Author jillrbennett

Hattie + Olaf

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Hattie + Olaf
Frida Nilsson, illustrated by Stina Wirsén
Gecko Press

Hattie is now in her second year at school and since her very first day has been best friends with Linda. They’re both chatterboxes but whereas Hattie, like almost all the girls in her class, is totally horse mad, Linda thinks the whole horse fever stupid.

Told in the present tense, we discover that although Hattie wants a horse more than anything else in the entire world, what her father gets her is far less expensive, though it does have hooves and he brings it in a horse trailer: it’s a mangy old donkey named Olaf. That’s what happens when you wish on a ‘tired old longhorn beetle instead of a ladybird’ thinks Hattie.

Does Hattie rush into school and tell her classmates about the creature: no way! Instead she invents a tale about a new neighbour, owner of three white horses that she’s allowed to ride whenever she wants. Inevitably, she’s eventually found out and Hattie is ridiculed by her fellow horse enthusiasts. Moreover she has a punch up with Alfie getting her into BIG trouble,

and also falls out with Linda.

The days pass and by the time the Christmas holiday draws near, Hattie is anticipating a break without Olaf. But where has he gone and will he ever come back?

Splendidly funny, this quirky story showing how young Hattie navigates school and relationships, discovering what loyalty means, as well as those things that are of real importance, is a delight through and through; made all the more so by the scattering throughout of Stina Wirsén’s black and white illustrations.

It works equally well as a read aloud for those around Hattie’s age or, for slightly older, confident readers who will be amused by the protagonist’s innocent intensity.

Violet’s Tempest

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Violet’s Tempest
Ian Eagleton and Clara Anganuzzi
Lantana Publishing

There’s a change in Violet’s world: what was once her giggly voice is now a whisper. Consequently when Mr Newland, her teacher, casts her as the mischievous Ariel in the school play, she’s beset by nerves and worries – suppose people laugh at her?

Back home, Violet’s loving, empathetic Nan offers her support and encouragement,

so too do her uncle Tony and his partner Uncle Sebastian.

Meanwhile the rehearsals continue apace at school where her teacher too is supportive and suggests Violet tries to imagine how Ariel would feel trapped and unable to escape.

The weeks pass and the day of the performance of The Tempest draws ever closer, with Nan continuing to inspire and embolden Violet as she practises her lines. Then comes the dress rehearsal: “Violet … think about how Ariel will feel once they’re free” Mr Newland tells her. The girl breathes deeply reminding herself of her Nan, and beginning with a whisper, starts playing her part.

When the big night arrives, Violet is beset by the inevitable racing heart and turbulent tummy but nonetheless as she steps out onto the stage, something amazing, indeed magical happens: Violet feels at peace with herself as Ariel

gliding and swooping across the stage and suddenly her voice changes from a soft whisper to a wonderful roar, much to the delight of her family and doubtless everyone else.

This is a wonderfully warm story of facing up to and over-coming your fears, as well as the power of a supportive family. Clara Anganuzzi’s sensitive illustrations capture effectively the characters’ feelings, making this book one to share and discuss with children either in the classroom or at home. (Despite how he looks in the story, I can’t help but think the author and teacher Ian Eagleton would be just as empathetic as Violet’s class teacher in a similar situation).

Lore of the Wild

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Lore of the Wild
Claire Cock-Starkey and Aitch
Wide Eyed Editions

A thing of beauty is this nature based collection of traditional tales, stories of creation and legends and more. Grouped under six themes: Animals, Birds, Insects, Flowers, plants and trees, Weather lore and Omens, each category begins with a story. That of Animals is a Welsh legend The Faithful Hound Gelert, telling how a prince’s favourite hound saves his baby son and heir from the clutches of a wolf, losing his own life in so doing.
Then follow five further spreads with short paragraphs of information on related topics, in this instance dogs and cats, farm animals, horses and donkeys, countryside animals (Brer Rabbit finds his way into this one)

and, reptiles. Each includes a wide variety of ideas from cultures, principles and belief systems from around the world both ancient and relatively recent.

Birds begins with the Celtic folktale The King of the Birds and then presents spreads on various bird groups including those found in the farmyard and at sea.

An amusing Twana tale Ant and Bear relating how light and dark came about opens the Insects section that also includes spiders. I was surprised to learn that in British folklore damselflies are known as the Devil’s knitting needle on account of their body shape and it was thought that should you fall asleep beside a stream these insects would stitch your eyelids shut.

I tend to be more of a plant than an animal person but hadn’t before come upon the Estonian folktale, Why The Trees Whisper that opens the oddly named Flowers, Plants and Trees section.

Should they so wish, readers can find legends/anecdotes relating to a single item on one spread: thus we read that in Japan the chrysanthemum is associated with royalty and is the symbol of the Japanese emperor, whereas in ancient China these flowers were linked to life and vitality because of their autumnal flowering when other blooms are fading.

No matter where you open this engaging, informative book, you’ll discover an elegantly designed layout with Aitch’s gorgeous folk-art style illustrations, making the entire thing a visual feast, as well as one to dip in and out of time and again. I was fascinated to see so many examples of the ways in which we humans search for meaning in the natural world.

The Tiny Woman’s Coat

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The Tiny Woman’s Coat
Joy Cowley and Giselle Clarkson
Gecko Press

This is a heart-warming autumnal tale of need and kindness.

A tiny woman shivering in the chilly wind wants a coat, a coat she resolves to make herself. There might be something of a problem though, for she lacks the necessary tools and materials with which to do the job.

However, happily for her, there are plenty of offers from things natural. The autumn trees provide leaves – ‘Rustle, rustle, rustle.’ Then a grey goose offers its beak in lieu of scissors and ‘Snip, snip, snip’ the leaves are cut into a body and sleeves.

A porcupine’s generosity takes the form of one of its quills

but then this needs to be threaded with something suitable.

A friendly horse provides the thread and then all that’s needed is a means of fastening the garment. The three buttons are seeds given by the ‘wild wet weeds’ and finally hurrah! Out to face the storm, ‘snug as a bug in a rug’ goes the tiny woman clad in her new warm coat of kindness.

Simply constructed and written, Joy Cowley’s folksy story is sheer delight to share and also, with its repeat patterned text, ideal for beginning readers. sheer delight too, and the perfect complement for the text, are Giselle Clarkson’s detailed illustrations with their gentle humour, autumnal hues and close observation of the natural world.

We’re Going Places

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We’re Going Places
Mick Jackson and John Broadley
Pavilion Children’s Books

After their terrific debut picture book While You’re Sleeping, author Mick Jackson and illustrator John Broadley pair up again and the result is another exciting, engrossing book, this one being somewhat more philosophical than the first.

Travel and journeying is the theme here and through Jackson’s playfully poetic narrative and Broadley’s meticulously detailed scenes, readers follow a child’s development from adult dependence, through those first unstable steps, to assured confident strides out and about, then onto wheels – ‘tricycles, bicycles, skateboards, roller skates’.

More and more possibilities open up – perhaps a trip in a hot air balloon, or something that needs to be done speedily such as a train ride to somewhere exciting – another country even.

Some journeys however are meant to be done slowly, slowly, allowing plenty of time for pausing to watch and ponder upon the host of other creatures that, while they might be part of your particular journey, are also undertaking their own, some on foot, others on the wing such as bumblebees or migrating birds.

It might be that a journey is seasonal, on a frozen river for instance; or that of a bee ‘bumbling from blossom to blossom’ (love that alliteration); it could even be made by something inanimate such as a raindrop on a window pane.

There have always been divergent thinkers who like to try doing things differently and in this ever-changing world of ours, what seemed once impossible will one day be part and parcel of everyday.

With choices to be made and a wealth of possible ways to go, none of us can ever be absolutely sure of the twists and turns our life will take.

However one thing that’s almost certain is that as people grow old, their journeys will likely be much slower, and less confident perhaps, almost as though we’ve come full circle, with what’s past always there, deep within.

There’s an absolute wealth of texture and pattern, as well as potential stories on every spread, so that readers will undoubtedly find themselves pausing on their journey through the book, adults possibly pondering upon their own life’s journey past, present and future, perhaps like the grandmother sitting in a chair, shown on the final spread.

Assuredly this is a book to return to over and over with the likelihood of new questions and fresh understanding emerging on each reading.

The Visible Sounds

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The Visible Sounds
Yin Jianling and Yu Rong (translated by Filip Selucky)
UCLAN Publishing

This is the powerfully affecting picture book, based on the true story of Chinese dancer Lihua Tai. It tells of MiLi, who as a little girl of two, suffers an illness and loses her hearing as a result. Initially frustrated, anxious, and alone in her world of silence, MiLi uses tears to express how she feels. Doctors are unable to cure her but then one day MiLi realises that although she’s unable to hear sounds, she is able to perceive them in other ways: sound can be felt within, touched, and seen through understanding and interpreting vibrations and movements in the world.

The author expresses the child’s realisation through a plethora of sensory musical phrases: ‘Sounds are waves when fish pass through water, like the lightest of kisses.’ … ‘Sound is the bright sunshine flowing into one’s blood, beaming with rays.’ … ‘Language is a river, flowing and flooding into MiLi’s body.’ … ‘The beautiful music jiggles in her blood. It doesn’t have a sound, but it shines with colours and emotions …’

Perfectly complementing the beauty of the text are Yu Rong’s illustrations with their synthesis of striking graphic style, detail and blending of colours and greyness.

This is a book, that with themes of aiming high and being our very best selves,

while offering a message of hope to differently abled youngsters, surely speaks to us all. It concludes with a note on sign language and a page about Tai Lihua.

A must have for schools, and for family collections.

Beetles for Breakfast

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Beetles For Breakfast
Madeleine Finlay and Jisu Choi
Flying Eye Books

Fundamental to all scientific discoveries is the imagination and so it is in this book wherein Madeleine Finlay explores the imaginative new technologies scientists are developing to help make our planet greener.

There’s absolutely no getting away from the drastic effects that climate change and global warming are having on planet earth and Finlay’s book is bursting with ideas – including those of the weird and wonderful kind – suggesting ways that humans might reduce the adverse impact of we humans.

The backdrop is a day in a child’s life and as we follow it through from the breakfast table, the bathroom, into the city, to school, the park, then onto a farm and pay a visit to the beach before returning home, we learn how some of the cutting edge inventions could become part and parcel of everyday life.

Imagine cleaning your teeth by means of edible capsules of toothpaste made from slimy seaweed that you’d pop into your mouth and brush your teeth squeaky clean; perhaps brushing with a biodegradable bamboo-handle toothbrush. Think of the plastic saved!

Being almost entirely vegan, I certainly wouldn’t entertain the idea of eating beetle burgers however.

What about wearing a PE kit that contains bacteria and when you start to sweat, these microorganisms swell, opening flaps for a refreshing breeze and shrink again once the sweat has dried. Clever stuff.

Indeed, other scientists have discovered bacteria in fermenting yogurt and in our guts that can produce electricity: maybe in the future, it’s suggested, musical speakers could be powered by harnessing such microbes.

We all know of the damage caused by the exhaust fumes from cars and other vehicles; however with some clever chemistry it might be possible to turn toxic black carbon soot into ink you could use for art projects or writing.
With bright, often intricate, infographic art and a wealth of facts, some still a tad far-fetched but you never know, and exciting ideas aplenty, this is a book that could inspire youngsters to become the cutting edge scientists and technologists of the future.

Cindergorilla

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Cindergorilla
Gareth P. Jones and Loretta Schauer
Farshore

Readers of this blog will probably know that I am a great enthusiast of fairy tale spin-offs so long as they’re done well, as is the case with Gareth P. Jones and Loretta Schauer’s follow-up to Rabunzel, another in The Fairytales for the Fearless series.

Star of the show in this story is jungle dwelling Cindergorilla. Cinder lives with her mean Aunt Linda and cousins Gertrude and Grace, who spend much of their time bossing her about.

Despite this Cinder manages to remain upbeat by turning her chores into funky dance moves: Her broom becomes an object with which to boogie, she moonwalks with her mop, twirling as she tidies and accompanying her washing up with her wiggliest waggles. Oh how she would love to go to the weekly Disco Ball, but her aunt vetoes her every chance.

Then one Saturday there’s much ado in their household as the cousins discuss their potential chances of becoming the next partner of Disco Prince Travis. Needless to say, they scoff at Cinder as they leave her alone with just a list of tasks to be done.

Enter with a RAZZA-MATANG an orangutan, her Hairy Godmother no less, who, with a deft wand flick, transforms Cinder into a sparkly disco diva, leaving her with a slightly different warning from the traditional midnight: “Be home before sunrise” she instructs.

Off goes Cinder, slightly on edge as she steps onto the dance floor but there’s no love at first sight episode when she and Travis meet. Said Disco Prince is egocentricity personified. Or should that be gorilla-ified? Impressed by her moves, he merely tells her she’s to dance with him for the rest of the ball.

Come the first rays of morning sun, Cinder remembers what she’s been told by her Hairy Godmother and tells her partner she must leave right away, his response being the self-centred, “But you haven’t seen my best move yet!”
Nonetheless Cinder makes a hasty exit leaving behind a single shoe and Travis determined to find it’s owner’s whereabouts.

Which he does – eventually, much to the surprise of Cinder’s relations. Seems that now, Travis is ready to offer a somewhat better deal. But is it one Cinder will accept?

Now that would be telling and I’ll leave it to the story creators, merely adding that like most fairytales, there is a happily ever after ending – of sorts – rendered in song.

This terrific tale of resilience and empowerment is huge fun and a smashing read aloud. I love the way Gareth’s narrative is sprinkled with alliterative phrases and breaks into rhyme from time to time. Equally good fun are Loretta’s funny, funky scenes of the action in which she portrays all the characters with real gorilla-alities.

Destined to become a story-time favourite for sure.

Play Like Your Football Heroes

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Play Like Your Football Heroes
Seth Burkett and Matt Oldfield, illustrated by Tom Jennings
Walker Books

Former pro football player Seth Burkett co-authors this book with friend and writer Matt Oldfield. It’s broken down first into four parts with tips on how to: Train Smart, Think Smart, Live Smart and Play Smart, and then into chapters each featuring five or six star players. It’s great to see both men and women included, one of the latter being American icon and political activist Megan Rapinoe, winner of two World Cup winner’s medals as well as both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot trophies. But what makes her even more inspirational to this reviewer is her peace message: “We have to love more, hate less, listen more, talk less.’

Self belief is key if you’re to become a successful soccer player, or indeed succeed at pretty much anything: Kevin De Bruyne is a shining example of a player who believes in his ability, in his case to ‘pull off another amazing assist’. He started having to find the courage to step outside his comfort zone (a requisite if you’re to develop self confidence) age fourteen when he left his Drongen home and family to join the Genk academy 100 miles away. Just one of the incidences of his awesome self-belief.

Incredibly skilful ball dribbler, Messi, didn’t gain that outstanding ability in a vacuum; rather he needed to work on a whole lot of inter-linked skills to become the amazing ball master that he is. Training, training and more training in different conditions: constant, variable and random. Don’t worry if this sounds a bit technical; explanations are given in the very first chapter, featuring of course, Lionel Messi.

Another star who believed in himself, no matter what is Harry Kane who scored that crucial goal in the final minutes of the first group game against Tunisia in the 2018 World Cup. A real smart hero assuredly..

When it comes to playing smart, somebody who personifies the five ‘P’s – ‘proper preparation prevents poor performance’ is French midfielder N’Golo Kanté, he of outstanding stamina.

However, no matter where you open the book you’ll likely find something that will speak to you: and sometimes challenge you.

With both authors’ passion for the game shining through all that they’ve written in this inspiring, interactive book, as well as some 80 black and white illustrations by Tom Jennings, there’s lots in here for readers from around seven, be they enthusiastic watchers/team supporters of the game, or a young player and would be football star, .

Mason Mooney: Doppelgänger Detective

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Mason Mooney: Doppelgänger Detective
Seaerra Miller
Flying Eye Books

Mason Mooney is back in a sequel to Mason Mooney: Paranormal Investigator! It’s now Halloween time and in Grimbrook that is especially significant for it’s when the paranormal world and the ‘normal’ one are at their very closest. Halloween is also Mason’s busiest day in the entire year; however with Mason now friends with Iris, the two have different priorities, Iris being interested in the ‘silly’ aspects of the occasion while Mason needs to concentrate on investigating.

However because Iris and her fellow middle school council members have pulled out all the stops for the Grimbrook Middle School’s celebratory dance and costume competition Mason feels he has to join in. Soon comes the discovery of a weird magic mirror located in the school’s bathroom and immediately team Mason and Iris are on the case.

Furthermore, out of the blue Iris has received a mysterious invitation from a substitute teacher and then things start getting ever stranger.

During the costume judging there are even more bizarre happenings, largely on account of a magic ring.
Prepare yourself for a lot more mystery and magical happenings, as Mason and Iris stand between Grimbrook and the dastardly doppelgängers from the mirror dimension. There’s even, in the middle of a shower of frogs, a lip-smacking kiss; 

and why is Mason suddenly standing in the midst of everything without his trousers?

Can he possibly reopen that portal and lure the doppelgängers back into their world, and save Grimbrook? And what about his heart?

This nail-biting adventure ends on a cliff-hanger, so to discover the answers, readers are going to have to wait for the next book.

The Hideaway

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The Hideaway
Pam Smy
Pavilion Books

Thirteen year old Billy, a sensitive boy, just cannot cope with seeing his mother whom he loves deeply, in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend Jeff with whom they live. So with a few things in his backpack and doing his best not to be seen, he creeps out one night. 

He makes for All Souls’ graveyard and the following morning he encounters an old man who wants to know what he’s doing there. Billy begs him not to tell anyone and the man strikes a deal with him: assistance with his clearing work in the overgrown graveyard for a few days in return for keeping quiet about the lad’s whereabouts. 

The man turns out to be kind and thoughtful, which surprises the boy.

Meanwhile Grace (Billy’s mum) has discovered her son is missing and the story alternates between events relating to her and the home, and Billy (Different fonts are used for each). Grace decides she needs to ask for help outside and starts with her close neighbour and before long the police are also involved.

Billy meanwhile does not remain undiscovered: Izzie from his maths class finds him while she’s waiting for her mum.

The story offers the stark contrast between the harshness of Billy’s life with the supernatural happenings of All Souls’ Eve while at the same time weaving a thread of abiding love and hope through them both. 

As the drama moves close to the night of All Souls’ Eve, a sequence of ten textured, powerfully atmospheric double spread illustrations replace the text 

and thereafter, for a few pages, the words, set on grey paper take on a ghostly white appearance.

There’s another stark contrast too: that of the gentle, thoughtful and caring old man with Jeff whose toxic, controlling and abusive personality has driven Billy to run away.

For older readers through to adults, with its themes of domestic abuse, families, childhood, separation and reunion, this important book, recounts with enormous sensitivity and power a story that will haunt the reader long after the beautifully produced book has been set aside.

Captain Cuddles

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Captain Cuddles
Maudie Powell-Tuck and Julio Antonio Blasco
Little Tiger

There’s a new superhero on the block: step up Captain Cuddles. This clever canine, with his cape, mask and ginormous pink pants, is capable of the most amazing feats of heroism including turning baddies into goodies, merely with the power of a single hug. Don’t believe it? : well we all appreciate the power of a hug, having had to do without hugging during the worst of pandemic times.

There’s one singularly evil baddie however, that definitely has no intention of letting herself be embraced by the Captain and that is Wicked Flea. Said dastardly creature has a plan tucked beneath her wings and is about to unleash it in the name of all that’s bad.

She lures Captain Cuddles into a rocket on the pretext of someone within being in desperate need of a hug. The next thing he knows, our hugs hero is heading off into the depths of space, trapped within that space craft leaving the earth clear for all its baddies, like it or not to revert to their former pre-hug ways under the leadership of WF herself.

Or so she expects, for they’re not so easily persuaded as she thinks.

Captain Cuddles converts have a plan of their own but they appear to have reckoned without the wiliness of Wicked Flea.

What will win out: Team Huggers and their healing embrace or Teeny Team Flea? Or, maybe it it could even turn out to be a win-win situation … I wonder.

With cut away pages, flaps to explore and speech bubbles aplenty, this zany tale is full of dramatic moments brought into being through Blasco’s flattened images of the unlikely cast of characters and the lively text.
Superhero stories are very popular with young listeners and I have a feeling Captain Cuddles will join their number.

What the Elephant Heard

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What the Elephant Heard
Charlotte Guillain and Sam Usher
Welbeck Publishing

Charlotte Guillain tells this rhyming non-fiction story from the viewpoint of a young elephant that lives on the African savannah with her herd.

We learn of the wisdom and knowledge of the narrator’s grandmother always able to find water just like the grandmothers before her. Those that could tell of roaring lions, zebra herds and the activities of humans with their smoke belching machines,

their aeroplanes and their cars bringing tourists.

Worse than all those though, are the sounds of buzzing, whining tree destroying monsters that carried the felled trees off to people in towns,

and then that tragic shot from a poacher’s gun which killed the young elephant’s own father.

Now, as Sam Usher’s watercolour illustration shows, with the land dusty and parched, the herd awaits the welcome sounds of thunder and rain. With Grandma as leader, they lumber across the denuded savannah in the hope that once more, their leader wiii be successful in locating a waterhole …

After the elephant has finished speaking, come three prose spreads, the first giving basic information about elephants, their features and habits, the second discusses the work of elephant rescue teams and wildlife rangers and the third presents worrying facts about the declining numbers of elephants and some ways in which humans can help support these amazing creatures.

Equally lyrical in their own way as Charlotte’s words, are Sam Usher’s scenes of both the beauty and the harshness of the elephants’ environment over time and place. Altogether a heartfelt and timely presentation of pachyderm plight and majesty.

Witch In Training

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Witch in Training
Michelle Robinson and Briony May-Smith
Walker Books

Following their Tooth Fairy in Training, Michelle and Briony present another trainee this time in the form of a little witch.

We meet the young narrator as the final preparations for her training are, with her mum’s help, being made. Off they zoom on broomsticks to obtain all that’s necessary for her very first potion, Magic Stew.

First come the sky ingredients,

after which it’s down to Monster Town for wood-related supplies.

Next stop is a tomb for further slightly gruesome requirements, but the list still isn’t all ticked off: the final visit is a sub-aquatic rendezvous.

Then, full of excitement back home young Betty, hands duly washed, starts brewing with a wave of her wand, some magic words and . …

Uh- oh! in goes an additional ingredient that was not on that list and whoops! What has become of kitten, Pumpkin Patch?

Can Betty brew another potion and save the day? (or rather the night) … Well maybe – or almost …

Told in Michelle’s magical rhyming text and Briony’s wonderful scenes of moonlit ingredient gathering and spelling, create their own brand of enchantment that youngsters will delight in becoming a part of when the book is shared.

Perfect for a run-up to Halloween story time, or indeed, any other time.

One Upon A Tune: Stories from the Orchestra

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One Upon A Tune: Stories from the Orchestra
James Mayhew
Otter-Barry Books

You can tell a story with words, you can tell a story with pictures and you can tell a story with music; you might perhaps use them all. In tandem with his book creating, that is the way of life for James Mayhew.

The six stories in this book are tales that were the inspiration for some of the best known classical music in the world and each one is illustrated and told with James’s consummate skill and artistry.

What better way to introduce Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice music than to share the story of the broom that the young apprentice brought to life and in so doing caused a flood? Or maybe youngsters would enjoy doing battle with a host of hungry trolls, they of the scary eyes and crooked teeth conjured up In The Hall of the Mountain King.

How about visiting Tuonela, the realm of the dead underworld in Finnish mythology and there encountering The Swan of Tuonela, the sacred bird that swims on the black river? I found myself searching out Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker’s rendition of Sibelius’ symphonic poem after reading the story and being so moved by the mother’s search for her son.

A wonderful precursor to hearing Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Flight of the Bumblebee is to get to know the tale of the prince who morphs into a bumblebee to find his true love.

Switzerland’s most famous folk hero William Tell, the brave archer who risked his life to stand against an evil tyrant for the sake of his fellow Swiss countryfolk, may well be familiar to readers: Rossini based his opera on a play by German poet Friedrich von Schiller and that story too is retold herein. It’s almost impossible to keep still if you hear the finale to The William Tell Overture.

Another famous Rimsky-Korsakov masterpiece, Scheherazade was inspired by the remaining tale, wherein we meet Sinbad the Sailor who was swept from a ship by the flick of a terrible sea monster’s tail when working aboard. Just one of the stories told to the Sultan by the titular Scheherazade..

I love so many things about this book, not least being the clever way in which snippets of musical notation form part of the stunning illustrations on every spread.

(Backmatter includes a paragraph about each work and its composer as well as recommended sources of recordings of the music.)

This is a book that surely deserves a place on family bookshelves and in classroom collections.

My Beautiful Voice

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My Beautiful Voice
Joseph Coelho and Allison Colpoys
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

From the duo who created the hugely moving If All the World Were… comes an inspirational story about finding your voice, literally as well as metaphorically.

Joseph Coelho’s narrator is a shy child who doesn’t talk at school, that is until a flamboyant, understanding new teacher, poetry lover Miss Flotsam, wields her transformative magic in the classroom.

She starts by sharing stories of her adventures, then moves on to sharing stories from books

and then the very personal form of her own poetry; and little by little one shy child begins to unleash that inner creativity we all have if only there’s somebody to nurture it.

A poem begins to form on the page, line by line and eventually, judging when the time is right, Miss Flotsam proffers its author an invitation to share that poem with the class …

With poet and playwright Joseph’s heartwarming, highly empathetic text and Allison’s superb, powerful illustrations of creativity at work,

with their splashes of neon-bright colour that capture so well the feelings of the two main characters, this is a perfect book to foster empathy in children. They’ll surely respond to the inherent themes of courage, resilience and determination in this heartfelt story of unlocking a child’s potential.

Every youngster deserves to have at least one teacher like the one portrayed here, during their early years of education.

Rock and Roll

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Rock and Roll
Hazel Terry
Tiny Owl

The book reminded me slightly of Michael Foreman’s classic picture book The Two Giants.

Meet two boulders Rock and Roll, the former stands flat, the latter stands tall and so it has been in the mountains for countless years with both of them awestruck by the world’s magnificent beauty no matter the season, or be it day or night. 

Both are proud of how long they’ve’ stood and of the visual evidence of their endurance.

Then one fateful day everything changes: people come to visit Rock and Roll, delighting them and bringing them such gifts as flags, piles of small stones and necklaces of bunting. 

That is at first, but then each rock begins to resent the new adornments given to the other. Roll moans to the wind making unkind comments about Rock’s colourful flags: Rock in turn, talks to a cloud complaining about Roll’s crown and saying callous things.

Consequently wind and cloud become upset, bashing into one another and arguing about ‘their’ respective boulders.

A vicious storm of thunder and lightning strikes the boulders sending them hurtling down the mountainside breaking apart as they go.

Eventually all that remains of Rock and Roll are small pieces of detritus. With all those arguments having rolled far away, happiness comes in their place and with it, a sharing of the things that precipitated the fallout.

Not only is Hazel Terry’s debut picture book a thought-provoking fable with themes of jealousy and its consequences, and being in harmony with the self, with awesome fossil prints on every page, it’s a thing of real beauty. It truly celebrates the marvels of the natural world: indeed I was out with two young relations who were staying with us last week and one of the things that most excited them was discovering fossils in a Cotswold stream not far from my home. I can’t wait to show them this gorgeous book and to share it much more widely.

The Book of Labyrinths and Mazes

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The Book of Labyrinths and Mazes
Silke Vry and Finn Dean
Prestel

Cleverly framing the topic as a metaphor for life, author Vry (who has a background in archaeology and art history) and illustrator Dean, present a survey including both historic and modern world mazes and labyrinths from various viewpoints. In so doing they encourage youngsters to ponder upon what fascinated those in bygone times and still does make these puzzles so appealing.

One thing that’s important to know at the outset of this journey is that a labyrinth is not a maze and a maze is not a labyrinth: the difference being that you cannot get lost in a labyrinth whereas you can in a maze. I vividly recall getting lost in Hampton Court maze on more than one occasion.

Have you ever thought about labyrinths in relation to the human body? that’s one of Vry’s considerations, offering the human brain, the ear and our entrails and intestines as exemplars.

Another theme looks at the the historical and mythological labyrinths and mazes; there’s the labyrinth Daedalus designed for King Minos in the ancient city of Crete, so the story goes.

Children will likely be amazed by the grand labyrinth with its rounded sides and eleven concentric circles, rich in symbolism, that is set into the floor stones in Chartres Cathedral.

Then there are labyrinths in nature too: the other day young relations of mine were thrilled to discover ammonite fossils in a Cotswold stream near where we live. There’s a spread devoted to natural world examples herein too.

There is SO much more than at first meets the eye – this is a philosophical book that can act as a kind of sacred space wherein time slows right down offering readers the opportunity of ‘being in the moment’, a meditative mode wherein there is potential for change and growth: in life, like a labyrinth, the path shifts in unexpected ways, sometimes diverting you from your goal, but ultimately leading you to the centre or your own centre. Try running a finger slowly along the lines of a labyrinth and feel its calming effect.

I could go on at length about this engrossing, alluringly illustrated book with its facts, exciting ideas and participatory invitations for maze/labyrinth drawing, but I’ll now just encourage you to get a copy for your family bookshelves, and classroom. collections – you’ll find lots of opportunities across the curriculum to share it with youngsters.

When I’m Big

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When I’m Big
Ella Bailey
Flying Eye Books

In an ancient forest a small, single egg hatches, from it emerging a weeny dinosaur, Fern by name. Having surveyed her surroundings she deduces that she’s no bigger than the smallest fern frond.

Pondering upon the question of what she’d be like when she’s big, she spies a massive dinosaur gobbling the leaves of the trees towering above her. A bite of one of the leaves doesn’t tingle her taste buds so off she goes to investigate further. Next stop is a clearing but the loud honking of a dinosaur herd there sends her searching for a more peaceful place.

So what about the river? Could she be a subaquatic dinosaur perhaps? Not with a body like hers seemingly …

Fern keeps wandering and searching for a dinosaur that might perhaps be her like her grown up self, but none of the pointy horned ones, those with bumpy armour on their backs, nor the feathered kind feel right for her. Will she ever know: maybe she’ll not be big at all.

Feeling thoroughly downcast she bumbles on till all of a sudden there in front of her is something she recognises:

Fern has come full circle but something has changed …

A realisation dawns: whatever the future holds, it’s a matter of wait and see …

A sweet, warm story of finding a place in the world and being content in the here and now, prehistoric style.

Youngsters will delight in the telling, the gorgeous illustrations and exploring the back endpapers, which will send them back to the beginning of the book for a re-read to search for fourteen dinosaurs Ella has depicted thereon.

Hooves or Hands?

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Hooves or Hands?
Rosie Haine
Tate Publishing

Following her debut picture book, It Isn’t Rude to be Nude, author/illustrator Rosie Haine invites readers to ponder on the possibilities that being a pony instead of a human might offer.

Taking by turn a series of parts of a pony’s anatomy – hooves, legs, face, hairy parts and then moving onto topics such as pooing, movement, diet and mode of communication, she presents the alternative equine /human scenarios starting with the title hands or hooves, followed by being four or two legged, having a long or short face, possessing a mane, tail, forelock and fetlocks or not, pausing for a dump wherever you are or having to hold on,

galloping or running, whether or not your bum is furry,

whether you dine on a variety of foods or have to stick to hay and whether you utter words or a neigh (yes the text does rhyme).

The key question is ‘… would you rather be a pony or a person?’ Which would bring more fun? There’s even the prospect of being both. The key thing however, is individual choice and making the most of what you choose.

Playful, clever, quirky and thought-provoking.

Share this in a classroom and you might find children trying their own versions using a different animal of their choosing.

What a Wonderful World

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What a Wonderful World
Leisa Stewart-Sharpe and Lydia Hill
Templar Books

In this compilation, author Leisa Stewart-Sharpe takes readers to various parts of the world – the top of mountains, through rainforests, across deserts, over grasslands, along rivers, to both icy poles and deep down into the ocean – presenting the amazing flora and fauna of a large variety of habitats. In so doing, she shares stories of over thirty “‘Earth Shakers’ – activists young and not so young who have worked tirelessly for the cause of nature. The youngest mentioned is Romario Valentine (aka Romario Moodley) fundraiser and talented artist who on his 9th birthday asked for donations to an endangered bird sanctuary nearby rather than presents or a party.

Let’s go now to the foot of Mount Everest to meet Priti Sakha and learn about her fight for clean air in and around her home city of Bhaktapur. As a volunteer for the group Nepalese Youth for Climate Action, this nineteen year old participated in street clean-ups, protests and visited schools to help students understand the terrible dangers of air pollution and talking about ways in which everybody can work towards cleaner air in the Himalayan region. “The mountains are our pride. I’m taking a stand” she said. The spread devoted to this young woman and each of the other people featured includes a relevant ‘green tip’.

Trees are crucial to our world and several people included in this collection have espoused their cause. There’s German schoolboy Felix Finkbeiner who’s started a tree planting project in his school. It quickly spread to other schools and within a year, some 50,000 tree seedlings had been planted across the country. He set up the ‘Plant-for-the-Planet’ organisation to involve children the world over and to date there are over 91,000 child participants representing 75 countries.

Trees were also Julia Butterfly Hill’s cause. This young woman visited the redwood forests of California intending to stay for just a week, However on discovering that the forest was to be cleared by a lumber company, she lived peacefully in the branches of a tree named Luna for two years until finally the company agreed to leave a 60 metre protective zone around that tree and others in the vicinity.

Another tree planter was Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai who planted 50 million trees across Africa and started the Green Belt Movement to that end, a movement that continues to transform both people’s lives and the landscape.

Doing his utmost for the cause of Antarctic seals, is polar scientist/conservationist Prem Gill. Studying these creatures in the field is a massive challenge and Prem uses space satellite technology to do so.

There’s no room in this review to mention the awesome work of everyone spotlighted in this hugely inspiring book but I must introduce sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen who took on the huge task of both cleaning up the beaches of Bali and setting up the organisation Bye Bye Plastic Bags to help tackle the island’s massive plastic problem. I was amazed to learn that Indonesia has become the second worst plastic polluter in the world.

With Lydia Hill’s striking illustrations of activists and wildlife and a foreword by Lee Durrell MBE, this surely is a book to motivate youngsters to get involved, both by making small changes and joining in with a project or two that particularly interests them. (Suggestions are given at the end of the book, and there’s a glossary and letter from the author too.)

Yapping Away

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Yapping Away
Joshua Seigal, illustrated by Sarah Horne
Bloomsbury Education

There are playful poems aplenty in 2020 winner of the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards, Joshua Seigal’s latest poetry collection; it’s wonderfully witty and cleverly creative to boot. As ever, he uses the 3Rs crucial to making children readers, and assuredly they have that same effect when it comes to making them poetry enthusiasts as well.

I absolutely love the surprise element in many of Joshua’s poems: there’s the sudden change of heart in New Baby wherein the older sibling moves from ‘You grumble and gripe / and you grizzle all day. / I hate you, new baby / so please go away.’ in the first verse to the final ‘I know Mummy loves you / and Daddy does too. / I love you, new baby! / You’re lovely! It’s true!’

Then there’s the passionate Did I Ever Tell You … wherein the author pours his heart out as he continues ‘ … how much I love you? // I love you more / that the yawn / of the morning sun. ‘ … There are more verses in similar vein until the final ‘You / are / my // – – – – – !’ Can you guess the object of the love?

There are also some smashing shape poems: here’s one 

and others with terrific word play, Shapes being one.

However not everything is playful: anything but is the decidedly pensive Drawing My Grandma. I love too, the thought-provoking Inside with its circularity; Sad in which the speaker is unaccountably so feeling, is another, it conveys an emotion that strikes us all from time to time.

As does that summed up in The Grouchy Song: I’m reminded of that one whenever I listen to the news these days. And if the suggestions proffered therein don’t work sufficiently then I’ll quickly turn to Magic! for an antidote. 

I could go on and mention pretty much every single one of the almost 50 poems in this smashing book but better I leave you with Joshua’s words to embark on The Reading Journey something you’ll do if you get hold of a copy of your own and ‘Embark in the dark / on a sparkling adventure. / Glide on the tide / to the rhythm of words. ‘ …

I must mention too, Sarah Horne’s drawings that are appropriately quirky and a delight in themselves.

There’s no doubt that youngsters will feel inspired to take up Joshua’s “Let’s Get Writing!’ invitation that comes after the poems; he gives some helpful poetry starters there, though there are plenty offered by his poems themselves – that’s so long as said children have turned down this Invitation:

If you want children to find delight in language, poetry in particular., this book is a MUST.

Jasper & Scruff: The Great Cat Cake-Off / Stink and the Hairy Scary Spider

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Jasper & Scruff: The Great Cat Cake-Off
Nicola Colton
Little Tiger

In case you’ve not met the two protagonists, cat Jasper loves cooking fancy food and dining in fancy restaurants. Puppy Scruff is fond of eating with a particular penchant for salted caramel. The two run their own cafe, its speciality being the Cheese Monsieur with customers coming from near and far to sample this delicacy.

One day though, there’s a distinct lack of visitors and on investigation they discover across the way a new establishment – The Sophisticafé – is opening up with Lady Catterly as head chef. Eager to learn what the signature dish is to be, Jasper and Scruff head over and try to enter the cafe doors, only to be rebuffed without the necessary invitation.

Back they go to their own diner to find that things are in a chaotic state but even worse, the recipe page for their signature dish has been removed from the book. Looks as though it’s the work of the Sophisticats AGAIN!

Time to find out exactly what is going on … Things don’t go quite to plan however but they do encounter famous food writer, Gaspard le Skunk sampling the fare. Now he’s the one to impress, decide Scruff and Jasper but that will entail some menu amendments.

Again things don’t quite go to plan as those dastardly Sophisticats have got wind of the critic’s visit. Sabotage is their way of doing things …

but who will win this battle?

Another tasty offering in this series, and with one or more of Nicola’s humorous illustrations on every spread, it’s ideal for those readers just starting to fly solo.

Stink and the Hairy Scary Spider
Megan McDonald, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Walker Books

Stink is Judy Moody’s little brother and now he’s battling with his arachnophobia, a fear of spiders having troubled him for quite a while.

Having fashioned an origami frog, he takes his creation to the backyard to test its hopping. The creature hops right out of sight but when Stink looks in the long grass there’s no sign of his frog. Instead he sees a ‘pink thingy’ or rather several and they’re attached to large hairy legs which in turn are attached to a larger hairy body and that is attached to a massive head of the hirsute kind. A head with a plethora of eyes, what’s more. YIKES! Readers will have no doubt what this thing is.

A fearful Stink dashes indoors to seek help in locating his frog from the one person he knows is actually quite fond of spiders, his sister Judy. A deal is struck but Judy goes beyond that and sets about trying to cure little brother of his phobia.

This is a fun, scientific episode in which Megan McDonald’s characters exhibit their delightful optimism and it’s brought out in Peter Reynolds’ amusing illustrations; love the spidery chapter headings. There are even instructions to make an origami jumping frog after the story.

A relatively easy read: early chapter book readers will thoroughly enjoy this spin on facing your fears.

Nell and the Cave Bear

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Nell and the Cave Bear
Martin Brown
Piccadilly Press

This story is the first of a series by Horrible Histories illustrator Martin Brown and it features a young Stone Age girl Nell, and her Cave Bear. Nell has no parents and lives in a cave with her tribe, and her pet and best friend the titular bear.

Everywhere the girl goes, the bear goes too, keeping her safe and comforting her whenever the chores and bossing around she receives get her down.

When she learns that her clan plan to give her beloved Cave Bear away to the visiting Sea Clan cousins, Nell decides that it’s time to run away.

Together girl and bear embark on an adventure which takes them along the stream that passes their cave and soon, as they follow wherever the stream leads, the two become not runaways but explorers. They face thirst and hunger, mammoths and scary hunters

but never give up hope as, joined by a kitten, they keep looking for a safe place where they can be together.

Martin Brown writes simply and beautifully with warmth, a gentle humour and plenty of excitement.

Superbly illustrated this tale of long ago is just right for new solo readers who will be swept along with the adventurers relishing every moment of being in the company of Nell and Cave Bear. This adult reviewer most certainly did.

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess

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The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess
Tom Gauld
Templar Books

This is a whimsical, truly magical neo fairy tale that begins as often fairy tales do with a king and queen ruling happily, from their hilltop castle; but they are childless.

One night both husband and wife decide to try and change that: the king consults the royal inventor; the queen pays a visit to a clever witch living in the woods.

Inventor and witch set to work right away, the former using her best tools to fashion a tiny intricate robot, the latter uses her deepest magic on a log and from it conjures a perfect little living log princess.

All family members love one another and the siblings spend their days playing happily but they share a secret: by night the princess reverts to her log form and is only woken by her brother’s incantation of “Awake, little log, awake.”

One morning though, the princess is left alone in bed sleeping and catastrophe – she is tossed out of the window by a maid and ends up rolling away toward the village.

Her brother gives chase only to discover she has been sold to a barge captain taking a cargo of logs to the Frozen North. Unhesitatingly to rescue her, he boards the barge as it sails away and eventually his search is rewarded. Then it’s time to begin the arduous journey home, a journey that is so full of hazards and adventures that the hero’s parts wear right out.

But not before he’s uttered the magic words, brought the princess back to life and recounted all that’s happened.
Words of forgiveness are spoken, then it’s her turn to take charge of the situation and she bravely steps up.

The princess too has many adventures, with obstacles to overcome, not the least being her increasing tiredness. Fighting sleep she trudges on until she can go no further and …

Will they ever reach home? Well, this is a fairytale that began, as many do, ‘There once lived a king and queen …’ so as readers will be hoping, it does end ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’ Before that though, there’s a further sequence of selfless acts of kindness, a witch encounter and yet more kindness.

There is a tremendous amount to love about this book, not least being the wonderful montages of both heroes’ adventures. Then there’s Tom Gauld’s artistic style with its textures, well-chosen colour palette and the wealth of delightful details that start on the front endpapers and continue throughout the book, adding further depth to the text, while his portrayal of characters be they key protagonists or bit part players, are an absolute delight.

A cracking book to get lost in, time and again, whether you share it with one child, several or a whole class.

Lily Takes A Walk

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Lily Takes a Walk
Satoshi Kitamura
Scallywag Press

Kitamura is most assuredly in playful mode as he presents what happens when young Lily, accompanied by her dog, Nicky goes shopping for her mother.

While intent on buying at the market stalls she fails to notice the post box with it’s sharp-toothed mouth but her dog sees.

He sees further scary or startling things – the tunnel entrance with pointy teeth and staring street lamp eyes and threatening monsters at every turn, while she is aware only of the Dog Star in the sky, Mrs Hall knitting at her window, bats all a-flitter and birds on the canal.

Then finally at the last corner wafts the smell of her supper cooking.

Back home while consuming same with her parents, Lily smilingly tells what she’s seen on her walk, while thought bubbles around Nicky reveal what he might describe were he able to speak.

There’s a final gatefold that opens to reveal yet another thoroughly unpleasant experience for the dog of which Lily, eyes closed, is blissfully unaware.

The juxtaposition of child and dog’s divergent perceptions of the same journey taken together is done with Kitamura’s genius mix of the real and surreal; thus making this book an experience to savour and return to for several further excursions.

It’s fantastic to see Scallywag Press publishing this new edition of a modern classic.

The ABC Factor

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The ABC Factor
Katrina Charman and Tony Neal
Farshore

If you’re looking for a smashing alphabet book that’s also a hilarious story then look no further: Katrina Charman and Tony Neal’s presentation is huge fun and highly original. So without further ado let’s join Stick Insect in his search for stardom in Dog’s Amazing ABC. This entails participating in an audition to determine that special ‘difference’

that is Dog’s criterion for inclusion: none of your ordinary bears or cats will do for judges Dog, her illustrator Pony and guest judge Lion.

As the auditioning gets under way it’s obvious that they’re a pernickety lot: Stick Insect’s attempt to justify selection for B (bug) is instantly deemed “boring!” and he tries again for H failing to impress a second time (can you guess what he called himself that time?) and clearly common or garden “insect” isn’t going to cut it.

On go the proceedings somewhat speedily and with the occasional dispute.

Surely though he has to be the choice for his initial S but no – something sleepy is selected ‘zzzzzz’.

The selection process draws dangerously close to the end of the alphabet as the judges zoom through V, W, X and Y. Stick Insect has one last attempt giving it all he’s got …

Youngsters will definitely give star marks to author Katrina and illustrator Tony for this book – it’s definitely a winner for me.

Diary of an Accidental Witch

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Diary of an Accidental Witch
Perdita & Honor Cargill, illustrated by Katie Saunders
Little Tiger

There’s a new magical school on the story map and it’s called Little Spellshire School of Extraordinary Arts. Little Spellshire is the sleepy town full of cats and magical children into which Bea Black and her weather scientist Dad have just moved; this book takes the form of eleven-year old Bea’s diary – her first ever.

But it’s a case of izzy fizzy, Dad was so busy and so dizzy that he’s gone and enrolled her not in the ordinary academy but the Extraordinary establishment in the forest intended for young local witches.

Unexpectedly Bea finds herself sitting through all kinds of strange and spellbinding lessons in the company of peculiar classmates

and tasked with homework that entails venturing into the forest in the middle of the night to find skeledrake roots for a potion – now what on earth are they?

Surely it’s not too much to remind her Dad to get her moved into the Academy ASAP.
It’s either that or dig deep and find her inner witch: with the Halloween ball fast approaching it would be useful to discover even the teeniest smidgen of a magical spark.

Then there’s the question of Excalibur

about which I’ll say no more except that the incident is just one of the many magical mishaps and untoward incidents to be found in Bea’s diary that is bound to have readers giggling and wriggling in delight.

However as well as frog minding, persevering with broomstick-riding, levitation, avoiding getting ExSPELLED, being Witch In Charge of Bat Bunting, which requires the cutting of 1200 paper bats, keeping Dad from finding out of what’s really going on, this spellbinding story is concerned with a girl trying her best to fit in at a new school, making the best of a tricky situation and trying her level best to make friends.

Full of heart, this is the first of four stories brewed by the Cargill team, aided and abetted by Katie Saunders who supplies liberal sprinklings of amusing illustrations (including a class photo and a map): an ideal concoction that simply effervesces with humour and heart. Youngsters will definitely be spellbound and eagerly anticipate diary number two; so too, this reviewer.

Poultrygeist

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Poultrygeist
Eric Geron and Pete Oswald
Walker Books

With a touch of the macabre, this is a deliciously dark tale that begins before the title page, with a chicken crossing the road – as chickens do – to get to the other side. Only the result of this one so doing is that it’s splatted against the front of a huge tractor-trailer becoming a ghostly version of its former self.

The next thing the creature knows is that it’s greeted by a host of other animal ghosts informing it of its new status as the titular Poultrygeist and ordering the erstwhile ‘spring chicken’ to start acting scarily – like a ‘foul, fowl’ no less.

Despite haunting not really being the chicken’s thing, the now featherless creature ends up frightening its fellow phantoms.

(It does though give a nod to readers/listeners to make sure they’re not similarly scared at any point.)

With its hilarious finale, this has just the right amount of scariness for most youngsters, thanks in no small part to Pete Oswald’s superb artistry. His use of colour for the ghosty animals against a black background is brilliantly done with the spoken part of the text corresponding in colour to the speaker and that revelation of the poultrygeist’s scariest possible, ‘not even scary’ face is show-stoppingly superb.

Polly Pecorino: The Girl Who Rescues Animals

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Polly Pecorino: The Girl Who Rescues Animals
Emma Chichester Clark
Walker Books

Absolutely full of charm, this is the debut novel of wonderful picture books creator Emma Chichester Clark and it stars Polly Pecorino, a seemingly ordinary schoolgirl but with a difference: Polly is an inveterate animal rescuer.

Notably, she is able to talk to animals and understand them though she doesn’t know from where this ability came, nor does she make it known outside her own family. They live (along with Crow, a wild creature Polly had rescued) in the small town of Abbeville overlooking Silent Water Lake beyond which in Wild Bear Woods lived actual wild bears.

These are feared by everyone living nearby including Polly. All of this gives something of a fairytale feeling. Danger lurks close by only kept at bay by a high protective wall surrounding the town. A story has it that an entire family got lost and were gobbled up by the bears, one by one.

Within the town walls on the opposite side to Wild Bear Woods is the somewhat neglected Happy Days Zoo and Polly spends much of her time there after school and during holidays helping her Uncle Stan care for the animals and doing what she can to keep them fed and happy.

In contrast the zoo’s unscrupulous owners, the Snells, care nothing for the animals but will do anything, anything at all, to make money and the more of it the better … They’ll even resort to stealing a tiny bear cub from the woods – that will surely make them a nice packet with a huge surge in ticket sales.

No matter their action will put the entire town in danger from the other bears in the form of the cub’s wild family that will come for him.

Polly realises that if she doesn’t act that is exactly what will happen. Yes, she’s brave but is she brave enough to go against the Snells, follow her heart and take little Booboo back to Wild Bear Woods?

Surely there has to be a way and if anyone can do it, that person is Polly with her ability to see things from the perspective of the animals.

Matters become increasingly tense as the dramatic events build … BooBoo simply must be returned to his parents …

Emma’s storytelling is brilliant – you really feel you’re scrambling through the tangles of creepers and brambles with Polly, damp air penetrating your skin, . Equally brilliant is her characterisation, especially of the girl; together, they give this book a real classic feel, helping to make it utterly grippingly unputdownable. In your haste to find out what happens though, make sure you slow down to enjoy the plethora of fantastic black and white illustrations.

When I See Red

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When I See Red
Britta Teckentrup
Prestel

The child protagonist in Britta Teckentrup’s study of anger feels her fury as a gushing, twisting, twirling swirling roaring dragon that then morphs into a raging tornado as it rumbles and crashes. She bellows, booms and hollers as she roams the world seawards becoming that sea rider proud, bold and absolutely in control as she traverses the world.

Too long has she held back before pouring forth her torrent

but once she’s given vent to all that’s inside, it’s time to move forward leaving rage behind. Now storm spent, there’s a sense of freedom:

there’s a new and powerful force that comes with inhaling deeply and slowly. Let another journey commence with calmness and positivity.

The girl’s wild ride encompasses so many facets of anger, both negative and positive: she feels alone and isolated, engulfed and thoroughly overwhelmed, alarmed, perhaps frightened of the power of her emotions; on the other hand that power can be transformed into a force for good, a vehicle for changing from within.

Through her dramatic paintings, and words relating to earth and the elements, Britta portrays an emotional journey that offers youngsters both an affirmation of, and an opening to talk about their own feelings of anger. It couldn’t be more timely especially with all that everyone has gone through over the last eighteen months.

Let’s Save Antarctica

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Let’s Save Antarctica: Why We Must Protect Our Planet
Catherine Barr and Jean Claude
Walker Books

This book is an urgent plea from author Catherine Barr and illustrator Jean Claude for readers and listeners to help in the vital task of protecting our precious planet, in particular Antarctica from climate change and plastic pollution, and all that means.

That vast white continent covering the South Pole – the most extreme environment on earth – is home to millions of Emperor penguins as well as safe waters for the enormous whales that live in the depths of the surrounding Southern Ocean. Losing these, thus far tough survivors just doesn’t bear thinking about, but think about it we must.

Penguins though are just some of the awesome inhabitants of the vast icy wilderness, for eons ago it was home to dinosaurs, and fossils, footprints, teeth and ginormous bones have been discovered by scientists investigating the ancient volcanic ash of the Antarctic sea floor.

Other scientists have and still are investigating what Antarctica can reveal about how earth’s climate – the temperatures and wind patterns – have changed over hundreds and thousands of years.

But what are the secrets to the survival of the flora and fauna of this extreme environment? Yes they are all protected in this our last great wilderness.

However, it’s something biologists are studying while others are looking at what allows deep sea life to survive.

So too is the crucial work that scientists are doing to monitor the effects and speed of climate change, Antarctica’s greatest risk of all, and something that will also have a huge impact on all of our lives.

You don’t have to be a scientist to contribute to the saving of Antarctica and the final spread comprises things that we can all do to stop plastic pollution in the ocean and help slow down climate change. What Catherine has written will surely spark action to protect this incredible place; it’s up to us …

The Dragon with the Blazing Bottom

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The Dragon With the Blazing Bottom
Beach
Simon & Schuster Children’s Books

Back in the days of yore, disaster has struck: Sir Wayne’s dragon has lost his fearsome flame. Not a flash or a flicker can he raise no matter how hard he huffs and puffs. Sir Wayne’s alternative ideas go down like a damp squib;

only a flaming breath will do.

So what is causing this lack of fire? Could it be those spotless teeth or is his tongue too pink? The trouble must be down to diet, the knight suggests, but no need to worry. Sir Wayne has a dietary plan so sizzlingly hot it just can’t fail.

A single hot dinner comprising electric eels, half a dozen sacks of coal, an unspecified amount of oil, a couple hundred fireflies, a blazing log fire, a barbed wire-wrapped cactus, a heat-seeking rocket, a burning bush, sparklers and fireworks so long as they ‘WHOOSH!’ and finally and most disgustingly, a small piece of cheese – “Almost as green as the snot from a sneeze.”

It most definitely looks astonishing. Foolproof surely? Erm … The proof of the dinner is in the eating …

Beach has certainly created a sure fire winner of the whiffy kind with this, which apparently is the start of a series. The rhyming text reads aloud splendidly and with comical incidents aplenty, the illustrations are suitably hilarious. I can’t imagine a single child failing to respond with spluttering delight. Bring on the next episode say I.

Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth / What’s in the Box? / Halloween

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Ganesha’ Sweet Tooth
Sanjay Patel and Emily Haynes
Chronicle Books

Just in time for Ganesh Chaturthi in a few days is this lovely board book edition of a modern version of one of the most popular Hindu legends – the episode in which Ganesha got his broken tusk. It tells how when young, Ganesha liked nothing better than eating sweet things, especially the Indian confection, laddoos. This results in tragedy during Ganesha and his ‘friend’ Mr Mouse’s search for sweets when they come upon a new kind of laddoo, The Super Jumbo Jawbreaker Laddoo.

Despite warnings from Mr Mouse, Ganesha just can’t resist chomping down on the thing – “I’m invincible.” he reassures his friend – and snap! Off comes one of his tusks. Furious at being unable to repair himself, young Ganesha hurls the broken tusk at the moon.

It misses, landing at the feet of the ancient sage and poet, Vyasa who happens to have a special task for the tusk thrower and thus Ganesha lands the job of scribing the great epic of Hindu literature, the Mahabharata.

This little book is a riot of dayglo colour with Sanjay Patel’s brilliant ultra-modern visuals, some of which are reminiscent of what you might see in a temple in South India. Others are decidedly closer to some of the contemporary Pixar animations he has worked on.

By adding their own embellishments and playing slightly with the original plot, Patel and Haynes have created a wonderfully playful rendering of a classic legend that will appeal widely .

The next two are published by Little Tiger:

What’s in the Box?
Isabel Otter and Jaoquin Camp

How exciting: a pile of parcels has just arrived waiting to be investigated. What could be packed away inside? That’s what youngsters are invited to discover in this chunky tactile, lift-the-flap book.

Box one looks as though it’s rather fiery but what has made those scorch marks? There’s a hint in the cut-away shiny, scaly shape just visible.

The second box seems to have the fidgets and there’s a warning on the wrapping … A tricky one this. I wonder what it holds …

Next is a beribboned container but strangely some wool has escaped from within. “Fragile” says the label on the fourth box wherein so we read, is something noisy – hmmm? 

However, the best has been kept till last – it’s a veritable treasure trove of … Can you guess what?

With Isabel Otter’s brief rhyming text andJoaquin Camp’s alluring surprise containers to explore, there’s sufficient to engage little ones during several book sharing sessions.

Halloween
Patricia Hegarty and Fhiona Galloway

With Halloween coming up next month (I can’t believe I’m saying that), adults might want to reinforce counting skills with this mock-scary book that introduces in turn, one little skeleton that’s found a hiding place, two slightly anxious little trick-or-treaters, three glowing jack o’lanterns, four hoppy toads, five family portraits, one about to take a tumble, six sleepy bats, seven ghosts, eight spiders of the hirsute kind, nine snoozing moggies, or rather they were before being disturbed by the ten small, appropriately attired party goers.

The rhyming text and Fhionna Galloway’s cute, colourful illustrations offer plenty for preschoolers to enjoy herein.

Earth is Big

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Earth is Big
Steve Tomecek and Marcos Farina
What on Earth Books

Every one of the eighteen topics in this large format book explores the notion of absolutes in relation to planet Earth.

The author has an impressive science background and in his introduction he uses measurement and comparison to talk about this planet calling it in the final paragraph a ‘big, small, heavy, light, cold, hot, wet, dry, fast, slow, round, jagged planet, Earth.

Then follow double spreads, the titles of which are for the most part seemingly contradictory – Earth is Big followed by Earth is Small, Earth is Cold then Earth is Hot and so on.

So is Earth big, or is Earth small? What we learn is that in comparison to the inner and dwarf planets, its diameter is big whereas when compared with the outer ones, Earth is small.
When it comes to a consideration of roundness, Earth is an almost perfect sphere though it’s not without imperfections; 

however despite appearing spherical, the surface is rough and jagged on account of such things as mountains and canyons.

Sometimes changes take place on Earth quickly or suddenly on account of such phenomena as earthquakes, moon phases or wind; at others it changes slowly. The relevant spread briefly explains tectonic plates and like all the other explanations is accessible, no matter the scientific field. 

An amazing amount of always readable information encompassing such topics as mass extinctions, 

the Sutter’s Hill meteor strike in 2021 and climate change, which is mentioned several times, is packed between the covers of this book.

There’s a slightly retro look about Marcos Farina’s stylised illustrations and each page layout is different, helping to maintain the general reader’s interest in this unusually conceived scientific book. It also has a a glossary, contents, index, conversion tables and source notes.

One to add to KS2 collections and family bookshelves.

Daisy’s Dragons / Green

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Daisy’s Dragons
Frances Stickley and Annabel Tempest
Studio Press

Here’s a picture book that encompasses dealing with your feelings, owning a pet (or several) and even perhaps coping with pandemic reds, greens and silvers, and sometimes blues, pinks, and purples too. These colours refer to the pet dragons that young Daisy has and only she knows they’re there, each playing its own particular role. That is until one day when everything goes haywire on a visit to the ice-cream shop

and the result is that three of Daisy’s dragon friends go missing, and Daisy herself gives vent to her own emotions as she becomes scared, angry and sad, sending the others away.

In an attempt to bring back the absent Happy dragon feelings, the little girl plays with her toys and as she does so she realises that it’s actually very important to have the entire range of emotions: “None of you are bad,” she says, confirming what an apologetic Sad has already articulated with “But all of us are part of you … and none of us are bad.”

Told in Frances Stickley’s rhyming narrative and with Annabel Tempest’s splendidly portrayed dragons, this is an engaging story that opens up opportunities to talk about the all important topic of emotions with young children. I suspect that by the time the story’s told, both adult sharers and young listeners will have developed a fondness for all six special dragons.

Green
Louise Greig and Hannah Peck
Farshore

There’s always a slight quirkiness to Louise Greig’s books that I love, and so it is with this one.
Ed becomes downhearted when he’s no longer the owner of the best sled of the slopes. Back to his shed he goes to build an outstanding one, spending many a wintry day and night to that end. Despite knowing that he’s missing out on lots of fun he just can’t bring himself to go out and join his friends who are eager to see him.

Unbeknown to the boy, during the time he’s been working away, the days have been growing longer and warmer, and when he finally emerges he fails to hear the song of the blackbird and see the blue flowers peeping through. Then unexpectedly after a shower, everything turns green, speckled with white daisies. Now what will he do with a sled, even if it is THE best?

Suddenly he hears his name being called: it’s his friends saying how much they’ve missed him. Now at last Ed feels the sun’s warmth and he’s filled with joy but feels somewhat foolish as he explains what he’s been doing. Soon he realises that he’s missed so much: the companionship and exhilaration he now experiences are the things that really matter; they’re way more important than having something biggest and best.

Told in Louise Greig’s poetic text with Hannah Peck’s scenes that perfectly capture the feelings of the characters and their movement, this is a thought-provoking story about emotions, showing how envy negates the pleasures of the here and now.

The More the Merrier

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The More the Merrier
David Martin and Raissa Figueroa
Walker Books

Bursting with delicious movement words – stepping, galumphing, slipping and sliding, and wiggling, leaping, swooping and flying, skipping, even flappity-flipping – go the creatures in this book as we meet in turn Bear with kicking feet and bending knees, Moose going high, low, fast and slow,

Snake doing what it can, beat-loving Deer and round-eyed Owl.

Then come cute Baby Mouse drawn to the action as are Mouse’s friends with their “Hey diddle, diddle”. Round they cavort singing at the tops of their voices until sleep finally overcomes them and zzzzzzz.

Who could resist the call to action to head over to that forest and join Bear in following the infectious beat of the rhyming telling. Inspired by the dancing animals shown in Raissa Figueroa’s dynamic scenes, young listeners will probably also want to offer their own unique dance moves performed with similar abandon to the animal cavorters that grace the pages accompanied by David Martin’s joyfully upbeat, cleverly patterned text with its almost irresistible beat.

By the way, it’s also a great book for developing sound/symbol awareness. The foundation stage classroom potential is huge but more important, it’s a super story that supports the all-important message that playing with language is fun..

Everything Under the Sun

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Everything Under the Sun
Molly Oldfield
Ladybird Books

This is an exciting compendium of 366 questions (one for every day of the year plus 1 for a leap year) posed by inquisitive children from all over the world, that has its origins in the podcast from Molly Oldfield aka QI Elf.

Written contributions, some factual responses others opinion-based, come from a wealth of experts such as scientists, authors, poets, politicians, conservationists and the twelve illustrators who provided the visuals. Interestingly Rob Biddulph gives an answer (as does author Abi Eplhinstone) to “Where do ideas come from?” but he isn’t among those illustrators (Laurie Stansfield did the art for that one); neither is Oliver Jeffers who responds to “Why do people make art?” I particularly love this part of Rob’s reply, probably because he endorses my feelings: “… My children are a really good source for my ideas. They are big readers, and they have really vivid imaginations! And no idea is too silly!”

Some of the spreads have a theme, for instance there’s one with four wild animal questions, three relating to big cats, the other being “What noise does a zebra make?” Another has three penguin questions.

Others devote a double spread to a single question “Why do butterflies have patterns on their wings” being one for August.

There’s a splendid illustration of an owl around which a question of head rotation is discussed.

On a completely different topic, Nick Ross explains why the Tower of Pisa is leaning.

Not something this reviewer has ever considered but I was interested to learn why nonetheless. That’s another way this book works. You can just dip in randomly and discover something that perhaps you didn’t know before and no matter your particular interests, you’re pretty sure to come upon something illuminating.

Or you might have a question binge and spend hours browsing and you could formulate a few questions of your own. I wondered why there are relatively few ‘where?’ questions compared with those asking ‘why’ and ‘what’ and it’s great to see such a wide age range of inquiring children (2-18) included as the source of the questions.

I’d strongly recommend both families and primary schools adding this engrossing book to their shelves.

The Fairy Dogmother

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The Fairy Dogmother
Caroline Crowe and Richard Merritt
Little Tiger

This playful modern fairy tale has its origins in Cinderella and is set in Woofington’s Dog Shelter, home to most of the characters in the book including Cinders. This resident is just contemplating lunch when suddenly one Priscilla Paws, Fairy dog mother announces herself and offers Cinders a wish – “Whatever will make you the happiest you can be,” she suggests.

Now Cinders is pretty satisfied already with his home, food and friends so he tells Priscilla, but the fairy urges him to make haste before the wish times out. Unable to come up with anything, Cinders consults his friends and every one has a different suggestion, Boris’s idea being a ball … How do you think Priscilla envisages that one?

The clock ticks on and Cinders’ time is almost up …

when suddenly Old Wally has a brilliant proposal. Kind-hearted Cinders happily makes the wish but it leaves him without any companions. Or does it? For as Priscilla’s experience tells her and she tells Cinders, “fairy tails always have a happy ending” …

Dreams sometimes do come true, perhaps even when the dreamers don’t realise what their deepest wishes are.

Be they bursting with detail and pattern or less ornate, Richard Merritt’s vibrant humorous scenes completely fill every page and along with Caroline Crowe’s positive message about Cinders’ kindness and generosity,.this is a fun book to share with youngsters, preferably once they know a traditional version of Cinderella.

Rainbow Grey

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Rainbow Grey
Laura Ellen Anderson
Farshore

Having hugely enjoyed Laura’s Amelia Fang series I couldn’t wait to get hold of her new story. and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

It’s set in the brilliantly imagined magical sky world of Weatherlands in the city of Celestia and features ten-year old Ray Grey. who lives with her family – mum Cloudia, Dad Haze and cloud-cat, Nim.

All the other Weatherlings have at their fingertips, amazing magical weather power – be it sun ( I love the glowing sunflower in the sky image giving light to Earth), 

snow or rain, cloud or wind; not so Ray who like her mother, has no weather magic of any kind, though she longs for such magic to appear suddenly one morning so she’s more like her friends Droplet Dewbells and Snowden Everfreeze.

Rumour has it though that until they were all wiped out by the worst tornado in history, there were also Weatherlings who had Rainbow magic, – although most people don’t believe this . 

When Ray attends her first festival for the Eclipse with her friends, it’s the start of an unlikely adventure triggered by a tatty old book. Adventure is something else Ray longs for, wanting to be like her hero, the famous, beautiful Earth Explorer La Blaze Delight whom she meets at the festival.

Young Ray is one determined character and so is prepared to be a rule breaker (hurrah!) leaving Celestia without a grown-up and setting off for earth on a ‘daring quest’ in search of treasures.

It’s a trip that changes her life: a transformation takes place making her not Ray Grey but Rainbow Grey. Now all that’s left to do is to gain control of her powers and save the earth from a mysterious, powerful destructive enemy. 

Can she succeed? Perhaps, with the help of her best pals (and Nim) – surely that isn’t asking too much …

Laura’s storytelling weaves a spell around you from the outset; it’s totally gripping throughout with tension building as the end draws nigh, full of splendid humorous detail (the pigeon named Coo La La, for example) with sprinklings of silliness such as that highly explosive farting cloud cat, and the eat them quick before they erupt, rumblebuns.

This book has all you can ask for and more: teamwork, friendship, an environmental message, being something of an outsider, there’s even a mention of reading problems ( Ray talks of letters being jumbled on the page and later, reading from coloured paper is mentioned). Magicalicious – bring on the next adventure please!

Nook

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Nook
Sally Anne Garland
Sunbird Books

This is a gentle, sweet tale that shows the empowering quality of the kindness of others.

Nook is a small, shy rabbit; she speaks little and prefers to stay in quiet spots with somewhere against which to press her back so she feels safe.

Her most favourite place of all is the deep hollow in an old elm tree, the ideal place from which to watch the other animals play. Try as they might to entice her out to join them, Nook prefers to keep her body feeling safe in her nook, but in spirit she’d be a participant in their games.

‘Nook’s place’ is what the hollow becomes known as, a place where other creatures know not to sit. Or rather, not quite all of them, for one day filling the hollow she finds …

The surly creature claims the space as his own, leaving Nook with welling tears and panic stricken.

Not for long however for her fear gives ways to surprise when the other animals stand behind her and speak out in her support. As they edge forward, the little rabbit feels protected and encouraged so that at last she feels confident enough to let them lead her away and play …

Do you think she continued so to do? You bet.

As it is with little animals so it is with young humans; some are outgoing and happy to be one of the crowd from the start, others – the introverts – need empathetic understanding and encouragement so they don’t stay forever on the sidelines.

Sally Anne Garland uses bold brush and coloured pencil strokes to imbue her animal characters with kindliness and humanity while also including in her outdoor scenes, lovely details from the natural world – a ladybird, seed heads, small flowers, for instance.

Definitely a book to share with foundation stage children, and individuals at home.

Big Dance / Bea by the Sea / The Roller-Coaster Ride

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There are three recent releases from Child’s Play – thanks to the publisher for sending them for review

Big Dance
Aoife Greenham

As the Big Dance draws near, everyone seems excited about their moves, except young Pippa. Despite what her Poppa says she doesn’t think she has a dance inside. To prove his point, he decides to show her what Kit, Hip, Skip and Whizz and the others can do.

However, Pippa remains unconvinced about her own ability so Poppa then demonstrates his dance. “I’m not anything like that. I’m just a ME” muses Pippa but nonetheless she finds herself trying just a little dance and initially things look as though they’re going well but then she decides it’s no go nonsense. Her pals concede that it may be so, but add that it’s also fun – and inclusive. “It’s all of us … where we are all the same and all different … we can all be ourselves together. It’s where we all belong.” How aptly they put it but is it sufficient to encourage the one that’s still missing? What do you think?
Reassuring, all encompassing and a reminder of the importance of having the freedom to be yourself (something not everybody has) as well as a delightful demonstration of the joy of joining in. There’s plenty to talk about be that at home or in a school setting, when this quirky delight is shared with youngsters.

Bea by the Sea
Jo Byatt

Young Bea is a lion expert, thinking about the creatures all day long. When her mum suggests a day at the beach Bea would much prefer to stay at home playing lions especially as she doesn’t like the gritty, scratchy sand at all. Nonetheless she packs her lion paraphernalia, puts on her wellies and decides the best way is to pretend she too is a lion. Off they go with Bea concentrating on hopping from rock to rock rather than noticing the awesome lion sculptures her mum points out.
Suddenly she trips and falls flat on her face scattering her lion things all over the place.

As she brushes herself off a loud voice introduces itself as Sand Lion, suggests she leave her boots off and leads the way towards the sea. Gradually Bea sees as they play together, that sand can be great fun and they spend the entire day enjoying its possibilities, the Sand Lion also making a discovery.
The following day Bea returns eagerly to the beach but the tide has changed everything. No Sand Lion to be seen but Bea knows the best thing to do …
Bea is a delightful character and Jo Byatt’s portrayal of her is superb: I love the resemblance between the Lion’s mane and her hairstyle as well as the way she captures movement in her illustrations.
When you share this lovely book make sure you allow time to explore the factual endpapers.

The Roller-Coaster Ride
David Broadbent

As Vincent and his grandma journey in the purple bus towards the beach they talk of the exciting rides, especially Vincent’s favourite roller coaster, the boy eagerly anticipating and imagining its many interesting possibilities. However when they reach their Funland destination there’s a sign saying it’s closed for repairs. You can imagine Vincent’s disappointment, but Grandma offers encouragement and alternatives in the form of splendiferous ice-cream

and a play park, not to mention an unusual way of getting back to the bus stop.
I was quite surprised to see how accommodating Vincent is and impressed by his flexibility and positivity in not letting unforeseen circumstances completely ruin his day out: a great example to little ones. It’s good to see the author/illustrator’s inclusivity in his lively, brightly coloured scenes -I wonder how many of them will notice Vincent is differently abled on a first reading. The environmental positives include that the bus is electric, the charging points available, the cycle track, wetlands and wild life reserve all shown on the endpapers’ maps.

Amazing Rivers

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Amazing Rivers
Julie Vosburgh Agnone and Kerry Hyndman
What on Earth Books

Author Julie Vosburgh Agnone starts by giving a general description of a river and then takes readers on an exploration of freshwater waterways all around the world. She and illustrator Kerry Hyndman then present more than a hundred rivers explaining as they go subjects including measurement, source and flow,

as well as what is to be found in and also around rivers, and the humans living and working in their vicinity.

Crop growing has long been an important activity with dates and other fruits, grains and vegetables having been watered by water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers since ancient times when Sumerian farmers designed irrigation methods to divert the river water.

Many rivers, we’re told, contain fish species in abundance including perch, catfish and trout while others yield freshwater crabs and shrimps that can make a tasty meal.
I was fascinated to read about pancakes – not the edible variety but ones made of ice that are occasionally formed in the River Dee in Scotland.

In contrast the Boiling River in Peru has water hot enough to cook an egg.

Some rivers – the Amazon, the Yangtze and another Chinese river, the Li – are allocated a spread each while other spreads are topical including treasures found in rivers, industry, feats of engineering and threats to divers with short titled paragraphs presenting the facts set into or around stylised illustrations.

Kerry Hyndman uses a variety of visual layouts that include vignettes,

close-ups, arial views and broad river scenes as well as making good use of texture and shadow to help maintain readers’ interest throughout. There’s also a central foldout map showing the location of each river mentioned as well as giving some fun river-related lists. A glossary, index and resource list comprise the four final pages.

Altogether a fascinating and informative resource book for individual browsing and KS2/3 school collections.

Max + Xam / I’m Not a Mouse!/ Best Friends, Busy Friends / New Shoes, Red Shoes

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Thanks to Child’s Play for sending these ‘catch-up’ books for review

Max + Xam
Ariane Hofmann-Maniyar
Meet next-door neighbours and long-time friends Xam and Max. They live alongside one another spending much of their time together until comes a day when an amicable teatime turns nasty bringing to a halt their sharing of pleasurable encounters.
Max gets to work on a plan fashioning his own set of friends from bits and pieces; Xam does a similar thing

but creates even more inanimate friends than Max. Pretty soon both of them learn two things: firstly that such friends offer no fun at all; secondly that they miss one another very much.
Time for reparations. Gifts in the form of edible and floral treats are exchanged and after a bit of a mishap, amicability and happiness resume.
A lively, playful tale of the highs and lows of friendship presented through a straightforward text and enchantingly detailed illustrations. Perceptive youngsters will enjoy the nominative wordplay, likely relish the explosive falling out and the occasional surprises in this feel-good look at enduring friendship.

I’m Not a Mouse!
Evgenia Golubeva

Parents can sometimes really irritate their offspring by inventing and insisting on using pet names and so it is for the young narrator of this book. Her mum annoyingly calls her Mouse all the time the effect being that the little girl morphs into a mouse whenever she’s so called. Thus far this has caused at best inconvenient, at worst, extremely dangerous situations. There was the birthday incident, the occasion of the soccer match,

the time the two were out roller-skating and the life-threatening occasion in front of the family cat.
Enough is enough decides our protagonist, refusing to respond to the next “Mouse!” calls that greet her after school the following day. It’s not until she uses “Olivia” instead that the little girl is happy and reacts accordingly.
But then it turns out that she’s not the only one whose parents or adult relations use embarrassing nicknames creating similar problems.
Highly entertaining, with splendidly exuberant illustrations this is a fun story to share and a playful reminder to adults that not all children are happy to be called anything other than their given name. There’s more visual pleasure to be had by exploring the endpapers – the front ones showing Mouse, the back ones an assortment of pet names none of which I suspect, would be happily received.

Best Friends, Busy Friends
Susan Rollings and Nichola Cowdery

Interestingly during a walk I was having a discussion with a young relation about the various things her friendships offer and got home to find this book among those that had arrived for review.
Essentially it’s an inclusive rhyming observation by what look to be twins, of their friends that takes us through their school day from wake-up time to a final celebration. We meet among others, friends fast and slow, tall and small, messy and tidy, kind and caring, not so kind; some are funny, other silly, those who enjoy sharing a story. Some might be sad, some happy, there are even feathered ones needing a feed and fluffy ones that can be over-playful.
This inclusive presentation of friendship with its simple text and Nichola Cowdery’s bold, lively, illustrations of young children and their care-givers offers lots of possibilities for discussions with toddlers and preschoolers.

New Shoes, Red Shoes
Susan Rollings and Becky Baur

Here’s a simple story of a child going with his mother to buy new shoes. Their journey to the shop is an opportunity to observe all manner of shoes being worn in Becky Baur’s scenes – by people at the bus stop, on the bus, in the park, in the street at a friend’s and in the market.
When they finally reach the shoe shop there are so many possibilities: which ones will they buy and for what special occasion are they getting them?
With a simple rhythmic text and inclusive illustrations, in particular that the family comprises two mothers and a child, this is a good one for beginning readers and young listeners.

Mo and Crow

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Mo and Crow
Jo Kasch and Jonathan Bentley
Allen & Unwin

‘No man is an island’ wrote poet John Donne more than 400 years ago but Mo wants it so to be.

Mo is a loner and that’s the way he likes it. He’s built a sturdy house surrounded by a protective wall to deter intruders be that elemental, animal or human kind. Privacy is vital so he thinks.

Then from behind the wall he hears tap tap tap over and over. Mo’s various ways to block out the infuriating sound invading his silence prove futile and it’s not long before the continual tapping causes the displacement of a stone and there is a beak belonging to Crow.

Mo pushes back the stone but the next day Crow pushes out another one and another …

Furious, Mo tries begging, yelling and shouting but to no avail. The invader doesn’t go. The size of the hole increases and eventually Mo seizes the biggest stone he can find and hurls it at Crow. The creature remains. The two sit watching one another; Mo within his house Crow from his perch on the broken wall.

This goes on all day and eventually Mo goes to bed and sleeps. Next morning no Crow. Mo prepares,,,, materials to repair his wall and then as he looks up there’s space, clouds in the sky and hills: a whole world has been opened up.

But where is Crow?

Debut picture book author Jo Kasch and illustrator Jonathan Bentley present two contrasting characters – one a seeker of company, one who eschews it, in this tale of diversity, acceptance, the breaking down of barriers and the importance of friendship. With the economic text occasionally breaking into rhyme and lots of repetition providing joining in possibilities, and Jonathan Bentley’s boldly coloured scenes of the unfolding drama to feast their eyes on, youngsters will certainly have their attention held throughout this thought-provoking allegory.

Flip Flap Zoo / Where’s Mr Fire Engine?

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These are recent additions to popular, playful series from Nosy Crow – thanks to the publishers for sending them for review

Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Zoo

The zoo is the latest location for Axel Scheffler’s split page animal extravaganza and happily there’s not a cage in sight for the dozen creatures that offer rhyming verses on themselves.
What fun you can have generating your own crazy conglomerates – 121 possibilities according to the frog on the back cover.

What would you get by crossing a lemur with an ostrich?

In case you didn’t guess – it’s a lemich. Then what about a jaguar and a hippopotamus? Roar! Roar! Growl! Growl! that one’s a jagotamus.

Full of zany names, noises aplenty to exercise the vocal cords and all those creature combinations to giggle over, this book will give preschool joiners-in, and Foundation Stage/KS1 children hours of pleasure both visual and verbal.

Where’s Mr Fire Engine?
Ingela P Arrhenius

Four potentially very noisy vehicles lurk beneath the variously shaped felt flaps in the latest of this series that ends with a surprise mirror (or maybe not such a surprise if your little one is familiar with previous titles). Nonetheless the very youngest will enjoy guessing what’s hidden, exploring the bright stylised scenes and joining in with the ‘Here s/he is!’ as the police car, ambulance, helicopter and fire engine are revealed.

The Naughtiest Unicorn on Holiday / Super Cute: Fun in the Sun

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These are two young fiction books both by Pip Bird, kindly sent for review by Farshore

The Naughtiest Unicorn on Holiday

The latest addition to The Naughtiest Unicorn series sees Mira and Dave off on an adventure holiday – their best ever adventure so Mira anticipates. Especially as there’s to be a secret quest to discover a special Golden Marshmallow. With sleeping bag rolled and rucksack packed with essentials (and a bit more too) she can hardly contain her excitement and Dave is going positively bananas or rather toffees. Having discussed the various poo possibilities for humans and unicorns, members of Red Class are finally ready to make that foray into the Wild Woods where they’ll be under the care , not of their teacher Miss Glitterhorn but of energetic leader, Ms Mustang, a stickler for teamwork.

Will the adventurers ever manage to put up their tents – that is the first challenge followed closely by, will Dave consume all the marshmallows stashed in the special snack box?

Then what about the raft-making activity? Readers will certainly get some laughs over this, but what of team Mira, Raheem and Jake and their unicorns?

With the first day’s adventures duly over it’s time to bed down for some shut-eye but that’s when the weird noises start up: what or who is making those, not to mention the scary shadowy shape? …

With the usual generous serving of farts of the unicorn variety, this is a thoroughly enjoyable romp for fans of Mira and Dave and I’m sure having induced lots of giggles, they’ll win a fair few new followers too.

Super Cute: Fun in the Sun

New to me is the author’s World of Cute where preparations are underway for the annual summer Friendship festival.

With Micky Pig in charge, delicious treats to share are baked in Micky’s outdoor kitchen Mudporium. The first taster will be a Special Guest. So will this be, as Cami declares, “The best Friendship ever!” ?

Not if one of the vital baking ingredients is missing … This is the first indication that a saboteur is at work; surely that couldn’t be so – could it?

I’m not sure if this series will gain as many fans as The Naughtiest Unicorn but it’s worth offering to young solo readers to taste for themselves: they’ll certainly find lots of yummy confectionery including a volcano cake that erupts strawberry jam, in this story that celebrates our differences.

Inside Animals

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Inside Animals
Barbara Taylor and Margaux Carpentier
Wide Eyed Editions

Back in the day when I was studying zoology at A-level and beyond I always felt extremely uncomfortable having to do animal dissections to get a close look at an animal’s innards. Now here’s a book containing twenty one cross-sections of a variety of animals large and small, all illustrated in vibrant colours by Margaux Carpentier. 

In the introductory section, detailed pictures show how skeleton, muscles, organs and nerves fit together inside the featured creature – a snake, a camel and a shark.

Then come several focus topics – Muscles and Moving, Skeletons, Lungs and Breathing, Brain and Senses, Heart and Blood, and Amazing Organs.

Written by one time Science Editor at London’s Natural History Museum, Barbara Taylor and set out around each internal view, are factual paragraphs and an introduction, for all the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, spiders and other invertebrates spotlighted herein.

I was fascinated to see the honey stomach of the honeybee – a storage organ for nectar – shown and mentioned in one of the paragraphs and part of what helps this creature survive and thrive.

No animal would be able to survive without oxygen to breathe but not all have lungs, or gills like fish and oysters. Within a parrot we see both lungs and additional air sacs that keep oxygen-supplying air flowing throughout its body so the energy for flight is available. 

Other creatures including we read, land-living earthworms, breathe through their skin.

What about brains? It’s not every animal that has one of those although all rely on sensory information sent via electrical signals along nerves. Such information might be gathered through an animal’s sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Without a brain, jellyfish for instance use a simple nerve network to detect touch, light, smells and to respond to their surroundings; amazingly these graceful creatures can still sting after they’re dead.

Turning to animals having more in common with humans, a giraffe for instance possesses lungs (around eight times the size of ours), and a heart – also enormous and roughly the weight of your average two year old. I was surprised to learn that despite its very long neck, a giraffe has only seven neck bones, linked we read by ball-and-socket joints enabling that neck to be super-bendy.

I suspect that any youngster, especially those with a scientific bent, will discover some surprises in this engrossing book. It’s one I’d recommend adding to family bookshelves and KS2 classroom collections.

Fletcher and the Rainbow

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Fletcher and the Rainbow
Julia Rawlinson and Tiphanie Beeke
Graffeg

The latest in this series featuring Fletcher and his animal friends is again a delight. Young listeners will be swept along with the little fox in his determined effort to find the rainbow before it disappears, gone in the rainy autumn mist. He hopes that if he’s able to find it he could help it shine forever rather than as his mum had said, “soon be gone”.

Through the dripping wood he goes soon coming upon birds giving themselves a final feed before setting off to fly south. They tell him that the rainbow’s end is at Hedgehog’s nest and Fletcher hastens on his way.

His search takes him next to Squirrel, also preparing for winter; then as he tumbles into the stream where Squirrel has helpfully sent him, Goose. She’s doubtful when Fletcher tells her that the rainbow has fallen in the stream but helps him look nonetheless. They do see a reflection but it’s a learning experience for Fletcher.

Finally as he hurries past the rabbits the little fox sees …

but even then the rainbow eludes him.

Stopping now, Fletcher reflects on his search and how the rainbow’s led him through the woods and he decides he can at least create a rainbow memorial …

All his friends are happy to assist and together they create the most gorgeous autumn rainbow …

Whether you want a story to introduce to young children the scientific ideas connected with rainbows or the natural world in autumn, hope and determination, or creative problem solving, this is a lovely starting point. Most important though, it’s a sweet, uplifting book for sharing and pausing to delight in the captivating, richly hued scenes of Fletcher’s journey. and that sparkling finale spread.

Run Like a Girl

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Run Like a Girl
Danielle Brown, illustrated by Robin Shields
Button Books

With an illustration by Robin Shields on every spread, 2x Paralympic Gold Medallist, able-bodied Commonwealth Games medallist and champion of inclusion, Danielle Brown presents a look at the lives and achievements of 50 incredibly talented women from around the world of various ethnicities, ages and abilities.

No matter the sport, what these women all have in common is passion and perseverance and these qualities are what matter most of all. Resilience too is key, for success doesn’t come without something of a struggle.

Some of those featured have been honoured by their countries. For instance Olympic gold medal winning boxer Nicola Adams has an OBE,

while hockey player, captain and Olympic gold medallist Kate Richardson-Walsh has received an OBE and carried the TeamGB flag at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Triathlete, cyclist and rock climber Karen Darke not only has an MBE and a paralympic gold medal, but she also studied the gold content in rocks for a geology doctorate. She’s never let a fall down a cliff while climbing that left her paralysed and unable to walk again, hold her back. ‘Ability is a state of mind, not a state of body’ is her mantra.

Defying both terrorist threats and cultural restrictions, squash player Maria Toorpakai from Pakistan dressed like a boy when she was four in order to play outside and when she began playing squash she was often bullied and bruised by other players, received death threats from the Taliban at sixteen but has now, thanks to support from Canadian squash player Jonathon Power, become Pakistan’s top female squash player. She’s also set up a foundation that aims to create opportunities for children in remote communities to reach their potential: “I want to tell girls that fear is taught. You are born free and you are born brave,” she says.

Tracey Neville has been a netball player and England coach; Stephanie Frappart a soccer referee of women’s and men’s matches, and the first woman to officiate at a major European men’s match are also featured.

No matter the sporting interest of the young reader, they’ll likely find it represented in this inspiring book that is essentially all about following your dreams and exceeding expectations and goals. With the Olympics just over and Paris 2024 to look forward to, youngsters can browse the narrative information and biographical details of the spotlighted women herein. Never say never … for as swimmer Yusra Mardini who became a member of the 2016 Refugee Olympic team says, “I want everyone not to give up on their dreams. Even if it’s impossible, you never know what will happen.”