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Knock! Knock!

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Knock! Knock!
Kaori Takahashi
Tara Books
Ever heard the expression, ‘That’s how the story unfolds?’ Well nothing could be more true than a reading of this particular highly innovative title, which quite literally unfolds to reveal each episode of the story and finally, the whole …
The small ‘book’ comes in a slipcase and this adds to the enjoyment of the total experience, which begins with the small child returning home to discover that her bear is not there.

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A search ensues; a search that takes the little girl, and readers, on a bear hunt through the entire apartment block climbing up stairs, knocking on the doors of the various inhabitants which, when opened reveal all manner of fascinating interiors …

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unusual, sometimes surreal, happenings …

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and unexpected characters …

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Eventually the little girl reaches the top and there is a bird flying and guess what  …

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Then follows a joyful dash downstairs for a celebratory snuggly cuddle …

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This is ingenious : there is a pattern to the unfolding, physical and literal: the upward climb always folds alternately right and up, left and up. The descent is much more rapid – an eight-page descending staircase unfolds before the wonderfully satisfying, grand finale in the child’s bedroom. Again, an ingenious way of controlling the pacing of the story and a delight for youngsters who revel in the whole constructing and deconstructing opportunity: satisfyingly brilliant circularity. one hundred per cent interactive and unique. Clever too, is the way in which the outside knocking scenes are rendered in black and white whereas the interiors open up in full colour.
If you have, or know a young child or children, make sure they have an opportunity to participate in this wonderful! Knock! Knock! experience.
A-MAZ-ING!
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Marcel

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Marcel
Eda Akaltun
Flying Eye Books
Meet Bulldog pup Marcel, a native New Yorker from downtown residing with ‘My Human’, his favourite person. Yes, the tale’s narrator is Marcel himself. He tells how he loves his daily walks on Hudson Street with said human …

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They call at Ruff and Sons for the best bagels in the city, stop off for a spot of pooch pampering at the spa …

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and drop in at the park to listen to some jazz. Downtown rocks, thinks Marcel. But uptown? That’s entirely another matter (although it is the location of the American Natural History Museum, which houses rather a lot of ‘scrumptious bones.’
However there appears to be something going on in Central Park of late: Marcel’s human has suddenly developed a particular penchant for jogging around there and, just by chance (of course), keeps running into the same male human. Hmmm?

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In fact Marcel’s whole life seems to be in utter turmoil, for this other human – a Frenchman – starts spending rather a lot of time at Marcel’s apartment, usurping his place on the couch if you please; change is NOT good in Marcel’s book.
Suddenly though, he begins to adapt and think that perhaps this different way of being is not so terrible after all. Could there possibly be room for another human in Marcel’s life …

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and even, peut être, new horizons …

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An unusual and interesting exploration of changing family relationships presented thus may well help young readers understand the confusion a seeming intruder into their close family world can cause. It’s certainly not that easy to accept and adjust to change for any of us, and children especially can feel vulnerable, so Eda Akaltun’s quirky style and light touch narrative are just the thing.
For the change averse, especially, Marcel is a winner. No make that, a winner for all.

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Boris, Albert and Babies

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Boris Babysits!
Sam Lloyd
Templar Publishing
Boris (Calm Down, Boris!) is back and he’s been given the job of babysitting Monster Baby while Mummy Monster goes to the shops. Now you’ll not be surprised to learn that boisterous Boris doesn’t have much clue about minding a baby. Sweet eating and telly watching certainly won’t keep the babe entertained all day so Boris decides the garden is the place. But, he leaves her to her own devices and goes off to bounce on his trampoline and of course, Baby wants a turn too – Boris lets her bounce way too much though. He then proceeds to dump her in the pongy dog basket while he rustles up a meal for himself, but Monster baby gets nothing.
There inevitably follows a little accident but is Boris able to deal with it?

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Of course not – that, like all the other Baby Monster minding is left for us to assist with and even then big bro. is so exhausted by all his ‘hard work’ that, having plonked the babe down on the sofa, he falls fast asleep beside her. Quick – we’d better finish the job by putting the little furry infant in her cot before Mummy Monster comes home.

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‘Rat-a-tat-tat’ – quick before we open the door. …
Complete with furry monster baby on a ribbon to assist Boris’s helpers and velcro spots on every spread to keep the infant in place, this sturdy book ensures maximum young child involvement with the amusing tale.
Slightly older children could make their own furry monster babes and create their own stories around them.

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Albert and Little Henry
Jez Alborough
Walker Books
There are gentle echoes of the Not Now Bernard about this Jez Alborough offering. It stars young Albert who has a particular prowess for storytelling and loves entertaining his parents with his flights of fancy.
One day though, there’s a new arrival in the family. “I can’t listen to a story now, … Little Henry needs his bath.” and “Not now, Albie, I’m trying to get Little Henry off to sleep,” is what he hears from his weary Dad and Mum, along with their frequent “Why don’t you tell us a story later?”
Albert goes off to his room to wait for ‘later,’ a peculiar feeling comes over him …
Nobody notices his sudden lack of stature; and at Little Henry’s celebration party it’s the same story.
Sad and angry, Albert heads for his bedroom leaving others very firmly on the other side of the door. But then, Mum leaves a special present for him; a present bearing three vital words; and after that things start to change – for the better this time. Albert is restored to his former size and those creative juices of his start flowing again …
Albert’s story clearly shows how the arrival of a new sibling can make a child feel small and insecure. His woeful expressions and temper tantrum are tellingly visualized in Alborough’s adorable scenes of ‘new arrival’ jealousy. Young Albert is certain to find a place in the hearts of any family facing the potential emotional upheavals of a new baby.

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Now! / Say Hello/ Kiss Goodnight

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Now!
Tracey Corderoy and Tim Warnes
Little Tiger Press
The older little Archie gets, the more demanding (albeit adorable); well maybe he was always VERY demanding but ‘Now’ is a word more frequently used by adults in my experience. Moreover, his constant demanding of same, always tends to end in minor catastrophes – for others mostly…

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though he does sometimes have to learn from his over-eagerness …

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When holiday time looms – ten days away to be precise – Archie finds it hard to contain himself; ten days is an enormously long time to wait. Dad comes up with an idea …

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and a few distractions to help time pass quickly.
Eventually the big H-day dawns and suddenly Archie has changed his tune; “Wait!” he cries. “We can’t go NOW!” …
To discover why Archie is demanding a delay, and to learn if they ever do get that promised plane trip

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and holiday, you’ll need to get hold of a copy of this beautifully funny book. Yet again the Archie/Tracey Corderoy/Tim Warnes amalgam works its magic.

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The little rhino’s always a winner in my book.

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Say Hello
Kiss Goodnight
Jane Cabrera
Templar Publishing
These two charming little books provide lots of opportunities for the very young to join in with the various baby animal sounds (not forgetting, a human one) and some actions too.
In Say Hello we do just that, first greeting the sun and the day itself …

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and then once they’re awake, greetings can be exchanged with Chick, Piglet, Puppy, Frog, Calf, Bunny, Lamb, Bee (I love this buzzy being) …

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and finally, a Baby “Goo Goo”.
Kiss Goodnight starts by bidding ‘Goodnight’ to the Moon and proffering a kiss to all the ‘Sleepy babies’: Fox … isn’t he adorable?

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Owl, Bat, Mouse, Kitten, Bear, Hedgehog, Wolf and Baby. Shh!
As with all Jane Cabrera’s books, pattern plays an important part: here it’s gorgeous patterned backgrounds against which she places the subjects addressed in the simple, patterned texts  and the brush-stroke patterns on the faces.
Perfect for sharing with the very youngest listeners and ideal too, for slightly older beginning readers to try for themselves. (And far superior to dull early scheme fodder.)
I love the near, but not perfect, symmetry of the various faces …

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and I can see youngsters, inspired by the illustrations, attempting to create similar faces for themselves and perhaps making them into masks.

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The Shrew That Flew/ The Dragon & the Nibblesome Knight

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The Dragon and the Nibblesome Knight
Elli Woollard and Benji Davies
Macmillan Children’s Books
Told through faultless rhyme – no easy matter despite Elli making it appear so – (with plenty of repetition, and sprinklings of onomatopoeia (FLASHes SPLASHes, FLAPs and CLAPs etc.) and awesome visuals – but one expects no less from Benji Davies – this is a stupendous offering. But, it’s the interaction of text and illustrations that makes the whole thing such a bobby dazzler of a book.
The tale revolves around Dram (love that name), an infant dragon, ejected from the Dragons of Dread family nest to search for ‘dribblesome, nibblesome, knobble-kneed knights.’

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In other words what he has to do is stand on his own feet, or rather fly with his own wings, and get his teeth and claws into a nibblesome knight. However that’s not quite what happens due to a prevailing wind – a looping, curling gale no less – that whisks young Dram ‘away to the End of the World’ depositing him unceremoniously into a lake beside which sits a diminutive knight. Said knight, James, takes the “duckie” under his wing …

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tending to his wounds and generally ministering to his injuries and sore parts,

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not to mention supplying nourishment for both Dram’s body and mind …

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The infant dragon however hasn’t forgotten his nibblesome knight procurement mission, so what will transpire when finally the dreadful realization dawns – that his new best friend is in fact, nothing less than a knight?

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Yes, there are faint echoes of Donaldson’s Zog here, but that is not to detract from its brilliance: if you want to do your bit to make children into life-long book lovers, there’s no doubt this is a MUST have book.

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Another Red Reading Hub favourite creative partnership is responsible for :

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The Shrew that Flew
Julia Copus and Eunyoung Seo
Faber & Faber
This is the third wonderful ‘Harry & Lil Story’ and they just seem to get better and better. In this adventure, Candy Stripe Lil and Harry the Hog (along with the other creatures on Piggyback Hill) having received this invitation …

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are busy preparing for Badger’s do. It’s already 2pm; Harry has donned his spotty, dotty, pointy, flat titfa’ and Lil’s is still drying out on the washing line. Until that is, along comes a sudden gust of wind that whisks the object right up onto the roof.

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Disaster! There follows an amazing sequence of hat-retrieving attempts involving a brolly,

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a portable fan and all manner of other discarded ephemera retrieved from the shed.

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But can they manage to get the thing down and onto Lil’s head in time for the party? It’s certainly not a simple task, but however formidable it might be, Lil is the eternal optimist (Oh Lil we need you NOW!). “NEVER SAY NEVER” is her maxim and with a bit of timely assistance from another of the party goers …

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it looks as though, they might, just might, be successful …

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Glorious, totally uplifting, a wonderful celebration of friendship and perseverance; Harry & Lil are eternally endearing. Eunyoung Seo’s delectable scenes, coupled with Julia Copus’ tongue-tingling rhyming text – here’s a sample
‘Lil gripped very tight; the umbrella bent
   and trembled,
         then tugged,
               then – whoosh! – up she went!
And floated off – past the sycamore stump …’
are guaranteed to bring joy to listeners and readers aloud, at every turn of the page. Spectacular!

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Bee: Nature’s Tiny Miracle

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Bee: Nature’s Tiny Miracle
Britta Teckentrup and Patricia Hegarty
Little Tiger Kids
Buzzing with bee-u-ty, this sent shivers all through me; right from that arresting die-cut front cover with its centrally placed sunflower, through spread after spread of exquisite collage-style scenes linked by strategically-placed, die-cut hexagons, to the glowing endpapers: it’s just SOO breath-takingly gorgeous.

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Stunningly beautiful endpapers

With each new book from the inimitable Britta Teckentrup, I think, she won’t better this; but, she’s done it again here in this glorious collaboration with Patricia Hegarty whose rhythmic rhyming text transports readers and listeners, accompanying a single bee as she travels here and there, flitting from flower to flower on a vital, life-giving journey –

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    Gathering nectar as she goes,
From every foxglove, every rose.
Dusty with pollen, the little bee
Buzzes, buzzes, busily.
It’s almost as though you can smell the sweet-scented flowers …

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and hear the sounds of that bee and of those back at the hive. For they in turn hear bee’s crucial message – with the vast numbers of flowers, it’s too huge a job for a solo bee- and join her in that all-important role of pollination …

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until:
‘ … A tiny miracle occurs.
For every plant and flower you see
Was given life by one small bee.’
What a testament to one crucially important little insect and its symbiotic relationship with plants. The author gently imparts nuggets of scientific information into her poetic text as she tells of pollen harvesting and transporting; that bees use the sun to navigate by; that bees communicate one to another and crucially, that the life of most flowering plants is dependent upon them.
Bees have become almost an endangered species, yet not everyone is aware of either the contribution they make to our precious planet, or the magnitude of the crisis of their dwindling numbers. I’m currently living in Stroud, which claims to be ‘Britain’s First Bee Friendly Town‘. May there soon be many others that follow suit. There is a snag though, this ‘bee friendliness’ seems to give my partner tacit license to allow bees to build a nest right above my front door; and to let a large area of our front garden become a wild ie ‘bee welcoming’ space!
This book may well start a small revolution. It’s certainly a MUST have for every family bookshelf, early years establishment and primary school.
Now try this: Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and imagine yourself into one of those stunning scenes from the book; place your lips close together, inhale through your nostrils, place your finger tips gently just inside your ears, then slowly exhale, also through the nostrils, making a deep buzzing sound in your throat like a bee: you will hear a ‘swarm’ of bees in your throat. That’s brahmari or bee breath and it has a wonderfully calming effect. Just like this book, although that’s exciting too.

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Not Enough for Queen Fluff / Little Mouse’s Big Breakfast

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Not Enough For Queen Fluff
Rachel Lyon and Catalina Echeverri
Maverick Arts Publishing
Queen Fluff has everything a person (or a fancy bunny) could want: a large, lavishly furnished burrow full of queenly comforts, quite the opposite of all her subjects. They live in near poverty out in the Kingdom beyond the palace boundaries. Riches, as most of us know, don’t equate to happiness though, and thus it is with Queen Fluff who spends a bored, lonely existence.
So her royal bunnyness sends out a communication to all the other bunnies …

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It’s hardly the way to win friends methinks, but how do the recipients respond?
They certainly start making some plans for their royal visitor. She meanwhile, sets off with bulging bags, eagerly anticipating a welcome befitting her regal status. What she gets however, is something of a surprise, or rather a shock, as she visits burrow after burrow in search of delight.

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And what of that ten-course feast she’s set her sights on? Well, those rabbits surely know how to serve up a surprise menu; but is it one that will cause their monarch to eat her words? It might just be …

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With a rhyming text from Rachel Lyon that simply rolls off the tongue, mixed with super-cute, funny illustrations from Catalina Echeverri …

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this book has gone down very well with my audiences. I had great fun with one group suggesting their own disgusting courses to serve up to Queen Fluff.

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Ellena snuggled up for the story

Little Mouse’s Big Breakfast
Christine Pym
Nosy Crow
Little Mouse has a big appetite or so it seems; but maybe not: let’s wait and see.
We first meet our intrepid little hero one chilly evening when he’s decidedly peckish and having nothing ready for a breakfast nibble the following morning.
Fortunately though, Little Mouse knows just where to go and off he sets, scampering along the footpath, scaling the drainpipe and hopping in through an open window where on the table he spies this …

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followed quickly by a rosy apple and then a whole lot of ‘big brown biscuits’ …

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But that’s not all. Pretty soon, despite the odd doubt about the deliciousness of one or two items, he has all this precariously balanced …

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Guess what though: he then spots the ABSOLUTE perfect item for a tasty breakfast – one ‘shiny, stripy sunflower seed’ and of course he just HAS to have it … Seems someone else is after that perfect breakfast too and we know what that is …

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I wonder who gets their perfect breakfast – that would be tale telling, wouldn’t it. Suffice it to say, it’s pretty tasty.
Christine Pym’s timing is spot on, and her tale deliciously illustrated with a mix of double spreads, single pages, panels and frames. This really went down a treat with my early years audience who delighted at the ending and were eager for an immediate re-reading.

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Wild Imaginings by Day & Night

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Secret Agent Man Goes Shopping for Shoes
Tim Wynne-Jones and Brian Won
Walker Books
Who wouldn’t want a pair of funky tiger-striped trainers like those acquired by the young hero of this delightfully quirky book? That’s getting ahead of the story though. First, meet S.A.M. Secret Agent Man, a boy with a fertile imagination …

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Oops! That’s getting ahead too but that’s the way this Wynne-Jones’ story works. Let’s get back to the start with K. and the lad in question. K. – his carer? Mum? – or sidekick? is busy … when she decides her charge needs new footwear.
Off they go to the shop and eventually, despite his original thoughts on rocket shoes or vanishing ones, S.A.M. decides on ones with tiger stripes. (They have laces, but that’s part of the challenge when you’re a super hero.)

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In fact two pairs are purchased – one child sized, the other adult – K. gets the same kind; then off they go for a spot of lunch.

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The day continues with all kinds of danger and attempted dastardly deeds (someone tries stealing the Plans for World Domination, no less), spy meetings and the disappearance of K.

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But, nothing’s too difficult for S.A.M. now he’s sporting those tiger trainers and off he goes. Did I just see him tie those laces himself? – to undertake a rescue mission of the trickiest kind. ROAR!
As the story moves between the boy’s imagined, ‘undercover’ life, and his real one, Brian Won switches from shades of blue and black to a full-colour palette in his retro-style illustrations. Cleverly conceived and skilfully executed, this shift between the boy’s two worlds is effectively managed and I particularly like the restaurant scene wherein child and adult become co-conspirators and fellow roarers. Hurray for childhood’s imagination and for all those adults who manage to retain their playful inner-child.

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Is That an Elephant in My Fridge?
Caroline Crowe and Claudia Ranucci
Scholastic Children’s Books
I liked Fred from the outset: he’s a divergent thinker. When his mum suggests counting sheep to help the boy drop off to sleep, Fred instead, decides to count elephants: he visualises them too. Visualises them in all manner of exciting scenarios …

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until things begin to get out of control …

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Finally Fred has to take matters in hand …

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After all the exhausting action, unsurprisingly as soon as Fred’s head hits the pillow again, he’s fast asleep: no more counting elephants for him.
A book to induce delight for sure: it’s certainly true of those I’ve shared it with. I suggest you don’t use it as a bedtime story however; you never know what might ensue …

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Claudia Ranucci’s energetic illustrations – this is her UK picture book debut – highlight the humour of Caroline Crow’s telling splendidly.

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Hiding Heidi

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Hiding Heidi
Fiona Woodcock
Simon and Schuster
Young Heidi has a special talent: she’s able to blend in with her surroundings – effortlessly and very successfully …

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She’s a natural camouflager which is particularly useful when it comes to a game of hide-and-seek with her friends.
At her birthday party you can guess what Heidi wants to play – and off she goes to hide …

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A search ensues but Heidi’s just TOO good – all her pals find is some delicious ice-creams.
The party continues and finally Heidi’s friends discover where she is – right at the end though. and they duly depart leaving their host to do a spot of pondering.
Next day when the gang meet up, there are some different activities on the agenda and each one of the friends is able to shine at one game …

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or another …

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Fiona Woodcock’s picture book debut surely allows her artistic talents to shine: this is a real corker. Those beautifully textured, subtly coloured pages and the wonderful characters thereon, make for captivating scenes at every turn of the page. I can’t wait to see what follows. Meanwhile, this one’s perfect for one-to-one sharing and reading with a class or group.
I can envisage children being inspired to experiment with the art of camouflage using some of Fiona’s picture making techniques such as printing, and using stencils, blow pens, paints and more.

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Summer Evening/Unbelievable Summer Truth

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Summer Evening
Walter de la Mare illustrated by Carolina Rabei
Faber & Faber
What a glorious evocation of the countryside in summer is this book. Just eight lines penned by one of our best loved poets, have now been made into a glowing portrayal of a group of people delighting in their rural life as the sun slowly sinks over the hills.
We share the red, orange and golden sunset with the Farmer, a woman and two children, a cat and a dog,

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‘Old Rover in his moss-greened house/ Mumbles a bone, /and barks at a mouse.’
We then see the children following a cat-and-mouse chase as it unfolds inside and out …

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until finally, peace and harmony are restored, the animals all fed and the sun has given way to the moon.
You can almost hear that scintillating shimmering sun and feel that incandescent haze of high summer

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coming off the pages through Caroline Rabei’s scenes in this beautiful synthesis of poetry and pictures.
A ‘must have’ for the family bookshelf and for all early years settings and primary schools.

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The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer
Davide Cali and Benjamin Chaud
Chronicle Books
The summer hols. are over (that really must be a bad dream; they’ve not even started yet: but back to the story). “What did you do this summer?” the teacher – as they always do – asks the young narrator of this crazy tale. Instantly we’re on the beach where the lad, accompanied by his dachshund, finds a treasure map only to have it snatched immediately by a passing magpie. Thus begins a chase which takes boy and dog (and readers) onto a pirate ship …

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and thence into a fast moving adventure involving a giant squid, a submarine …

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a film set with a very helpful actress who assists in the retrieval of the map.

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With the treasure hunt back in full swing so to speak, there follows a trip in a hot air balloon, a foray into the desert, a timely rescue by the boy’s uncle (in his flying machine) who drops his nephew onto a desert island where the pesky magpie (yes, the same one) seizes the map once again.

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Operation map retrieval is thus resumed taking our hero to the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and a snowy land populated by yeti.
Yes, in case you are wondering, the boy does finally discover treasure which, after all that, is something of a let down, although it’s not actually THE treasure but hey! the underwater scenes are still pretty wonderful. (Observant readers won’t miss what the boy does.) And that’s not quite the end of this bonkers book; there’s something of a twist in its tale; something that took place a few months earlier … bringing us back full circle to where we began, and I suspect readers back to the start of the book searching for clues of a visual nature, in Benjamin Chaud’s gigglesome, detailed pen-and-ink illustrations.
Another winner from the Cali/Chaud partnership.

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Noggin the Nog

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Noggin the King, Noggin and the Whale,
Nogbad Comes Back, Noggin and the Dragon
Oliver Postgate & Peter Firmin
Egmont Publishing
I’ve been a huge Noggin fan since I was a child and at one time was the proud owner of a much-cherished complete set of the original The Saga of Noggin the Nog books on which these new editions are based. Sadly, years ago my partner waxed lyrical about them to our plumber and without asking permission, loaned them to him, for his son. To this day I have never seen them again: all I have now are just these two duplicates …

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What we have here are I think, smaller versions of the Early Reader editions, also from the 1960s. In my experience, young children do love collecting little books and so I’m sure these mini Noggins will be a big hit. Noggin himself is goodness through and through. Here are the opening lines of Noggin the King: ‘Noggin was a good king./ He liked to look after his people./ He liked to give them warm socks to wear.

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 He liked to give them good food to eat./ He liked to make sure that they had good roofs on their houses.’ Oh Noggin, we need you now.
Noggin is married to Queen Nooka; he often consults her when he is puzzled over a question and herein it’s a particularly thorny one: “Tell me, Nooka, am I king of the birds as well as king of the people?” She doesn’t answer him directly but together, the two seek, and find, an answer …

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Beautiful.
In Noggin and the Whale, Noggin is celebrating his birthday. Unusually however, he’s not the only recipient of presents: the ever benevolent monarch gives all the children of the town gifts too: things with which to create music …

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However, on this particular birthday, the musical celebrations are interrupted when a whale summarily seizes the boat in which Noggin and the children are playing and lifts it aloft. But that’s only the beginning of this delicious tale. Noggin’s young son Little Knut plays a significant part in saving the day (and shifting the whale) as does Olaf the Lofty (who as he tells us himself, is “very clever”), and the town’s bell-maker helps too.
Nogbad Comes Back sees the return of Noggin’s wicked uncle – banished from the Land of Nog by Noggin, to spend time in his castle to learn to be good. The crucial question however is, has Nogbad really seen the error of his ways? “Now I am Nogbad the Good!” he asserts but Queen Nooka has her doubts. Will he behave if Noggin allows him to take part in the annual animal and vegetable show;

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or will he, once again, show his true colours?
In Noggin and the Dragon, we join Little Knut and his friends when they go on a dragon hunt.

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But are there, or aren’t there – Noggin definitely says there aren’t – any dragons left in Dragon Valley? If not, then what is this …

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For me, Noggin has lost none of his charm: indeed he’s even more adorable and wise than ever. And from a mature adult perspective, bringing so much more to the stories, I can really appreciate the genius of  Noggin’s creators, Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin.
It’s wonderful that Egmont have brought back these tiny treasures. I’m over the moon.

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The Famishing Vanishing Mahoosive Mammoth

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The Famishing Vanishing Mahoosive Mammoth
Hollie Hughes and Leigh Hodgkinson
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
What a wonderful word mahoosive is and how perfectly it sums up the star of this show and his gargantuan, nay insatiable, appetite. And his side-kick, best friend bug is his perfect ally in seeking to sort out the ‘famishing vanishing’ problem upon which this story rests.
Now I for one find it hard to believe what this creature says on the very first spread …

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and he’s fortunate that said Bug is near at hand – or rather trunk – to step, nay fly in, to save the sorry situation. First comes a MAHOOSIVE breakfast, followed swiftly by a snack, neither of which appear to improve Mammoth’s mood, nor sate his appetite (ungrateful beast); he merely keeps up his complaints of feeling funny inside and statements about vanishing. Bug mentions brunch; that idea is scuppered though by Mammoth’s consumption of this …

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and so the two agree to ‘do lunch’.
Even that – and it’s a five star affair, leaves Mammoth unsatisfied and Bug right out of ideas. Well maybe not quite because they just happen to be at the seaside where there’s a plethora of treats to be had, both small and large …

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Will that long-suffering, resourceful Bug ever find a way to satisfy his dear friend’s all-consuming need?
The distractions appear to be a good thing …

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but are they enough to fend off the otherwise inevitable stomach explosion Mammoth is rapidly heading for? Or maybe, just maybe, there’s something else even better …
Delivered through a deliciously funny rhyming text that’s a pleasure to read aloud and wonderfully patterned, brightly coloured illustrations depicting two immediately endearing characters, this whole MAHOOSIVE enterprise is a delight. I shared it on a day of Brexit doom and gloom so far I was concerned and it certainly did bring on some cheer. My listeners loved it, demanded a re-read and several of them were later heard repeating a certain word over and over. If only this final gorgeous picture –

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could have been symbolic of what a whole lot of us were hoping for …

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Up, Up and Away

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Up, Up and Away
Tom McLaughlin
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
I have a particular soft spot for small boys with large imaginations so I instantly fell for Orson, a boy who loves to make things. On the particular day we meet him, young Orson has his head in a book, and his heart and mind on an extraordinary idea …

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Now unlike many of the inventive ilk, Orson is an organised little chap and so in a short time he’s busy gathering all the vital ingredients for his venture – a cup of rocks, a splosh of water, some chunks of metal and a large amount of nothingness (lots of empty space is required on a planet after all). Naturally, he’s decided to employ the big bang method and has managed to get his hands on just what he needs for the purpose …

 

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And before long BOOM! There in his bedroom, right before his, and our, eyes, is a small swirling spherical object. It’s a case of love at first sight so far as Orson is concerned, but concerned he is ,for the planet he’s brought into being has a decidedly unhappy look about it. What’s a lad to do with a sad planet?
Orson resolves to cheer it up … not very successfully …

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Off he goes to his favourite place to do a spot of research and having genned up on the subject through the night, he proceeds to carry out his plan of inducing planet happiness. He feeds it, dusts its craters, tidies its ocean and voila! By the following morning there’s a decided improvement and significant increase in size … with veritable moons even.
Unsurprisingly, care equals happiness where the planet is concerned but most of us know, though perhaps Orson had yet to learn, that happiness has a tendency to attract … Before long, it’s not ‘ just a few teaspoons and the odd unicycle’ but …

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And come bedtime both boy and big bang ball are equally down at heart.
Next morning, (no doubt Orson’s unconscious mind was in over-drive all night), the boy has come to a decision: braveness is called for – and a release …

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That however, is not entirely the end of the story …
Oh the wit, oh, the wisdom, oh the beauty of Tom McLaughlin’s whole phenomenal enterprise.

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The Great Dragon Bake Off

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The Great Dragon Bake Off
Nicola O’Byrne
Bloomsbury Children’s Book
Followers of TV cookery shows will chuckle at the names of the characters in this tasty treat of a book. There’s chief protagonist, Flamie Oliver – a dragon, enormous and terrifying; well, that at least is the impression he gives but in fact, Flamie isn’t ‘very, very good at being very, very bad.’ This is clearly going to be a bit bothersome when he joins the Ferocious Dragon Academy for the most ferocious dragons-in-training where all his classmates are excellent do-badders.
The other thing about Flamie is his particular penchant for pastry of all kinds.

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So whilst his classmates hone their dragon skills, off goes Flamie to have a bake-up; and having perfected his pastry he moves on to more fancy fare. The snag is there’s nobody to share the fruits of his labours with, but even worse Flamie has been neglecting those dastardly dragon skills he was supposed to have been working on.
Consequently, when finals day dawns the lad feels singularly unprepared, even more so as he watches classmates, Heston Blowitall, Scaly Berry and Paul Firewood do their stuff and delight teacher, Miss Puffitup.

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Flamie of course, fails to delight, fails all his exams to be precise, leaving him just one way to graduate. “You must kidnap a princess and eat her!” Miss Puffitup declares.
Sick at the thought, but sicker at the prospect of not graduating, off flies Flamie to capture himself a princess. Having secured one, he sits in his kitchen contemplating his next meal – not an appetising sight …

 

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and muttering to himself about sauces when Princess Rosewater speaks up. Before long the two of them are busy concerning themselves with a suitable accompaniment to the princess dish; but nothing seems quite right. Fortunately the princess has an idea: can it be successfully served up for a Dastardly Dragon Skills degree though? Suffice it to say, the proof of the baking is in the much appreciated tasting: a degree? – that would be telling.

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This truly mouth-watering tale is a treat to share with young listeners. My audience drooled over the delicacies, despaired at the prospect of the princess’s demise and clapped at one particularly mouth-watering spread; and one girl was thrilled to see a dragon wearing specs similar to hers.

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Shapes, Reshape! Shapes at Play

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Shapes Reshape!
Shapes at Play
Silvia Borando
Walker Books
If you’ve watched young children get creative when given lots of 2D shapes, then you’ll be aware of some of the possibilities and hours of fun messing around with shapes offers. Here Silvia Borando has taken that idea a stage further in two wonderfully imaginative new Minibombos.
In Shapes Reshape they do just that: the shapes being rectangles and squares (mostly the former) with just the odd few very small circles used as dots for eyes.
It begins with 60 rectangles arranged thus …

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which rearrange, no, ‘reshape’ themselves into ten BUZZY things …

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So brilliantly playful; but there’s a whole lot more to come – 99 shapes become 9 Jumpy, slurpers … so cool aren’t they?

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Introduce another colour and the possibilities increase: look at these sneaky slitherers

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fashioned from …

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I could easily go on showing each and every wonderful ‘reshaping’ but suffice it to say there are eight further rearrangements from serried rows to creatures large and small from sniggly snuffling hedgehogs and nip-your-nose crabs to ferocious hungry lions, snappy alligators and the final piece-de-resistance –

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which flees, having been frightened by something reshaped from these …

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Now what could that be, I wonder. Hint: count the number of small rectangles …
Shapes at Play begins with a ‘Let’s play!’ invitation from a red equilateral triangle, a yellow square and a blue circle. Then the participants and others like them do so, starting with the triangles, followed by the squares and then the circles, each of which is given a double spread to do their stuff. Then follows a bit of bouncing, bumping and toppling … but undaunted, that’s followed by hasty re-creation …

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after re-creation, (oh! and there’s a spot of multiplication along the way too) first of the architectural kind …

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and then, of the vehicular variety …

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and culminating in a terrific BLAST OFF, flight and a landing where our three friends are greeted by some new shapes …

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Once many, many years back as a fledgling teacher, I read a book by Glenda Bissex called GNYS at WRK. Here’s genius at play, courtesy of Silvia Borando.
This, or a slightly less sophisticated form of same, is what children in their early years at school would and perhaps should be doing, were they not being required all too often, to jump through various mathematical hoops to satisfy the tick-box mentality requirements of the curriculum that prevails.

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Play and Pondering Possibilities

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Blocks
Irene Dickson
Nosy Crow
Most children, young and not so young, delight in block play. It’s brilliant for developing concentration, spatial understanding and creativity; and, sometimes, sharing and co-operation: however, at least at the outset of this story, not the last two.
First off we meet young Ruby busily balancing and building with her blocks – all of one colour notice.

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Along comes Benji with his blocks intent on doing a bit of constructing and off he goes. Soon both are absorbed in their play …

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But then, Benji reaches out (hand across the gutter) for one of Ruby’s blocks, seizes same leaving a cross Ruby desirous of her block. “Mine!” each of them shouts and pretty soon, catastrophe …

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Time to repair the damage and work together; that way lies a super co-creation …

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until Guy appears on the scene. Guy has green blocks. What do you think will happen now? Maybe these endpapers will give a clue …

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A wonderfully simple story on the sharing theme that will surely pack a powerful punch with early years audiences; it’s a must have book for pre-school settings and families with very young children and even has die-cut block shapes on the front cover. What’s more, with its easy to read, brief text, this debut picture book is ideal for those just beginning to read for themselves.

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Over the Ocean
Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books
This book was first published in Japan over 30 years ago but it still has plenty to say to children today, especially those of the contemplative kind. It features a girl who stands at the water’s edge gazing out across the ocean waves and wondering. ‘What is in the ocean over the ocean?’ she asks; ‘Are there farms over the ocean?’ or …

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‘Maybe there are kids living there’ and ‘Are they all friends?‘

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She never moves from her lookout spot but continues pondering on the possibilities of fairs, animals, the night-time, different climates and  other watchers …

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and then makes a wish. A wish that, so it seems in her mind’s eye at least, is about to come true … Her longing is heartfelt and readers will surely feel it too.

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The whole thing is a marvellous, if quietly spoken celebration of the imagination and the wide, wonderful world. I particularly like the way that the author has given the girl a credible child’s voice: ”Maybe there are kids living there … I bet there are probably some bullies.” She certainly doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind there.
Those who look closely will notice that the details in the illustrations open up further questions – where are all those boats going, especially that ocean liner? Whither the air balloon? And many more in addition to those the girl herself raises.

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Get into Art

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8 Ways to Draw an Elephant
Paola Ferrarotti & various artists
Tara Books
Before even opening this unusual book I suspect I was predisposed to like it. I’m a huge fan of Indian art and elephants, and over numerous visits have collected a fair number of both two and three dimensional representations, several of which I’ve actually watched being created.
Now here’s an opportunity to introduce children to Indian art from a number of different traditions, with artistic representation from eight artists being showcased, each in a double spread.
Before that though, the book begins with a vital question: What it art? This is followed by four images of elephants: a photo, a drawing, an outline and a creative representation and Paulo Ferrarotti goes on to encourage readers to think about each medium and the similarities and differences between the resulting images. Indeed the narrative throughout the entire book is not about giving answers, rather, its concern is with getting children to do their own thinking – education in the true sense i.e. opening up.
The book provides blank outline templates for children to try out their own ideas having looked closely at the example of each style; those included being Rajasthani Meena …

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Patua from West Bengal, Saora from Orissa/Odisha and Madhubani from Bihar.

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Interestingly though, the elephants themselves are both Indian and African. At the back on the cover flap is a brief outline of each of the artistic traditions represented and opposite is an almost completely blank page, with a few words inviting children to draw and decorate their own elephant, asking ‘What is the elephant eating? Is it raining or sunny? Day or night?’
All in all, this is a fascinating and exciting, creative learning opportunity for the young (and not so young).
What next? Sun representations? Or if you want to stick to animals: Camels? Horses? Peacocks? There’s plenty of scope where Indian art is concerned.

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The Little Caillebotte
Catherine de Duve
Kate ‘Art Editions
In this unassuming little book, Catherine De Duve, art historian and painter who worked at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, introduces readers to impressionist painter Gustave Caillebotte. The artist spent some of his time in Yerres, (some 20 km from Paris) and this is featured in many of his paintings, some of which are shown herein. Art however was only one of his many passions and talents:

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he also loved sailing, gardening and naval architecture, and was a philanthropist. Information about all of this is included; and we learn too, of his friendships with other impressionist painters Monet and Renoir.
I knew very little about this artist save for some of his paintings until I read this fascinating introduction. It’s a book to get children thinking about art – Caillebotte’s of course, but also about impressionism, their own art, the countryside, the town and more: I really like the way that the narrative draws in and engages young readers.

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Take Flight: The Sky Guys & Treats for a T.Rex

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The Sky Guys
Madeleine Rogers and Jason Hook
Button Books
Cleverly conceived and beautifully designed and presented – a simple rhyming text by Jason Hook and strikingly bold illustrations by Madeleine Rogers – combine to make a book that will attract young readers but more than that, one that will keep those readers engaged throughout. It presents basic information about five bird species – the majestic albatross, the elegant flamingo, the wise owl, the guzzling pelican …

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and the tiny hummingbird, each of which is given two double spreads to display itself in all its glory.

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Did you know that an owl’s head can turn to face backwards  – impressive, or that the hummingbird uses its long beak like a drinking straw to sip nectar from flowers?
And if that’s not enough to bring these wonderful creatures to life, inside the back cover is an envelope containing press out templates of the five birds that are easy to make with a bit of folding and sticking (the youngest fingers might need a little adult support). Then once constructed, these can be used, along with the basic scenery, similarly made, to act out the narrative using the inside back cover as a fold-out backdrop.

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What a cool idea for a book that is bound to result in maximum young child-involvement.

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Treats for a T. Rex
Adam & Charlotte Guillain and Lee Wildish
Egmont Books
George embarks on his sixth adventure with his doggie pal, Trixie and he’s hoping to discover a real live T. rex. Off the two fly on a hang-gliding contraption, soaring above cities and far out over oceans to their destination, a volcanic island.

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Thereon Trixie spots what she thinks is a ball but turns out to be a huge dinosaur egg. It’s not the T.rex though, but a baby pterodactyl. This is only the first of their alarming dinosaur encounters; but after some tricky teaching by Trixie, the two friends finally find themselves face to face with the object of their search …

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Can they pull off one more trick or will George and Trixie become the next meal for that hungry T.rex towering above them?
George already has many young fans who follow his adventures eagerly; this latest will please them and likely win him more. There’s plenty going on in Lee Wildish’s bold, bright illustrations to entertain; and the Guillains’ rhyming text is a fun listen to.

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I’m Hungry

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I’m Hungry
Jorge Martin
Jonathan Cape
Jorge Martin provides a cracking debut with his story – in more ways than one. Set on a distant island, it starts with a baby dragon’s emergence from its egg; she’s a very hungry baby dragon whose overwhelming thoughts are to fill her tummy. Her first encounter is with a crab wanting a game of footie.

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You can guess what happened to that little chap. Next, our Baby Dragon comes upon a cockatoo; he’d like a story …

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That certainly isn’t on the dragon’s agenda however, so off flies the cockatoo. But he’s not the only one with wings; and before long, his fate is the same as the crab’s …

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Baby Dragon continues rampaging around the island scoffing each and every animal; make that almost every one …

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Even she meets her match here.
All alone in the aftermath of her chomping, Baby Dragon suddenly notices someone is coming her way; someone who, having heard Baby Dragon’s story, does a bit of rapid thinking, followed by a bit of strategic paw waggling, after which the population of the island increases once more: Baby Dragon has a lesson in appropriate dragon diet, makes an apology – or many – and fun ensues for everyone. Oops! Did I say everyone? …
Baby Dragon, despite her all consuming habit, is a lovable creature and one I envisage that will find many new friends among the young children who hear her tale. My listeners certainly were charmed and demanded an immediate repeat performance.
A promising new talent: Jorge Martin has populated his story with a host of deliciously winsome characters; his arresting spreads exude humour and I was reminded a touch of early David McKee in some of them.

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The Greedy Goat

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The Greedy Goat
Petr Horáček
Walker Books
What a tremendous treat of an extended joke of a book this is. I thought at first that the particular Goat in question must have an extraordinarily strong constitution as she gobbles up dog’s food for her breakfast, washed down with slurps of the cat’s milk; this is followed by a veritable 3-course lunch: pig’s potato peelings for starters, the farmer’s wife’s plant as entrée and his daughter’s shoe for dessert. And her supper – can you believe it- is this …

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It should come as no surprise then that after a whole day’s experimental gormandising our heroine starts to feel its effects.

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Moreover, the farmer’s family too have noticed the absence of their things and the guzzler seems to have absented herself too. Come Sunday, she looks thus:

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It takes a whole week for our experimental eater to get back to her usual self: but that still leaves one small girl in need of new footwear and the farmer short of his boxers. They never do turn up – well maybe they do but let’s not go there! And the goat? Is she now a reformed vegetarian, never to stray from her herbivorous diet again? Umm … who wants to ruin your dessert? The proof of the pudding is in the reading …
Petr Horáček has served up a truly flavoursome cautionary tale with spicy ingredients: a piquant main player, supported by a copacetic cast and – as ever – delectable mixed media illustrations that will be relished by children (who may well try their hand at some of his techniques) and the adults who serve up this treat to them.

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The Glump and the Peeble

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The Glump and the Peeble
Wendy Meddour and Rebecca Ashdown
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
What an intriguing title: what on earth is a Glump and what’s a Peeble? Sounds almost like something from Lewis Carroll I thought. I pondered these questions before even opening this deliciously fanciful book. Let me enlighten you now: the Glump in question is a troglodyte loner. He’s not a loner by choice however; he desperately longs to break out of the glump do-nothing mould and join in the moonlit fun and dancing with the peebles; but he just can’t bring himself to do it …

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Then, what should skip into the wood, ‘singing and dancing just like peebles should.’ (Yes this story’s told in Wendy Meddour’s mellifluous rhyming text.) but a veritable peeble. What she does next though is decidedly un-peeble-like: she sighs, frowns, pauses and sits down on the ground. Moreover, she starts to sing and this is her song:
“I know that a peeble should dance every night./ I know I should twirl in the glow of moonlight./ But it makes me feel dizzy, I get hot and pink. / Why can’t I sit still like a glump and just think?”
The Glump, from his cave, tries ignoring these words, and the peeble, but somehow he cannot. Instead he coughs and invites her in – in for a sit still. The surprised Peeble accepts and eventually follows the Glump into his cave; where she sits meditatively, breathing in the still and quiet of the night…

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Thereafter, a discussion ensues and the Glump tells his visitor of his yearning to dance, pointing out the troubles his toes would be likely to cause were he to do so; and the Peeble in turn persuades him to have a go – good on you Peeble. And off the two go to give it a spin …

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Guess who, with fear overcome, is soon wowing all the other peebles with his dance moves and equally important, a new friendship has been forged, well and truly. Two firsts in one night: a sitting still, thinking Peeble and a dancing Glump: that’s some going Glump and Peeble.

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All this is visually realised in Rebecca Ashdown’s wondrously quirky scenes wherein we are shown how this enchanting pair of characters manage, with each other’s help, to take a risk, step out of their respective comfort zones and dare to be different.localbookshops_NameImage-2

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Archie Snufflekins Oliver Valentine Cupcake Tiberius Cat

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Archie Snufflekins Oliver Valentine Cupcake Tiberius Cat
Katie Harnett
Flying Eye Books
For an ailurophobic reviewer (the creatures make me wheezy and sneezy) to admit to being in love with a moggy means he must be something special; and Archie Snufflekins Oliver Valentine Cupcake Tiberius (I’ll henceforward call him ASOVCT), resident of Blossom Street, is surely that. The thing is this animal has a place in well nigh every residence on the street: belonging to everybody and nobody, he strolls from home to home, seemingly assuming a different guise for each friend he calls upon. Indeed this feline character has acquired a different name at each house: hence he’s Archie at breakfast time with Mr Green at number three …

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Snufflekins and more at number thirteen, Madame Betty’s residence …

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Moreover, he participates in a whole gamut of activities in one single busy day.

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However, there is one house ASOVCT never visits, in fact no one ever visits number eleven, residence of the lonely Mrs Murray. Her life is far from busy; she passes her time knitting, watching TV and warming her feet by the fire.
Then, one day our moggy decides to pay Mrs Murray a visit …

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and from that day on, everything begins to change on Blossom Street …

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Perfectly pitched and paced in its telling, inhabited by a host of wonderful characters, not least our enormously endearing hero ASOVCT; and warmly illustrated with gentle humour and touches of pathos, this is a book that will certainly resonate with children and adults – young or not so young. In addition to being a wonderful story, the book speaks volumes in this age of smartphones and social media about the importance of face-to-face human interactions, a sense of community and belonging.
Let’s hear it for Archie Snufflekins Oliver Valentine Cupcake Tiberius, his creator Katie Harnett, and for Flying Eye Books for yet another glorious picture book.

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The Young Performing Horse

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The Young Performing Horse
Quentin Blake & John Yeoman
Andersen Press
First published almost forty years ago, the Young Performing Horse – should he now be called the Middle Aged Performing Horse? – is back to delight a new generation.
Poor farm children, brother and sister Bertie and Vicky buy a horse at an auction – the only one remaining – and he’s a rarity, a Young Performing Horse, so the auctioneer claims. Certainly he’s unusual with his ‘big eyes, long eyelashes, baggy skin, thick legs and shiny black hooves.’ and the twins fall in love with him straightaway. The adult Priddys had intended that the creature should carry their children to school instead of them having to trudge the long distance every day but he’s not big enough. He does however, accompany the twins to said school, trotting alongside them and even participating in lessons.

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When the family face hard times, the twins persuade their parents not to sell the horse, but to let them take him with them to London where they’ll seek their fortune.
Eventually they reach the big city …

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and find the location of Mr Crumbles’ theatre (an address given them by their teacher who happens to be Mr Crumbles’ friend.) and happily for them, there they spot a large sign saying “YOUNG ACTORS REQUIRED’. Having seen what their horse can do, Mr Crumble allows him to perform alongside the twins and the show is a great success …

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So much so that the company is summoned to Buckingham Palace to give a Royal Command Performance in front of her majesty.

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Suitably impressed, the Queen expresses a wish that all her subjects might have the opportunity to see a Young Performing Horse at Christmas. This gives Bertie a brilliant idea: could this be the origins of the pantomime horse? Whether or not it is, the Christmas shows all over the country make a fortune for Mr Crumble and his company and all ends happily for everyone concerned.
The partnership between John Yeoman with his wonderfully imaginative text and Quentin Blake with his sparklingly witty illustrations, results in a magical tale with a Dickensian feel to it. It’s a magic that will still hold audiences in its thrall even after all this time.
Was this cracking book ever made into a Christmas TV entertainment for children? If not, it should be …

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Piratical Dinosaurs and A Lost One

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Dinosaur Pirates!
Penny Dale
Nosy Crow
The dinosaur brigade return for their fifth adventure and they’ve become swashbuckling buccaneers on a secret journey to a distant island to unearth, with the help of their secret map, the buried treasure.

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And after a day’s hard work they find the chest and load it onto their ship but then along comes another ship: it’s the dastardly robbing raptors intent on seizing the treasure for themselves. A fearsome battle ensues with clashing, pushing – that’s the dinosaurs; and snapping – that’s the raptors, until eventually one of the ships starts to sink – that’s the raptors’; and they’re forced to abandon ship and leap for their lives.

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Do they survive? Who knows; but suffice it to say that the victors are thrilled to find their chest is full of shiny gold. Yo, ho, ho! A chest full of gold.
Fans of the ten versatile Dinosaurs will delight in their latest undertaking and the story should win them some new followers too. It provides plenty of opportunities for noisy joining in with the text and offers a super small world play starting point for early years children.

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Pete’s Magic Pants: The Lost Dinosaur
Paddy Kempshall and Chris Chatterton
Egmont
When Pete discovers a suitcase stored in an old wardrobe one day, he’s amazed to find it’s full of all sorts of magic pants and each pair possesses the power to transport him off on exciting adventures – once he’s put them on that is.

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The boy’s donning of a particularly hairy pair of pants results in him being pantsported into a forest where he comes upon first a chicken carrying a large club and a skateboard, and second, an egg out of which hatches a baby dinosaur.
It’s looks like a case of mistaken identity when this babe licks Pete on the nose and asks, “Dada?” Fortunately though, the small chicken declares himself a “good dinosaur finder” and the three set of in search of the real Dino Dada. It’s a search that results in some rather terrifying encounters …

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until eventually after a seemingly exhaustive hunt, they stop to rest beside a ‘tree’ …

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My only quibble with this action-packed, seek and find tale is that young children might conclude that ‘caveman’ pants taking the protagonist into a forest wherein he discovers a dinosaur egg, means that dinosaurs and cavemen co-existed.

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Facing the Truth

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The Truth According to Arthur
Tim Hopgood and David Tazzyman
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
The relationship between Arthur and The Truth is in crisis thanks to a deed done – despite his mum’s warning not to – by the young lad, which has resulted in …

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(that’s Mum’s car and big bro’s bike.). Inevitably his friends ask him about the incident and first Arthur BENDS the truth getting him this response …

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Then he S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-S it “I was just having a little go on my brother’s bike when an alien asked if he could borrow it … I think he thought it would fly.” to which Lula responds similarly. Clearly more drastic action is required thinks Arthur; but his attempts at covering up The Truth, disguising it and hiding it all fail dismally. Maybe ignoring it altogether will work.

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Seems Frankie is suitably impressed …

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but what about his Mum? “Do you have something to tell me?’ she asks Arthur who is then faced with a moral dilemma. What do you think he did? …
Suffice it to say, Arthur and The Truth are now the best of friends …
The Hopgood/Tazzyman combination works a treat in this, their first partnership book. Giggles aplenty are assured when you read this fanciful fibbing fiction aloud to a group of under 7s. In addition to being a fun story to share, it’s just the thing to kick off a discussion on the topic of telling the truth; and Tazzyman’s wonderfully quirky illustrations are likely to prompt satisfied listeners to imagine and create their own flights of fancy on the busted bike/scratched car theme.

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Prince George and the Royal Potty
Caryl Hart and Laura Ellen Anderson
Orchard Books
Never has a royal baby been the star of so many picture books as young Prince George and now here he is again to share his potty training regime with us. Thus far, the infant prince has, so we are told, presented no problems to his household; he’s minded his ps and qs and always kept himself nice and clean …

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but then comes a day when, despite his dad’s reluctance to rush the lad, his mum tells him it’s time to stop wearing nappies,. And further incentive comes later in the day when he discovers that dragon hunting armour and nappies just don’t go together …

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With the potty-using decision made, George then realises that he has no idea how the thing works.
Next day he still hasn’t gone nappyless and the royal guards are far from impressed when he decides to join them on a march past. Eventually the king is called and it’s from him that Prince George receives sterling advice: “Just choose a good book from the shelf. Then sit on the potty and read it. The rest will come all by itself.” Lo and behold in a few days, the little fellow is a potty ace sporting appropriately trimmed pants and with a portable pot on hand whenever he feels the urge …

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Caryl Hart’s right royal rhyme in combination with Laura Ellen Anderson’s exuberant scenes make for a romping good read.

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You Must Bring a Hat

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You Must Bring a Hat
Simon Philip and Kate Hindley
Simon and Schuster Children’s Books
Most of us get excited when we receive invitations; however, this particular one received by the young boy narrator of this story …

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causes the lad a deal of consternation: he doesn’t own a hat. The shops are sold out – completely …

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What’s the little fellow to do? Ermm: maybe a monkey sporting a hat might be a good place to start –

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even if the creature won’t part with his titfa.
Off goes the boy (with ‘hat’) to the venue where there is what seems to be a particularly jobsworth type of fellow on the door. “Sorry Sir, but we’re under strict instructions not to let in any hat-wearing monkeys … unless they are also wearing a monocle.” I ask you … What this doorman does and says thereafter, leads to a succession of supremely silly situations involving piano playing,

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tutu wearing, cheese slicing (or not) and more until our narrator can finally take no more …

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That isn’t entirely all though: what comes thereafter is ALMOST unbelievably, stupendously ridiculous and it will have children (and a fair few adult readers aloud,) splitting their sides and almost wetting themselves in delight.
What a nexus of hilarity Simon and Kate have created here. Every word of Simon’s has seemingly been weighed for maximum impact; and every scene just exudes wonderfully wacky details of the hatty, and hatless, Hindley kind.

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Hat’s away and get your copy forthwith; you’ll surely love it like I did. STU-PEN-DOUS!

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Naughty Naughty Monster

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Naughty Naughty Monster
Kaye Umansky and Greg Abbott
Templar Publishing
This is utterly delicious: from the moment I set eyes on that monster grinning at me from the book’s cover I was ensnared. The thing is though, he’s – as we’re told from the outset – a monster of the naughty naughty kind. Forget kind – he’s the one and only Naughty Naughty Monster and he has the woodland creatures shivering and shaking in their holes when he’s peckish and on the rampage. Not so one particular Fairy however –

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looks pretty sweet I agree, but not when she’s riled and she is – on account of the NNM. “I am sending you straight back home again./ Be off! Back to your cave!/ And don’t you dare come out/ Until you’ve learned how to behave.” she tells him. This instruction, the NNM ignores completely and continues rampaging, through the farmyard causing terror therein until the Fairy arrives on the scene. She calms the frenzied animals but not the NNM who ignores her “… back into your cave until you learn to be polite” order and proceeds down the street, alarming , nay terrorising, the children with his dustbin kicking and acting tough.

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And that’s when the ‘goody-goody’ Fairy finally goes crazy. She sends him into his cave and blocks the entrance (and of course, the monster’s exit) with ‘a great big, heavy stone’ leaving him to stew  and ponder on his wicked ways, for try as he might, no matter how hard he shoves and thumps, the NNM cannot shift the stone, not one little bit. Is that a tiny tear I spy being shed by the creature here …

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Days pass, a lot of thinking gets done and finally the Monster sees the error of his ways, grabs pen and paper and writes …

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A helpful bird delivers the letter, the Fairy – now happy – reads it, considers, has doubts but decides one more chance is the order of the day. The NNM is released from his solitary confinement and … ‘The Naughty Naughty Monster went rampaging through the wood … ‘

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Surely after all that, the Fairy wasn’t wrong in letting him out, was she?
Kaye Umansky’s rhyming text simply rocks: it’s perfectly paced, marvellously mischievous and reads aloud like a dream. In combination with newcomer Greg Abbott’s superb scenes of mischief, mayhem and a winsome monster, the result is pure picture book pleasure.

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What Could It Be?

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What Could It Be?
Sally Fawcett
EK Books
I love books that invite children to be creative and this one certainly does just that and more. Subtitled Exploring the Imaginative World of Shapes we do so courtesy of a boy (observant readers will discover his name further into the book) and his rhyming narrative which, on the opening spread says, ‘This is a CIRCLE./What else could it be?’ and goes on to demonstrate over the page …

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Thus, readers are immediately drawn into a playful exploration of basic 2D shapes and how they can be transformed into all manner of exciting objects.
Next comes the square followed by the triangle …

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(there’s artistic license here but the ‘can you find?’ questions all relate to 2D shapes). Next comes the rectangle and a bedroom scene wherein we see all seven of the shapes included in the game.

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Another basic shape known to most pre-schoolers, the hexagon calls for the donning of a superhero cape by our narrator as he climbs to rescue his football, while his younger sister plays in her sandpit (a hexagonal enclosure, of course) close by.
Ovals come next and I particularly like the way these are transformed into a teapot ready for afternoon tea…

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and the final encounter is with the octagon and we have a seaside scene. Having explored the basics so to speak, the narrator then suggests readers start creating by making their own templates and letting their ideas flow …
There’s even a suggestion to upload personal artwork onto the publisher’s website if further incentive is needed.
‘Now that your thinking is out of the square,/pull out a pencil and pull up a chair.’ And that’s where children’s thinking needs to go … away from things that can be tested, measured and compared: if only all teachers might find the courage to keep offering the spaces for this to happen. Just do it!

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How to Look After Your Human

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How To Look After Your Human
Kim Sears and Helen Hancocks
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Now I have to say at the outset that I’m no dog lover (having been attacked aged six, I think, by an Alsatian, I tend to beat a hasty retreat at the sight of any pooch); nor do I share the illustrator’s penchant for cats (they make me wheezy) and yes I did see the odd moggie lurking herein; but I felt drawn to this ‘A Dog’s Guide’ by the creatures posing on the back cover, in particular. That, and a great liking for Helen Hancocks’ previous books.
But let’s begin with the essentials: this is said to be written by ‘Maggie Mayhem’ so I can only assume that she’s a highly intelligent, literate canine. What she tells us is that she’s an eight-year old Border Terrier residing just outside London with brother Rusty, and that they own ‘two adorable humans plus an assortment of their extended family and friends.’ So, she should know; moreover so she claims ‘the terrier has a brain twice as large as a human.’ (This has not officially been verified, we’re told; so it appears, Maggie is honest to boot.)
Maggie has chosen to divide her instruction guide into eight chapters (plus the intro. that we’ve already mentioned). The first and possibly most important is How to Choose Your Human, which looks at the pros and cons of family life and living with an individual. Those unhappy with more than a little exercise should avoid certain types like these here …

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Next topic for consideration is Communication, essentially body language and verbal communication, the latter being, so we’re told, a minefield on account of the ‘thousands of different noises (words) produced and the fact that they alter ‘the order, pitch, tone and volume every time.’
Training comes next, and this doesn’t mean merely toilet training. Making as much mess as possible is advocated ‘so your human knows exactly what’s expected of them.’ from the beginning.

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The whole thing proceeds in similar dead pan vein through chapters on Nutrition, where the importance of keeping one eye on what you want the human to eat and the other firmly fixed on what you want them not to – what you want to eat yourself in other words. Of course polite humans operate a sharing is caring policy. This is followed by …

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Grooming & Hygiene with hair being a focus here.

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(Not sure I’d agree with the idea of imbibing liquid refreshment from the toilet bowl while supervising your human performing its ablutions, however.) But then I am writing from a human perspective here. Dress – human and canine is discussed in chapter 7 where the author confesses that sporting a designer mackintosh that matches her human is not something she approves of.
Maggie’s ten commandments account for the final chapter and the moggie portrayed here is a legitimate visitor – albeit as the subject of the 8th commandment – a general enemy warning.
Deliciously tongue in cheek – when not engaged thus …

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the ‘author’ of this book had me in fits of giggles throughout. A must for all prospective pooch human carers as well as those humans in particular who have a penchant for Border Terriers, or really any breed whatsoever. In other words, if you’re getting a dog or already have one, don’t miss this.

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Joys of the Countryside

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1 2 3 A Walk in the Countryside
Rosalind Beardshaw
Nosy Crow
This is a companion volume to ABC A Walk in the Countryside also published in association with the National Trust. Here the two small friends, plus dog are taking an autumnal walk by the river, over the hedgerow stile, pausing to look at falling leaves and scudding clouds, squirrels busy collecting acorns.

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Then over the stepping stones to the other side of the river where rabbits play; and on into the pine woods. Next it’s time to pause for a tasty snack – thank you apple tree …

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before stopping again for a spot of fish watching, blackberry picking – yum yum –

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and, as the sun sinks the youngsters take delight in the flock of geese overhead 19 in all. But there’s still more to count – 100 stars, as they make their way homewards ready for snuggling up in a cosy bed.
With a delightful visual narrative accompanied by named items to count, this is a super little book to share with tinies either as a prelude to, or after, their own country counting walk. It’s as well it’s sturdily built to stand up to all the frequent re-readings I forsee for this enchanting country foray. Those illustrations would make a cracking number frieze for an early years setting or small child’s bedtoom.

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Hedgehogs, Hares and other British Animals
Nikki Dyson
Nosy Crow
This ‘Nature Sticker Book’ goes right through the seasons visiting various habitats from the garden, the forest – underground and above in the spring;

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to the river and open countryside at night. We’re then taken closer up into tall grassland that provides a home for harvest mice, rabbits, grouse and hares, and many wild flowers too can be found. The marine life and the seashore spreads focus mainly on large mammals – whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals although one of the activity spots on this spread invites readers to choose a position for the lighthouse (one is included among the 2 pages of stickers in the “On the beach’ section).
Seasonal changes are evident in the ‘Busy in the autumn’ woodland spread that shows ripened fruits and animals foraging for food to store for winter; and there’s a snowy woodland scene too …

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The final focus is on the reintroduction of some animal species such as beavers, and a playful mention of the possibility of wolves roaming once more. The last spread is a checklist of 28 different species that can be filled in over time.
Nikki Dyson, who illustrated Zippo the Super Hippo, provides 11 gorgeous natural scenes into which she places a plethora of wild animals that, with a touch of playfulness, she imbues with real character. One can imagine children, once they’ve added the appropriate stickers and completed entire scenes, creating their own stories relating to these creatures.

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They might even want to include some of the factual information gleaned from the scientific material provided for each spread.
‘This book is all about mammals …’ says the introduction but it’s about much more: the flora are equally wonderful, as are the birds, insects and other small animals that have found their way into Nikki’s natural locations.

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Jill and the Homeless Bumblebee

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Jill and the Homeless Bumblebee
David Greaves and Danielle Callaghan
Friends of the Earth
This tale tells of a once happy bumblebee, made homeless when her meadow home is ploughed up by a tractor one day.

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With all the wild flowers gone, she is forced to find somewhere else to live, somewhere that wild flowers grow freely; and is aided by a small child (Jill in this instance) in her search.
After many hours and several abortive attempts – thanks to a hedge cutting machine,

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crop spraying, harvesting and pollution …

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the two finally come upon the ideal place for the bee to settle. A bee-friendly farmer has just the place …

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Told in jaunty rhyme, (which does work when read aloud), and illustrated with bold, bright artwork, this timely ‘name’ book supports a very important cause. It’s one I’m more than pleased to support living on the fringes of Stroud, the town that claims to be Britain’s first bee-friendly town, and knowing that numbers of our precious bees are in decline at present, thanks to housing development (yes I know that’s crucial too), as well as intensive farming.
(I was sent this personalized copy by FOE; all proceeds from sales of the book go to the charity and its vital work.)
If you, or anyone you know wants to help, then first head to the Friends of the Earth Bee page: www.foe.co.uk/page/bee-cause
Better still perhaps, especially if you know a child – and that’s pretty much all of us – a personalised book about a Homeless Bumblebee, tailor made with choice of name, skin colour, hair colour etc. from http://www.homelessbee.starringstorys.co.uk especially a bee-auty like this one with a crucial conservation message at its heart, has got to be worth getting.

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The Lines on Nana’s Face

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The Lines on Nana’s Face
Simona Ciraolo
Flying Eye Books
Utterly divine was my instant reaction when I saw the cover of this: and so it continued with glorious endpapers and an, oh so beautiful narration by a small girl, of a conversation that takes place between herself and her Nana on the latter’s birthday. All the relations have come to celebrate the day but our narrator is slightly bemused: in addition to looking happy, why does her Nana appear as though ‘she might also be a bit sad, and a little surprised and slightly worried, all at the same time.’ she wonders. Nana suggests it might be due to her wrinkles, “ … it is in these lines that I keep all my memories!”
What follows is a glorious exploration of those lines with the little girl leading the way.

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There’s a springtime mystery-solving memory line, a best seaside picnic ever line (or two) – definitely laughter lines those …

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and these are the result of a truly hair-raising first date encounter with Grandpa …

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Memories of a glorious wedding dress made by Nana for her sister are also present – right below Nana’s eyes and there’s a sadness place too – that’s for Nana’s first goodbye …

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Then comes our adorable narrator’s final question: “Nana! Do you remember the first time you saw me?” and Nana’s beatific smile says it all …

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Stunning illustrations grace each and every page of this treasure of a book. I particularly love the alternate ‘real’ (lines) and imaginative (memory) spreads pattern Ciraolo uses as she celebrates both youth with all its promise of times to come, and gradual aging with its memories of times past: essentially, life and living. I for one will never look upon my facial lines in quite the same way again. What a truly tender tale to share with young children, no matter whether you are or aren’t a grandparent though of course, it would be a wonderful present from one grandchild to grandma or vice-versa. And (I keep on saying this), yet another out of this world production from Flying Eye Books: oh that paper – I can almost feel those lines,  oh that spine, oh, oh … hmmm!

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The White Cat and the Monk

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The White Cat and the Monk
Jo Ellen Bogart and Sydney Smith
Walker Books
Having been totally bowled over by Sydney Smith’s Footpath Flowers, I knew I wanted to review this book despite not being familiar with any of its author’s work. (In her note at the back she tells us ‘In Irish, the word bán means white. Pangur has been said to refer to the word fuller, a person who fluffed and whitened cloth. We might think, then, that Pangur Bán was a cat with brilliantly white fur. Perhaps she even glowed in the candlelight.’) In Sidney Smith’s spread here, she surely does so …

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In fact in all his glorious illustrations herein, I detect the portrayal of a similar reverence for life and learning shown by the two characters , the monk and the cat, as those of the adult and child in Footpath Flowers.
Essentially, this is an interpretation of a medieval Irish poem penned by a Benedictine monk and it’s through the monk’s lenses that we view his solitary world. The scholarly monk shares his cell with the white cat of the title and with readers, his meditation on life with Pangur and with his ‘peaceful pursuit of knowledge’ through his books. While he does this the cat in its turn is busy with his own pursuits in the spartan abode: he stalks a mouse …

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Each is content with his lot and both are completely absorbed in what they do.

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There is actually within this story, another story for one of the monk’s manuscripts shows this –

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an even more ancient portrayal of another monk and cat. And we’re treated to a marvellous illuminated manuscript spread which in itself opens up a wonderful opportunity to discuss the art created by medieval monks.

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My first encounter with the poem was through the W.H. Auden adaption wherein the monk addresses the cat and begins:
Pangur, white Pangur,
How happy we are
Alone together, Scholar and cat.
Each has his own work to do daily;
For you it is hunting, for me, study.
This second, thanks to Bogart and Smith is for me, more beautiful, more wondrous. Towards the end, Smith’s ink and watercolour frames take us towards the window …

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and the monk’s final words

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” … and I find light in the darkness.” Pangur seemingly, is the light in more than one sense. Both monk and cat can delight in and celebrate each other’s good fortune : so too can we if only we choose to view the world through similar lenses.
Like the partnership between monk and cat, that between author, Jo Ellen Bogart and artist Sydney Smith is totally in harmony; and the outcome of their collaboration is so much more than the sum of its parts.

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Once Upon a Wish & Thank You!

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Once Upon a Wish
Amy Sparkes and Sara Ogilvie
Red Fox
Deep in the forest, in a giant oak tree, lives a magical wishgiving boy, as you’ll soon see …
By night, as the wishes drift his way, he spends his time concocting and conjuring up wish magic for girls and boys,

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then delivering it right to them …

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Despite their delight at receiving their heart’s desire, these children quickly forget the wish giver who also has a wish of his own, for it’s a lonely life he leads in that secret lair of his. The lad wishes for a pet or a friend to keep him company but try as he might, his own wish is unfulfilled …

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Then one night this wish wafts his way “I wish I could fly” and immediately our lad is up and doing, sprinkling, stirring and filling a bottle of potion, before sailing off to deliver same to the waiting wisher. This particular recipient however, is rather different. Yes, she’s absolutely over the moon at being able to take her maiden flight, but it’s what she does next …

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that makes all the difference, though not right away. Her kind words take a little while for their own particular brand of magic to do its work …

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Amy Sparkes’ brilliant to read aloud rhyming verses mixed with Sara Ogilvie’s sparklingly gorgeous, richly and humorously detailed, glowing illustrations make for a magic mix all of their own: sheer delight from cover to cover.
If you’ve ever forgotten to thank, or overlooked saying, thank you to anybody, I urge you to get hold of a copy of this one and send it to them forthwith; actually buy a copy no matter what; you’ll surely find someone or many, to share its enchantments.

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Thank You!
Ethan Long
Abrams Appleseed
A variety of animals, small and large, a toddler and an adult demonstrate ways of showing thankfulness in this delightfully playful board book. There’s an additional way of showing gratitude too herein: paying it forward. Cat proffers Dog a ball, then dog in turn gives a flower to hummingbird;

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hummingbird then offers panda a bamboo shoot ; panda extends his paw with peanut to elephant and so on. Each act of kindness receives a characteristic thankful response – “Growl growl!”, “Toot toot!” and so on until we come full circle to the cat, now the recipient of a ball of wool.
Next, we see each of the recipients enjoying their gift and a small child watching and wondering. And then comes a final human sharing time with adult and child rounding things off neatly.

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Long constructs this whole concatenation cleverly with each animal stretching out of its border and across the gutter with its offering.
If you’re endeavouring to teach your young infant to respond appropriately when given something, this is the perfect book; just make sure you don’t end up with a confused child barking, humming, growling, tooting, eeking, oinking or meowing. Actually though, those speech bubbles are great for joining in with, and a slightly older sibling would likely enjoy reading the book to a very young brother or sister.

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Wolfish Stew

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Wolfish Stew
Suzi Moore and Erica Salcedo
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
We all agree, wolves in stories are generally the baddies that get their just desserts, don’t we? Now you might just find yourself showing a little bit of sympathy for the particular wolf character in this treat of a tale, which certainly has a spicy final twist to it. Let’s get back to the start though with this:
‘There once was a rabbit/whose name was Grey. And he went to the woods/to pick berries one day.’
Now of course, where there are woods – and certainly in stories – there are also frequently, something else beginning with w and so too, is it in this instance. In fact here is one in particular, going by the name of Blue, a cunning, mean, sneaky creature with an enormous tail and a overwhelming desire for a special ingredient for his wolfish stew. No prizes for guessing what that might be …

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Hence all these warnings uttered to Grey as he makes his way on his foraging expedition through those woods …

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woods wherein lurks a pair of hairy, slightly nobbly knees, a massive appendage attached to a hairy posterior, wellie –shod feet and a very protruding snout. Hmm. Did I just see a knife and fork being brandished there too?

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It’s as well then that our little Grey pal is a wily creature with more than his fair share of tricks tucked in his fur – not to mention useful devices stashed in his burrow.

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Oh! What was that I just heard? Surely not Blue singing Grey’s song, was it? Yes it was.
Could it possibly be that, there’s a character even more ruthless than he residing in this particular story, one that’s been planning for an extra special ingredient to make his suppertime repast even more of a delicious concoction than usual? Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it.
What can be said however, is that this is destined to be wolfed down with delighted squeals of “More please!” and “Again, again!’ and that the rather dark wolfalicious outcome may not meet with everyone’s approval: it’s all a matter of taste.
Erica Salcedo’s utterly scrummy illustrations are brimming over with tasty tidbits and moreish humour, providing the perfect accompaniment to Suzi Moore’s.truly toothsome text.

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Copy Cat

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Copy Cat
Ali Pye
Nosy Crow
Meet two cats – Anna and Bella. Bella is totally besotted with Anna and tries to do everything she does, from hula-hooping to playing princesses and that is where the trouble begins; it’s all over a crown – the only crown. And, the result is this …

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which leaves Bella alone with no one to copy. There’s only one thing to do and Bella does it; she engages in some self-initiated solo play and discovers that practice makes perfect. She also discovers – eventually, but not straightaway because she’s so engrossed in improving her skipping skills – a watcher. Her name is Chloe and she too wants to be a skipper. Easily solved, Bella says, “Just copy me!” and soon both are happily engaged in their rope turning. 
Anna meanwhile has discovered it’s not a lot of fun being a princess all by herself …

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and decides to go and seek out her imitator.
Pretty soon, thanks to the accommodating nature of both expert skippers, not to mention the setting aside of her crown and a whole lot of hard work, Anna’s rope turning skills are up to the mark; and then Chloe has a brainwave …

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Seemingly, where this trio is concerned, threesomes can be harmonious: sometimes they are happy copying one another, other times they do their own thing entirely

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unless …
A-DOR-A-BLE pretty much sums up this, Ali Pye’s debut as author/illustrator. How well she knows young children (and cats!) is demonstrated brilliantly by the manner she portrays these ‘littles’ finding their own ways to manipulate and manoeuvre the world of the play space they find themselves in, or indeed, co-create in an early years setting. Her characterisation is spot on and I love her choice of colour palette, as well as the gentle humour of the whole thing.

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Solo Reading Delights

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Lottie and Dottie Grow Pumpkins
Claire Burgess, illustrated by Marijke van Veldhoven
Orion Children’s Books
Green-fingered siblings, Lottie and little sis. Dottie, are once again inspired by their reading – it’s Cinderella this time – and off they go to the garden centre to buy pumpkin seeds. With just three in the packet that’s one for each of the sisters and one for their pal Basil (also a keen gardener). As the pumpkin seeds germinate and grow, Dottie muses over possibilities …

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and soon it’s time to replant the rapidly enlarging pumpkins outside where they continue growing and growing until …

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And with such a wonderful crop, come the autumn, there’s plenty for soup making, carving and more …

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and of course there are plenty of seeds for next year’s sowing.
A tasty treat for ‘just taking off’ readers and with those amusing illustrations, it also makes a great read aloud, especially for one to one sharing.

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Belinda and the Bears Go Shopping
Kaye Umansky, illustrated by Chris Jevons
Orion Children’s Books
Kaye Umansky puts a delicious new slant on the Three Bears story when young Belinda persuades Mummy and Daddy Bear to convert their attic into a bedroom for Baby Bear. It’s rather bare though

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and the trouble is, the Bear family are used to the woods: going furniture shopping in the village will take a whole lot of organising and once they get to the junk shop, Baby Bear needs a bit of persuading to concentrate on the job in hand …

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Luckily, Mr Musty has everything the Bears need and even offers to deliver their purchases free of charge; but when it comes to Baby Bear’s first bedtime in his new room, there’s a bit of a hiccup. Fortunately however, Belinda knows just what to do to make sure her small bear friend sleeps soundly.
With delightful illustrations by Chris Jevons on every page (and instructions to make a Robin Hood hat like Baby Bear’s at the end), what more can just independent readers ask. Some green paper and a feather perhaps …

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Under Earth Under Water

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Under Earth Under Water
Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel Mizielińska
Big Picture Press
First from this duo there was Maps and now back they’ve come three years later with another wonderful non-fiction offering, an exploration of what lies beneath the ground, or – if you turn this massively fascinating book around and begin at the other end – what lurks beneath the surface of the oceans. Even the contents pages are ingenious journey maps.
Let’s start with going under the earth where pretty much everything from bacteria, beetle larvae, burrowing animals, storage roots and the like …

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natural gas …

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cables and pipes, sewers, to metro lines are delved into.
Flip the book over and readers are plunged into lakes, the oceans, and richly coloured coral reefs. Topics such as underwater pressure, diving, submarines, oil platforms and deep-sea fish …

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are covered. The whole thing is a veritable treasure trove chock full of delights scientific …

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geographical, cultural and historical …

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to fascinate and be pored over.
Totally engrossing, lavishly produced, brilliantly designed, visually staggering, this is a volume to be dipped into, enjoyed, cherished: what an amazing journey to the centre of the earth no matter from which end you begin.
It’s beyond brilliant and a must for family bookshelves and class libraries no matter what the age or stage.

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Be Who You Are

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Introducing Teddy
Jessica Walton and Dougal MacPherson
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
There’s been a fair bit about gender identity and transitioning in the media of late; finally it has become more acceptable: now here is a picture book on the theme. It’s subtitled ‘A story about being yourself’ and this is what it celebrates: something that is of vital importance to us all, whoever we are. Equally it’s a celebration of friendship and in particular the friendship between Thomas the teddy and his pal, Errol who play together every day.

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One day though, Teddy seems sad. Errol hopes a trip to the park will cheer him up …
but even the swing doesn’t work its usual magic. “What’s wrong, Thomas? Talk to me!” Errol urges.

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And reluctantly Thomas explains. “I need to be myself … In my heart, I’ve always known that I’m a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly, not Thomas.” Like the true friend that he is, Errol assures his pal that no matter what, Teddy and henceforward Tilly, is his friend. And when another friend, Ava arrives on the scene, Errol introduces the re-named Tilly to her. After minor adjustments to her adornments, Tilly joins the others in a session of swinging, see-sawing and generally enjoying being themselves …

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Tenderly told and empathetically portrayed with just the right degree of gentle humour, this is a book to share with young children at home or in school.

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Colin and Lee Carrot and Pea
Morag Hood
Two Hoots
Lee is a small green pea; Colin isn’t. Unlike all Lee’s other pals, Colin is a tall carrot stick. They’re close friends despite the fact that Colin isn’t any good at rolling, bouncing …

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or playing hide and seek with the other peas. He does however make a superb tower as well as …

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all of which combine to make him a smashing individual to have as a friend: those unique carroty characteristics are what count where friendship is concerned.
In this quirky celebration of individuality, Morag Hood – with her unlikely characters – brings a fresh spin on uniqueness and being yourself, whatever you are. I love the fact that she created her funny collage and paint pictures with the help of supermarket plastic bags. A great debut; I eagerly anticipate what comes next.
As well as being a great book to share in an early years setting, the simplicity of the text makes it ideal for beginning readers: they surely deserve unique books not dull, uninspiring fodder.

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Can I Build Another Me?

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Can I Build Another Me?
Shinsuke Yoshitake
Thames & Hudson
The boy narrator of this powerful, brilliantly inventive book, shares with readers what happens when he comes up with the ingenious idea of building a Kevin replica in order to avoid doing boring things such as homework, tidying his room and generally helping around the house. Off he goes to the electronics shop where he spends all his pocket money on a robot. “From now on, you’re going to be the new me!” he informs the thing, “But don’t let anyone know. You must behave exactly like me.”
The ordinary basic facts are easily dealt with …

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but in order to be fool-proof, the robot needs to know everything about Kevin and that entails getting right up close and personal …

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Even that is not enough though; Kevin has to do a complete self-evaluation and consider the things that REALLY make him, him. No easy undertaking, as talking about himself is not something Kevin likes to do, especially when it comes to tricky considerations such as ‘What do other people think about me?’

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Eventually, it becomes evident that Kevin is anything but ordinary

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or as his Grandma has pointed out he’s ‘NO ONE BUT ME … everyone is like a tree … you can choose how to grow … and it’s whether you like your tree, that’s what counts!’
In other words, he’s utterly unique: it’s the Kevinness of Kevin that matters.

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Is that something the robot can ever really take on, no matter how precise a picture he has amassed: will the master plan work or will Mum see through the whole charade right away? Err …
Philosophy for children this certainly is: I lost count of how many times it opens up space for reflection and discussion. It’s also totally empowering, funny, bound to induce self-reflection – who can resist creating some quirky Kevin-style self-portraits like these …

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and the minimal colour palette and superbly detailed illustrations, both large and small, all build up to one thing when it comes to the latest Yoshitake and that one thing is, genius.

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The Detective Dog

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The Detective Dog
Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie
Macmillan Children’s Books
‘There once was a dog with a keen sense of smell.
She was known far and wide as Detective Dog Nell.
Sniff, sniff, sniff. Time after time,
Nell the Detective solved crime after crime.’

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but this is much more than a crime-solver, which we’ll discover as the story progresses and we meet some of the other characters, in particular her scatty carer, six-year–old Peter and on a particular weekday, (Nell doesn’t do detecting on that day of the week: she devotes Mondays to hearing children read at Peter’s school) his classmates and teacher …

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The smells of the school delight Nell, in particular that of the books. But then, one Monday, the aroma emanating from the school isn’t quite right: something seems to be different. And it is. Mr Jones is distraught: all the books have gone missing.
Immediately Nell is hot on the trail, following her nose out the school, through the town …

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and out into the countryside. And it’s there the thief is unmasked …

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“I know I’ve been bad. … I only meant to borrow. I was planning to give all the books back tomorrow.” is his explanation. Can you guess where this one’s going yet? Nell certainly knows … and off everyone races at full pelt right back to town and into …

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Ted cannot believe his eyes at the sight of such wonders, enrols himself immediately and all ends happily with the school books returned to their rightful place just waiting for those regular Monday visits by Detective Dog Nell. And there’s a new story awaiting her there too …
Nell knows best! Long may she continue, but more importantly, long may that particular library and all our libraries continue – what a wonderful ode to our precious libraries this is. It’s also a brilliant new partnership between two amazing talents.

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Monster in the Hood

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Monster in the Hood
Steve Antony
Oxford University Press
When a notice appears in town warning of THE MONSTER IN THE HOOD, Sammy Squirrel, Henri Hedgehog and Marvin Mouse all want to see the creature for themselves. Sammy dares it to show itself: “Come out, come out, wherever you are! You won’t scare us!” he shouts. The only response is a squeak but that’s from a pack of rats, one of which warns of the large orange-eyed monster. “The monster in the hood … grumbly and rumbly and will eat you for dinner.” Does this scare the pants off the fearless trio? Most certainly not; it’s Henri’s turn to address the monster this time and as he does so,

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there comes a screech, which turns out to be a cloud of bats. They add ‘huge shaggy hands’ to the monster’s attributes but do nothing to ruffle the cool headedness of the three monster seekers.

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Marvin Mouse tries his luck at calling for the creature and no sooner has he completed his challenge than a ‘clutter of cats’ comes by with words about a ‘big scary mouth’ – to no avail of course. The intrepid trio try calling in unison and out of the silence steps …

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Yes, it definitely matches the description given by the rat, bat and cat but none of them has given the vital piece of information that makes all the difference; and that related to what it didn’t have – a friend. Seemingly the other animals were wrong about what the monster really wanted after all – or, were they?
I love the night-time urban setting and the wacky characters of this twisted cautionary tale and Steve Antony’s choice of colour palette is, as ever, spot on. Every time I see a new book from this guy, I think ‘that’s my favourite’ but then along comes another and another and …

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Wolfie the Bunny

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Wolfie The Bunny
Ame Dyckman and Zachariah OHora
Andersen Press
As the story opens we find the Bunny family outside their apartment where they discover a wolf cub on the front door step. The Bunny parents are delighted: “He’s going to eat is all up!” warns daughter Dot.
The following morning while Mama feeds it a breakfast of carrots, Papa is busy photographing the newcomer; but young Dot sticks to her assertion about them being his preferred repast, and when her friends come to visit they are of the same opinion.

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Dot decides to go and play at her friend’s house leaving Wolfie, who unbeknown to her, cries. On her return, while the parents continue drooling over the rapidly growing, carrot-scoffing Wolfie, he shadows her every move, even to the shops …

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At this point it does begin to look as though young Dot might after all be correct in her assertion; but it’s not her that Wolfie has his eyes on. There’s something very large there and his dinner of choice is not Dot but Wolfie himself.
Time to make a hasty escape Dot? Errm actually, not. Instead the young miss stands up for, and fiercely defends her (adopted) family member,

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showing the large bear that she really does mean business of the consuming kind and off he dashes but then …

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Is that the end after all ??
Actually, fortunately for Dot, this is a totally tongue-in-cheek kind of tale where all ends, let’s say, rather satisfactorily. OHora’s illustrations rendered in bold acrylics in a fairly restricted range of colours (grey, reds, green and gold) heighten the dramatic impact of the deliciously droll telling.
I love the way readers are kept wondering right up to the very last page; love the ever-scowling Dot and the immediately endearing Wolfie, love the whole thing in fact. It’s a cracking good read aloud whether you choose to share it with a class, a group or one to one; and definitely, a fresh take on a new sibling.

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Family and Friends

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My Grandparents Love Me
Claire Freedman and Judi Abbot
Simon and Schuster
That special relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren is explored in this charmer of a book, narrated by a young zebra, be it the welcome embraces, gifts in the bedroom, a baking session with indulgent, ever-patient Gran …

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an outing to the funfair rounded off with large ice-creams and a picnic or a spot of rocket building in Grandpa’s shed,

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a stay with Gran and Grandpa is bound to be loads of fun.
Sometimes though, the young zebra has his grandparents to stay at his home where boating or swimming lessons might be the order of the day,

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followed by a noisy musical interlude before it’s time to snuggle up close for a story sharing session before bedtime.

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With bit parts played by additional friendly-looking jungle animals, Judi Abbot’s excursion scenes provide extra entertainment for young listeners while the zebras young and adult take the star parts throughout, be they indoors or out and about.
Claire Freedman’s warm story will appeal particularly to grandparents and the very young who not only share that special loving bond part and parcel of which is the joys of book times together.

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Together …
Emma Dodd
Nosy Crow
A mother sea otter and her young one spend a day together sharing the beauty of the rising sun, then watching and dreaming as the clouds drift by. They laugh and play in the water, learning new things from one another …

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and sometimes, just drifting side by side, holding paws and watching the sun start to sink as the day draws to its close. Togetherness days such as that are the ones both mother and child will remember.
Simply beautiful, full of tenderness and perfect to share with the very youngest, this latest of Emma Dodd’s Animal series has alternate spreads that sparkle with silver foil.

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Pip and Posy: The New Friend
Axel Scheffler
Nosy Crow
Best friends Pip and Posy are spending a day at the beach but their friendship seems threatened when Pip goes off to play with Zac …

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while Posy snoozes in the sun. So noisy is their laughter that it wakes up Posy who is none too happy and feels excluded.

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Off go Zac and Pip to buy ice creams with Polly following behind but then down swoops a seagull and snatches Zac’s ice cream. Who do you think offers the very last coin so he can buy another one?
Established friends of Pip and Posy will doubtless welcome the opportunity to catch up with their activities and delight in the final co-operative effort.
In addition to being a fun story to share with early years groups and individuals; the easy to read text makes it a good one for those just beginning to read for themselves to enjoy (once you’ve shared the story first). Axel Scheffler’s illustrations as always offer plenty of humorous details to delight and to talk about.

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This is not a picture book

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This Is Not a Picture Book
Sergio Ruzzier
Chronicle Books
Essentially this delicious work of metafiction is about learning to read, or rather, becoming a reader. It begins with a duckling coming upon a book. No actually it begins with the front endpapers which, for a competent reader, present no problem, but might well be how a not yet reader views a printed text – as an intimidating jumble of letters and seemingly senseless words. Here are the first few lines: ‘One day, a itellet ldgicukn was anigtk a wkla, nhwe he wsa itegmohsn erd nyigl on the gonrdu. “A book!” he etyclxied. He kiecpd the book pu, eladyra ikgnntih fo all the faileutbu eispcutr hatt, he was eicnrta, eerw snedii.’
Back to our duckling and his book, a fat looking volume, which, he discovers on opening it, is completely lacking in pictures. This is what happens next …

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Along comes a bug, eager to know what duckling has and whether he can read it. There follow an ingenious couple of spreads symbolising the beginning of duckling’s transition from someone that finds pictureless books a no go area, to a reader in the full sense of the word …

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One who appreciates the worlds that open up through words be they funny, sad,

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wild or peaceful, words that take you far away and also, bring you back home again, words that no matter where you are, will always be with you …

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What a wonderful testament to the power of reading and the way it can change individuals and, one hopes, the world.
Readers of this terrific book should turn now to the back endpapers to see the transformation to comprehendable text completed … job done for that particular duckish reader.

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Ruzzier’s gentle watercolour and ink illustrations speak volumes demonstrating the power of visuals too. Quite simply, brilliant.

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Odd Bods & an Animal Alphabet

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Odd Bods
Steven Butler and Jarvis
Puffin Books
We’ve all got our little quirks and foibles, and this is just what is celebrated in Butler and Jarvis’ crazy A to Z of weird and wonderful child characters. Let me introduce a few, starting with these two:

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With those never-trimmed nails, Duncan’s certainly not somebody I’d want to encounter. Then there’s Franklyn; now he would be pretty useful on occasion …

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Iris’s special skill is something I once got given a detention for at school, when eating, or rather not eating, my disgusting school lunch. Now that proves I was (and still am) something of a wild child

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I blame the quality of the cutlery though I’m sure the adults here would say it’s all down to those children.
Let’s mention a few more: there’s Kitty who loves nothing better than to flash her knickers, bogey-filled Larry and leaking Mathilda. Skipping a few letters takes us to Stanley though heaven knows where he might be now …

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Will is something of a yogi …

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and Yasmine is extraordinarily adept at fishing on account of her slight stickiness, which takes us almost to the end; and that’s where we’ll say farewell to the whole crazy cast …

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Take a long look and see how many you can identify already. For the rest, you’ll need to get hold of your own copy of this hoot of a book and enjoy encountering each and every character yourself.
And teachers, you don’t need me to point out the tremendous classroom potential of this one.

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Animal Alphabet
Kay Vincent
Button Books
Alliterative alphabet fun is what we have in this retro style A to Z of creatures great and small. Each animal has its own double spread and there’s an adjective starting with the same letter to describe it. Thus Bb ‘busking bear’ shows a banjo-strumming brown bear playing to a couple of birds. Here’s another musical animal …

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and a rather sporty one …

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Kay Vincent manages to give each and every animal a real personality in her stylised depictions.
This one’s definitely a visual treat but at the same time there’s plenty of space for youngsters’ own flights of verbal fancy: What is that ‘jolly jellyfish’ with the yippee flag celebrating for instance? Or, how is the xylophonist X-ray fish able to play under water and what is the music? Each letter offers storying potential – an added bonus and one that makes this more than just an ordinary animal alphabet book. And, if that’s not enough, the removeable dust jacket becomes a mini frieze to adorn your early years writing area, or child’s bedroom, perhaps.

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Max and Bird

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Max and Bird
Ed Vere
Puffin Books
There’s a lot of flapping in this book and some of it surprisingly, or maybe not if you already know Max the kitten, is actually done by Max himself; but we’re getting ahead of things. Of course everyone knows that cats tend to chase birds, so why is Max’s opening gambit to Bird, ‘Let’s be friends!’? And why does Bird reply, ‘Yes, please!’ He clearly doesn’t know about this chasing tendency although Max certainly doesn’t leave him in the dark about his intentions; ‘First, I’ll chase you … Then maybe I’ll eat you up. You look like a tasty snack!’ he continues. This brings us to the flapping – well almost – for Bird then tells Max that he’s not yet learned to fly and that eating each other up is not what friends do. The two sit and consider things for a while, then Bird comes up with an idea; essentially it’s a kind of deal that starts with Max teaching him how to fly. Fair enough; hands are shaken and flight principles explained by Max who only then realises that he doesn’t actually know how to get airborne at all.
Next stop, the library and in particular here …

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something of a restricted choice for the pair because neither can reach past the bottom shelf. Nevertheless, after several weeks reading, they have the principles in a nutshell. And it’s then that the flapping starts– a whole exhausting day of it …

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Followed by a night of flying dreams and then another day of more flapping but no flight. Bird loses it completely.

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The only thing to do is to ask an expert and this they do – very politely – and the rude creature (a pigeon) is more than pleased to show off his aeronautical skills. Then, incredibly (at exactly 5.23 pm so we’re told) Bird has lift off – albeit wobbly and brief. That’s one part of the deal fulfilled, but what about the other part? Max weights up his options…

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and comes to a decision …
Totally captivating: from the first moment Max sets those huge staring eyes on you, your heart melts and you’re under his spell. Surely he wouldn’t gobble down his new friend, would he?
Ed Vere has the genius knack of making seemingly simple situations into the most riveting dramas. With this, his third Max story, he’s added another to his folio of not to be missed treasures.
Footnote for adult readers aloud: do go back to the library shelves and have a chuckle over the titles on the FLYING BOOKS shelves. ‘Pigs Might Fly’ ‘Fly on Flying, ‘Moon’s a Balloon’ and many more gems thereon.

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Small and Perfectly Formed

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Open Up, Please!
Silvia Borando and Lorenzo Clerici
Walker Books
I strongly recommend you read the blurb of the latest, Minibombo book very carefully before you start: it contains a warning …
On the first page we are presented with six different colour keys, nothing else just white space. Turn over and there’s a cage with a locked door just waiting to be opened …

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and of course, we decide upon a key and do the necessary whereupon the grateful animal within speaks …

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The next five spreads allow readers to release five more small creatures from captivity and then comes this …

 

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so I hope you did as I suggested before embarking on the story. There’s no key here, of course so best to leave it closed or …
Now of course, nobody really expects you to follow my instructions, nor those on the back cover, or the whole thing wouldn’t be the playfully satisfying delight that it is.
This is a brilliant example of small and simple equating to perfection where books for the very young, and beginning readers, are concerned.

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A Cat Called Panda
Melanie Arora and Charlie Brandon-King
Button Books
This is the kind of small, unassuming book that could easily be overlooked which would be a shame; it’s well worth seeking out. The text takes the form of a rhyming dialogue between a little girl, Amanda – an inquisitive young miss, and Panda; no not the conventional kind of panda. This one is a cat, albeit a black and white one and he does have a particular penchant for bamboo. He has something of a superior attitude too, as he proceeds to prove himself worthy of his Panda name; “My eyes are bright green, / I can see in the dark. /My whiskers are long, / and I make dogs BARK! … “
Eventually the two do come to an understanding of one another – yes truly …

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and this provides a satisfying conclusion for both protagonists, and young listeners who will all the while, have been delighting in the minutiae of detail in the charming illustrations and the quirky rhythmic conversation.
And, for those teachers of young children working on philosophy with their classes, there’s potential for a community of enquiry type discussion with this book as a starting point.

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Claude All At Sea

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Claude All at Sea
Alex T.Smith
Hodder Children’s Books
What joy! A Claude picture book and it’s a corker of a one too, methinks. If you don’t know Claude, these are the essentials: he’s a small plump pooch who sports, in normal circumstances (if there are such with Claude), a red beret and jumper and lives with his owners, Mr and Mrs Shinyshoes and his best pal, Sir Bobbysock. He and Claude have an adventure every day, once Mr and Mrs S. have departed for work, that is.
On this particular day Claude has got himself into a right painty mess and is in dire need of a bath; so having stashed his painting gear and grabbed his bath toys, off he goes up to the bathroom to turn on the taps ready to perform his ablutions. Or rather, that’s the plan. What actually happens is something altogether else. Before anybody can say ‘You both forgot about the water’ here’s the result …

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which, they quickly discover is ‘very wet and stonking good fun!’
Hang on; what are all those signs that have caught the eye of Sir Bobbysock about?

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The pair quickly discover when they find themselves in a very dark, damp place; and they’re not alone down there. Three people, not to mention a steam-boat, desperately require some Claude style assistance; and helping is one of Claude’s favourite things to do.

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Out comes his trusty red beret into which he just happened to have stashed all manner of potentially useful stuff …

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However, nothing quite works and just when it seems they might be stuck, in Sir B’s words ‘for ever!’ he’s smitten with an attack of hiccups and THIS gives Claude a brilliant idea; one involving a paintbrush and a spot of tickling.
Is this idea sufficiently brilliant to effect a successful rescue though? Well that would be telling and story spoiling now wouldn’t it …
Let’s just say that one of the other objects in Claude’s beret eventually makes a certain large, voracious guzzler a very happy creature.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant fun; every spread brims over with visual and verbal delights. If you enjoy quirky; don’t miss this one … Actually, just don’t miss it.

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The Food of Love

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Playing From the Heart
Peter H. Reynolds
Walker Books
There’s a whole lot of heart in this, the latest Peter H. Reynolds story. Herein we meet young Raj who, as a small child, starts as a piano plunker, delighting in every sound …

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and without lessons develops into a creative player making up his own music. Impressed, his father hires a piano teacher who teaches him the skills and techniques …

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but despite his accomplishments, there’s no joy and eventually Raj stops playing altogether.

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Raj grows up, leaves home and goes to work in the city. His father grows older and notices the silence left by the absence of his son. Time passes and then Raj hears that his father is not well. He hurries home and his father has a special request: he asks his son to play him a song, not one he’d been taught but that one of his own making – the one that flows straight from his heart.

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Like his protagonist’s playing, Reynolds surely creates this from the heart. It’s a plea to nurture, rather than stifle children’s natural creativity: to let imagination and enjoyment thereof, not precision and preoccupation with the ‘perfect form’ to lead the way.
Everything about this book is a delight: the hand-lettered text which somehow serves to heighten the intensity of the telling, the mixed media (pen and ink, watercolour, gouache and tea) illustrations. Reynolds’ use of colour too speaks volumes: his palette is limited to browns, greys and blues with a touch of gold and purple except where Raj is in creative mode; then the notes flowing from the piano are brightly coloured ‘whispery and sweet’.
A beautiful and timeless tale, (for parents, almost a cautionary one) that will resonate long after the covers have been closed and the book set aside.

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Jack’s Worry
Sam Zuppardi
Walker Books
Jack loves to play his trumpet and eagerly anticipates his ‘first-ever concert’ with his mum in the audience. On the big day however, the lad awakes with ‘a Worry’. And no matter what he does and where he goes, the Worry is right there with him.

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So overwhelming is the wretched Worry that Jack finds even playing his trumpet doesn’t shift the thing: seemingly it’s there to stay. Then comes the time to leave for the concert and that’s when the poor boy feels completely overwhelmed …

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Eventually he confronts the THING and explains to his mum: “I don’t want to play in the concert … I’m worried I’ll make a mistake and you won’t love me anymore!”
Fortunately he has an understanding mum whose reassuring words Jack takes on board and later, even passes on to his classmates: “The concert isn’t about playing perfectly. It’s about having fun and sharing something you love with people who love you.”
By the time Jack gets to school, the Worry has shrunk to tiny proportions and he and his friends  all enjoy their performance tremendously.

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Brilliantly empowering: a cracking book to share with children faced with any potentially tricky situation; and in particular one to help youngsters understand and deal with their anxieties. It’s sympathetic without being sentimental and Zuppardi’s whimsical style illustrations really do capture the intensity of Jack’s emotions superbly well.

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