
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Amazing Myths

July 20, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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A-Maze-Ing Minotaur
Juliet Rix and Juliet Snape
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
The Greek myth wherein Theseus, the young Prince of Athens, enters the labyrinthine maze where waits the terrible Minotaur for his next young human feast, is retold for young readers and listeners in this beautifully illustrated picture book.
We follow Theseus as he journeys to Crete, meets the task-master King Minos and encounters his beautiful daughter, Ariadne who falls immediately in love with him,

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promising to help him in his quest to kill the monstrous Minotaur. She gives him a ball of golden thread and a small sword, and her word that she’ll wait for him on his return.
Next morning young Theseus, having anchored one end of the thread to the door of the Labyrinth, sets forth into the dark maze, unravelling the thread as he walks.

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On he goes then suddenly encounters the beast towering over him. Out comes the sword and Theseus lashes at his foe, killing the Minotaur but losing his ball of thread. The latter he eventually finds, and retraces his steps. Finally, thanks to Ariadne, he and the thirteen others who were to have accompanied him into the maze, board a ship and sail away to safety in the knowledge that young Athenians need no longer fear the terrible Minotaur.
The ever-popular tale is told in a straightforward direct manner but it is Juliet Snape’s detailed scenes with their subterranean passageways that, with their resemblance to ancient Minoan art, convey much of the feeling of the story and create the atmosphere. Young audiences will particularly enjoy spotting the monster’s whereabouts as they turn the pages taking Theseus closer and closer to the deadly creature.
This book has been selected for the 2014 Summer Reading Challenge.It may well act as starting point to further exploration of Greek mythology.
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Offering a next step is:

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Greek Myths
Sally Pomme Clayton and Jane Ray
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Subtitled Stories of Sun, Stone and Sea this beautifully produced book contains ten tales, crafted essentially for reading aloud, including a creation myth, Pegasus (The Flying Horse), Orpheus and Eurydice (Journey to the Underworld)

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and Pandora – The Girl of All Gifts. Drama, suspense, sorrow, mortal danger and humour are all present and each tale is powerfully illustrated by Jane Ray. There are full page and smaller paintings each with its own beauty or in the case of Medusa, scarey nightmarish quality.

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In addition to the stories themselves, there is a map of ancient Greece and at the end of each story is a short cultural or archaeological snippet.At the end of the book are an index of Gods and heroes and information on the story sources.

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An Unforgettable Wedding

July 18, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Scarecrows’ Wedding
Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler
Alison Green Books
Betty O’Barley and Harry O’Hay are in love. He proposes: she accepts. They plan for their wedding, “A wedding that no one will ever forget.” How do they plan? They make a list of course: a comparatively simple one comprising just five items.
Then, arm in arm, they set off around the farm to find:

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First things first – and that’s easy thanks to some obliging geese who furnish a feather a-piece. Said feathers, we learn are to be duly sewn together by a spider friend. The cows, of course, agree to be bell ringers (the last item on the list taken care of); a crab – yes a crab – just happens to scuttle along with a shell necklace, that’s item two sorted, and a couple of mice find suitable matching rings. That just leaves item number three – pink flowers.
Off goes Harry, in the company of a large bee to find those, leaving Betty to have a doze. Hours later, they reach a field full of pink flowers – job done. Well not quite … wilted flowers won’t do and it’s a long way back so water is needed and …
Meanwhile back on the farm Betty is troubled by her loved one’s absence. The farmer quickly makes a replacement, one Reginald Rake.

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The name says it all and before long, in an effort to impress the lady, he’s whipped out a packet of Havanas, lit up and …
There’s no smoke without fire …we all know the saying. Guess who is beating a hasty retreat through the cornfield.
All is not quite lost however. The timely return of Betty’s fiancé ‘with a pail on his arm’ saves the day

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and provides the final item on their list.
So next day, it’s a case of ‘Here comes the bride’ on the arm of her savior for what everyone has to agree,
‘ “Is the best wedding ever, the best wedding yet,
The wedding that no one will ever forget.” ‘

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A wonderfully rhythmic tale – this is Julia Donaldson, so one would expect no less – with high drama, suspense, romance and humour in a rhyming narrative that just trips off the tongue. Alex Scheffler brings the scarecrows to life through their expressive eyes and mouths despite their stiff limbs and populates his pictures with all manner of farmland extras from grasshoppers to goats, butterflies to badgers.
There are few scarecrow picture books around; this is the only one that really works, but then it is from the Gruffalo partnership.
A sure fire winner in my book.
Find and buy from your local bookshop:http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Unlikely Friendships

July 15, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Cat & Dog
Michael Foreman
Andersen Press
We had an unlikely friendship between a cat and a fish in Michael Foreman’s Friends: unlikely friendship is again at the heart of his latest offering
When Cat leaves her kittens to go in search of their breakfast, little does she suspect that she’ll be carried off far away from her offspring.

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Along comes a scruffy dog as the kittens huddle together to await the return of the fish van and with it, their mother. His first thought is “breakfast, lunch and dinner”; his second is that like him, the kittens are all alone in the world, so he beds down to sleep close by and before long, he and the kittens are snuggled up together. Morning comes and with it the van’s return and joy of joys, there is Cat in the driver’s arms. There’s a happy reunion but then Cat notices the old dog and turns on him.

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The kittens tell her how he has befriended them and they settle down together to hear of Cat’s seaside adventure. Next time that van heads off to the sea, the fish man has some additional passengers aboard and their arrival is just in time to see a beautiful sunset which is followed by supper

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and some fishy moonlit thoughts on the pier.
As ever, Foreman’s lyrical watercolours have that wonderful quality of luminosity; those seascapes are just glorious. I particularly like too, the scenes from below the city bridge with graffiti and the multitude of greetings in a whole gamut of languages from Hindi to Swahili and Hebrew.
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Andersen Press have also reissued an old Foreman classic from the 70s

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Moose
Michael Foreman
Andersen Press pbk
Herein we meet the horned animal of the title who is disturbed by the shouting match between Bear and Eagle. Moose fails in his efforts to resolve the conflict but ends up constructing – with the help of others who had got drawn into the combat – a wonderful place where all can meet harmoniously. But what of Bear and Eagle? Well seemingly they never learn but perhaps one day …
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Bluebird
Bob Staake
Andersen Press pbk
With its New York City setting, this wordless picture book is a portrayal of a friendship that develops between a boy and the Bluebird of the title. Said bird watches the boy through his schoolroom window as he is taunted and shunned by his classmates, then follows him homewards.

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They share a cookie, visit the park and sail a boat.

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The boy is set on by a gang of bullies who attempt to snatch the boat, hurl a stick at the boy and kill(?)

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the bird. Then a veritable host of birds of different colours fly down, lift the boy, who is still clutching his friend, bearing him skywards towards the clouds,

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where we watch him release his blue friend to fly heavenwards, up, up, up …
It’s the feeling of hope that transcends all the other powerful emotions – loneliness, bullying, guilt, grief – embraced in this eloquent story told through moving, multi-framed pictorial sequences rendered in blues, greys, white and black. The total absence of words (other than streetscape signs) allows space for readers to bring their own interpretations to the nuances of the story.
Not a book for everyone; rather it’s one for individuals to peruse and ponder over, with new meanings and possibilities emerging with each reading.
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The Zebra Who Ran Too fast
Jenni Desmond
Walker Books
Triangular friendships are often tricky to sustain though Zebra, Elephant and Bird have done pretty well. Elephant would entertain Bird and Zebra with his curious facts; Bird made Zebra and Elephant laugh with his jokes and Zebra, the fastest runner, knew the best games. Then one windy day Zebra’s zest for life makes the others feel dizzy but he ignores their requests to stop.

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Next day he is shunned. Zebra spends a hot, lonely time pondering on his pals and their pastimes and his behaviour until, along comes wise, kindly Giraffe. The two bond and by nightfall, Zebra is feeling better. His erstwhile pals meanwhile are frightened by the storm that has blown up and are missing their friend. Off they go in search of him and before long it’s a case of “Four best friends together.”

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This beautifully portrayed story about the real meaning of friendship set in the African savannahs is a visual delight, particularly the range of expressions on the animals’ faces. The vastness of the African plain and sky with the gathering storm are so powerfully evoked one can almost feel the wind and hear the thunder.

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Trips to Town with Ellie and Owl

July 11, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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What Happens Next?
Tull Suwannakit
Walker Books
Little Ellie and her Granny, are on their way into town together; Little Ellie demands a story. “Deep in the woods, not far from here, lives Grandma Bear. Whenever Little Bear visits her, they go on an exciting trip together,” begins Granny… But these are not ordinary bears that eat berries and spend their days sleeping. Oh no. These bears wear red wellies and hats and go on adventures together…

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“So what happens next?” Little Ellie demands to know… Have you looked behind you Ellie?
Children delight in watching the double storyline unfold as Ellie and her gran take the bus, visit the funfair, go to a shop filled with treats

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and play hide-and-seek, while joining in with the repeat refrain, “So what happens next?” at almost every turn of the page. Storyteller Granny becomes listener, as Ellie who has clearly been stimulated by many stories before, takes up this particular tale and lets her imagination run wild.

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Indeed she only runs out of steam at bedtime when Granny tucks her into bed.
Suwannakit uses muted colours on cream paper for the illustrations of his cleverly constructed story with its wonderfully whimsical cast of characters. I particularly like the contrast between the enormously chunky, oh so endearing, Grandma bear and Ellie’s own fragile-looking, almost spindly Granny.
Just the thing to promote children’s own storying and imaginative play either at home or in early years settings. And of course, it’s a superb bedtime story.
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Owl Goes to Town
Valerie Valennza (illustrator)
Templar Publishing
Owl lives in Peek Street. On this particular day she has risen early because she has a plan – a secret one so she says. Her first stop is the bakery where she orders a cake from Bear, then stops off at various other establishments to make purchases. At each one however, Owl cannot help but divulge something of her plan to the vendor. Having organized balloons, invitations, food and entertainment she hurries home to arrange everything in her treetop home. At midnight, she is finally ready to receive her guests. “Owl, you really have gone to town!” they tell her as the not-so-secret party swings into action.
There are all manner of flaps to manipulate, some revealing surprises or pictorial jokes.

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These and the questions in the text, the multitude of labelled items and the on-going joke readers/listeners share with the author could well keep a young child absorbed for a long time. With lots of opportunities for language development, this interactive book is a good one to share one to one with a very young child. Slightly older children might be inspired to create their own surprise flap books.
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The Sea Tiger

July 8, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Sea Tiger
Victoria Turnbull
Templar Publishing
There are echoes of Sendak in this glorious, painterly picture book from debut artist Victoria Turnbull and what a fantastic debut it is.
Right from the front endpapers we feel the pull of the ocean as it takes us the readers, along with the lone swimmer, down to its murky depths where we meet the Sea Tiger. He is merboy Oscar’s best and only friend and the narrator of this eloquent story.

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We follow them on a journey of exploration and adventure to magical places with flying trapezes,

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dizzying carousels and even the star-studded surface of the sea.

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But, as that wise tiger knows, he needs to loosen the ties of this all encompassing relationship so that Oscar can open himself up to the possibilities of new friendships.

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Discovery, inclusivity/exclusivity, loving and letting go are some of the themes of the story.
Every turn of the page brings visual wonders. The sepia, teal and tan tones are so seductive and somehow serve to imbue the whole thing with a dreamlike quality; one can almost feel oneself drifting gently through the ocean depths along with Oscar and the Sea Tiger.
Where will this exciting artist go next? I cannot wait to see.

Find and buy from your local bookshop: http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

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Unexpected Arrivals

July 4, 2014jillrbennett Leave a comment

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George and the Dinosaur
Felix Hayes and Sue Heap
Brubaker, Ford and Friends (Templar)
When George’s passion for excavation results in his unearthing a dinosaur egg, little does he know that its contents – a perfect creature no less – will have such a voracious appetite. Insatiable in fact, for not only does it consume the furniture, TV, fridge and everything inside, down goes a garden tree, the paddling pool, even the tiny mouse in George’s care belonging to Class 2. From then on things go from bad to worse: the dino. swallows both George’s parents, two sweet old ladies, cars and larger vehicles – quite literally everything. Finally only George remains; so what does the dinosaur do? Well, it opens those terrible jaws and SNAP!
Of course we all know what happens when a digestive system gets over-loaded; it makes lots of gas and …

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Moving in and out of rhyme, the text reads aloud beautifully as one would expect – it’s written by Gruffalo actor Felix Hayes and he should know.
‘But, when he cleans his treasure he finds …
the gems are stones, dirt and dust.
The sword is a spoon all covered in rust.
The leg is a root, cracked and dried.
But the egg’s still an egg
With something inside.
George puts the egg in the cupboard under the stairs.’
Sue Heap’s mixed media illustrations are full of amusing details and show much more than is said in the words:
Young audiences will particularly enjoy spotting the whereabouts of the items burped out by the dinosaur on the final spread; and Hayes’ final sentence leaves space for children’s own flights of fancy.
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What Makes a Hippopotamus Smile!
Sean Taylor and Laurent Cardon
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
It’s not every day that a hippo comes to visit but when one does – or should that be, if, then take the advice of the small girl narrator of this funny picture book. Open wide the door,

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play a splashy-sploshy game, then give him a warm bath with silly toys thrown in to make him laugh, after which you should share a very large crunchy salad, freshly harvested, naturally. Oh, and make sure when it’s time to bid your new best friend farewell that you do so in style – a little dance might be appropriate. That’s if you want him to come again, of course. Err …

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It’s all in the interplay of Sean Taylor’s playful words (which sometimes rhyme) and the comical scenes created by Laurent Cardon using mixed ink techniques and digital art. Herein, it’s the antics of the bit players, largely froggy,

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as much as the hippo’s (mis)behaviour that make the scenes so amusing. Then, there’s that almost throwaway last line and don’t forget to take a look at the endpapers with those telltale footprints too.
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Gracie is amused at the animals’ antics

There’s a Lion in my Cornflakes
Michelle Robinson and Jim Field
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk.
Just like many children, Eric, the narrator of this story and his brother Dan have been saving cereal box coupons for a free gift; here ‘it’s a ‘Free Lion’ on offer. They’d bought so many boxes of cornflakes it took a year’s pocket money to pay for them and forever to cut out the hundred coupons needed. With said coupons duly sent off, the children wait, anticipating the fun they’ll have with the lion.

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A week later nothing has arrived although numerous others have their lions – real ones. Monday comes again and with it a delivery truck. Out steps – wait for it – a huge grizzly bear, the only trouble being it’s sent next door in error; well not quite the only trouble: Mr Harper’s back yard is trashed too.

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Complaints are made and the animal replaced but, not with a lion (they’d run out of those) but a crocodile. More complaints … another replacement animal …

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a face to face encounter with the cereal people … compensation of the packet kind … furious children’s faces … some serious thinking …

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Mmm yes, the alternatives do have their advantages and after all, lions are just so common nowadays.
Well what about the next offer then? Err
This totally crazy tale, which brings together for the first time the talents of Michelle Robinson and Jim Field, is a joy to read aloud. The former has caught the conversational style of a young boy narrator beautifully. The latter’s wildly energetic illustrations are crammed full of delicious details to pore and giggle over.
Definitely destined to become a story time favourite.
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Upside Down Babies
Jeanne Willis and Adrian Reynolds
Andersen Press pbk
There is a wonderful, surprise twist at the end of this funny rhyming tale of a world turned upside down when ‘the earth went blue and the sky went brown.’ On this fateful topsy-turvy day, all the baby animals find themselves with the wrong mums. What is Mummy Cow to do when confronted with a Lion Cub demanding meat in the middle of a field?

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And baby Rooster’s dawn greeting of “Cock-a doodle-dee!” definitely does not go down well with a sleepy Mummy Owl trying to get some shut eye in her tree.

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With its bold, bright, wonderfully expressive pictures of the consternation all round and a text that trips off the tongue, ‘Baby Bunny bounced into Squirrel’s drey./He clung to a branch with his claws all day.’ this is one to share with the under sixes and will assuredly prompt many an encore to the huge enjoyment of readers and listeners alike.
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