Author jillrbennett

The Whispering Stones

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The Whispering Stones
Saviour Pirotta, illustrated by Davide Ortu
Maverick Arts Publishing

Following on from The Stolen Spear, Wolf is back in his village and now knows that he wants to become a healer like Moon, the current village shaman.

It’s Moon he confides in and the healer is encouraging, offering to become his guide and teacher. Not so however Moon’s son, Rain, who considers it his right to assist and follow his father.

First Moon asks Wolf to accompany him to return the spear from the first story to its rightful owner, now a skeleton in the House of the Dead. Therein he receives a gift. It’s the bird-skull amulet that once hung around the dead healer’s neck.

This amulet gives Wolf seeing-dreams – visions that are not always what they first appear so Moon tells the lad, and if wrongly interpreted could have fatal consequences. A warning to heed if ever there was one.

Then Moon invites Wolf to go with him to a secret shaman ceremony in honour of the Time of Wolf Moon, further infuriating Rain.

During the ceremony Moon is poisoned after drinking from the bowl he’d given to Wolf and inevitably the boy is blamed.

In order to clear his name and save his mentor’s life, Wolf must take the shaman with him and search for a cure. It’s a journey that is long, hard and dangerous, taking them far from their island home

to the Whispering Stones.

Once again this is a gripping tale during which its young protagonist narrator learns much about himself, about the importance of choices and their consequences, about acceptance of past mistakes and the ability to learn from them, and about the power of friendship. And the good thing is that the story ends with Wolf, in the company of his trusted friend, Crow, about to embark on another adventure.

This is a historical series that is both exciting and with its Neolithic period setting, unobtrusively imparts some information about the ancient past.

Davide Ortu helps to bring Stone Age atmosphere to the book with his dramatic illustrations and amulet chapter headings.

Particularly recommended as a lower KS2 class read-aloud as well as for individual readers.

Eating Chips With Monkey / Super Stan

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Eating Chips With Monkey
Mark Lowery
Piccadilly Press

Ten-year-old Daniel absolutely loves fish and chips, almost as much as he loves his soft toy Monkey; and when the two are part and parcel of the same experience – like his family’s annual Chip Shop Championships, then things really can’t get much better.

They can however get a whole lot worse for during a trip to find the winning chip shop one November day, the lives of Daniel and his family are shattered by a terrible accident when the boy rushes out of the shop straight into the road.

Following his accident Daniel becomes withdrawn while members of his family struggle to cope with the accident’s impact on their own lives.

Then Dad decides to stage a kidnap or as he put it ‘just borrow’ the entire family and redo the Chip Shop Championships mentioned in Daniel’s notebook and in an effort to stimulate the boy’s senses revisit the five contenders. That entails driving all over the country from Norfolk to Bedfordshire, to Yorkshire and thence to Camden Town and finally King’s Cross.

Mark Lowery has created a story that is highly affecting and also funny – think chip-guzzling giraffe, Grandma ‘seizing the day’ with a Major, and designer food. His characterisation of all family members is such that each one truly comes to life on the page, while the portrayal of Daniel (who has autism) is empathetic and might surprise readers who have little of no experience of what this might mean in terms of behaviours.

No matter which way you like your chips served, you cannot but be swept up in this highly unusual family drama.

Super Stan
Elaine Wickson, illustrated by Chris Judge
Oxford University Press

This is the third episode in the life of Stan. All the space enthusiast boy wants to do is to be left in peace so he can watch the total solar eclipse that’s coming up soon but his younger brother Fred has a much more important mission that threatens to eclipse any plans that big bro. might have for the near future.

Fred has donned an eco-warrior hat and is determined to solve the plastic pollution crisis. Moreover he wants everyone else to get involved too.

Add to that Gran’s big announcement regarding her and a certain salsa instructor as well as a certain umbraphile named Roberta Macklin who Stan is determined to meet.

And what’s all that about a certain King prawn vandalising the local supermarket?

Readers will be amazed at how all these threads are woven so neatly together by the author in such a highly entertaining manner; not only that, for Chris Judge’s inventive infographics

are an integral part of this SUPERb adventure that is once again much more than the SUM of all its parts.

Go Stan, go! and, go Fred go! The planet needs you both.

Mole Hill

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Mole Hill
Alex Latimer
Oxford University Press

Alex Latimer has brilliantly combined two of young children’s favourite picture book topics into one splendid rhyming tale – Mole Hill.

Mole and his two children live happily in their cosy subterranean home until one morning the foul stench of diesel fumes pervades their molehill.

Mole surfaces to investigate and what he sees fills him with horror. There before him are three enormous trucks, Dozer grim and yellow, even larger, bright orange Excavator and a smaller red toughie, Loader.

As they move towards Mole’s mound with their scary sound Mole surprises the machines by taking a stand.

He issues a challenge to the threatening threesome

following it with some quick thinking and an instruction to dig for the bones of his last adversary.

What they unearth scares the daylights out of them

causing them to beat a very hasty retreat.

Safely back home Daddy Mole regales the event to the little moles. They however armed with some bedtime reading, are ready to challenge the veracity of his machine-scaring story.

The scale of Mole’s task is highlighted in Alex’s bright, bold images of the huge machines towering over the diminutive hero and I love too the sprinkling of minibeast onlookers that adorn every spread.

I Don’t Want To Be Quiet! / Mabel: A Mermaid Fable

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I Don’t Want To Be Quiet!
Laura Ellen Andersen
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

In the third of her ‘I Don’t Want … ‘ stories, Laura with the help of her young protagonist, explores what happens when instead of making the most noise you can in whatever situation you’re in,

you try something completely different, the possibilities of not making any sound at all and seeing what happens.

What the little girl who hates to be quiet discovers when she actually IS quiet is that there’s an enormous amount of fun to be had – inside your head,

out and about in the open air and in school too. And in fact it’s possible to hear all those hithertofore unheard gentle sounds

while still leaving times and places for making lots of noise.

A thought-provoking message delivered through an enormously enjoyable rhyming narrative and splendid brimming-over-with-energy illustrations; and it’s great for whole-hearted performance too.

Mabel: A Mermaid Fable
Rowboat Watkins
Chronicle Books

Mabel is different: her dad has a moustache – a very large one; her mum and sisters have small ones that curl at the ends, even her baby brother has a tiny one; but Mabel is entirely moustacheless. She’s so embarrassed she tries ‘hiding her nose behind jaunty shells and by wearing seaweed falsies, but this only made her feel like a clown.’

Having been called a ‘nudibranch (sea slug to you and me)’ by a taunting passing pufferfish, she decides there’s only one thing to do – hide.

While in hiding however, she encounters a seven-legged octopus (perhaps better termed a septopus) going by the name of Lucky. This fellow appendage-lacker soon becomes a firm friend and the two teach each other all manner of useful things.

An off-beat, warm-hearted tale of overcoming your worries and being yourself that’s full of wisdom and superbly illustrated. The undersea setting is splendidly wacky with a wealth of priceless minutiae to savour.

Magical Kingdom of Birds: The Flamingo Party / Little Owl Rescue

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Magical Kingdom of Birds: The Flamingo Party
Anne Booth, illustrated by Rosie Butcher
Oxford University Press Children’s Books

In this sixth adventure Maya, inheritor of a magical colouring book is feeling a tad jealous. Her best friend Saffron is keen to include new girl, Alicia in their plans for a carnival in the town.

To uplift her spirits she turns to her colouring book and onto its cover start appearing flamingos.: a ‘flamboyance of flamingos’ Maya thinks and very soon she finds herself drawn back to the Kingdom of Birds where a new adventure awaits the Keeper of the Book.

Once there she learns that Lord Astor is up to no good again, luring all the flamingos to his palace lake. It’s on account of their magnificent pink feathers he needs to create the splendid headdress he is planning to wear as self-appointed Carnival King.

It’s up to Maya and Astor’s niece, Willow to make the Lord Astor see the error of his ways at last .

I say last for it appears that this is the final story in this enchanting series although I won’t divulge what happens.

If you work with or know young readers who would enjoy the mix of magic and bird facts characteristic of Anne Booth’s Magical Kingdom of Birds, then I thoroughly recommend they meet problem-solving, loyal friend, bird-loving Maya.

As with the other titles this one concludes with a bird fact file and there’s a recipe for ‘Flamingo-pink cakes’. Adding to the delights as usual are Rosie Butcher’s beautiful page borders and enchanting illustrations.

Another series for a similar readership that also mixes magical happening with saving wildlife is the Little Animal Rescue series, the latest of which is:

Little Owl Rescue
Rachel Delahaye, illustrated by Jo Anne Davies
Little Tiger

Animal loving Fliss is enjoying a trip to the fairground with her longstanding friend, Gabriel, when she is suddenly launched into another rescue mission. This time it’s in Aliceville, a sweetcorn growing area of Texas.

She is led by a white owl into a woodland area that is being chopped down to grow more maize crops. The mother owl has a family of baby owlets that she gathers up and off they fly, all except one little chick that hasn’t yet got the hang of becoming airborne.

Now with dangerous creatures all around and night fast drawing in, Fliss has an important task to save the owlet she names Cookie and to do so she needs to help it learn to fly and much more besides.

Indeed the whole rescue operation turns out to be a pretty dangerous undertaking for both Fliss and the owlet. The former discovers the importance of listening and she’s not one to give up until she’s achieved what she set out to do.

With plenty of black and white illustrations by Jo Anne Davies this is an exciting addition to the series for young readers that both entertains and gently educates.

Find Tom in Time: Ancient Rome

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Find Tom in Time: Ancient Rome
Fatti Burke
Nosy Crow

Published in collaboration with The British Museum, this is another Fatti Burke search-and-find story that plunges young Tom and his adventure-loving archaeologist Granny Bea’s mischievous cat Digby back in time, on this occasion, by means of a coin from the time of Hadrian.

As with his previous adventure, Tom visits all the major sites and his first stop in Rome is the bustling market forum. Where though are Granny Bea and Digby? The search is on but there’s so much else to spot at the forum before moving on to the next location – Circus Maximus where there’s a chariot race under way.

From there Tom tries the beautiful Pantheon building,

a sculptor’s studio; a busy aqueduct building construction site, blocks of flats called insulae (Latin for island); then further up the street, the public baths.

Still Granny and Digby remain illusive so he tries the harbour, two villas – one with a banquet under way,

and even catches sight of the emperor in a chariot as he searches the street, finally ending up at the huge Colosseum amphitheatre. Could it be that here he’ll finally catch up Granny and her cat?

All ends happily of course with the three reunited and back in their own time.

Every alluring spread is packed with fine details to pore over as well as a list of items to find (from a bird nesting in a centurion’s helmet to a fainting lady) and plenty of facts in bite-sized chunks.
Also included – solutions (in case you can’t find all the 100+ items), a glossary and index.
Especially worth getting hold of if your child or class is studying Ancient Rome but it’s lots of immersive fun learning in any case. Perhaps just what’s needed right now.

The Train Mouse

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The Train Mouse
Uwe Timm, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Andersen Press

Translated by Rachel Ward, this is a new edition of Uwe Timm’s book first published in German in the 1980s that has now been given wonderful new witty illustrations by Axel Scheffler.

The story’s narrator is Stefan aka Nibbles aka The Train Mouse.

Nibbles had started life in the cellar of a house in Munich but redevelopment causes the mice to seek a new abode. As a result his family have to go out foraging for food in various parts of the city including the station.

For Nibbles, this accidentally leads to 18 months of journeying back and forth between Hamburg and Cologne in a train carriage.

One day though, the narrator hears the word Switzerland and he boards an Intercity train

bound to the country he considers mouse heaven. It’s at Basel his destination, that he meets another mouse named Wilhelm and has his dream about this new place well and truly shattered.

A new train takes them to their next stop, Paris, but the place is ridden with cats and Nibbles has no love of danger. Home and family beckon.

After more travelling and further fur-raising adventures both Nibbles and Wilhelm make it back to Hamburg

and thence to the Paradise Street home Nibbles had left so long back. But where is his family? Will they ever be re-united?

Perseverance, courage, resilience and friendship are at the heart of this charming and unusual reworking of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse tale for primary age readers.

Mermaid School: The Clamshell Show

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Mermaid School: The Clamshell Show
Lucy Courtenay, illustrated by Sheena Dempsey
Andersen Press

We’re back at Lady Sealia Foam’s Mermaid School where Marnie Blue is now well settled in and has two special friends Pearl and Orla (her enemy when Marnie started school).

Marnie is eagerly anticipating the forthcoming Clamshell Show particularly as it was there that her famous singer aunt, Christabel got her big break.

Now both Marnie and Orla are going to audition for the leading role of Queen Maretta.

Enter new pupil Gilly, she of the amazing voice. She too has set her sights on the star part and is prepared to resort to some tricky tactics to get what she wants. She also speaks fluent octopus and has a brother at a nearby educational establishment.

When Gilly learns that Christabel Blue is Marnie’s aunt things really start to hot up, so much so that it seems as though the long awaited Clamshell Show might not even take place at all.

Then who is the mysterious Arthur that Christabel is writing to when Marnie visits her recording studio?

There are plenty of twists and turns to keep young readers immersed in the undersea world of Mermaid Lagoon to the very last page of this second exciting adventure. Added to the fun are Sheena Dempsey’s drawings that bubble up on every spread.

Bob Goes Pop!

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Bob Goes Pop!
Marion Deuchars
Laurence King Publishing

Marion Deuchars’ artistic bird Bob returns for a third story.

Herein he’s none too pleased when Owl informs him that there’s a new artist in town – one Roy the Sculptor – and by all accounts his works are creating a stir among the local population.

“But I’m the best artist in town” mutters Bob setting out to confront his rival.

Eager to strut his stuff, Roy introduces Bob to some of his creations and what he sees makes our resident artist’s feathers stand on end.

“HAMMYbammyCHEESYbunny” and ‘SHUTTLEbuttleKNICKKNOCKScuddle” indeed thinks Bob, not being able to resist pointing out what’s patently obvious:
“ … they’re just ordinary objects except bigger.”

Determined to hold on to his top bird status the newbie issues a challenge to Bob.  Egged on by Bat and Owl, some fiercely competitive sculpting takes place with Bob determined to win back his best artist crown.

After a few days Bob tries a bit of subterfuge that results in a woof woof face off …

culminating in a very loud POP!

With Roy’s evident distress, Bob sees the error of his ways and decides that teamwork might be the way ahead. Now talents pooled, the pair can jointly create THE world’s most incredible art and enjoy a terrific friendship too.

Through this thought provoking, stylishly illustrated story Marion Deuchars introduces youngsters to the world of pop art and the whole vexed question ‘What is art?’

The Huffalots

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The Huffalots
Eve Coy
Andersen Press

Eve Coy’s picture book slices of family life are wonderful. First we had Looking After William and now this new one portrays two small siblings and their mother with the focus mainly on the former.

Having been woken from their slumbers by mum, the brother and sister are in a really grumpy mood – totally at odds with the world and one another it seems.

“No!” is probably their most used word until, during breakfast something magical happens and they transform from Huffalots to Huffalittles.

“No” is still said but maybe rather less as they head to the park accompanied in the background by their mother.

It’s there that magical transformation number two happens: the Huffalittles morph into Lovealittles and later comes the third transformation.

Back home again the Lovealots truly enjoy being together, so much so that they get rather carried away making lots of noise and mess.

Guess who, thanks to sheer exhaustion has now become a rather large Huffalot?

Maybe those two little ones can work their own magical transformation so that Mum becomes Lovealot number three.

This reviewer assuredly is a Lovealot when it comes to this brilliantly observed, superbly illustrated story that will certainly strike a chord with parents and their small offspring.

I can’t imagine a single Mum who wouldn’t relate to Eve’s oh so realistic scenes of the ups and downs of family life with small children.

The Diddle That Dummed

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The Diddle That Dummed
Kes Gray and Fred Blunt
Hodder Children’s Books

Oh my goodness, this book has given me the first really big laugh I’ve had since the lockdown, It’s utterly hilarious team Kes and Fred, and appealed most strongly to my sense of humour as well as to my divergent nature.

So let’s meet the cast: first is musician Flinty Bo Diddle who at the time our story starts is busy composing a tune to play upon his fiddle. Things go swimmingly at first with twenty nine diddles doing just as they ought but there has to be one doesn’t there, for the thirtieth note decides to make itself a dum.

How dare it – and half way through the tune at that.

A furious Flinty demands that the culprit confess. It does and the music starts up again with the dumming diddle consenting to another try. You can guess what happens with regard to Flinty,

and now all the other diddles turn on the dummer; the poor thing seems rather dumfounded but suggests being put first.

Diddles duly reshuffled, off they go again – err? Oops!

Maybe being placed as the final note might do the trick but …

What about changing the tune altogether suggests the dumming diddler. Flinty agrees though clearly a change of instrument is required.

The dums go well – for a while at least then …

Now those adults who happen to be teachers might recognise the sudden urge for a loo visit that is requested by our dear dumming diddle

especially as it precipitates a chain reaction.

The ending is beyond priceless and almost made my partner fall off his stool as I read it to him over coffee.

Brilliantly bonkers and a perfect antidote to lockdown blues.

Brave Adventures Little Girl / Where Do Teachers Go At Night? /Where Else Do Teachers Go At Night?

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Brave Adventures Little Girl
Iresha Herath and Oscar Fa
Little Steps Publishing

There’s often a very special bond between young children and their grandparents and so it is with four-year old Anika who visits her grandmother (Achi) and grandfather (Seeya) every Sunday.

Anika doesn’t feel brave when she tries new things: ‘I always feel funny in my tummy’ she tells Seeya.

But she loves to listen to Seeya’s stories of adventures he’s had in various parts of the world.

On this occasion he uses these to talk about how when he was faced with trying new things in various parts of the world he visited, he too frequently had a funny feeling in his tummy. Nevertheless he did the things anyway – swimming in a big lake being followed by what he imagined to be a crocodile,

leaving Sri Lanka to go to university in England and visiting Russia with his university for instance.

His mention of the Olympics brings Anika back to the present as she tells Seeya about learning to hop for the ‘Kinder Olympics’. (Practising hopping caused her to trip and fall during her visit) and she feels reassured by all she’s heard especially when her grandparents agree to come and watch her participate in the Kinder Olympics.

With Oscar Fa’s unusual illustrations that have gentleness and warmth about them, this sensitively told story inspired by the author’s own Sri Lankan family has at its heart loving family relationships, adventure, fear and over-coming of same but above all, love.

Also recently out from Little Steps Publishing

Where Do Teachers Go at Night?
Where Else Do Teachers Go at Night?
Harriet Cuming and Sophie Norsa

When I taught four year olds some of them were convinced that I slept at school. Now though we have the great reveal: two zany books written by Harriet Cuming experienced teacher tell in jaunty rhyme, what happens to the staff after the pupils have all departed from school for the day.

Those teachers certainly don’t confine themselves to one location either: they snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef,

skinny dip in the Caribbean, there’s even a spot of crocodile wrestling in Kakadu.

The second book has the energetic crew off on a new round of after school adventuring . There’s ice-skating in Iceland,

mountain climbing in the Andes as well as butterfly chasing in New Guinea. This reviewer hasn’t participated in any of those activities but has visited four of the locations mentioned in the books and  ridden several elephants in India, albeit not in Mumbai.

Sophie Norsa’s watercolour and crayon illustrations show these wacky activities in such a way that children come away feeling they know something about each of the adventurers’ characters and eccentricities.

Fun and gently educational in a geographical sort of way.

Thomas and the Royal Engine

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Thomas and the Royal Engine
Egmont

This is a TV tie-in book with a cover picture ‘in the Awdry tradition’ and features illustrations (stills) from the Channel 5 Milkshake special episode commemorating Thomas’s 75th birthday. It was broadcast on May 2nd and introduced by Prince Harry who loved the Reverend Awdry’s Thomas and Friends stories as a child.

Thomas the Tank Engine and Sir Topham Hatt aka the Fat Controller are to make a very special journey to London where the Fat Controller is to be presented with an award by the Queen. Thomas has been scrubbed till he gleams and Peep! Peep! off he goes quickly realising he’s taken a wrong line.

Back on track but with a few scratches on his shiny paintwork, on they chuff and soon a large tender engine named Duchess steams up behind, in a tearing hurry. So much so that both Thomas and the Fat Controller are splattered all over with very muddy water.

But there are yet more difficulties to be overcome en route and Thomas ends up having to do some very difficult pushing and heaving before he final reaches London’s Victoria Station.

Have he and the Fat Controller made it on time? And who is the very important passenger stepping out of Duchess’ carriages?

For the countless adults who have grown up with the Reverend Awdry train stories this book will be a nostalgic journey and I suspect they will love sharing it with little ones as much as young listeners will enjoy hearing this new celebratory adventure.

Building a Home

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Building a Home
Polly Faber and Klas Fahlén
Nosy Crow

Most young children are fascinated with construction – their own and that which they see on a building site, especially all the big machines, so this book will certainly appeal.

It’s superbly illustrated by Klas Fahlén with just the right amount of detail and action,

and full of interesting characters – its great to see both men and women involved throughout – as readers follow the transformation of an old, edge-of-town office block into fine new homes for lots of people.

Writer, Polly Faber talks directly to her intended young audience including occasional rhyme and alliteration in her engaging narrative. She’s also included a pictorial glossary of the people and machines involved in the building’s transformation.

A thoroughly inclusive book with enormous potential for encouraging conversation and questioning, this is one to add to nursery, KS1 and family collections; especially the latter just now when one of the few things not completely closed down is building work, at least if my locality is anything to go by.

My Pet T-Rex

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My Pet T-Rex
Fabi Fantiago
Orchard Books

Nobody supposes that looking after a new pet is easy but when young Kiki becomes the owner of Petunia, it might just be that it’s an overly ambitious project, for Petunia is none other than a massive T-Rex, albeit a supposedly friendly one.

Cleanliness, comfort, feeding and of course, cleaning up after her are certainly going to keep Kiki pretty busy;

and apparently even dinosaurs need to visit the vet for their vaccinations. Now there’s a thing.

When it comes to basic training it’s important that your pet doesn’t take your instructions too literally and no matter how careful you are about the words used, there may be the occasional misunderstanding …

Exercise for so large a creature is absolutely crucial although it might be as well, should you visit the Dino Park, to steer clear of certain of the amusements on offer. Oh dear. It looks as though this pet care business is proving rather too much for a certain T-Rex owner.

However even dinosaurs have feelings and roaring at them might just make them feel unwanted, for now Petunia has disappeared, but where to? Maybe she just wants to make friends again …

Full of gigglesome moments, Fabi’s new story will be a huge hit with the countless young dinosaur enthusiasts out there; her illustrations are an absolute hoot. I often wonder on receiving a new dinosaur book whether youngsters will want yet another dino. story but I wouldn’t mind betting that the answer will be a resounding YES! when it comes to this one.

Talking to the Moon

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Talking to the Moon
S.E.Durrant
Nosy Crow

What with Dad’s repairs to her bedroom and two year old twins to contend with, home life for Iris has become way too chaotic and stressful so she’s temporarily living with her highly unusual grandmother Mimi.

There though Iris soon discovers challenges and chaos of a different kind. Gran wants her to go swimming in the freezing cold sea and there’s no hot water to warm you up afterwards; and the place is full of bits and pieces Mimi has collected over the years, mostly boxes of old photos taken and developed by Mimi herself.

It’s not long before Iris begins to notice increasingly strange behaviour on Mimi’s part and it surely can’t all be down to her quirky nature. ‘It feels like Mimi’s getting holes in her memory. It’s scary,’ she tells readers.

Into the story steps the irritating, marble-obsessed boy Mason, who has observed some of Mimi’s behaviour from next door.

Despite all her intentions to wait until secondary school before forming a proper friendship, the two start spending time together. Mason’s granddad too has memory loss and the boy becomes increasingly involved in iris’s efforts to unravel the mystery of Coral, shown in one of Mimi’s photographs. Who is she and what happened to her?

Tenderly written, S.E. Durrant’s poignant story gently tackles the difficult subject of dementia and at the same time explores how the 11 year old narrator navigates her own tricky family circumstances.

We really feel we’re standing right beside Iris as she attempts to protect her beloved Mimi while dealing with the unsettling nature of her own life.

This utterly compelling book finishes with a beautiful and uplifting scene on Brighton’s seafront that brought a tear to the eye of this reviewer.

Pets and Their Famous Humans

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Pets and Their Famous Humans
Ana Gallo and Katherine Quinn
Prestel

All kinds of people keep pets. Now here’s a rather quirky book that will appeal to pet lovers and those with an interest in famous people especially.

Author, Ana Gallo, introduces us to the pets of 20 artists, authors, scientists and the odd fashion designer.

Some were the conventional kind of pets such as cats and dogs.
Virginia Woolf for instance was a dog lover, her most famous pooch being her pedigree cocker spaniel, Pinka, given to her by fellow author, Vita Sackville West. Pinka even played a significant part in one of Virginia’s books.

Another dog lover was Sigmund Freud about whom we learn a fair amount alongside finding out about his helper in his treatment room for seven years, red coated chow chow, Jofi.

Other pets were rather more unlikely. Take the two crocodiles that Dorothy Parker kept in her bath; or Grip the talking raven owned by Charles Dickens. Thanks to his sons Grip became a leading character in Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge, the bird was also the inspiration for Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The Raven.

Did you know that one of artist Frida Kahlo’s most loved pets was her fawn Granizo that appeared in two of her most famous paintings, once as a little fawn and then six years later as a fully grown animal in The Wounded Deer.

Each entry has a full page illustration of pet and owner by Katherine Quinn, opposite which is a page of biographic information headed by a small picture of the relevant pet or pets.

A fascinating and novel way of bringing the humans to life for primary age readers.

Audrey Orr and the Robot Rage

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Audrey Orr and the Robot Rage
Jenny Moore
Maverick Arts Publishing

After a decade of competition entering, Audrey Orr’s mother has finally won a competition prize worth having – a luxury cruise to Norway.

Then Audrey discovers a huge problem: the trip is during term time and her aptly named headteacher, Mr Stickler, won’t countenance giving her time off. He even threatens expulsion: Audrey is devastated.

She’ll have to stay at home with her Grandad.

But then, Grandad notices an unlikely advert in his copy of ‘Men’s Knitting Weekly’ from a firm claiming to make robo-twins. It might just be that he’s found the answer to Audrey’s dilemma of how to be both in school and on the holiday at the same time: a robo-supply pupil created by Professor Droyde. Awesome!

Or is she?

Pretty soon, the twin is up to no good switching herself in an attempt to go on the cruise, not altogether a clever idea especially since the Orr parents are let’s say a trifle eccentric to say the least.

Luckily though Grandpa puts paid to Awesome’s plan and the real Audrey departs with Mum and Dad. Or maybe not.

Surely there can’t now be two Audreys aboard. Perhaps the  passenger who said she saw a girl climbing up the side of the ship is delusional. How Awful!

And Awful is how things get as the villainous robot and the real Audrey vie for control.

There are surprises aplenty in this madcap tale that is both funny – think fungal foot infections and balls of knitting wool – and a tad sinister. At the heart of it all though is a loving family and especially notable is the fond relationship between Audrey and Grandad.

High drama at sea for sure, and definitely not of the usual piratical kind, This reviewer’s now off in search of some of those Soft-Scoop 2000 flavours mentioned just a few times in the story.

The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide

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The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide
Siena Castellon, illustrated by Rebecca Burgess
Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Sienna Castellon, the seventeen-year-old author is an award winning anti-bullying campaigner and autism advocate; she is on the autism spectrum, and is also dyspraxic and dyslexic, and has ADHD. She is also gifted in physics and maths.

As we learn, her journey thus far has been anything but easy, so who better to write this book subtitled ‘How to grow up Awesome and Autistic’ than she, especially, as she writes in the first chapter, ‘I view my autism as a strength and as an advantage, a modern day superpower.”

Essentially Siena has compiled a comprehensive and detailed manual for readers of twelve plus about living the best life a young female with autism possibly can in a predominantly neurotypical world.

She covers such diverse topics as embracing who you are then deciding with whom to share your autism and how, to clothes and fashion ,

dating, sex and sexuality.

Other sections focus on bullying: face to face

and cyberbullying are covered in separate chapters and strategies for coping with both are discussed.

Self-esteem is key throughout: people with autism do not need pitying, they need understanding is another key message. The neurotypical brain is wired to socialise; in contrast most autistic brains need a fair amount of time alone for the mind to settle and the senses to be soothed.

On the topic of senses, Siena devotes a whole chapter to ‘Managing your sensory sensitivities and sensory overload.’  Siena mentions the relatively simple steps that some supermarkets, cinemas, airports and the like have taken to create a more inclusive environment for people with autism.

Throughout the authorial voice remains both earnest and compassionate; and in between her narrative are some comic style pages drawn by Rebecca Burgess that encapsulate what has been said in a particular section.

Yes, this book has a specific target audience in mind; however the insights it offers need to be shared with everyone. I’m a primary/foundation stage teacher and over the years have taught dozens of children with autism (mainly boys) and have some degree of understanding of neurodiversity. Nonetheless I welcomed the insights I gained from this guide and thoroughly recommend that all educators, parents, indeed anyone who hopes to ensure that all females on the autism spectrum have the very best possible chance to flourish, should read it and carefully consider this enormously wise young woman’s words. Surely that is every one of us, isn’t it?

Hugo / Cat Ladies

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Hugo
Atinuke and Birgitta Sif
Walker Books

Atinuke uses an unusual narrator for her heartwarming story that’s set in and around a small, urban park, it’s Hugo the pigeon. Hugo is a park warden and every day, through all the changing seasons he patrols the park looking after various humans –

that’s his particular Spring task, while in summer he has to clean up the mess left by picnickers and his autumn days are occupied with child care (to give their mothers a rest).

On chilly wintry days Hugo sees it as his role to visit the apartments near the park to remind the residents that spring isn’t too far off.

At one window though the curtains never open but Hugo knows someone hides whenever he knocks.

Then one day the curtains part to reveal a small girl whom Hugo treats to his ‘Spring-is-coming’ dance moves.

Not long after the bird is late to arrive and the child leans right out to look for him. So enthusiastic is his ‘here I am’ dance that Hugo fails to notice another arrival.

Happily Hugo lives to finish his story but receives an injury that completely changes the lonely life of his young rescuer, for the better. No wonder Hugo loves his job.

Birgitta Sif’s illustrations are the perfect complement for this offbeat tale – gently humorous and alive with deliciously quirky details at every page turn; and her colour palette is always beautiful, no matter which season she portrays.

Cat Ladies
Susi Schaefer
Abrams Books for Young Readers

Here’s a delightfully tongue-in-cheek tale of Princess, a well and truly pampered moggy: she has not one but four ladies with whom she shares her time. That involves plenty of work but Princess doesn’t mind for she receives more than her share of treats for participating in ‘grooming days’ with Millie, running errands with Molly,

and a spot of bird watching with Merthel. Band practice time spent with Maridl is the noisiest activity but Princess has ‘everything under control’.

Then one day, horror of horrors, Princess discovers that her favourite napping spot has been usurped by a ‘stray’. Not only that though, this creature seems to have taken over other roles too.

When her efforts to retrain the ladies fail, Princess ups and leaves in a jealous sulk. However things don’t quite go smoothly when she searches for an alternative place to take her catnap and the moggy finds herself in a very uncomfortable situation.

Fortunately the young interloper has an acute sense of hearing and picks up the ‘MEOWW!!!’ issuing from the feline and all ends happily with four ladies becoming five.

Susi Schaeffer’s bold, lively digital art is given a textured feel by the addition of hand-painted designs; the older human characters are delightfully eccentric and the story will appeal particularly to cat lovers young and not so young.

The Longest Strongest Thread / King of the Classroom

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The Longest Strongest Thread
Inbal Leitner
Scallywag Press

Looking for ways to keep in touch with those of your loved ones who are far away? Inbal Leitner’s young girl narrator of this lovely story might give you some ideas as she visits her beloved Grandma to say goodbye before the family moves to their new home far away from Grandma’s sewing studio.

Once there she sets to work drawing a map to enable Gran to find her, as well as creating the means by which she can carry out the long journey.

Meanwhile her grandmother is also hard at work fashioning a very special warm garment to give to her granddaughter as a parting gift.

The farewell is a poignant one tenderly portrayed in Inbal Leitner’s spare first person narrative and her affecting illustrations rendered in a limited colour palette that is particularly effective in conveying the feelings of the two characters.

Her story, despite the parting, ends on an upbeat note of hope and looking forward.

King of the Classroom
Derrick Barnes and Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Scallywag Press

Starting nursery is a big step and for some a scary one.

For the little boy in this book though, his parents are doing their utmost to boost his morale. His mum has dubbed him ‘King of the Classroom’ at the start of his right royal day.

So named, the boy with a huge smile washes, brushes his teeth and dresses in his chosen gear ready for breakfast with his enormously proud parents before riding aboard ‘a big yellow carriage’ to ‘a grand fortress.’
Once at nursery, he receives a warm welcome from his caring teacher and enthusiastic friendly classmates, before everyone gathers to share ‘important matters’.

Then it’s time to play, begin to form friendships and to imagine. There are opportunities to show special kindness,

to rest and to let rip with music and dancing.

This joyful day is portrayed through Derrick Barnes’ upbeat text and Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s energetic, vibrant illustrations bursting with bright hues, textures and patterns.

An unusual starting nursery story that will surely go a long way towards allaying any first day nerves little ones might have in the run up to their important milestone.

The Skies Above My Eyes

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The Skies Above My Eyes
Charlotte Guillain and Yuval Zommer
Words & Pictures

This follow-up to The Street Beneath My Feet uses the same double-sided format unfolding to 2.5 metres only now we’re directed to look at what’s above the Earth’s surface.

Standing alongside the child at the bottom of Zuval Zommer’s continuous concertina illustration readers are taken on an exciting journey from ground level, billions of kilometres up and right out to the farthest reaches of the solar system and back again.

We travel past high-rise buildings, through the layers of the atmosphere to the imaginary Karman line to where 400 kilometres above the Earth is the International Space Station and thence to the Moon and out into the Solar System where the planets are found.

Beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt that includes Pluto and even further out beyond the Solar System we can see hundreds of billions of star-filled galaxies.

 

After a period of stargazing, it’s time to travel back earthwards. We might spy comets, meteoroids, the Aurora Borealis and lower down, migrating birds on the wing;

and if we look very carefully, ballooning spiders drifting parachute-like a few metres above Earth as well as, rather more easy to spot, mountain sheep on a rocky escarpment.

Our long, long journey comes to an end on a grassy hillock where alongside the little girl we saw as the start, we can relax and enjoy nature’s bounties that surround us.

Charlotte’s narrative is certainly fascinating and informative as her enthusiasm sweeps us up and away. However it’s Yuval’s richly detailed art that ensures that the reader is not only informed but filled with awe and wonder about so many aspects of the mind-stretching, The Skies Above My Eyes.

Why not step outside with your children and see that you can spy in the sky …

(I missed this super book when it first came out but thank you to the publisher for sending it out now.)

One Day On Our Blue Planet … In the Outback

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One Day on Our Blue Planet … In the Outback
Ella Bailey
Flying Eye Books

Wow! I was absolutely astonished at the wealth of creatures large and small that have their homes on the great Australian outback, the location of Ella Bailey’s latest visit in her One Day on Our Blue Planet series.

Readers are invited to spend twenty four hours viewing the diurnal and nocturnal activities of, in particular, one of the little red kangaroos.

These animals seem to be on the go from sunrise till well into the night and like other marsupials, the does have a particular role in caring for and protecting their offspring in the dusty desert terrain especially when little ones become a tad too adventurous.

As we follow these fascinating animals, learning something of their habits, through the day and across the spreads to the billabong for a much needed drink, they encounter a huge variety of birds, reptiles and mammals.

(The endpapers show and name all the animals depicted as the gentle narrative unfolds).

Like previous titles, with its engaging illustrations and chatty narrative style, this is a super way to introduce youngsters to a location most of them are unlikely to visit for real; it will surely engender that feeling of awe and respect for the wildlife that inhabits the vast, remote interior part of Australia.

Ready Rabbit?

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Ready Rabbit?
Fiona Roberton
Hodder Children’s Books

Why is Rabbit hiding away inside a big box instead of getting ready to go to the party?

Seemingly the poor little creature is anything but keen on going; in fact he’s flatly refusing.

What’s needed is some gentle mind-changing persuasion and reassurance with regard to loud noise, the possibility of strange beasties lurking, as well as that no meanies will be present.

Best to focus on the exciting things that will be part and parcel of the party; things like friends,

yummy cake, games, dancing, balloons, presents and most important Rabbit’s favourite food.

Mind changed, now little Rabbit just needs to decide on what to wear and then outfit chosen,

off he goes.
The party proves to be all his encouraging adult (off scene) promised but now it appears that there’s another guest in need of a bit of encouragement …

Beautifully observed and portrayed, Fiona’s sweet story is delightful. It should go a long way towards showing anxious little ones how their big worries can disappear if like Rabbit, they practice positive thinking.

A winner for sure in every way.

The Garden of Inside-Outside

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The Garden of Inside-Outside
Chiara Mezzalama and Régis Lejonc (trans. Sarah Ardizzone)
Book Island

Inspired by the author’s own childhood experience (in 1980 her father was appointed Italian ambassador to Tehran when Iran was at war with Iraq), this is an absolutely wonderful graphic novel style presentation with suberb illustrations by Régis Lejonc.

Chiara and her brother spent their days within a garden of an ambassadorial residence surrounded by high walls. Inside this garden with its fountains, pomegranate trees, a pond with an ancient carp, and a wealth of hiding places they were safe from the violent war that raged Outside.

One day while playing in their garden the children spy a young boy peering through the iron gate. He takes a risk and climbs over the wall. Chiara’s brother and their dog run away but despite having no language in common, Chiara and the boy whose name is Massoud, strike up a friendship.

Much alarmed, Chiara’s brother wants her to inform their parents but she keeps quiet and her new friend becomes ‘ the Persian prince of Outside-Inside’ while Chiara is a lion-taming princess; their garden his sanctuary.

But when Chiara tries to mix inside and outside the story suddenly turns and their friendship comes under a threat of her own making, her friendly gesture seemingly spurned; or is it?

Powerfully written and crafted with consummate skill, (this is a superb translation by Sarah Ardizzone), we readers really feel as though we’re standing behind Chiara’s head as she tells her enormously thought-provoking story. The illustrations truly do evoke the tranquilly of the inside sanctuary and the dark horrors and fears of the war as it rages in the city outside.

I’ve never seen anything quite like this before: what a wonderful demonstration that friendships truly can transcend boundaries and walls against all the odds.

You Can’t Count On Dinosaurs!

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You Can’t Count On Dinosaurs!
Philip Ardagh and Elissa Elwick
Walker Books

Subtitled An Almost Counting Book this zany story begins with Rex. a mischievous little T-Rex. He’s quickly joined by Patty and the two play a game of chase. Onto the scene appears Brian, a cute-looking little fellow; hold on though, he’s vanished. That surely isn’t the reason Rex is burping, or is it?

Okay, on with the count: enter stage right, Steggy closely followed by Argy. Hurrah we’re up to four, though maybe splatted Patty doesn’t count.

Seemingly she does and the four decide a bit of aquatic amusement would be in order, courtesy of good old Argy.

While so engaged a pretender appears on the scene. Rumbled! Pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but Terry has some news for his dino. pals concerning a certain Rex. Apparently this dinosaur is able to fly …

Hang on, I thought this was a counting book and this reviewer’s lost count so needs to follow the instruction here …

However no matter how hard you try and how good your one to one correspondence is, by the time you reach the final spread, you won’t get ten dinosaurs (unless of course you want to count in the one in a certain Rex’s enormous belly. No wonder the author chose to call his stomping romp You Can’t Count on Dinosaurs.

All this madness and mayhem is shown vividly portrayed in Elissa Elwick’s arrestingly coloured scenes of this prehistoric perambulation that offers fun, and sometimes tricky, lessons in counting and conversation for your little humans.

The more scientifically minded among them can try getting their tongues around the real identities of the frolickers captioned on the endpapers.

Planet SOS

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Planet SOS
Marie G. Rohde
What on Earth Books

Our planet is under serious threat, most of us would acknowledge that and in her cleverly conceived book Marie Rohde presents 22 different aspects of this alarming crisis in a novel manner giving each a distinct persona – monsters inspired by mythology, fairy tale, folklore and popular culture, making the whole enterprise accessible as well as unique.

So let’s now hear from some of these dastardly creatures that speak directly to us.

The depletion of the ozone layer is the work of the Ozone Serpent chomping its way through earth’s protective gaseous layer.

Atmosdragon is a bragging beast that talks of human actions causing the release of greenhouse gases and global warming. Like all the others this speaker has relied on a close alliance with we humans, and is starting to fear for its continuing existence. Like all the others too, Atmosdragon is accompanied by an identity card ‘with a host of symbols (there’s a key for interpretation), icons showing the activities that can halt, or hinder further environmental harm.

Deforestation is the world of the Logre. This destructive beastie lays waste forests for agriculture, timber production and development, boasting that human efforts to halt its damage are futile. We must prove Logre wrong, for the absorption of carbon dioxide is crucial.

Monsters lurk in the water too; take the Plaken with its all-invading tentacles formed from thousands of tonnes of plastic debris – a massive threat to marine life and birds.

The illustrations are truly arresting and we’re also shown a small vignette of each mythical being that was the inspiration for the particular menacing monster sprawling across much of its double spread.

The three final spreads give a world map marking the locations of the various monsters with a time line indicating when the particular ecological threats were first recognised, a glossary and a card index of all the beasties and how they might be defeated.

There is a huge amount of information packed between the covers of this book that will surely galvanise young eco-warriors. It’s rich in potential for cross-curricular exploration in school too.

Superkitty Versus Mousezilla

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Superkitty Versus Mousezilla
Hannah Whitty and Paula Bowles
Simon & Schuster Children’s Books

Superkitty is back in a new adventure – hurrah! In case you’ve not met this particular superhero before, she heads up a team of assorted animals collectively called the Sensational Superheroes.

Now Kitty (our narrator) has called the crew together in the office to give them the day off to join in the Big City’s Picnic Party. Of course, they can’t go without stocking up on some goodies. Their first stop is Mr Fudge’s sweet shop. Horror of horrors! All the sweets have disappeared; similarly all the bottles in Mr Fizz’s pop shop have been drained

and the bakery has mere crumbs to offer. The owner Mrs Appleton says she has it on the mayor’s authority that mice are responsible.

Superkitty has her doubts; however her team is quickly on the case searching the city starting at the cheese shop.

Suddenly a booming sound fills the air and shortly after, the investigators come upon a massive Mousezilla clutching something or someone.

It looks as though Kitty may have been right in not jumping to conclusions.

Hannah’s Kitty is indeed a wise and determined character; this humorous tale warns against not accepting things at face value – the notion of fake news raises its head too. Add to the mix Paula’s terrific, detailed illustrations that little ones will adore and some, especially the particularly playful scene in the cheese shop, will give adult sharers a good giggle too.

All though will enjoy pondering upon the possibilities that arise with the new additions to Superkitty’s team; she’ll most certainly have her paws full.

Super Happy Magic Forest and the Humongous Fungus

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Super Happy Magic Forest and the Humongous Fungus
Matty Long
Oxford University Press Children’s Books

Matty Long’s Super Happy Magic Forest series has grown from picture books into a spin-off young fiction fantasy of over 180 pages.

Once again it’s a splendidly silly frolic with a host of wacky characters not least of which are Blossom the unicorn, fairy Twinkle, a gnome named Herbert, a mushroom called Trevor and Hoofies the faun who considers himself leader of this group – the five Super Happy Heroes.

As the story starts the residents of Super Happy Magic Forest are in festival mood with its residents in frolicking mode.

Suddenly into their midst crashes the Rainbow Dragon and there’s clearly something very wrong with the creature.

Before you can say ‘quest’ the Super Happy Heroes find themselves charged with finding out what has made the dragon so poorly.

They soon come face-to-face with the dastardly red-eyed and highly toxic Fungellus a gigantic evil mushroom whose spores are poisoning the forest.

Seems as though there’s a crisis to avert for it’s those very spores that are responsible for the Rainbow Dragon’s condition.

In order to revive the comatose creature and indeed save the forest from total doom the S H Heroes will need to collect the five antidote ingredients on Dr Shroomsworth’s list …

But will Trevor give in to Fungellus’s dastardly temptation or will he remain true to his fellow Heroes and thus discover a better way to boost his self-worth?

With daftness in bucketloads including priceless illustrations bursting with speech bubbles, this book is a wonderful antidote to the present corona virus induced gloom. Can anyone apart from this reviewer see any parallels between the two scenarios?

Elephant In My Kitchen!

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Elephant In My Kitchen!
Smriti Halls and Ella Okstad
Egmont

‘There’s an elephant in my kitchen’ informs the child narrator of Smriti’s rhyming story but that’s not all. There’s been a veritable invasion of the house by wild animals and they’re doing such annoying things as bouncing on the bed and playing badminton;

but much worse – one has taken the liberty of having a dump when our narrator is absolutely bursting for a wee.

As for the food stores, they’re getting depleted by the second as polar bears, penguins, a wolf and a chimpanzee make short work of all the goodies they can lay their paws and beaks on; not to mention the din created when a chorus of frogs decides to strike up and one of their number flattens the boy’s favourite cuddly. Time to discover what exactly is the cause of all this mayhem and marauding.

Oh dear me! Turns out it’s the result of thoughtless and selfish behaviour on the part of we humans, doing things with no thought for the consequences of our actions upon the wildlife that shares our planet.

An urgent plan is crucial. We need to change our ways and everyone has a part to play otherwise who knows what might happen …

With lots of detail to explore and giggle over, Ella Okstad’s zany illustrations are a great complement to Smriti’s zippy cautionary tale. Humour is an important vehicle when it comes to vital messages: it certainly works here.

Sea Keepers: The Mermaid’s Dolphin / Museum Kittens: The Midnight Visitor

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Introducing two new younger fiction series:

Sea Keepers: The Mermaid’s Dolphin
Coral Ripley
Orchard Books

Meet Emily, Grace and Layla. Emily’s parents have just bought Mermaid Café; Layla lives just up the hill and Grace’s grandfather is a fisherman. The three team up to rescue a dolphin from a fishing net and find themselves plunging into a wondrously magical adventure with Marina the mermaid princess.

The three girls are unexpectedly chosen as the new Sea Keepers – guardians of the underwater world (a role not needed for hundreds of years). But human Sea Keepers? Humans have earned themselves a bad reputation with the Mer king and queen on account of their ocean polluting, whale killing and fishing, so the three girls will really have to prove themselves worthy of such a role.

They’ll need to confront Effluvia, the evil mermaid responsible for stirring up rubbish storms; she who has set her sights on finding the magical Golden Pearls; she with the power to mesmerise others.

Stop her they must, for the future of the underwater world is at stake; they simply have to find at least one of those magic pearls. Are they up to their task?

With talking sea creatures and much more, this magical story has at its heart the serious problem of ocean pollution. It’ll certainly immerse a certain section of young independent readers, and with still two pearls unfound at the end, this is just the first adventure of the Sea Keepers.

Museum Kittens: The Midnight Visitor
Holly Webb, illustrated by Sarah Lodge
Little Tiger

This is the first of a new series by cat-loving author Holly Webb who got her inspiration from stories of real-life museum cats from the British Museum and the Hermitage in Russia.

The appearance of a small black kitten on the museum steps one night has the majority of the feline residents of the museum all in a tither. The creature introduces himself as Peter and kitten Tasha at least, is eager to hear the story of this little scrap of a thing from ’Out There’.

Tasked with showing the incomer around the museum, the three resident kittens lead Peter through the various galleries but when they hear visitors the others hide leaving the newcomer alone.

Tasha returns to find him, taking him on a rat hunt during which they hear strange sounds coming from the Dinosaur Gallery; marauding rats perhaps, or something else?

Disaster strikes as an incident results in the famous T-Rex losing a bone:

the search is on … Will it be found and will Peter ever feel as though he fits in?

Young moggy lovers especially will lap up this story. Holly Webb has created some interesting cat characters, young and not so young; and Sarah Lodge’s black and white illustrations add further atmosphere and humour to the telling.

Mrs Bibi’s Elephant

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Mrs Bibi’s Elephant
Reza Dalvand
Flying Eye Books

Mrs Bibi has a rather unusual and very large pet, an elephant.

The town’s children have enormous fun creating a pachyderm playground every morning in the street

but the rest of the townsfolk are anything but enthusiastic about the enormous creature Mrs Bibi takes for a daily walk.

Too big, too noisy and a traffic hazard is their opinion; the woman’s time would be better spent on sensible activities such as reading the paper, checking the stock market and keeping up to date with economics.

Mrs Bibi however would rather have afternoon tea and cakes with her pet elephant, tell him tales to ensure he has pleasant dreams and laugh about the past.

Then comes an edict from the town judge: the elephant is to be taken to the zoo the following morning.

What can Mrs Bibi do?

Having followed her usual bedtime routine with her beloved pet, sadly for readers and indeed for the townsfolk, Mrs B. disappears next morning determined to stop the terrible event.
Only then do the close-minded, materialistic, townsfolk gradually come to understand what really matters in life …

Reza Dalvand’s gentle fable is verification of the importance of companionship and love. His illustrations are an absolute delight. With elaborate patterns adorning clothing, furnishings, and townscapes, every spread offers a wealth of detail to feast the eyes on. Artwork done with love for a tale of love and a tale to love.

I See, I See

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I See, I See
R. Henderson
Allen & Unwin

This seemingly simple, playfully clever book is a great way to introduce the idea of perspective/different points of view to youngsters. Two readers need to sit facing one another, one either side of the book and take turns to read aloud the rhyming text, in a ‘call and response’ type activity.

Each of the pictogram style images offers two interpretations – there’s no right or wrong: a curved mouth is a smile from one direction and a frown from the other; the face belongs to dad or mum depending from which side it’s viewed;

you can see a whole forest or a single tree – both are possible.

In his presentation of the notion of looking at things from another’s viewpoint, debut picture book creator Robert Henderson (with gentle echoes of Hervé Tullet) offers a starting point for conversations on important, possibly controversial, topics,

I look forward to seeing what comes next.

How Billy Hippo Learned His Colours / Molly’s Circus

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Two new picture books from Little Door Books, kindly sent for review

How Billy Hippo Learned his Colours
Vivian French and Hannah Foley

Billy Hippo has learned swimming but he now needs to learn his colours because he wants to give his dad a special birthday present – something pink as his siblings suggest.

The trouble is Billy has yet to learn his colours.

Nevertheless he sets out looking for pink flowers along the path beside the river.

There are flowers aplenty, of a variety of colours, as the parrot he meets is quick to tell him.

Gradually though with the bird’s help, by a process of elimination Billy does come to know what the colour pink looks like;

but does he succeed in finding the right colour flowers for his dad? I wonder …

Children learn their colours through a variety of experiences, just like Billy and Vivian French ’s story will help in that learning process. So too will Hannah Foley’s bold bright illustrations, made all the more fun by the presence of a pair of mischievous-looking frogs that follow Billy in his search, one clutching a pink flower.

You can download a free audio-book of the story along with some songs from the publisher’s website.

Molly’s Circus
Esther Kent

A little girl (the narrator) dons her boots and goes off out to play, followed by her harassed-looking mum.
Once in the garden the child views her surrounding and then lets her imagination soar as she announces, ‘There’s a CIRCUS in my garden.’
The washing line becomes a high wire; there are clowns, trick cyclists and a ‘trapeze in the trees.’

A troupe of acrobats performs under the direction of the ringmaster extraordinaire – Molly – who gets a little bit carried away …

Happily though, mum is on hand to provide exactly what’s needed.
Debut picture book creator Esther Kent’s exuberant, detailed artwork fizzes with energy and glows with warmth; every spread is a wonderful reminder of how children are able to transform the mundane into something magical.
You can find Molly’s Circus song from the publisher’s website.

Grow

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Grow
Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton
Walker Books

Nicola Davies has a rare skill when it comes to explaining sometimes quite tricky concepts to young readers and Emily Sutton’s illustrations are always superb.

With the opening statement ‘All living things grow’, award-winning team Emily and Emma then explore for young readers, the mysteries of DNA, the genetic code that determines the characteristics of every plant and every animal including we humans.

First are examples of different speeds of growth ranging from the desert four o’clock plants that grow from seed to flower in ten days

to the guahog clams found in the chilly depths of the Arctic Ocean that take 500 years to grow to the size of the palm of a child’s hand. WOW!

The importance of how much things grow is considered next followed by another aspect of growth, that of change,

and that leads neatly into DNA.

We find out about its four bases and how they can be combined in different ways creating a genetic code pattern, comprising for we humans, 20,000 genes.

Everyone has a unique genetic code half of which comes from their biological father and half from the biological mother (identical twins however share a genetic code).

There’s follows a spread showing the relative closeness of the human genetic code to various plants and animals; another points out that thanks to DNA all living things are connected. DNA also provides a connection that can be traced right back to the beginning of life on Earth – awesome – and all on account of the fact that as Nicola concludes ‘all life has always been written in one language’.

This is just the kind of book I would have relished as a child; it will surely inspire as well as educate youngsters.

Buy for home and for KS2 primary classrooms.

Hey, Water!

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Hey, Water!
Antoinette Portis
Scallywag Press

In the company of young narrator Zoe, who speaks directly to water, young children can embark on a playful exploration of the element that can exist in different states.

She begins with introducing the variety of ways we might encounter this essential element in its liquid state – via the hose and its sprinkler, the shower, a stream, a river,

the sea, an ocean.

Then there’s a lake, a swimming pool, and much smaller but equally fun, puddles. Smaller still come dewdrops, tears and raindrops.
Water however isn’t straightforward for as she says, ‘Water, even when you try to fool me, I know you. You can blast and huff. You whistle and puff. You hide in the air and drift. You drift in the air and hide the world’

Then there’s that frozen form –ice cubes, icebergs, an ice rink and soft, frozen, feather-like snowflakes.

Indeed water is an essential part of every single living thing,

there to quench our thirst and help us keep ourselves clean; and for all that we need to be thankful.

It’s a kind of hide-and-seek game we’re involved in here, in Portis’ celebration of water that concludes with more in-depth explanation of water forms, ways to conserve water, a diagram of the water cycle and some simple experiments.

The author’s own illustrations accompany her chatty narrative making this a very useful book for parents and preschool teachers to introduce tricky science concepts to the very young. (alongside real experiences of course).

Pests

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Pests
Emer Stamp
Hodder Children’s Books

Having received a proof of this hilarious story from the publishers a little while ago, I was excited to see a finished copy of the book with its ‘glow in the dark’ cover drop through my letterbox.

Star of the show, Stix is a tiny mouse that lives with his ancient Grandma behind the washing machine of Flat 3, Peewit Mansions. The ’mans’ family – Schnookums, My Love and tiny Boo-Boo also live there along with their dog Trevor, the only one that knows anything about their flat-sharing mice.

The mice have survived thus far by sticking firmly to Grandma’s strict rules – number 3 being ‘never poop in places mans will see’. Breaking this rule would result in a visit from Nuke-a-Pest.

One night into this peaceable place of co-existence comes Maximus a nasty rat with his two hangers on Plague One and Plague Two. His arrival soon results in disaster of the discovery kind, which is followed speedily by Sheila, Emergency Response Exterminator who flushes Grandma down the loo.

At least her ‘dead’ pose was a success but it leaves Stix alone, well not quite alone for back on the scene comes the previously encountered Batz, student at the Peewit Educatorium for Seriously Terrible Scoundrels (aka PESTS).

Stix joins the basement school and finds himself learning a whole new set of rules as well as competing in the Pest of the Year competition, determined to knock the dastardly Maximus off the top spot.

Step forward rule saboteur Professor Armageddon with a terrible plot of his own; but is Stix prepared to follow the directions of a cockroach and do what he knows to be wrong in order to gain extra points in a competition?

All’s well that ends well and this tale surely does. With an infusion of toilet humour, a great deal of suspense and some brilliant characterisation, this is a terrific adventure; there’s warmth and wisdom too; and the illustrations, generously scattered, are wonderful.  Giggles aplenty guaranteed throughout.

The Weed

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The Weed
Quentin Blake
Tate Publishing

When the Meadowsweet family find themselves at the bottom of a huge crack that’s formed in the earth they decide to set free their mynah bird Octavia.

This proves to be a wise move for it’s not long before she’s back with a seed.

This seed becomes their means of escape from a very tricky situation as little by little then ever more rapidly it grows towards the earth’s surface eventually bursting through.

Up, up, up climb the Meadowsweets through the increasingly lush foliage working up an appetite in so doing. “I hope there’s something left to eat when we get up there. I’m starving,” comments Mr Meadowsweet.

Happily though, they don’t have to wait that long, for the profligate plant puts forth fruits aplenty, as well as foliage, as Mrs Meadowsweet discovers tucking in enthusiastically; but in her eagerness she slips and falls.

Fortuitously, a large comfy leaf cushions her fall and the tendrils of the remarkable plant reunite her with the rest of her family.

The journey of people and plant to the surface is finally accomplished and at the surface the luxuriant and verdant world of a garden of Eden surrounds them after their Jack and the Beanstalk style climb.

We probably all feel like we’re at the bottom of a deep hole just now and we are all looking forward to those green shoots of recovery. So, this fable could be read as a message of hope during these difficult times. Remarkable as its creator Quentin Blake is though, he is not an oracle and one suspects he was merely creating a fun and fantastical story for us all to enjoy.

What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside

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What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside
Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks
Macmillan Children’s Books

When the ladybird takes a trip to the seaside, one July day, the sea lion roars, a seagull shrieks, a crab snaps, a shark gnashes and a whale’s tail splashes; but what the observant ladybird hears and sees are the dastardly duo Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len and they have a despicable plan.

They have designs on the mermaid’s beautiful fair hair, which they plan to cut off at midnight and fashion into a wig to sell to ‘a famous star’ and make a fortune in so doing. This isn’t to be a one off attack though, for once her hair has regrown, they’ll cut it again … and again … and again – ad infinitum.

The ladybird passes on the information she’s gleaned to the sea animals and they resolve to come to her aid.

They devise a clever ruse to foil the plan of the wicked two.

When they take the plunge at 12 o’clock could it be that Hugh and Len are about to attempt to chop off more than they can actually hack with their snip, snip, snipping scissors?

With the combination of Julia’s faultless rhyming narrative and Lydia’s sparkle-scattered scenes of the sea and its swimmers, this is another adventure of our silent Ladybird that’s sure to make a terrific SPLASH with both young listeners and adult readers aloud.

Lottie Luna and the Twilight Party

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Lottie Luna and the Twilight Party
Vivian French, illustrated by Nathan Reed
Harper Collins Children’s Books

The little werewolf princess aka Lottie Luna has a special mission in this sparkling second story: she wants to give her friend Marjory a very special birthday surprise.

Lottie has only been at her school for a few weeks but already she’s loving it and managing to keep her powers under wraps except to her two real friends Wilf and Marjorie.

The problem is that another class member, the self-satisfied Agatha Claws, is always on the lookout for ways to cause trouble for Lottie and now Aggie’s cousin Kiki has just joined the class and is showing signs of being even more unpleasant than her relation.

When Kiki manages to get her hands on a note Lottie has passed to Wilf concerning the birthday plan, things start to get pretty tricky; especially as the success of the plan rests partly on Lottie’s irritating brother Boris doing his bit.

Despite her reluctance to reveal her special powers to others, it seems that there is no other way than to use her super speed,  super sight, super hearing and super strength if Marjory is to have a birthday she’ll never forget.

On this occasion pushing a stuck truck out of a very muddy very deep puddle

and rummaging in rubbish bins are just two of the unlikely activities Lottie has to perform if operation party is to succeed.

There’s at least one surprise action and one welcome departure before the end of this fantastical fun story but I’ll keep those to myself and just say young readers will be gripped as they read of one little werewolf’s unstoppable energy and resolve.

They’ll also be utterly enchanted by Nathan Reed’s blissfully funny illustrations liberally scattered throughout the tale.

Paolo Emperor of Rome

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Paolo Emperor of Rome
Mac Barnett and Claire Keane
Abrams Books for Young Readers

One of the only ways we’re going to be able to visit Rome in the near future is through stories, so it’s particularly welcome to be transported there thanks to Mac Barnett and Claire Keane’s tale of dachshund Paolo, resident of that beautiful city.

Poor Paolo however is forced to spend most of his time stuck inside Signora Pianostrada’s busy hairdressing salon staring out through the shop door with little if anything to enjoy other than the occasional whiff of the great outdoors.

By night and most of the day Paolo would dream of escape.

Then one day an old lady leaves the shop door open and that’s when Paolo seizes his chance to break free.

Once in the wild streets he soon discovers a world of beauty, excitement and yes, danger, first in the form of a hostile feline among the ruins. His attitude to the moggy though is, ’The biggest among you has scratched my cheek, and I did not flinch. Will any other cat challenge me?’

They don’t, but then he encounters a pack of dogs as he searches for food. Antagonistic at first, they soon make him their leader and together they enjoy the city by night.

Next morning Paolo becomes a hero, saving six nuns from the Trevi Fountain. I can’t imagine how they managed to fall in, but the pooch becomes a hero.

Most important though with his indomitable spirit, he has succeeded in conquering the city.

I’ve not visited Rome for real for many years, but Mac’s narrative, together with Claire’s illustrations truly do evoke the sights, sounds and smells of this ancient city absolutely brilliantly: I love the brio of the telling, the textures of the scenes, and the portrayal of characters both animal and human, is sublime.

Somewhat reminiscent of the likes of Ludwig Bemelmans, this book has all the makings of a classic.

My Mama

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My Mama
Annemarie van Haeringen
Gecko Press

‘I’ve known my mama for a long time. For my whole life, actually.’ So says the little elephant narrator, going on to tell us of all the ways his mama cares for him, playing, gently guiding and on the very rare occasion when she’s cross, taking care to explain why.

I’m sure she wasn’t too impressed by her offspring’s creativity in this dress prettifying incident …

Annemarie’s adorable illustrations and little elephant’s words however, don’t always quite marry up: “When the weather’s good, we go on the swings. Who can go the highest? Of course I help mama a bit, otherwise she’d never win.’ …

The same is true here: is  baby elephant or Mama really in charge as they go ‘CLIPPITY-CLOP, CLIPPITY-CLOP!’

Who can fail to laugh at the plant watering incident where little elephant describes his enthusiasm for so doing commenting ‘ I like watering the plants. The funny thing is when I do, it always starts to rain’.

Equally a good giggle must surely come too over the way he helps carrying things and ‘tidying up things’ on the way back from their shopping trip. To discover what he does though, you’ll need to get hold of a copy of this lovely book for yourself.

Let me just finish by saying, that I love Mama’s positive assertion, ‘you can do anything if you really want to.’ and despite that applying to her letting go at bedtime, we see our narrator safely tucked in to bed on the final spread, stargazing.

Gently humorous and super sweet, but never sentimental, this is perfect for sharing with little humans.

Where’s Will? / Spot the Dinosaur on the Island

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Where’s Will?
Tilly and Anna Claybourne
Ivy Kids

Published a while back but new to this reviewer (thanks to the publishers for sending it now) this is a Shakespearean search-and-find extravaganza that presents the bard in an accessible way for young audiences; and let’s face it none of us is going to be able to see a live performance of any of the plays featured in the foreseeable future.

Anna Claybourne has chosen what are arguably, the ten most popular stories show-casing each one through a context setting summary, for instance ‘Twelfth Night is a comedy, and once again Shakespeare’s plot involves the mix-ups caused by people wearing disguises‘, and a story board outline of its plot, along with its cast, that she and artist, Tilly, present on the first of two spreads.

The second is a busy panoramic scene wherein the characters are hiding in plain sight for readers to find; so too is the playwright himself who insists on putting in an appearance in each of his featured works (as does a pig for some reason).

The original language isn’t retained in the storyboard texts – probably an impossible task – but readers familiar with any of the plays could try choosing an appropriate line or two for each vignette, thus adding a further dimension to using the book.
The artist has chosen different tones for each play, thus helping to capture both the drama’s setting and the spirit of its performance.
Some Shakespeare aficionados will likely throw up their hands in horror at all this, but it’s a case of ‘to see, or not to see’ and this bard enthusiast recommends seeing; it’s a case of the more you look, the more you see.

Books such as this could be a boon in the forthcoming weeks, and this one is surely both immersive and entertaining.

For younger search-and-find enthusiasts try:

Spot the Dinosaur on the Island
Stella Maidment and Joelle Dreidemy
QED

Again not brand new but worth getting hold of and sharing with little ones at that dinosaur-mad age most of them go through.

Herein, Joelle Dreidemy’s alluring, bold, bright scenes offer plenty for youngsters to see including a playful baby T. Rex that hides on every double spread while Stella Maidment’s brief narrative guides users, giving snippets of information throughout the adventure.

We visit first the island in its entirety, followed by a sequence of closer-in views of dinosaurs feeding,

moving, hatching, showing off their protective features and some even enjoy a dip, while others take to the air. Then there are those like Pleiosaurus that actually lived in the sea, so there’s plenty of visual information to absorb, as well as five items to spot on each spread.

The last scene is a busy archaeological dig and this is followed by ‘More to Spot’ – an invitation to take another look, a ‘Did you know?’ page and finally, some crafty fun.

 

Mickey and the Animal Spies

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Mickey and the Animal Spies
Anne Miller and Becka Moor
Oxford University Press

Code enthusiast Mickey is excited to discover on her way home from school one Friday afternoon, a coded message stuck onto the bus window.

It’s not long before she finds herself as a new recruit for COBRA, a secret animal spy organisation and the only human currently among the spies.

Each of the other members has a special talent – an eclectic crew indeed; but can the combined skills of this formidable team solve the intriguing crime of the diamond thief?

Operation Shiny Stones is on. Are all members of the team absolutely trustworthy though, and if not, which are the ones that might be double-dealing? Could it be Bertie the rather nervous giraffe,

Rupert the rat leader or perhaps Clarke the haughty cat?

With codes to crack along the way, dog-napping and terrific story-intensifying illustrations by Becka Moor, Anne Miller has created an intriguing whodunit story for solo readers as well as a smashing read aloud (have the codes available for listeners to crack along the way): the plot twists and turns this way and that until the final pages.

There’s clearly more to come for COBRA has a new post to fill – Human Liaison Officer. She of the opposable thumbs and love of adventure might just fit that bill.

Bring it on …

One World Many Colours

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One World Many Colours
Ben Lerwill and Alette Straathof
Words & Pictures

Award winning travel writer Ben Lerwill takes readers on a journey to celebrate the wonderful colours to be discovered all over the world, demonstrating his opening line ‘We share one world. We share many colours.’

We travel from the desert of Oman with its white Arabian oryx, to icy white Antarctica whose ‘frozen land furls out forever’ and the Sydney Opera House glowing in the morning light,

all the way to the pyramids of Egypt glowing at the day’s end as the final rays of the sun bathe the ancient stones in a beautiful red light.

In between, the journey takes us to see the soft pink blossoms of the cherry trees in Japan and the lakes of Kenya with their pink hued flamingos.

Yellow stands out glowing and gleaming in a football stadium in Brazil, on the New York streets with their numerous taxi cabs and in the sunflower fields of Spain – silent save only for the wind’s whisper.

Blue is found not only in the deepest oceans and in the sky above Mount Everest but also on the beautiful feathers of the Canadian blue jay.

The wilds of South Africa, the countryside of Vietnam with its ripening rice fields and the Amazon Rainforest all glow with their gorgeous greens.

Chinese New Year celebrations in Hong Kong are alive with red but equally bright is the London double-decker bus driving over Westminster Bridge during the rush hour.

Our magical journey shows that the same vibrant colours are found in nature, in culture and in our cities. Both Lerwill and illustrator Alette Straathof will surely open the eyes of young readers to the wonders of our world while also linking us all together through a shared colour spectrum. Connectivity indeed.

Alette’s colour palette is rich and vibrant; Ben’s writing lyrical and a breath of fresh air; together they’ve created a captivating book that is uplifting, and gently educational.

Alfie Fleet’s Guide to the Universe / Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day

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Alfie Fleet’s Guide to the Universe
Martin Howard, illustrated by Chris Mould
Oxford University Press

Holidays may seem like a distant dream at the present time but there’s no harm in looking forward and we all need something to keep us cheerful. This second Alfie Fleet story will certainly do just that and perhaps keep holiday dreams alive too.

If you’ve not encountered Alfie before, he has sandy coloured hair and awkward knees. In this adventure he and Professor Pewsley Bowell-Mouvemont are soon to open their enterprise the Unusual Travel Agency and are compiling the final few entries to the Guide to the Universe.

Pretty soon though, the two find themselves in trouble as they drop in on other planets that turn out to be anything but welcoming to the visitors.

In addition there’s that motley crew, members of the Unusual Cartography Club with their thoroughly nasty leader, Sir Willikin Nanbiter who is determined to sabotage the Unusual Travel Agency, to deal with.

A brief review cannot do justice to this utterly crazy, twisting-turning story with its wealth of Chris Mould’s brilliant illustrations portraying the fantastical cast of characters;

let’s just say that with its weird words and toilet humour and more, this is a total hoot from beginning to end. Just give it to children who have a particular penchant for unlikely quests and stand well back.

Now I’m off to try that ‘Stuttering Ferret’ pose at Guru Wobbli Rubbalegs Bindobendi yoga retreat way off on Planet Baldy and leave readers to discover for themselves whether Alfie finally succeeds in finding all those whom he seeks and bringing love and peace – well maybe just peace, to the universe.

Also full of fantastic characters but of a rather different kind is:

Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day
Dominique Valente, illustrated by Sarah Warburton
Harper Collins Children’s Books

With her second adventure just published it’s time to get acquainted with Willow Moss. Young Willow comes from a family with magical powers. She too has a special power but hers is less impressive-seeming than other family members. Willow, has the power to find lost things.

Then the scariest, most powerful witch in the whole of Starfell appears on the scene and changes things, for none other than Moreg Vaine has chosen Willow to help in a crucial search,

Apparently last Tuesday has disappeared– nobody remembers a thing about it – and almost unbelievably Moreg needs the talents of a finder like her. How on earth can she possibly manage such a thing, especially as failure to track down and return Tuesday to the place it belongs, could have catastrophic consequences for the entire world?

Really, Willow has little choice but to get on board (rather broomstick) and accept the mission. If truth be told though she’s long harboured a desire for a bit of excitement, so it’s bag packed and off they go (accompanied – in Willow’s bag – by lie-detecting cat-like kobold Oswin, Willow’s only friend).

Magical writing of a magical tale – Dominique Valente’s debut has everything younger fantasy lovers could want: humour, fabulous characters including a dragon with an empty egg and trolls, plus there’s a portal cloak (Moreg’s), a splendid compass-like device that can act as guide when tricky moments present themselves and much, much more.. In particular, the wonderful Willow herself – resourceful and determined and lacking in self-belief. And yes, she does finally discover what happened to that lost Tuesday.

The potency of all this textual magic is further strengthened thanks to Sarah Warburton’s cracking illustrations.

This reviewer can’t wait to read more of Willow, and I’m certain that will be the response from youngsters too.

Bear Shaped

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Bear Shaped
Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden
Oxford Children’s Books

Most young children develop a strong attachment to a special soft toy and so it is for Jack; the two are inseparable. Bear has been Jack’s constant companion,

comforting him and giving him the confidence he needs to try new things.

One day however while out in the park Jack diverts his attention towards a passing drake and shortly after discovers that Bear has gone missing.

It feels as though an enormous Bear-shaped hole has opened up inside him, Jack misses him SO much.

His family try their very best to track down the missing bear but to no avail and Jack himself makes posters that he puts up everywhere.

Nobody returns Bear. but something else quite wonderful starts to happen;

something that precipitates a gradual change in Jack. Little by little, kindness – other people’s and Jack’s own – enables his smile to return and he’s able to find a very special way to cope with that bear-shaped hole in his life.

Based on a true story, this beautiful tale of friendship, loss, precious memories and altruism is a real heartstring tugger; and the detailed, true-to-life illustrations show just how closely the author/illustrator worked with the actual ‘Jack’, a boy who happens to be on the autism spectrum.

The Ice Bear Miracle

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The Ice Bear Miracle
Cerrie Burnell
Oxford University Press

Cerrie Burnell has woven a wonderful wintry tale sparkling with magic and ice set in the far north of Canada.

It tells of Marv Jackson whose life is changed when he survives a bear attack on the eve of his fifth birthday when he was ‘drawn to the ice, like a ship to a star’ and found himself in the mouth of a polar bear.

Marv is left with a crescent moon scar on his forehead that serves as a constant reminder of that night when a baby’s cry drew him forth and he discovered a raging infant in a basket and protected her from a bear cub. It’s an event that his community don’t accept for no child was ever found but Marv is left with her memory etched in his memory.

Then eight years on the boy, now a keen ice-hockey player, has a chance encounter with the mysterious Tuesday and her huge, much loved ice-skating polar bear, Promise, both part of a travelling carnival. Something stirs deep in his memory. Is it possible that the girl who has been injured in a skating accident is the baby he saw on the ice all those years ago?

But no sooner has the travelling carnival arrived than it leaves again. What are they running from Tuesday wants to know; and where are they bound? Marv is determined to find out for he feels that he and Tuesday are meant to be together.

With her magical writing, Cerrie Burnell fills her story with folklore of her own making. She portrays the Island of Bears with its close-knit community, as a truly incredible place drawing the reader in from the outset, and her narrative grips one like the icy hold that Tuesday’s guardian Gretta has on her. Despite its icy setting though, there’s a great deal of warmth, love and a powerful sense of belonging and yes finally, joy, between the covers of this book. I couldn’t put it down.

The Crow and the Peacock

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The Crow and the Peacock
Jo Fernihough
Oxford Children’s Books

Crow lives a happy and contented life until he hears the gentle cooing of a dove in the woods one day. This encounter engenders a feeling of dissatisfaction in him and off he flies on a journey to find out where true happiness lies.

The trouble is each bird he talks with – Dove, Nightingale,

Cockerel, Swan

and even the stunningly beautiful king Peacock stuck in a cage,  says that for one reason or another, real happiness eludes it.

Peacock says something else to Crow too and the story comes full circle.

With its themes of true happiness, and freedom, this story is a reworking of an old fable, that will surely, now especially when we’re all feeling confined and having to practice physical distancing, make listeners and readers pause and think about what is truly important in life.

Debut picture book author/illustrator Jo Fernihough’s vibrant, mixed media illustrations sing their own song as we follow Crow through the pages on his journey of discovery.

The Bird Within Me

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The Bird Within Me
Sara Lundberg
Book Island

In this movingly told, inspirational book, based on the paintings, letters and diaries of Swedish artist Berta Hansson, we learn what it would have been like to grow up with her mother always sick in bed with TB and slowly dying, and an enormously hard-working father who calls your desire to express yourself imaginatively through art and beauty ‘ridiculous’.

That was life for Berta whose uncle (with whom she sometimes stayed when her mum was especially sick) managed to combine being a farmer with creating wonderful pictures, and occasionally allowed his niece to paint too.

Berta’s father wanted his daughter to follow his ideas – fit in, be a housewife – but she yearned to break free to live her own life, follow her desired creative path.’To fit in, you have to keep your desires secret. Be silent. And not really show who you are.’

‘When I grow up I’m going to be an artist. Like Michelangelo. But I don’t say that aloud. Because it isn’t a real job. Not something you can be. Especially not of you are a girl.’

Just when it seems her mother is slightly better, she is taken very sick again and dies.

Then not long after, the doctor, an art lover who regularly examines the rest of the family, asks Berta what she plans to do after leaving school. She longs to tell him of her dream but doesn’t, keeping it bottled up inside.

Things get too much and after just a short while, something snaps inside Berta as she stands at the stove cooking pea soup on a wooden stove. She lets it burn

and that precipitates a change in her father and for Berta whose journey might well have gone in a completely dead-end direction.

So beautifully illustrated and affectingly told, this is a wonderful testament to the power of the imagination, Berta’s and that of all who have creative instincts.