Author jillrbennett

Polar Exchanges

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Poles Apart
Jeanne Willis & Jarvis
Nosy Crow
Polar Bears live at the North Pole, penguins at the South Pole and never the twain shall meet, or do they?
One day a penguin family, the Pilchard Browns, get themselves lost en route to a picnic spot. The trouble was Mr P-B’s instructions had been wrong – now does that sound a familiar family scenario? – with the result that, as the story opens, they find themselves drifting towards …

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The dialogue is a hoot: “This is the North Pole, my friends,” said Mr White. “The South Pole is 12, 430 miles that way.”
“So, I was a few miles out,” shurugged Mr Pilchard Brown. “Anyone can make a mistake.”
“Don’t think of it as a mistake,” said Mr White.”Think of it as a big adventure.” …
“Mummy says we should always follow our dreams,” said Peeky.
“Daddy says we should always follow him,” said Poots.
Mr White is elected to guide the picnickers to the South Pole and thus achieve his own dream. Off go the adventurers over land and sea until they reach …

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The US proves exciting but it isn’t home, nor the right place for a picnic, so on they travel, the next stop being England. However, although the place has its charms, home it isn’t, nor an appropriate picnic spot so Mr White takes the party on to Italy. Pog has to hold on to his wee urge as they take a gondola ride along the canals of Venice.
The next port of call is India – dazzling for sure but again, not home

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so off they go to Oz, a ‘bonzer’ place but not home and … well you know the rest.
Their journey continues until finally they reach the South Pole and there Mr White joins them for that long anticipated picnic. After a while though, the polar bear feels the pull of the North Pole and so, he walks all the way back to his home.
A great adventure was assuredly had by all; but that’s not quite the end of the story for a surprise awaits our North Pole dweller …

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but even that isn’t the end …
With its patterned text, largely in dialogue this wonderfully preposterous tale is tremendous fun to share with a class or group of under sevens. Mine were soon joining in the repeat refrains with great enthusiasm.

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Penguin’s Big Adventure
Salina Yoon
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Penguin has an idea: he wants to be the first of his kind to set foot on the North Pole. Having packed his rucksack and rolled his map, (sporting as ever, his orange scarf) off he goes on his travels. En route he passes some of his friends and relations busy with their own world record preoccupations

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and eventually reaches his destination. But his celebratory shouts of ‘Hooray!’ meets with silence: and Penguin feels lonely and scared.
There follows an encounter with Polar Bear and the two spend time together adventuring and exploring.

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That however, is only part of the story for the purpose of his friends’ activities is made clear when they appear in a hot air balloon to take him back home with them.
Fans of Penguin and his adventures will enjoy this latest episode though I suspect some of the visual references alluding to previous Penguin stories will go over the heads of those who are making his acquaintance for the first time.
As always, Salina Yoon’s bold, bright illustrations have a quirky cuteness about them.

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Exciting Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition in Piccadilly from 23rd to 29th October

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If Music Be the Food of Love

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Heartsong
Kevin Crossley-Holland and Jane Ray
Orchard Books
Antonio Vivaldi and his music, and stories of orphan girls who grew up in an orphanage/music school, the Ospedale della Pietà (in Venice) were the inspiration for this powerfully told and beautifully illustrated book.
The young Vivaldi was director of music at the institution and wrote many pieces for the girls in his choir.

 

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One of these was the foundling child Laura whose name Jane Ray came upon on a visit to the Vivaldi Museum in a list, written in an old ledger, of the foundling babies left at the Ospedale della Pietà.
Abandoned as a baby, Laura who is mute, narrates her own story telling of her musical education, her daily duties,

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her friendships and how music, in particular her flute playing, finally becomes her redemption.

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Jane Ray’s evocative illustrations have a powerful haunting quality that resonates with the text: Crossley-Holland wastes not a single word as he gives voice to Laura – ‘In the watches of the night. Like a cradle, rocking. Sometimes I think I hear you. Do you love music too? / The drops of water falling onto my stone floor are minims and crotchets, quavers and semi-quavers. Like a song I almost think I know. Like a song you sang to me.’

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Flyaway
Lesley Barnes
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
The young princess in this lift-the-flap story keeps a bird caged and every morning demands that it should sing for her. One day though, she forgets to lock the cage. The bird escapes and so begins a chase through the entire castle …

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and out into the grounds. There, the princess traps the bird in a net and so is happy once more. Not for long however, for she soon notices that the bird no longer sings. Realising that it longs to be free, she releases it once more and is later delighted to discover that her kindness is rewarded by not one, but a whole host of birds that come and sing for her every night.

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With stylish illustrations, ten things to find and a flap to lift on every spread (some revealing the encouraging “Fly, birdie, fly away!” to the escapee),

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to add to the enjoyment, this book for young readers and listeners embodies an important message about freedom.

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 Exciting event: Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition, Piccadilly, 23rd-29th October

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Feline Encounters Featuring Gracie Grabbit & Gawain Greytail

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Gracie Grabbit and the Tiger
Helen Stephens
Alison Green Books
Young Gracie Grabbit is the daughter of Bobby Grabbit a robber (who reminds me somewhat of Ahlberg’s Burglar Bill).
One day father and daughter visit the zoo, Bobby with swag bag at the ready. Gracie threatens to tell the zookeeper to set the tiger on him if he gets up to any of his nefarious activities but no sooner has she taken her eyes off him than he sets to work stealing from both animals and humans.

 

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When she discovers what her light-fingered father is up to, she goes to tell the zoo-keeper but he’s otherwise engaged and doesn’t respond. Not so the sleepy-looking character nearby though. He sees all that’s going on – once he’s got both eyes open that is.

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And one of the things he sees is Gracie retrieving the stolen articles from her dad’s swag bag and returning them to their owners; or rather, that’s her intention. She gets things a bit muddled …

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and has no idea who should have the key she’s left with.

 

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Her decision about said key however proves a turning point, not only for its recipient but also for Gracie’s dad who is in for a shock and a surprise when he’s unceremoniously seized by the seat of his pants.

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That’s not quite the end of the story however; let’s just say Bobby Grabbit becomes a reformed character and a whole new career opens up for him.
The illustrations are full of warmth and humour: like the author’s How to Hide a Lion series, this book has a lovely retro feel and look to it.

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Gawain Greytail and the Terrible Tab
Cornelia Funke and Mónica Armiño
Picture Squirrels
Sir Tristan of Twitstream, lord of Raven Castle has, with the help of Tab and her knife-sharp claws, put paid to almost all the castle’s mouse population within a month. Three mice, Shuffle, Snuffle and Scuffle remain but are in danger of death by starvation if not by feline claws.
Enter one Gawain Greytail, famous mouse knight, and feared by all cats, come to the aid of those last surviving castle mice.

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Before long, thanks to some heating and hammering, there’s not one but four knightly mice, armed and ready to do battle with the ferocious feline adversary. “Cower and shiver, terrible tab! … clear off before we cut your mangy coat to pieces!” challenges Gawain as the poking, stabbing and chopping commences.

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Do the brave foursome manage to see off the best mouser in the land? Let’s just say that this is the sight at Sir Tristan’s breakfast table the following morning …

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And this is what they found in the only remaining mouse controllers thereafter …

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This is the very first Picture Squirrel hardcover and like all other Picture Squirrels has a Dyslexia-friendly font and tinted background for ease of reading. Here, the text is displayed on what could be parchment handbills spread out opposite, above or below the dramatic, action-packed illustrations which bring to mind stills from an animated film.

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Fairytales for Mr Barker

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Fairytales for Mr Barker
Jessica Ahlberg
Walker Books
I’m a real sucker for books that play around with fairy tales and Jessica Ahlberg has done it superbly here in her new book. From the die-cut hole through which peeps a  lovable-looking pup to the woeful looking troll creeping across the back cover, this book is an absolute delight.
It begins with young Lucy attempting to maintain the interest of her playful canine companion, Mr Barker, in the troll story she’s reading to him, to no avail however. Mr B. leaps through the window and off to …

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Lucy is hot on his tail and quickly realises into whose house they’ve barged but rather than accepting her host’s invitation to partake of some breakfast, she invites said golden haired girl to join them on their adventure, the next stop being another place Lucy recognizes once they are within.
There’s to be no hanging around there for sure, not for the residents nor their visitors. So it’s off again and you can see where they land up next …

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With another character joining them, it’s on to a castle wherein slumbers a small princess. But having woken said sleeper, Lucy and the others hear a resounding CRASH! And what, or rather, who they see in hot pursuit makes them flee for their lives out into a darkening forest …

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There’s no time to stop though, not until everyone is safely back in familiar and safe surroundings without giants, wolves, angry bears or even fairies. But there might just be the odd troll lurking within a story book somewhere around …

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An immediate repeat reading was demanded by my young audience who absolutely loved spotting the fairy tale characters in each of the places visited and spent ages looking at all the wonderful details in each spread. “Can you bring it again tomorrow,” really says it all.
A sure fire winner if ever there was one.

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Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition Piccadilly Waterstones 23rd to 29th October – don’t miss it!

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Hauntings

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Leo a ghost story
Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson
Chronicle Books
Leo is a house ghost – we readers can see him but others can’t. He’s been in his current residence for years, drawing and reading,

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but one spring day a new family moves in and Leo becomes a host ghost. His efforts definitely aren’t appreciated by the incomers who immediately decide the house is haunted and call in all manner of exorcists.

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Leo decides to move out anyway and goes a-roaming in the city. People walk past or even through him until his wanderings eventually result in an encounter with a young pavement artist, Jane who mistakes him for an imaginary friend.

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“If I tell her I am a ghost, I will scare her away,” he fears.
Then late at night a thief enters Jane’s home, Leo apprehends him by donning traditional ghostly garb

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and finally gains acceptance as the being he truly is.
Christian Robinson’s wonderful retro-style illustrations, executed with collage and paint in suitably spectral shades work so well in combination with author Mac Barnett’s  matter of fact, economic narrative style: ‘ A squad car came and hauled the man off the jail. That was that.’ he comments when the thief is taken by the police.

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And, “Jane I told you a lie. I am a ghost … I am just your real friend.” “Oh!” said Jane. “Well that’s even better.”
This is a wonderfully wise, warm story of friendship and acceptance, and a great one for sharing at this, or any time of the year, especially accompanied by honey toast and mint tea.

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The Mystery of the Haunted Farm
Elys Dolan
Nosy Crow
Newly moved into the farm, Farmer Grey is more than a little discombobulated by the phantoms that seem to have invaded his residence during his somnambulatory activities.

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So, the terrified fellow calls in the Ghost-Hunters who quickly confirm that neither the pond, nor the farmhouse itself have any ghosts – according to their Scare-o-Meter, the Phantom Finder 5000 that is. So it’s off to check the barn, but the seeming invasion by ‘terrifyingly gooey supernatural creatures’ doesn’t register on that PF5000 either. What can be going on?
But then, a clue leads to the chicken coop up on the hill and it’s a case of follow those goats and see what’s going on in that ‘incredibly creepy chicken coop’

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Once inside and down the stairs, those Ghost-Hunters are amazed at the sight before their eyes: an underground fear factory the likes of which they’ve never seen before.
But why are all those animals taking on ghostly or ghoulish appearance? Mother Hen starts to explain and all is about to be revealed in an amazing show-stopping finale …
I won’t reveal the rest of this brilliantly funny romp but suffice it to say that the moon has something to answer for and those Ghost-Hunters put a pretty clever training plan into action, which is highly effective …
most of the time.

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Definitely other winner from the stupendously clever Elys Dolan

For older readers:

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Witchmyth
Emma Fischel
Nosy Crow
Flo, the modern young witch with a worldy-wise, rather eccentric Gran and a sceptical mum returns for a second Haggspitt extravaganza. Herein she has to take on the horrifying Haggfiend – head and arms of Hagg and body of Fiend with ‘evil in her cold cruel heart’; but is she real or merely a character from that book of Magical Myths.
As with the first story, there’s plenty of excitement and humour sizzling away between those gorgeous Chris Riddell covers. I can’t envisage many 8s to 10s not being caught up and swept along by this super, spellbinding story narrated by Flo herself.  I was!

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For plenty of visual thrills visit the wonderful Children’s Books Illustration Autumn Exhibition at Waterstones, Piccadilly 23rd-29th October         C090B987-9FD4-47C9-A6E5-CEEE0DD83F4E[6]

The Ride-by-Nights / Tickle Monster

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The Ride-by-Nights
Walter de la Mare and Carolina Rabei
Faber & Faber Children’s Books
‘Up on their brooms the Witches stream,/ Crooked and black in the crescent’s gleam:/ One foot high, and one foot low, / Bearded, cloaked and cowled, they go.’

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Thus begins this poem I remember learning by heart as a child and later it became an oft’ requested favourite from my copy of the author’s collection, Peacock Pie with some of the first infant classes I taught many years ago.
Now Carolina Rabei has worked her own illustrative magic on it, re-interpreting the verses and it’s great to have this picture book version of the timeless poem to share with new audiences of listeners and readers especially around Hallowe’en.
‘With a whoop and a flutter/ they swing and sway, / And surge pell-mell/ down the Milky Way.’ 

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How splendidly Rabei weaves a modern tale of a family ‘s encounter with those ‘Ride-by-Nights’ as they head out on their trick or treat evening of playfulness and are drawn into some tricks, thrills and near spills …

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courtesy of those ancient enchantresses.
The limited colour palette is well chosen for creating maximum atmosphere and I particularly like the way some spreads cleverly draws the reader’s eyes towards the starry skies while at the same time allowing them to watch the action unfolding below.

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From the just slightly sparkling cover to the star map endpapers,

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thrills are to be found at every turn of the page and I hope this spellbinding book will serve to send listeners to seek out other poems by Walter de la Mare, starting perhaps with the illustrator’s pictorial rendering of Snow.

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Tickle Monster
Édouard Manceau
Abrams Appleseed
Take a simple idea – tickle the monster part by part …

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thus deconstructing him and use his parts to create a more friendly scene – and you’ve got a real winner.

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Certainly that is so, if you are the artist who used bold bright, simple shapes to design the character in this amusing story.
I shared it with a group of four to six year olds who absolutely loved the whole idea; three immediately re-read it themselves, two taking on reading the text and one doing the tickling. They then worked together to create their own version of the Tickle Monster from recycled card and colored paper They too played around, re-arranging the disparate parts to create a new picture (not saved as they decided the monster should come knocking again). Here he is in monster form.

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With its patterned, repetitive text this book is perfect for beginning readers as well as for sharing with a group or class.
I’ve often read Ed Emberley’s somewhat similar Go Away Big Green Monster with young children and I can see myself doing the same with this one.

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Hallowe’en Frights, Spooky Skeletons and Boos

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Fright Club
Ethan Long
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
It’s the night before Halloween; a final meeting has been called for Fright Club members and it’s in full swing when …

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The little bunny on the other side of the door is quickly sent hopping and it’s back to business, Vladimir’s being to train his fellow members in ‘The 3 Traits of HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MONSTERS’, not very successfully it seems but then there’s another knock.

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That bunny has returned bringing her lawyer along to back her anti-discrimination cause but again the would-be entrants are sent packing.
A third knock is opened to …

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And it seems these determined ‘cute little critters’ are not for turning: and they’re jolly well going to prove their point to boot …

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So come Halloween and Operation Kiddy Scare it seems the more the frights, the better the night.
With Long’s aptly gloomy, largely grey toned palette, he has created just the right mock-scary atmosphere in which to place those would-be scary monsters and would-be club member animals.
A Halloween laugh out loud, not scream out loud, treat packed with visual humour and with a multitude of opportunities for joining in with growls, groans, cackles, claps, boos, whooshes and more, this silly tale is great for an atmospheric story time session around the end of October especially.
What ghoulish faces, scary moves and chilling sounds can your listeners come up with; I’m sure they can outdo those Fright Club members.

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Ten Spooky Skeletons
Garry Parsons
Caterpillar Books
We start this cumulative rhyming ‘peek-through’ picture book with a single lonely skelly setting out in search of some friends and finish at the day’s end with ten merry skeletons together in a rattling song and dance extravaganza before it’s lights out and …

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In between, the second skelly’s a pirate, three become a circus act, four are fortune telling, five do magic tricks, six are time travellers, seven go ice-skating …

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eight enjoy a feast and nine are bedding down for some pre-party shut-eye.
With it’s glow-in-the-dark finale, this one is sure to hit the mark around Halloween time and is likely to inspire some skeleton creativity from enthusiastic young listeners.

Finally a couple of playful board books for the very youngest:

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Peek-a Boo!
Nina Laden
Chronicle Books
A handful of Hallowe’en sights and sounds are up for guesses as toddlers are offered a series of peeps through the die-cut holes and can then try to guess what follows that rhymes with BOO on each of the subsequent pages. (Supplying the correct word is quite tricky even when the full picture is revealed.) And there’s a special final surprise provided by the mirror on the inside back cover.

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Boo!
Jonathan Litton and Fhiona Galloway
Little Tiger Kids
‘Were you the one who shouted BOO?’ That is the question in this bright, holey board book. With its patterned, repeating text that takes the form of a question and answer chain

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with the answerer becoming the questioner on the following page until the small wizard changes the question demanding ‘Who’s hiding out there in the night…?’ and all is revealed on the final spread.
Yes, this might be aimed at the very youngest children but the simple repeat pattern text herein makes this an ideal book for beginning readers too.

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Pablo & Jane and the Hot Air Contraption

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Pablo & Jane and the Hot Air Contraption
José Domingo
Flying Eye Books
Right from the amazing cover and those endpapers you suspect you’re in for a treat with this one and truly you are. The whole thing is pretty mind-boggling and no review can really do justice to it – you’ll just need to get hold of your own copy and see for yourself.
It all begins one dull Sunday afternoon with adventure loving Jane and her rather killjoy sibling Pablo having run out of things to do and places to go; well maybe not quite the latter: there’s still that ‘old house on the hill’ reputedly radio-active and monster-filled. Jane’s keen to go of course, Pablo not quite so …

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Once inside they discover – or rather, are led to – an amazing hot air-power machine.

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Having ventured within, they’re suddenly zapped into the Monster Dimension. And thanks to the dastardly saboteur Felinibus, the contraption cannot move without its missing pieces. So it’s a case of find those parts and fix the machine or be forever trapped in another reality and it’s here in Lopsided London that the help of readers is called for to track down the first of the missing parts.

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Here too, the tricky feline gives her pursuers the slip so the search for her and further vital parts moves to Nocturnal Norway with its bone-crunching trolls, thence to Terrifying Transylvania with its villainous vampires, Monstrous Moscow, Ageless Athens, Macabre Marrakesh, Muerto Mexico populated by skeletons, Bone-Chilling Bayou where voodoo rules, Horrid Hawaii with those drumming tiki men, the ‘Orrible Outback (those drooling koalas look pretty scary), Treacherous Thailand – eleven missing parts to find in a temple there, and finally, Immortal India where a war is raging between the monkey king and the demon army.

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Each of these dazzling locations has its own amazing double spread crammed to overflowing with brilliantly conceived images to feast your eyes on.
The shift between full-page spreads and comic strip works wonderfully well in this fast-moving adventure cum game of hide-and-seek cum quest (ending with the children’s safe return home). It’s chock full of delicious alliteration, mind-stretching vocabulary and has intertextual links aplenty in those action packed scenes.
And, with its slight hint of more adventures to come, who could ask for more?

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Certainly not this reviewer (who is still searching for some of the missing parts) nor those excited eight to ten year olds from whose enthusiastic clutches I had to prise my copy.
In a word, awesome.

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Fabulous Children’s Book Illustration Autumn exhibition at Waterstones, Piccadilly 23rd-29th October
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Sparky Spellers: the Littlest Witch and Winnie

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Dragon v Dinosaur
Helen Baugh and Deborah Allwright
Jonathan Cape
Twin tempers get more than a little frayed when competition rivalry sets in between the littlest witch and the littlest wizard both of whom are determined to win the prize for best fancy dress costume at the party. Wands are brandished, spells are cast back and forth until things start to get out of hand as it’s a case of dinosaur versus dragon in a face off.

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Thank goodness then that before any real damage can be done, the witch’s ITCH makes its presence felt, the spells are broken but so are the wands.
Without their magic, can the twins find something else to wear to the party by three o’clock?

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The combination of sparky rhyming text and action-packed, zizzy scenes make for another winner for that little Itchy Witch and her creators.

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Winnie’s Haunted House
Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
Oxford University Press
When is a ghost not a ghost? When it’s a bee that’s being chased around the house by a cat named Wilbur one sunny afternoon.

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But that’s not what Winnie the Witch thinks in this latest action-packed escapade. Rudely awakened from her postprandial nap, she’s convinced her house is haunted and thinks a spell will put things right. The trouble is she’s misplaced her specs and so her choice of spell isn’t quite what she’d thought.

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The result sends her into a spin or two before, thanks to a passing owl, she discovers the whereabouts of her glasses

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and is able to read the actual words in her book and perform a reversal of the haunted house spell. Then all that’s needed is another wave of her wand to clear up the havoc and Winnie can have the remainder of her by now, well-earned sleep.
Another crazy Thomas/Paul romp for Winnie fans to laugh at; they’ll delight in being in the know as to the location of Winnie’s ‘lost’ specs as she trips, tumbles and fumbles her way around.

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Monster Encounters

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The Bath Monster
Colin Boyd and Tony Ross
Andersen Press
Have a bath or the Bath Monster will come and get you –a monster that lurks beneath the bath slurping up the mucky water – his second favourite food – through a special bendy straw: surely that’s nonsense isn’t it? It’s certainly what Jackson’s mother tells him to get him into the tub every night.
Until one day Jackson decides he’s outgrown his belief in said Monster and he’s covered from top to toe in thick mud. “Go and have a bath now or the Bath Monster will come and get you” warns his mother. But, Jackson is having none of it.

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So what will that Bath Monster have to satisfy his hunger instead? His number one favourite food, of course and seemingly Jackson is about to find out what that is …
Tony Ross’s Bath Monster is a magnificently mucky being and as readers ultimately discover, a creature after Jackson’s own heart. Every one of the illustrations for Colin Boyd’s unlikely tale brims over with delicious humour and I suspect adult readers aloud are going to get as much enjoyment from this one as the young children they share it with. The sight of that small (temporarily clean) boy being dangled unceremoniously above the bath on the first page sets the tone for the whole story

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and the picture of Jackson sitting in the tub in his protective gear is superb.

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Assuredly another Tony Ross triumph and a promising debut story for Colin Boyd.
Before we read the story I asked my audience to imagine a bath monster of their own; here are some of their ideas:

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There’s a Monster in my Fridge
Caryl Hart and Deborah Allwright
Simon & Schuster
‘What’s that hiding behind the door? It’s feet have squelched across the floor …’
so begins this split-page mock-scary visit to a monster-filled house on a hill.
Those who dare defy the KEEP OUT sign will encounter among others, the jelly-eating monster of the title, a glittery witch, a startled vampire …

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twin skeletons in the bathtub and an itchy werewolf …

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With such visual jokes as dancing toothpaste tubes, hairbrushes …

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and alarm clocks, and a surprise finale, this one is definitely a whole lot more fun than fright but worth a read around Hallowe’en nonetheless.
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Love Monster & the Scary Something
Rachel Bright
Harper Collins Children’s Books
Unable to sleep one dark shadowy night, Little Monster lets his imagination run riot when he hears a rustling sound in the garden,

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a sound that seems to belong to something that’s found its way inside his very own house and is pitter-pat …. pittery patting around on its terrible hairy feet with terrible twisterly toenails and scuffling and bumping its way up the stairs.

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And it surely has enormous teeth for crunching …
Suddenly Love Monster decides there’s only one thing to do: be brave and confront the hungry creature, so it’s on with the torch and … What could that be looming in the doorway?

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Turns out it’s just another insomniac seeking someone to share the lonely darkness with – and a very tiny one too.
A lovely funny story about facing your worst fears, especially those relating to the dark with just the right degree of scariness for a bedtime read and great fun for Halloween sharing.

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Exciting  Children’s Books Illustration Autumn Exhibition at Waterstones, Piccadilly 23rd-29th October

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Deep in the Woods

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Deep in the Woods
Christopher Corr
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Deep in the woods is a small white wooden house with nine neat windows and a red front door; empty until a little mouse happens upon it. The perfect place for a home, thinks the mouse and he soon has it looking spick and span.
Before long though, other woodland creatures notice the house; they too want to make it their home

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and the kindly mouse makes them welcome. Eventually a dozen animals have taken up residence in the little house, which resounds with their happy dancing and music.

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Those happy sounds attract the attention of a brown bear and he too wants to move in. So determined is he to squeeze his huge bulk into (or onto) the house that disaster occurs – the whole thing begins to collapse beneath him.

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Feeling sad at the destruction of the animals’ home, the bear sets to work to make recompense for their loss; and with hard work and the help of them all, the story ends happily, in celebratory style.

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This dazzlingly beautiful book is a twist on Teremok, a Russian folk tale. Here the intense colour palette, delicious folksy, yet modern illustrative style and stunning endpapers, make the whole thing  a veritable visual feast. Oh, and the cover has a gorgeous retro feel to it too.

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We might  read this story as a parable of our times and only hope that all the countries involved could be as open-hearted as mouse and take in their fair share of those needing a new safe place to live.

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Loss and Leaving: Shine & Double Happiness

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Shine
Trace Balla
Allen & Unwin
Most writers of books about death for children use fiction as a vehicle and in so doing, provide a ‘space apart’ wherein youngsters can explore this disturbing and difficult experience. As we know however, all story grows out of life, indeed all life is story and Trace Balla’s story was written for her sister’s children shortly after the death of their father and is, so we are told, based on the great love shared between their parents and the love they in turn shared with their children.
“We all come from the stars, we all go back to the stars…” so said Granny Hitchcock, grandmother of the author and her bereaved sister and it’s this saying that is at the heart of Trace Balla’s story.
Shine , so called because his kindness made him sparkly and shimmery, was a young horse that grew to become an amazing one that loved to gallop among the golden stars with the other horses. One day Shine notices some hoofprints in the sand belonging to another horse, the lovely Glitter and together they raise a family. Their little ones are called Shimmer and Sparky and there grows a great bond of love between all the family members.
But then, one day Shine learns that it’s his turn to return to his star. “… my time has come. I love you all so much,” he tells his family as he leaves them to join the other stars in the beautiful night sky.

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That night a heart-broken Glitter and her offspring cry and cry creating an ocean of golden tears. They together then climb a high mountain – a mountain of grief – from the top of which they are able to see and come to understand the enormity of the love they shared.

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And, as they curl up together, far above them shines the brightest of all the stars, their daddy’s star glowing golden and bringing them a sense of peace.
Trace Balla’s use of mythical horse characters that have no solidity works well as signifiers of life’s transient nature whereas the dark solidity of the huge mountain is perhaps, a metaphor of the process of grieving itself: a process that is likely to be very hard and take an enormous amount of time to climb, but which can ultimately be transcended by joy and the power of love in the world.
Yes, this is a book about loss but it also offers children an invitation to think about the possibility of light emerging from darkness, an idea that should fit with any world view. Indeed the restricted colour palette – shades of blue plus white and yellow are effectively used to symbolise the opposing concepts light/dark, life/death, love/loss, happiness/sadness.
In addition to being a book to offer young children who have suffered the loss of a loved one, particularly a parent, this powerfully affecting story has enormous potential for opening up discussions on a number of topics with a whole class or group.

Moving home can also be a very sad time especially for children who have to leave behind their friends and perhaps relations too. Here is a book in which two children cope with the transition helped by their loving family.

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Double Happiness
Nancy Tuper Ling and Alina Chau
Chronicle Books
The book takes the form of a series of twenty four poems relating to moving from a city (San Francisco) to a new rural home. Sister and brother Gracie and Jack both give voice to their feelings as they search for special things to place in their happiness boxes intended to help with the move:
“Find four treasures each/leading from this home/to your new.”says their grandmother(Nai Nai) who has given them to boxes
Gracie’s first treasure is donated by Nai Nai, her panda toy – he too is to have a new home.

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But it’s Jack who is first to fill his box, his last object being a blue and green marble.

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Alina Chau’s delicate, detailed watercolour paintings grace the pages, serving to bring the whole thing together into a bitter-sweet account of the family’s transition from old home to new and all that it entails: a looking back and a looking forward – memory and anticipation …

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Exciting event at Piccadilly Waterstones 23rd-29th October – don’t miss it if you are in London: Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition            C090B987-9FD4-47C9-A6E5-CEEE0DD83F4E[6]

Crazy Car Rides

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Mad in the Back
Michael Rosen and Richard Watson
Picture Squirrels
I first encountered a previous incarnation of this (called The Car Trip) in Michael Rosen’s book of poems The Hypnotiser when it was a much requested read aloud with a class of infants I was teaching in the late 1980s. Sadly the book it’s from is now out of print but I still have my rather battered André Deutsch copy on a shelf.
So, it’s great to have this slightly reworked version now available as a Picture Squirrel with Richard Watson’s riotous pictorial rendering of the journey.
Essentially what we have is an account of a long-suffering mother driving a small car and being driven to distraction by the on-going bantering and demands of the two small children in the back seat, aptly called ‘The Moaning’.

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It begins thus: “Can I have a drink?” “I want some crisps.” “Can I open my window?’ “He’s got my book.” and switches to “Get off me.” “Ow that’s my ear.”
I suspect by now many adults will find themselves reminded of similar scenarios with their own offspring although I’m sure they’d no longer resort to such ‘exciting’ comments as “Look out the window – there’s a lamp-post.” Or “Look -… there’s a tree.” as distractions from the back seat bickering.
The whole thing works really well as a picture book. I envisage much giggling when this is read aloud…

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and scenes similar to those depicted therein are likely to ensue as to whose turn it is to read it. I can just hear them now…
(If you haven’t come across Barrington Stoke’s Picture Squirrels before then essentially the philosophy is an all inclusive one: the font used is a ‘dyslexia-friendly’ one and the tinted background aims to ‘reduce visual stress’.)

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Peg + Cat The Race Car  Problem
Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson
Walker Books
Peg and Cat are stars of an award winning TV series and now they roar into their very own picture book to participate in the Tallapegga Twenty race. First though, they have to construct their vehicle from bits and pieces they find at the scrap yard. And a great job they make of it, as soon as they’ve sorted out the right shaped wheels, that is. Once at the race track their supreme confidence dips drastically when they see the opposition. Should they give up before the race begins? Of course not, says organizer Ramone, so the race is on… and it’s fortunate that Peg is able to keep count of the laps completed and work out who’s in the lead:

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anything can happen in the course of 20 circuits. She does however need a bit of a reminder from Cat to stay calm and count backwards when she’s “totally freaking out!” over the broken side pipe.

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But who will be the first to cross the finish line and win that golden cup? Could it possibly be our problem-solving crew Peg and Cat in Hot-Buttered Lightning? One thing is certain; the victory won’t be an easy one whoever wins.
With its in-built maths challenges and lots going on in the bright pictures, this book is likely to appeal particularly to those young readers and listeners who are somewhat mathematically inclined.

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Don’t miss the Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition in Piccadilly if you’re in London between 23rd and  29th   October              C090B987-9FD4-47C9-A6E5-CEEE0DD83F4E[6]

Robin’s Winter Song

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Robin’s Winter Song
Suzanne Barton
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
For me late autumn and the coming of winter means hot chilli chocolate, snuggly boots and a warm jacket or coat. For Robin in Suzanne Barton’s gorgeous new story it means the departure of the friendly finches, Squirrel busy burying nuts …

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and Owl warning him to keep warm and snug. Winter must surely be scary, greedy and cold decides the now frightened little Robin and he flies off into the woods.
There he meets Bear, also on the move. Robin asks where he’s going and when he learns that Bear is off to find a cosy cave in which to sleep till Winter is over, Robin asks to join him. Before long the two of them are snuggled up fast asleep, Bear snoring softly.

 

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But then, feeling a distinct chill in the air, Robin wakes and flies to the cave opening where a breath-taking sight meets his eyes. Robin is enchanted and sorties outside to find out more about that whiteness all around.

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“It’s Winter.” Mouse tells him and Robin can scarcely believe it. From then on Winter becomes something to enjoy with his friends in the day and to snuggle up against at night.

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Time seems to pass quickly until one day Robin notices another change: tiny shoots are bursting through and the snow is starting to melt. It’s time to wake up Bear he decides somewhat sadly. Spring is on its way, Bear tells his friend and although he has no idea what this means, Robin is eager to make its acquaintance.
Despite its decidedly chilly setting, warmth radiates from every page of this beautiful book that so magically chronicles the seasonal changes from autumn to winter and winter to spring. Robin, encountering these changes for the first time, and the other woodland creatures, are so winningly portrayed in Suzanne Barton’s decorative collage style scenes.
A great follow-up to The Dawn Chorus and a must have book to share as the days get colder.

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Counting Lions & Actual Size

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Counting Lions
Katie Cotton and Stephen Walton
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Right from the amazing cover image I was blown away by this one. What strikes you first about this large format book is the stunning, incredibly life-like charcoal drawings of the ten animal species portrayed, so accurate and detailed are they that at first glance one could almost think they’re photos.
Starting with One lion and finishing with Ten zebras …

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this is of course a counting book but it’s so much more. Both text and pictures radiate a sense of awe and wonder at the magnificence of the natural world.
Katie Cotton’s poetic descriptions capture verbally the creatures’ physicality and what it might be like for each of the animals in the wild at particular times in their lives so ‘Two gorillas / breathe the same breath./ The child was born a tiny, two-kilo thing of hair and bone and not much else, / so the other keeps him close./ For two or three years, they clasp each other,/ one creature, while he grows and grows and grows./ Later, as he climbs the trees alone,/ he may forget they were once/ two together./ Two gorillas.’

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Many of the animals portrayed are threatened species:

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Some of the descriptions themselves mention the animal’s endangeredness, for instance “Does she know they are too few?/ What future is there for/ these four fighters?/ Four tigers.’
In ‘About the animals’ notes at the end of the book, Virginia McKenna provides additional information about each animal featured including its conservation status.

Readers also get right close up to the animals in:

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actual size
Steve Jenkins
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Eighteen creatures great and small feature in this engaging book that introduces readers to a wide variety of fauna from insects to mammals although in some instances Steve Jenkins shows only a part of the animal in his layered collage style illustrations. Alongside each of these is a descriptive sentence giving additional facts such as body height and weight.
Eyes figure quite prominently in several of the spreads and in one instance virtually all we get is an enormous squid eye 30cm across staring up from the page;

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but we also get quite close up to that of the Alaskan Brown Bear, the largest bird – an ostrich, and one belonging to the salt water crocodile. Here however, thanks to a fold out, our view is expanded to take in its awesome jaws.

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In a spread where we are shown a gorilla hand and that of the pygmy mouse lemur one’s instinct is to hold one’s own hand up against the former (children will want to do likewise) and to cover completely (if you’re an adult) the latter.

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If you missed out on the original hardcover version, get hold of this new paperback edition for your primary classroom or school library.

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The Queen’s Handbag

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The Queens’s Handbag
Steve Antony,
Hodder Children’s Books
There sits Her Majesty in the royal coach set to depart on her Great Britain tour when ‘swoosh!’ along comes a swan and away it swoops clutching her handbag firmly in its beak. Abandoning the coach, the Queen speeds off in her Aston Martin convertible hot on the trail of the sneaky thief all the way to Windsor Castle …

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and thence to Stonehenge.
From there it’s next stop Dover, followed by Oxford, Snowdonia, the Giants Causeway, Edinburgh Castle and all the way back to where she started. In the course of her break-neck chase Her Royal Majesty changes vehicle many times from motor bike, to Red Arrow plane, to penny farthing,

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then a parachute, a speedboat, a steam train

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– what an amazing acrobat she is – and a final gallop right back to London where she finds herself and the thieving bird caught up in the London Marathon. WOW! See her go …

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but can she catch that sneaky swan and retrieve the object of her chase? That would be telling wouldn’t it…
Delivered with considerable aplomb, and rendered in an appropriately regal colour palette, with a Union flag strategically placed in almost every location spread, not to mention a royal corgi, this is more than a worthy successor to The Queen’s Hat.
One cannot help but wonder just how many police officers got themselves involved in the chase (their antics are hilarious), and Her Majesty’s butler too makes a special appearance.
A laugh-on-every-page follow up to The Queen’s Hat and a veritable visual feast of British landmarks and the constabulary.

There’s an exciting event coming up in London on 23rd to 29th October: the Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition

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Home Tweet Home

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Home Tweet Home
Courtney Dicmas
Templar Publishing
Courtney Dicmas’ delightful story follows Pippi and Burt swallows’ forays into the big wide world in search of a new abode that will more comfortably accommodate them and their eight younger brothers and sisters. They fly forth from their cliff top nest into the night sky looking for somewhere that is a better fit for Rupert’s stinky feet, Maude’s judo and Cecil’s band practice.
Morning comes and with it a likely looking place certainly large enough and pretty sturdy looking …

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But perhaps a bit on the hard side.
Maybe a fluffier spot would be better but not that one – (a cheetah’s back), nor the pointy place they discover next …

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Why is nothing quite what they’d expected?

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Eventually the two together come to a realisation that it’s a case of ‘east, west home’s best’ for none of the places feels as homely and snuggly as that small nest of theirs with all their siblings for company.
Cleverly constructed and totally engaging at every turn of the page; those birds are adorable, every one of them. And the other animals are equally winningly portrayed in Courtney Dicmas’ super spreads.
Her best book so far in my opinion.
(Some of my audience of 5s to 9s were inspired to create their own birds to add to the family.)

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A super hero swallow, a recorder player, a hockey player, a ballet dancer, a school bird and a book reader.

 

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If you’re in or near London at the end of October don’t miss the opportunity to visit the exciting Children’s Book Illustration Art Exhibition on in Piccadilly from 23rd to 29th

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SPLATS & BURPS: A Pooping Bird and Burping Twins

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What a Naughty Bird!
Sean Taylor and Dan Widdowson
Templar Publishing
A story about a bird that flies around the world dropping splats of poo upon all manner of unsuspecting animals and some humans too, is bound to be a hit with young children. But when it’s delivered (courtesy of Sean Taylor) via a wicked rhyming narration from the poo dropper himself and coupled with Dan Widdowson’s hilarious renderings of the recipients of said splats it cannot fail to make its mark.
Every spread will brings giggles but my favourites are the large brown bull that gets one right between his horns

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and the bear in whom our inveterate splatterer more than meets his match. TeeHee!

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Young children love this one because they, or at least some among them, know more about ursine skills than does our avian narrator …

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Great fun for an early years storytime session, especially with that oft repeated ‘What a Naughty Bird!’ refrain to join in with.

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The Burp That Saved the World
Mark Griffiths and Maxine Lee-Mackie
Simon & Schuster Children’s Books
Meet young Ben and Matt the Mustard twins, burpers extraordinaire whose noisy eruptions drive the townsfolk to despair.

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So much so, that they issue the pair with an eviction notice. But then from outer space appears a fleet of alien raider invaders that seize the toys and books of all the town’s children and seemingly nothing can be done to stop them. Or can it? Maybe those burping boys might just save the day …

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With a fun to read aloud rhyming text, crazy and suitably garish, action-packed scenes and plenty of opportunities for adding sound effects, this is the sort of thing that appeals unashamedly to early years children who particularly seem to relish anything that involves bodily functions of the gaseous variety.

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A Bounty of Board Books

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Walter’s Wonderful Web
Tim Hopgood
Macmillan Children’s Books
Walter is a spider with a mission: he wants to spin a perfect web, not a wibbly- wobbly one that is whisked away whenever the wind blows.
His first effort – a triangular one is destroyed by the first puff of wind so he tries another – a rectangle, but with no more success.

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The diamond meets a similar fate but what about his circular-looking one, could that be the answer?
But three wooshes and Walter plus web hit the ground. Nearing despair, Walter stops to think before making one last attempt and by nightfall it looks as if he’s got it the design just right –

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WOW! Walter, you certainly deserved to succeed – top marks for perseverance and a wonderfully intricate web.
This delightful story for the very youngest provides a great opportunity to introduce ideas about not giving up when things get tough and of course, built into the narrative are those six basic 2D shapes.

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The Butterfly Garden
Laura Weston
Big Picture Press
Twenty words and a sequence of half a dozen super-stylish, beautifully patterned black and white illustrations: nothing much to get excited about – right? Wrong: look closely at the first of those black and white spreads.

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How many caterpillars can you spot? Look again at the silhouetted leaves and blooms and you notice there are flaps to lift. Open the top left-hand flap to reveal …

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And then the other four flaps and you’ll see a whole lot going on in vibrant colours …

 

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The subsequent spreads show the life cycle and life journey of the Monarch butterfly. (In North America, the Monarch migrates en masse to Mexico during the course of its life.)

 

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Essentially that’s it and every spread is beautifully designed and arresting first in black and white and then with its flashes of flamboyant colour.
Although the Monarch isn’t a breeding British butterfly, this book is a striking visual account of a butterfly’s life cycle.

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The Tiger Prowls
Seb Braun
Simon & Schuster
It’s hard to choose a favourite from the five animals that pop out from the pages of this seemingly simple yet impressive book. I love the shape and feel of the whole thing – its arresting cover, the way it whizzes through the various habitats the colour palette used and the clever paper engineering. Then there’s the elegant prose of the sentences used to describe each of the iconic creatures that grace the spreads.
First off is that tiger from the cover described thus:
‘The tiger prowls, stalking the jungle. Paw after heavy paw crunches on the forest floor. And so he does emerging from a gentle hint of vegetation straddling that first spread across which slides a muted snake.
Turn over and meet a graceful whale with its cleverly upturned tail and snout;

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the brown bear padding slow through the forest, the mighty elephant taking a shower in the hot sun (If I’m fussy I’d like to have seen an upturned trunk and slightly sharper tusks here ) and finally …

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Gentle, elegant, treetop nibbling, cloud-high grazer giraffe ‘pitching his way across the savannah, like a ship adrift on the open plain.’ (love those bird silhouettes)
Aimed at the very young but I can also envisage older children who get hold of this being inspired to try their hand at making their own pop-up animals.

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Dinoblock
Christopher Franceschelli and Peskimo
Abrams & Chronicle
MEET THE DINOSAURS says the sign across the museum doors and on opening them readers (and the two child investigators) find two key questions ‘Who are the dinosaurs?’ and ‘Where are the dinosaurs?’
From then on the book’s clever design really comes into play with a formula that is used to great effect for the next ninety or so pages using a mix of cleverly crafted cutaway pages and a series of similes likening each of the twenty three dinosaurs introduced to something a young child is likely to be familiar with, followed by another spread showing the particular dinosaur in its natural habitat and a sentence giving the dinosaur’s name with its phonetic pronunciation. Thus we have for instance, ‘I have a neck like a goose …’

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turn over to ‘I am a Coelophysis (SEE-low-FYE-sis)’…
Or this one:

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The grand finale comprises a spread of drawn-to-scale dinosaurs on a gate-fold that opens out into a farewell display of skeletons of all the dinosaurs featured.

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Of those a fair number are relatively uncommon in books for young children and indeed a few such as Micropachycephalosaurus and Edmontosaurus) were new names to me.
Assuredly a block-buster for the very young but also a book that offers a great opportunity for them to see and think about a favourite topic in an exciting and imaginative new way. And, a jumping off point for further investigation and children’s own creativity.

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A Great Big Cuddle

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A Great Big Cuddle
Michael Rosen and Chris Riddell
Walker Books
Thirty five super-silly new poems from the Rosen pen each one stupendously illustrated by Riddell simply sizzle with the joys of early childhood and a few of the pains too.
I love his playful take on beginning reading – Reading Lesson:
This is how you read:/Can you see?/ This says “you”/ This says “me”./ /
When you see “me”/ You say “me”/ When you see “you”/ Say “you” – do you see?//
Altogether now:/ Can you see?/ You, you, you/ Me, me, me.??
Well done all./ That’s it for today. You can all read./ You can go and play.
But in reality every single one of these delicious offerings is a better in-built reading lesson than any of the contrived phonics or word recognition sessions that children in their early years are all too often subjected to.
What Rosen is doing in this book is enhancing children’s metalinguistic awareness and what comes across here loud and clear is that language is fun and playing around with it even more so…

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As one would expect, rhyme, rhythm and repetition are key ingredients and there’s a fair amount of nonsense with occasional echoes of Lear and Milligan alongside some more serious poems such as Lost wherein a small being sits contemplating being left all alone. There are rhymes that make you want to sit still and savour the words and others such as TIPPY-TAPPY and BOING! BOING! that make you and certainly tinies want to get up and move: Boing! Boing!/ Bounce bounce/ I’m a ball/ Bounce bounce./ Jump jump/ Pounce pounce/ I’m a tiger/ Pounce pounce/ ROARRRRRR!

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Riddell’s visual interpretations in pencil and watercolour are often gloriously inventive …

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and at appropriate times, quietly reflective renderings of moments of tenderness …

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His menagerie of larger than life animals, imaginary creatures and monsters provide talking points aplenty and a visual treat to match Rosen’s verbal ones on every spread.
A two-laureate treat and a must have book for anyone who has dealings with the very young. Buy it for the words, buy it for the pictures, buy it because in tandem the whole experience is a joy.

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Forays into Fairytale

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The Wolf Who Fell Out of a Book
Thierry Robberecht and Grégoire Mabire
Ragged Bears Publishing
An overcrowded bookshelf in Zoe’s room precipitates an adventure for the black wolf that spills out of a falling book as it hits the floor. With his pointy teeth, said wolf, in his own environment is a scary creature but once out of the book he becomes something else altogether – a frightened creature anxious to escape from the resident moggy. In some desperate attempts to keep himself out of the cat’s clutches he gets into all manner of testing situations

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and tries to escape into other story books. None of the first few he tries can furnish a safe hiding place

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but our lupine friend isn’t giving up which is a good thing because on entering the next one he finds himself in a large forest wherein he meets …

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This little character is much more welcoming: in fact it turns out the wolf is just what she needs by way of a shoulder to cry on and of course, he’s more than happy to offer a helping paw to ensure a safe passage through the forest to Grandmother’s house.
Superbly subversive and with its sprinkling of fairy tale references and such a beguiling main character this is enormous fun to read with under 7s and a great book to spark off children’s own wolf adventures. Grégoire Mabire’s comic rendering of that toothy wolf and his larger than life feline adversary are both hilarious and wonderfully dramatic.

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Fairytale Frankie and the Tricky Witch
Greg Gormley and Steven Lenton
Orchard Books
I like a book with a twist to the tale: with its plethora of fairytale characters and diverting illustrations this playful modern story certainly has one or two.
Frankie is a fairytale fanatic and one morning as she’s enjoying a peaceful read in her bedroom, a princess bursts in asking for a hiding place and thus begins a visitation from a whole chain of unlikely intruders large

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and small …

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all asking for somewhere to hide from the witch.
When Frankie realizes she too should take cover, the witch bursts in demanding to know where the other characters are. Frankie doesn’t let on so the witch has to resort to more drastic measures to discover their whereabouts before uttering some words that finally cause the confused Frankie to understand what is going on.

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Help!
Sally Grindley and Peter Utton
Hodder Children’s Books
From the partnership that created Shhh! and Keep Out! is another playful foray into the world of traditional tales. This time there’s a big bad wolf at large and three porcine characters are rather keen to apprehend him and they’ve enlisted the reader to assist in the search, not to mention a teddy bear and a whole drove of their fellow swine.
There are so many possible hiding places to check out and lots of false starts although plenty of evidence that the BBW isn’t far away.

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So it’s on with the search and the poster pinning …

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… until they discover more evidence of tricky doings.
But the creature’s still at large and the search continues till the seekers come upon a sturdy-looking house that might just be THE place.
Engaging, entertaining and from the opening lines, totally involving. There’s even a pair of mouse observers/commentators to add to the fun.

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The Wonder Garden

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The Wonder Garden
Kristjana S.Williams and Jenny Broom
Wide Eyed Editions
Prepare to be dazzled when you open up this sumptuous volume; it truly is a wonder to behold. Then, step through the shiny golden gate and you’re inside the wonder garden that is our planet earth and thence, explore five amazing ecosystems. First is  …

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with its superabundance of reptiles and amphibians and its plethora of beautiful birds large and small.

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Next destination is the Great Barrier Reef where we learn amongst other things, of the interdependence of coral and elaborate fish.
The Chihuahuan Desert with its hugely fluctuating temperatures is the next stop. It’s a place where harsh conditions and food scarcity make survival difficult for many of its 130 mammal and 3,000 plant species.

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The Black Forest with its tall pines (a bird haven), mountains, eight rivers and several hot springs, all of which help make a place that has a rich variety of flora and fauna is featured next.

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And the final stop is the mighty Himalayan Mountains and the only one of the locations I’ve visited and so recognize some of the animals and plants shown.

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Every one of the locations is spectacular in its own way and the overall experience is one of awe and wonder, but there’s also an almost magical feel to the whole thing. At every turn of the page Kristjana Williams presents a visual feast of insects, reptiles, birds, mammals (or marine species) set against land- (or sea-) scapes of greens and browns splashed with vibrant carmine and fuschia.
Four double spreads are given to each habitat: the first being a spectacular panoramic view jam-packed with its living inhabitants so powerful one can almost for instance, hear the croaking of tropical frogs in the Amazon Rainforest. Every location is introduced by a verbal visualization of what one might feel, see and hear on first arrival and panels containing factual information about the habitat. On the subsequent pages, filling the spaces between the stunning artwork, are blocks of text giving factual information about the habitat.
The superabundance of fauna and flora at every location means that comparatively few species get a mention and that’s fair enough in a book of this kind, though as someone with more than a passing interest in botany I would have liked some more details about the glorious flora depicted.
Assuredly a book to return to again and again and one that might well spark a lifelong interest in some aspect of the living world in the person fortunate enough to come upon this in a bookshop or library or even better, receive it as a gift.

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Magic Forest Forays

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Super Happy Magic Forest
Matty Long
Oxford University Press
Billed as Tolkien for toddlers, this epic quest assuredly has the right ingredients to engender enthusiasm for the fantasy genre in young children. So, let’s go to Super Happy Magic Forest wherein our story starts. It’s full of fun, frolics and picnics all year round; life’s pretty peachy you could say.

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But then disaster strikes the Forest: the Mystical Crystals of Life – source of all that’s joyous therein – are stolen.
It must be Goblin work announces Old Oak at an urgently called meeting of forest residents. Five brave heroes are selected to reclaim the Mystical Crystals …

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And despite their reluctance off they set on the journey of a lifetime but of course, their epic quest will not be an easy one. There are frozen tundras full of fearsome creatures to battle through, a haunted forest and dreadful dungeons to test their nerves and skills to the utmost and even then there’s no escape from enemies …

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Finally Goblin Tower is in sight but will the five locate the missing crystals within its walls? There’s plenty of unexpected confectionary items but crystals well err …
Certainly it’s a celebratory finale but is it cake or crystal induced?? Hmm …
Let’s just say, there’s a twist to this crazy magical saga of epic mischief and silliness. I’m not sure who will get more enjoyment out of this one – the ‘toddlers’ billed as its target audience or those older readers/adults who are the book’s mediators to the very young. Certainly the former will enjoy spotting items in the fantastical visuals but some of the subtle and not so subtle humour will definitely go way over the heads of most four or five year olds. But then that’s the thing about a good book – that multi-layering, which means it offers something to a wide audience.

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Ella Bella Ballerina and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
James Mayhew
Orchard Books
Young Ella Bella returns once again and on this occasion, dance teacher Madame Rosa’s magical music box is playing Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream for the ballet class to dance to.

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Inevitably, after the lesson Ella Bella cannot resist opening up the musical box lid for one last dance in her fairy costume. And thus she meets Puck who whisks her, with her floral headband, away to a fairyland forest where Oberon waits for the ‘magic flowers’ with which he hopes to cast a spell upon Queen Titania.

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James Mayhew’s elegant watercolour illustrations evoke a timeless quality to this engaging tale of magic and mischief and dance.

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A Tree Climbing Cow and a Mowing Toad

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The Cow Who Climbed a Tree
Gemma Merino
Macmillan Children’s Books
The sight of a cow perusing a book and wielding a magnifying glass on the first spread immediately predisposed me to like this book and endeared me to its chief protagonist. Tina is her name and seemingly she has an insatiable thirst for discovery. Her sisters however remain unimpressed by the wonderful things that occupy their sibling’s mind.
One day as she explores the woods, Tina takes it upon herself to climb a tree and there at the top a rather large surprise awaits her in the form of a vegetarian dragon. The two forge a friendship

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and spend the afternoon in dreams and stories.
Comments of “IMPOSSIBLE! RIDICULOUS! NONSENSE! are thrown at her by her sisters as she regales her adventure. But the following morning Tina is notable by her absence though she has left a message.

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Off go the disbelievers to track her down and as they venture out of their comfort zone something unexpected overtakes them – literally – and so up they go …
Then all it takes is an invitation from Tina and …

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a leap of faith. And after that? Well, who can say…
I love the understated humour in both words and pictures of Gemma Merino’s latest offering. Her colour palette is mouthwateringly delicious too.

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McToad Mows Tiny Island
Tom Angleberger and John Hendrix
Abrams Books for Young Readers
Subtitled ‘A Transportation Tale’, this wacky book is certainly that in more ways than one. Its one and only character is McToad, mower of islands; one is Big Island– that occupies his time every day but one.

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The other’s small and is aptly named Tiny Island; it’s here McToad spends Thursdays, his favourite day of the week. There’s nothing exciting about that I know, but it’s all about the getting there. Having driven his mower from the shed, McToad drives it onto his truck, drives to the train loading it thereon with a forklift. The train heads to the airport where a plane flies to the opposite side of Big island and from there it’s a helicopter journey to the docks, onto a steamboat and across to Tiny Island where a crane deposits the mower onto its destination. Back in the mower Mc Toad proceeds to mow the island pausing only briefly for a drink and refuel.
Then job done and it’s erm, back from whence he came.

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Utterly bonkers with its anti-climactic finale but there are so many unanswered questions: Is McToad a transport magnate? (His logo is brandished across each and every vehicle in the story.) Are there no other inhabitants on either island? Does he own both and everything thereon? Where’s the crane while McToad is mowing Tiny Island? Isn’t he lonely? These are a few that immediately come to mind. Children will come up with many more I’m sure.
Even for those who aren’t big machine enthusiasts, there is plenty to appeal in the illustrations. The plethora of witty details are bound to make anyone smile – the row of objects behind the steering wheel in McToad’s truck

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and this …

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not forgetting that patched straw hat of course.

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Imelda & the Goblin King

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Imelda & the Goblin King
Briony May Smith
Flying Eye Books
Imelda lives next to a wood, but this wood is a magical one populated by fairy folk and their fairy queen. It’s a place of peace and harmony and Imelda loves to spend her days frolicking with, and learning from, the fairy folk.

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Then one day into this life of tranquility bursts a foul-tempered Goblin King and his green goblin horde. His manners are appalling, despite the fairy queen’s best efforts …

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and he has the effrontery, after gobbling up the whole solstice feast, to seize his host and imprison her in a cage.
The other fairies call upon Imelda’s help and together they cook up a clever plan that offers the greedy goblin king one final chance …

 

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The happily ever after finale isn’t quite the one you might expect, or perhaps it is, given that pretty much everything about this cracking book is delightfully idiosyncratic, not least the manner in which the anti-hero becomes the agent of his own downfall,

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an outcome which had my young audiences cheering in appreciation.
What a dazzling cast of characters: Imelda, the heroine, is an unflappable young miss, the epitome of all that’s good but still not afraid to turn her hand to a spot of subtle trickery to further a worthy cause; the Fairy Queen with her rosy cheeks and flowing golden hair certainly isn’t always as soft and sweet as she looks …

 

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and as for that Goblin King, he’s a pretty terrifying-looking bullying beast unlikely to worm his way into anyone’s affections.
And every single fairy has its own distinctive appearance – there’s even a blue one that looks like a mini Martian and the goblins, they pretty much resemble their king though they look a lot less threatening at least some of the time. Add to all those, a scattering of dragonflies, butterflies, birds, and other creatures and you have a veritable visual fest.
With a compelling narrative that doesn’t pander to whimsy and has just a tiny frisson of fear, this enchanting book is like nothing else I’ve encountered in the fairy tale genre of late.
Cracking stuff.

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The Prince and the Porker

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The Prince and the Porker
Peter Bently and David Roberts
Andersen Press
“Pignatius was passing the palace one day
when he saw ten fresh buns left to cool on a tray.’
So begins another tasty Bently/Roberts collaboration of the highest order.
As you can guess, the young Pignatius cannot resist sampling said buns and where one goes, the rest must surely – or where the young pig is concerned, -must definitely, follow. But even then he ‘s not replete so into the palace he goes, where he soon finds himself having to bolt from cook.
Up the stairs he charges and into a fine bedroom where he happens upon a “dressing-up chest.” and in no time has transformed himself into a dashing young thing. Which is just as well and pretty much saves his bacon so to speak, for in burst the palace staff wielding all manner of weapons, only to stop dead in their tracks and pay due respects when they discover the presence in the room…

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And what does the cheeky chap do then? He takes advantage of their misidentification and orders himself a slap-up tea.

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That demolished, it’s time to carry out his princely duties, which he does with mischievous gusto. But all good things must come to an end – or must they? It certainly looks that way when Pignatius finds himself face to face with the real prince and de-wigged into the bargain.

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So is it to be sausages, gammon and bacon in the royal household?

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Well, perhaps having an alter ego might just prove advantageous to a young prince …
Bently’s hilarious romp is an absolute gift to the reader aloud, and an out and out winner with young audiences. David Roberts’ visuals are finely detailed and at times, utterly priceless. Take for instance his rendering of the palace staff paying their respects to ‘His Highness’ or the blowing up of the pumpkin…

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The Lion Inside

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Emmanuelle relishing the encounters         between Mouse and Lion

The Lion Inside
Rachel Bright and Jim Field
Orchard Books
A wide, dusty savannah. One rock, two occupiers: beneath ‘in a tinyful house,  

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Lived the littlest, quietest, meekest brown mouse.’: atop, an enormous, toothsome creature with a roar to beat all roars, Lion.

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So very wee is the mouse that his life is one of frequent squashings and being overlooked.

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Lion meanwhile lives a life of constant adulation.

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How that tiny brown creature wishes he could be more like King Cat. Perhaps a roar would win him some friends. But who can be his roaring teacher?
Fearing for his life, the mouse summons up all his courage and ventures forth into the night to scale the heights towards the slumbering lion,

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until …

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But what is forthcoming in response to mouse’s request to be taught how to roar isn’t quite what he’d expected …
Mouse’s bravery and subsequent discovery is a game changer for both parties: mouse discovers his true voice, and lion? He still roars but it’s with laughter now. And they both know, as the finale to this super-dooper story says, ‘no matter your size. We all have a mouse AND a lion inside.’
With its vital message about ‘being the change’ and a tuneful text that reads aloud like a dream, this book is truly, all heart. Jim Field uses close-ups and a variety of viewpoints and perspectives to dramatic effect making both wide-eyed, wide-eared mouse and bristle-maned lion with his cavernous jaws appear larger than life and truly awesome.
Two great new partnerships: mouse and lion, and Rachel Bright and Jim Field.

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Childhood Pleasures: Alfie Outdoors and The Jar of Happiness

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Alfie Outdoors
Shirley Hughes
The Bodley Head
The delectable Alfie is up with the lark and outside in the garden eager to start the day: it’s to be a gardening day with Dad but it’s one that involves a whole lot of digging and clearing, for the plan is to create a vegetable patch and plant some seeds. First though it’s back to the digging, which Alfie actually enjoys or rather, he enjoys investigating all the minibeasts he unearths from the soil.

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Come the weekend Alfie is allowed to choose his own seeds from the garden centre and he has a plan. He wants to grow carrots, not for himself but to feed to his friend Gertrude the goat at the goat sanctuary. The trouble is though, seeds don’t come up overnight, there’s a lot of waiting and watching involved. Just as Alfie is beginning to give up on his carrots, Dad notices some tiny seedings starting to sprout and with Alfie’s daily watering it’s not long before the first carrots are ready for pulling.

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Imagine Alfie’s disappointment then when he gets to the goat sanctuary to discover no Gertrude: she’s gone missing. Almost a day passes, a very sad one for Alfie and then yippee! Good news – Gertrude’s been found and is back where she belongs. All ends happily in true Alfie fashion next morning when he’s finally able to offer a juicy carrot to his favourite sanctuary resident.

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This is such a gorgeous book – another Hughes classic for sure. Shirley knows exactly the kinds of things that make young children content and never loses sight of them: Alfie’s preoccupations are those of every small child …

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and in her own inimitable way Shirley provides another tour de force every time she creates a new Alfie story.

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The Jar of Happiness
Ailsa Burrows
Child’s Play
Is happiness something you can put into a jar and keep bottled up? Young Meg seems to think so when she invents her very own kind, tasting of chocolate ice cream, apple juice and sunshine, smelling of warm biscuits and the seaside and containing all the best colours. Meg however doesn’t keep this happiness to herself; she uses her jar to cheer up glum friends

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or poorly relations; she seems to know just how to use it to maximum effect.
But, one day, Meg’s jar is nowhere to be found; so has her happiness gone forever?

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Fortunately not, thanks to all those Meg has shared her happiness jar with. It’s now their turn to show her their own special ingredients for happiness and none of them comes from a jar.

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Ailsa Burrows’ softly coloured characters have an endearing squidgy, cushiony appearance that make one want to snuggle up with them. And with its warm-hearted feel, this is a lovely snuggle-up-together and share with a young child kind of book.

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I Will Love You Anyway/How to Be a Dog

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I Will Love You Anyway
Mick and Chloë Inkpen
Hodder Children’s Books
We share a puggish pup’s thoughts directed at his small boy owner in this delicious book from the Inkpen father and daughter team.
Said pup is anything but your ideal dog; he’s a furniture wrecker, thief and inveterate chaser …

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he cannot follow instructions and worst of all, he keeps on running away – with disastrous consequences sometimes.

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But does this pup ever learn? Oh dear no and when he and his boy hear the terrible words, “We cannot cope! He cannot stay!” he takes off once again running and running into the inky black, wet night.
Being lost, out all night and wet

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and scared is no picnic even for our canine hero. It’s fortunate then that a certain small boy happens along at the crucial moment and back they go to share a blissful moment or two.
You might now be thinking that at last this runaway has finally come to his senses but the trouble is, as we hear, “I don’t do words. They make no sense. I jump for joy …”  

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and er …
The spare rhyming text takes the form of the pup’s reportage narrative recording of what he does and what he hears, cleverly conveying the animal’s lack of any real understanding of what is expected of him. An unusual manner of telling for sure but it’s really effective and affecting here.
Chloe Inkpen truly does capture the full gamut of the emotions of both pup and boy in her captivating illustrations. I’d love to show you every single one but you will just have to get your paws on a copy of the book for the whole experience.

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How To Be a Dog
Jo Williamson
Scholastic Children’s Books
A mischievious, tongue-in-cheek guide penned purportedly, by a dog for his fellow canines. It’s full of need to know tips and advice on such topics as choosing the right human, sleeping arrangements,

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how to meet and greet, toilet training …

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getting the best food by whatever means, “To get the best treats, pretend that you have not been fed. If that doesn’t work … you may need to learn some new tricks … “, games to play with your human,

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forging new friendships with neighbours’ dogs and more.
The narrator is a delightful character (even to non dog lovers like me), full of mischief and endearingly portrayed, as are all the other characters – canine and human – we meet. My only wish is that some recognition had been given to the multi-ethnic dog-owning society we live in.
With a restricted colour palette, Jo Williamson has created a highly entertaining and engaging debut book and I look forward to seeing more of her work.

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Hector and Hummingbird

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Hector and Hummingbird
Nicholas John Frith
Alison Green Books
In this smashing picture book debut, set in the mountains of Peru we meet unlikely best pals, bear, Hector and a hummingbird called, err, Hummingbird. The latter is a garrulous creature who appears to intrude in Hector’s activities at the most inopportune moments …

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so much so that Hector, desperate for some peace and quiet finally loses it with his friend

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and storms off deep into the jungle.
But it turns out that the peace and tranquility he sought isn’t quite so fulfilling as he’d imagined.

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And when darkness falls there’s nobody there to share a bedtime story

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… or is there?
There’s so much to love about this one: the fantastical colour palette with its contrasting sludgy greens and browns and contrasting flashes of brilliance, the fusion of flat, retro (almost Dahlov Ipcar style) design and the contemporary –rhomboid, coloured speech bubbles, those sprinklings of off beat, up-to the minute dialogue and the inherent dissonance in a relationship between the two characters. One really wants to spend ages perusing each and every spread, lingering over the details of the deliciously droll manner in which this friendship of the tiny frenetic bird and the large, languorous bear is portrayed. Not forgetting the opportunity to spot the fifteen other creatures who act as observers of the action. Observant young audiences will particularly relish the fact that Hummingbird too is a silent onlooker in many of the scenes.
A humdinger of a book in every way and one not to be missed.

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This ORQ. (he cave boy.)

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This ORQ. (he cave boy.)
David Elliott and Lori Nichols
Troika Books
Anyone who has had dealings with young children and their speech development (or indeed their emergent writing ) will know that initially they go for the content words and omit the functors from their utterances. A similar thing happens when someone – child or adult – learns to speak an additional language. So it is with the small child protagonist in this story, which begins thus:
This Orq.
He live in cave.
He carry club.
He cave boy.
And continues in similar cave-boy speak vein.
Orq has a pet baby woolly mammoth Woma, but like all infant animals Woma grows and grows …

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From his mother’s point of view, Woma is far from the perfect pet: he sheds his hair, he’s extremely whiffy and he leaves large deposits of pooh on the cave floor.

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Woma has to go she decrees.
Orq is devastated and resolves to demonstrate his beloved Woma’s desirability by teaching him tricks (with a bit of assistance from some of his other smaller pets). The results are a series of wonderfully comic disasters …

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and a far from impressed Mother: No chance of her allowing Woma to set even one tusk tip back in the cave.
Some time later Orq’s imaginary play ‘He mighty hunter!’ turns alarmingly real when a sabretooth tiger with his mind on lunch appears on the scene. A face-off between said tiger and Woma ensues. The latter’s love for Orq proves superior and results in an indebted Mother having a change of heart about Woma.
The spare narrative style with its oft repeated ‘Orq loves Woma’ works well for this emotionally charged prehistoric tale. Elliott succeeds in conveying the strong feelings between boy and mammoth with gentle humour and occasional stabs of pathos, both elements being echoed in Lori Nichols’ splendidly quirky, digitally coloured pencil illustrations. There are some delicious details such as the stone age tricycle on the title page

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and the sign on the cave wall. And that final throwaway twist is just superb. Me love ending. Me love book.
Definitely a winner where young children are concerned and I suspect a proliferation of caveboy speak to ensue temporarily whenever it’s read aloud.

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The Bear and the Piano & Little Bear

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The Bear and the Piano
David Litchfield
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
There are some amazing picture book debuts this season: here’s one from David Litchfield that absolutely oozes style and panache.
A young bear cub discovers something unexpected in the forest one day and it’s something that, once he gets his paws on it, draws him back again and again and again for days,

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weeks, months and years as his plinking and plonking slowly becomes beautiful music with a power to transport him to magical places far away from his arboreal home.
Now a large grizzly, his musical prowess attracts other bears and then, some talent spotting humans. Thus, he leaves home and heads for the bright city lights of Manhattan …

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and stardom …

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What price fame and fortune though without your friends? Time to head for home thinks the bear and back he goes bursting with tales of life as a celebrity. But all he finds when he reaches the forest clearing is …

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Surely it can’t all have been for nothing, can it?
Executed with remarkable finesse, a fine virtuoso performance all round. It has all the qualities of a classic in the making.

Here’s one that’s already established itself as such:

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Little Bear
Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak
Red Fox pbk
Many moons ago in an edition of Learning to Read with Picture Books I featured this book in its previous I Can Read incarnation. It was the first of my key ‘Taking Off’ titles and I said of it, ‘a classic whose literary quality is indisputable.’
With four short stories in which Little Bear discovers the value of his own fur coat, makes birthday soup, visits the moon, and makes some wishes, together with its wonderfully warm illustrations by Maurice Sendak, this remains a book that all young children should encounter on their journey as readers. It’s great to see this Red Fox publication of a very special book.

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What the Ladybird Heard Next

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What the Ladybird Heard Next
Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks
Macmillan Children’s Books
Clothes pegs ready for this fantastically stinky sequel to What the Ladybird Heard and with a sparkly cover too.
When the listening ladybird learns of the mysterious disappearance of red hen’s new laid clutch she realises there’s a case to be solved and off she flies. As the stars begin to twinkle over the farmyard she spies and hears two men – ex cons. Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len – plotting to steal not the eggs this time, but the fat red hen herself.

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Back she flies to report to her farmyard pals and a cunning plan is quickly formulated – a plan that perhaps owes something to the Billy Goats Gruff – so that when the thieves seize the hen she sets in motion a chain of events that will supposedly, lead them to an altogether superior egg producer, the super-duper Snuggly Snerd, layer of rugby ball sized eggs.

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Off go Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh armed with torch and spade, deep into the big brown heap as per instructions – a very pongy heap I should add – seeking the shy egg layer extraordinaire. (You can almost get a whiff as you turn the pages.)

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Just imagine their wrath when they realize they’ve been duped. But their come-uppance is not yet quite complete: that job is left to some other small winged creatures and they’re more than willing to oblige …

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After which, it’s peace and harmony once more down on the farm.
‘Trippingly on the tongue’ comes to mind when one reads this rural romp aloud; it’s brilliant fun to do so and listeners equally, will delight in the rhythmic rhyme whether or not they’ve already met the star of the show and farmyard pals in her first adventure.

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Emmanuelle demanded at least 10 re-reads in one afternoon!

The humour and pizzazz in Lydia Monks’ illustrations is the perfect accompaniment to the text. The sight of the thieving twosome digging into, and plastered in, that muck is a real hoot; and I love the scene where those buzzing bees see them off.

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Aspects of Love

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Evermore Dragon
Barbara Joosse and Randy Cecil
Walker Books
The friendship forged in Lovabye Dragon between Girl and Dragon grows deeper here as the two decide upon the game for the day. Hide-and-Seek it will be and off goes Dragon to hide – supposedly.

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Like the good friend that she is though, Girl plays along searching diligently high and low although she can surely see that Drag-enormo self until …

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Then it’s Girl’s turn to hide and off she runs and runs … to a faraway hidey-hole where she waits … and waits and yawns and …
Dragon meanwhile continues to search but where oh where can Girl be?

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Girl awakes in the ‘Deep, deep, dark night.’ Dragonless and entirely alone and,
‘she cried silver tears/ worry worry tears/ and her heart thumped a sound/ a trem-below sound/ that only Dragon friends,/ very very special friends, can hear.’
And Dragon hears the summoning cry and, lighting up the sky with his dragon breath he flies to her rescue, enveloping her in his wings.

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“I am here,” to which she responds “You’re a dear,”.
With its sprinklings of innovative language, and just the right frisson of fear, the beautifully constructed lyrical text combined with the dream-like scenes in muted greens, greys and blues into which are dropped Girl and her glowing yellow gown, is perfect for story time sharing, especially at the end of the day, be it at home or school. It certainly went down a treat with my audience of fives and sixes.

An altogether different celebration of love comes in:

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Big Book of Love
Catherine and Laurence Anholt
Orchard Books
Bursting with joie de vivre is this small child’s rhyming recitation of everything he (I think, but could equally be, she) loves. There’s the playful pup that leads child and reader across fields to meet friends, frolic in the waves, run in the rain, ride on a train to the colourful bustling city

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full of all manner of people and places of visit not least the library…

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And that can, in turn lead to exciting adventures with animals large and small and sometimes even a bit scary. But then there’s always the safety of home and a house full of love to come back to. …

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If only every child could be so lucky …
There’s so much to explore in Catherine’s child-centric scenes: every spread is brimming over with things to talk about, count or simply enjoy.

A look at love from a canine viewpoint in
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Love is My Favourite Thing
Emma Chichester Clark
Jonathan Cape
This book is based on the author’s own dog, a character that became the star of Plumdog Blog. Here, Plum is that narrator of her own story, a story wherein readers learn just how much love there is in her life. She loves among other things, wind, snow, sun, treats and sticks; she loves the children next door and of course, her ‘mummy and daddy’ aka Emma and Rupert and the things they do together. Equally they love her too.
Occasionally though, Plum’s zest for life and love gets her into trouble and once she’s got into a little bit of trouble …

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things seem to escalate till she’s in a whole lot of trouble …

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Even that’s not the worst part of the whole sorry chain of events – there’s the ice-cream episode too, after which poor Plum is banished to bed. Has love finally run out where this particular dog is concerned? Of course not but she definitely does need to rein in some of that canine enthusiasm especially where ice-cream and water are concerned.
A charming celebration of unconditional love, pooch style. I’m no lover of dogs but Plum as portrayed by Emma Chichester Clark, certainly won my heart.

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Tree

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Tree
Britta Teckentrup and Patricia Hegarty
Little Tiger Press
This glorious celebration of nature and the seasonal changes it brings is presented through the focus of a single apple tree standing in a forest.
I’m a huge fan of Britta Teckentrup’s work and in this instance she makes ingenious use of die-cuts that increase in number as we move towards midsummer and then decrease to the single owl’s look-out as midwinter comes around once more, disappearing completely in the final two spreads.
The story begins as the forest is gripped by the icy chill of midwinter; no animals are visible save the single owl peeping from its hole in the tree trunk and watching …

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As winter gradually gives way to spring, shoots begin to peep through, leaves unfurl and bear cubs frolic. Then slowly more animals appear, nesting birds and more can be seen in the tree’s branches:

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birdsong fills the air showing summer’s on its way with its bees, butterflies and ripening fruit.

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Then come the glowing colours of autumn and the animals start to prepare for the coming of another winter when once again it’s time to take shelter.
Not only do we follow scenes of the changing seasons but also the changes as day turns to night

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in this superbly crafted book.
Patricia Hegarty’s lyrical text takes the form of rhyming couplets that are a real pleasure to read aloud and have the effect of making the reader slow down to allow for listeners to savour not only the gorgeous scenes as they subtly change, but the words themselves.
One thing is certain, no matter what the season, this is a book to treasure.
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Toby and the Ice Giants

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Toby and the Ice Giants
Joe Lillington
Flying Eye Books
In the company of Ice Age tundra dweller, Toby the bison, readers are taken way back some 20,000 years in time to the last glacial period when earth was home to some gigantic animals. With an assurance to other family members, “I’m big now. I’m not scared!” young Toby ventures out to explore. So begins a series of encounters with a host of amazing megafauna, the first being via a head-on collision with a bad-tempered woolly rhinoceros spoiling for a fight.

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Thankfully the massive-clawed magatherium he meets next is more interested in using its claws for procuring food from a tree so Toby moves on seawards.
“I’m Toby, I can run really fast!” he informs a Glypton. This thick-shelled beast is friendly enough unlike the ferocious long-toothed predatory Smilodon

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from which Toby rushes,  past the short-faced bear, the flying Teratorn before coming upon some ice age humans

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whereupon he decides it’s time to head home.
This book successfully interweaves narrative and factual information making this one that can be enjoyed on more than one level. Into Joe Lillington’s dramatic watercolour illustrations are inserted the storyline and speech bubbles and the factual details appear alongside (or below). In addition there is a comparative size spread, a basic explanation about the ending of the ice-age, some additional animals from the time that Toby didn’t come upon together with an author’s note stating that Toby’s adventure has been telescoped into a single day, and a glossary.
All in all, another quality production from Flying Eye, a hugely appealing introduction to the period and a likely starting point for further Ice Age forays.

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Ursine Talent: GRRRRR! and One Bear Extraordinaire

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GRRRRR!
Rob Biddulph
Harper Collins Children’s Books
Grizzly bear Fred is the star of the show: he’s been Best Bear in the Wood for three years and is unbeatable at growling. Or is he? Well, he’s determined to be champ once again and so training becomes his everything; there’s just no time for friendship, he declares.
Enter Boris, new bear in town reputed to have a GRRRRR to beat all GRRRRs and determined to knock Fred off his throne.

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And, he seems to be taken with nocturnal wandering …

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Come competition morn and disaster has struck, Fred awakes roarless. But despite his strict training regime, it seems he’s not without friends after all. First there’s Eugene a young owl ready and willing to help Fred track down his missing roar.

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A search ensues but it yields a big zilch.
The hour of the contest arrives. Despite being roarless, Fred has his supporters and after three rounds the contest is neck and neck …

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But then comes that crucial round with Boris, having first growl and it looks like a winner …

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That is definitely not the end of this corker of a book, but without spoiling the story finale let’s just say it ends satisfactorily for all concerned.
I just love those bits of throwaway humour in Biddulph’s splendid rhyming text
‘The sound is so loud that it makes Boris jump –
And look what just fell to the ground with a bump!’
which, when combined with his visuals are just priceless. What a talent.

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One Bear Extraordinaire
Jayme McGowan
Abrams Books for Young Readers
Meet Bear, an itinerant entertainer of legendary repute, known for his ‘honey harmonies and twinkle-toed grace.’ One day when working on a new song however, he decides “Something is missing,” and sets off in search of this elusive ingredient. As he travels, he encounters a whole host of musicians one after another and each one joins him “wherever the tune leads”.

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Eventually the ever-growing band discovers a Wolf Pup has tagged along. He too is keen to become a band member but lacks an instrument. Bear offers something from his sack but Wolf Cub just cannot get to grips with any of them …

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and as a last resort Bear suggests the kazoo: “Anyone can play it.” he mistakenly tells the despairing little chap.
But it’s as the others practise in the moonlit campsite that night, that Wolf Cub suddenly discovers he has a vocal talent like no other

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and, it’s just what’s needed to make everything finally sound ‘just right’.
There’s a pleasing musical lilt to Jayme McGowan’s text: ‘he watched the music SWIRL and HOVER across the ridge … ECHO through the canyon … and fill the sky as he and his wayfaring band whooped and hollered their song to the stars.’ But it’s her wonderful illustrations – three-dimensional scenes composed from individual painted cut-outs, that are arranged and photographed in situ – that are the real show-stealers.
A picture book debut of great promise.

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Hindu Tales Retold

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Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth
Sanjay Patel and Emily Haynes
Chronicle Books
Ganesha is the Hindu deity said to be the remover of obstacles and a very popular one he is too. With those extremely large ears he is reputed to be a good listener and Hindus often pray to him before embarking on a new venture or going on a journey. I have a large collection of Ganesha murtis collected on my numerous visits to India and each and every one seems to have a slightly different personality; all have a pot belly and many of them have him accompanied by his vehicle, a small rat (called Mr Mouse in this story).
There are many stories about Ganesha – how he got a broken tusk being one of the most popular and this colourful book is a modern version of the particular episode. It tells how as a young child, Ganesha liked nothing better than to eat sweet things, in particular laddoos, the Indian confection. This predilection results in a tragedy when our young hero comes upon a new kind of laddoo – The Super Jumbo Jawbreaker Laddoo. Despite warnings from Mr Mouse, Ganesha cannot resist chomping down on the thing – “I’m invincible.” he reassures his friend – and snaps off one of his tusks.
So furious is young Ganesha that he hurls the broken tusk at the moon. It misses, landing at the feet of the ancient sage and poet, Vyasa who just happens to have a special task for the tusk thrower and thus Ganesha lands the job of scribing the great epic of Hindu literature, the Mahabharata.

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The whole book is a riot of dayglo colour in which Sanjay Patel so brilliantly creates ultra-modern visuals, some of which are reminiscent of what you might see in a temple in South India.

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Others are decidedly closer to some of the contemporary Pixar animations he has worked on.

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By adding their own embellishments and playing slightly with the original plot, Patel and Haynes have between them concocted a wonderfully playful rendering of a classic legend that will surely have wide appeal.
It’s just the thing to read around the time of Ganesha Chaturthi the festival, which celebrates Ganesha’s birthday and falls in 2015 on 15th September.

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Rama and the Demon King
Jessica Souhami
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
My original hardback edition of this book has been read and recommended more times than I care to remember and after its publication soon became the ‘must share’ book for teachers at the time of Dussehra/Diwali. So, I’m thrilled to see a new paperback of Jessica Souhami’s wonderful rendition of the ancient Indian tale. For those who have yet to discover this gem, it’s wonderfully illustrated with wondrous scenes based on Jessica’s own shadow puppets (She has an amazing travelling shadow puppet company).
If like me, you had a copy from the 1990s and it’s been lost, read to death or perhaps, stolen, then you’ll welcome this opportunity to replace it. For those yet to discover this gem, I urge you to get a copy now. Souhami’s spare storytelling style is splendid for reading aloud and her visuals of Rama and his monkey army led by Hanuman, overcoming the evil demon King Ravana are magnificent.

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T-Veg / Peanut Butter & Brains

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T-Veg
Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Katerina Manolessou
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Having the courage to be different is the nub of this delicious prehistoric tale of a carrot-crunching dinosaur.
Reginald ate BROCCOLI, Reginald ate BEANS,
Reginald ate bowls and bowls of GARLIC, GRAPES and GREENS.  

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Reginald’s diet is a disaster so far as his parents are concerned: “For goodness sake what’s wrong with you?” a despairing Papa T-rex demands to know and at school, despite being their equal in speed and toughness, Reg becomes the laughing stock of his schoolmates. Consequently – and who can blame him for it – Reg packs his dino-sack and leaves home determined to find some more understanding friends and discover more about vegetarianism. “The truth might be that actually I am a HERBIVORE! I’ll try and do some herbie things. “
However, it appears herbie style activities aren’t quite Reg’s thing …

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So it’s time to consult with those in the know. Befriending them though doesn’t go to plan at all …

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Back home meanwhile, Hugh and the other T-Rexes are starting to see the error of their ways when it comes to Reg; perhaps his differences aren’t a bar to friendship after all. Off they hurtle to find him. But disaster in the form of an enormous rock, strikes – or does it?

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Bright, appropriately veggie coloured illustrations combine with a rhythmic rhyming text that’s a gift to the reader aloud to make a sure fire storytime favourite that celebrates individualism, difference, being brave enough to stand up for your beliefs and admitting when you’re wrong. As the final line reminds us, ‘the best thing in the world is being happy being YOU!’
Tasty stuff says this veggie reviewer.

With similar themes and starring another Reginald is

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Peanut Butter & Brains
Joe McGee and Charles Sanatoso
Abrams Books for Young Readers
Herein it’s his penchant for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that single Reginald out from his fellow zombie residents of Quirkville and he has more than a little trouble getting hold of his favourite food

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until he comes upon little Abigail Zink. This young lass just happens to have exactly what he’s looking for in her lunch bag and as the other (brain-eating) zombies are about to seize the young miss, Reginald’s quick-thinking averts a crisis

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and saves the day causing the marauding zombies to discover something even more delicious than brains. And from then on everything is different in the town of Quirkville.
Quirky this one surely is, but it too delivers a powerful punch when it comes to daring to be different.

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Poetry Shelf

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Three poetry books to share at home or school, three gifts to inspire a love of poetry …

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Stars in Jars
Chrissie Gittins
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
It’s difficult to choose a favourite from this star-studded collection of poems. I love the edgy offbeat nature of many of them, for instance the opening one that gives the book its title. It begins thus:
William went up in a rocket/ To see where it would go./ It flew round/ and round/
and round/ the sun,/ and burnt his left big toe.
He goes on to hurt his knees by crash landing in camembert before flying through the Milky Way to catch the trail of stars which he then brings home and puts in jars for safe-keeping.
There are poems on all manner of familiar topics such as friends and families but even here, Chrissie Gittins builds the extraordinary into, for instance, an otherwise fairly conventional fruit-and herb picking grandma with these final words:
‘my grandma is a fun nun, / and apart from God’s, she’s mine.’
We are treated to powerful images of the natural world in say, The Year is Turning:
Gulls chance the churning sea, / Leaves stack up against the thermal door, / Tips of willows, russet, finger low grey sky,/ The year is drawing in. How’s that for a distillation of an instance of awareness of nature’s changes.
I can’t leave without mentioning the two final poems, first Lullaby. Herein it’s the juxtaposition of images that really packs a punch: Forget about your homework, / forget about that fight, / give it up to the cheesy moon/ and the meteor showers of night.
But it’s all really said in the finale What Does Poetry Do? and I make no apology for quoting the whole thing: ‘It nosedives from the top of the fridge/ into a bowl of rapids, // it crawls along the floor/ and taps you on the knee. // it changes the colour of a room, // it puts great wheezing slices of life/ into bun trays, with or without punctuation. // It manages this all by itself.’
And, it’s fanatastic value too – 130 poems and although of course, some are better than others, there’s not a dud among them. If it doesn’t make you look at seemingly ordinary things in a different way then I’m off to ‘try a lunge at Victoria sponge’.

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Vanishing Trick
Ros Asquith
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
This is a debut collection by Guardian cartoonish, Ros Asquith and she’s peppered it with her own amusing illustrations to add to the appeal though it has plenty of that even without; I love those appropriately presented titles too.
It embraces a wide range of topics from A dream of God to Anthony’s hair (or lack of it in this thought-provoking poem) and there’s a variety of form from the punchy 4-lined Doggerel to 4-pages in the follow your dreams Mohammed & the Whale; and mood – from the playful Things I Like, to the poignant Jo’s House ‘ Was Jo not sad to only hear and feel? / When I was ten I asked her, did she mind?/ She said her searching self made all things real./ She said, “I never think that I am blind.” // She said inside her head the world burned bright./ She said “Inside my mouth bursts sour and sweet./ My ears can hear the birds as they take flight. I feel the turning Earth beneath my feet.” ‘
I don’t know why, but I’m surprised at just how good a book this is.

For a younger audience than the others is

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I Wish I Had a Pirate Hat
Roger Stevens
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Herein we have over forty sparky playful rhymes arranged into three sections – Fun Time, School Time not mutually exclusive I hope) and Home Time. The topics – pirates, pets, minibeasts, friends, letters and words, machines and more have immediate child-appeal and young children will love hearing of the ‘all-knowing’ teacher, Miss Moss who pops up in several of the School Time poems. I suspect she, like this reviewer, has a soft spot for the divergent Billy.
Just the thing to spark an interest in poetry beyond nursery rhymes and to get very young children listening carefully to how words are put together to make memorable moments such as in Teatime with Little Rabbit:
‘Hey, little rabbit/ Would you like a little cuddle?/ I can feel the beating of your heart.// Hey, little rabbit/ Would you like a little snuggle/ and a nibble on my raspberry tart?’

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Rocks and Sharks

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A Rock is Lively
Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books
I was hooked by this book right from its provocative title and dazzling blue front endpapers. Essentially it’s a basic introduction to petrology but the author’s enthusiasm for the topic shines through in her poetic text that begins thus:
‘A rock is lively … bubbling like a pot of soup deep beneath the earth’s crust … liquid … molten … boiling.’
A rock is also, so we hear , ‘mixed up …

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galactic, old, huge … or tiny, helpful, surprising, inventive, creative, recycled and finally once more … lively.
Each of these statements is explored in its own double spread and illuminated with Sylvia Long’s stunning watercolour visuals, making the whole thing a combination of science, poetry and art.
Thus we learn about the range of temperatures at which various rock types melt, the mineral composition of rocks and that some rocks were formed not on earth but far out in space. We are told about some of the very oldest of all rocks from between 2.5 and 4.5 billion years ago – awesome! And I was surprised to learn that sea lions, seals and crocodiles ingest rocks to act as ballast that helps them stay steady or dive deeper in the water.

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I did know though that various other animals use them as tools as did early humans and indeed humans today use rocks in the manufacturing processes of bricks, glass, cement, paper, pencils, toothpaste even.
Some rocks – the surprising ones – have wonders hidden within. These geodes when opened reveal wonderful jewel-like crystals: agate, tourmaline, amethyst, azurite.

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Then there are amazing sculptures and monuments all over the world, some dating back thousands of years, others a few decades …
If like me, you believe that science should engender in children feelings of awe and wonder, then this is a book that will surely help to do just that. And assuredly it will make you look at and think about mountains and grains of sand in a different way.

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Would You Rather Have a Shark for a Sister or a Ray for a Brother?
Camilla de la Bédoyère and Mel Howells
QED Publishing
This is one a series of books that presents information on a specific topic, sharks in this instance, in an offbeat manner. The reader is invited to make choices in response to such questions as ‘Would you rather visit … a Greenland shark, a frilled shark, or a whitetip reef shark?’ This is followed by some fascinating factual snippets and a visual relating to each species mentioned.
The whole thing has a light-hearted feel to it and is likely to appeal to those who prefer a touch of humour alongside the basic facts, for instance with parents in mind …
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And siblings?

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Or in response to the consideration of teeth …

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A book such as this could well result in youngsters, with appetites whetted, going on to look beyond the information given. And of course, there are possibilities for all manner of flights of fancy too, as well as some activity suggestions.

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New Pet Arrivals

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Rosie’s Special Present
Myfanwy Millward and Gwen Millward
Jonathan Cape
It’s Rosie’s birthday and she’s eagerly anticipating a very special present. Said present meanwhile is having a crisis of confidence from within its wrapping. Suppose all the other gifts look more exciting, will it be overshadowed? What if its owner is a princess or a trapeze artist, a pirate with a squawking parrot even?
As Rosie and her pals party in one room,

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the present has managed, after considerable effort, to get out of its box to investigate the opposition.

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Satisfied that its own wrapping out-sparkles the others, another troubling thought arrives – suppose, despite its superior exterior, Rosie feels disappointed at its contents. So, to counter this, the present climbs up the bookcase and, as the birthday tea is reaching its conclusion in the room next door, the over-anxious gift has wrapped itself in bunting, ribbons and more and crash-landed onto the carpet.

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Thereupon in dashes Rosie and a new friendship is immediately forged…
Winsome characters and an unusual perspective angle on the birthday theme make this a delight to share with young listeners whether or not they are celebrating a birthday: friendship is worth celebrating at any time. Illustrator Gwen’s portrayal of the ‘special present’ – that picture of it clinging desperately to the bunting – is a hoot.

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A delightful joint enterprise from the Millward sisters.

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Lara of Newtown
Chris McKimmie
Allen & Unwin
I’m a real fan of Chris McKimmie’s wonderfully quirky illustrative style and this book wherein Misty/Nigella/Lara seeks a permanent home charmed even cat phobic me.
When we join our feline narrator, she has just been let go by her first owner who has become too old to continue caring for her moggy, and Misty is wandering the streets looking for a new home. Eventually she becomes a Christmas present for one Noni Nice of Pymble where she gets her second name and little else before being shown the door.
There follows a night under the stars for Nigella and then along come the Kafoopses,

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an eccentric couple who are more than happy to add ‘Lara’ to their household residents. From then on life becomes more than satisfactory in every way.
Lara can even do her own entertaining from time to time …

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though on occasions when the Kafoopses have visitors, she finds an alternative place for a retreat. But now she is in her own words “a lucky boots”, loved at last.
Cat owners may well be horrified at the treatment of the long-suffering feline protagonist but despite the two abandonments, this is a story where hope and kindness win through. Chris McKimmie’s collage style is like no other and combined with the array of fonts make for a unique visual narrative whole.

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I Love My Puppy
Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd
Orchard Books
The small boy narrator of the latest Andreae/Dodd offering is the recipient of a new pet – a cute pup. Everything has been made ready for his arrival …

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but even so the little chap is a bit shy initially. It doesn’t take long for the pup to settle in though: he’s playful and affectionate but rather too eager to nibble at things that he really shouldn’t

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and of course, has still to be housetrained. A walk in the park is lots of fun and just the place to try out his bark

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before heading home for a snuggle with his diminutive owner.
As with previous books in this series, the combination of Giles Andreae’s gentle rhyming text and Emma Dodd’s super-sweet scenes bring delight at every turn of the page.

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From Small Beginnings ….

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Who Woke the Baby?
Jane Clarke and Charles Fuge
Nosy Crow
Using the narrative structure of The House that Jack Built as a basis, Jane Clarke has penned a wonderful rhyming tale set in the jungle early one morning. But what has woken that baby who’s ‘smelly and yelly and all forlorn.’? Well, Hippo yawned, Zebra fussed, Lion roared, Crocodile snapped,

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Frog croaked and Bee buzzed. And what about that stunningly coloured butterfly that just happened to float along and land gently on the particular flower occupied by Busy Bee …
If nothing else, it’s certainly caused a change of mood in that baby gorilla, no longer forlorn but full of delighted giggles and gurgles, as it watches the dancing butterfly in the sunlight.

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The story reads aloud beautifully and Fuge’s eye-catching illustrations convey the changing moods of the various animals with verve and a droll, at times befittingly languid, humour.
This should be a real winner with early years listeners.

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Emily’s Balloon
Komako Sakai
Chronicle Books
What a quiet, gentle unassuming book but such a delight is this story about a little girl and her balloon. We follow the course of the interplay between the  child and the balloon during the course of a single day, as the girl becomes ever more enchanted by the object that has assumed the role of friend. Once her mother has devised a tethering device, the girl and balloon enter a special world of their own as they play in the yard.

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But then their blissful idyll is interrupted by a sudden gust of wind that whisks the balloon aloft depositing it in the branches of a tall tree. Try as she might, Emily’s mother is unable to retrieve it and it’s a very sad little girl who sits at the dinner table contemplating what might have been …

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Despite her mother’s promise to get a ladder and rescue the balloon in the morning, Emily goes to bed worrying about her precious object until, through her bedroom window, she spies its comforting moon-like presence glowing outside in the darkness.
This is one of those books that really stays with you, so tenderly realized are those moments shared between Emily and her balloon, and Emily and her mother …

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conveyed through the sparely worded text and enormously eloquent drawings executed in minimal colours. Each and every vignette speaks volumes about the precious vulnerability and innocence of early childhood and the way children can get enormous pleasure from very ordinary everyday objects.

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Milo’s Dog Says Moo!

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Milo’s Dog Says Moo!
Catalina Echeverri
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Milo, the narrator is celebrating his seventh birthday and he’s super-excited. We join him and other family members as they visit Waggy Tail Dogs Home to select Milo’s longed-for pet. Despite his parents’ reservations, there’s no doubt in Milo’s mind which dog it will be that accompanies them home.

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Once through the front door, Beans begins to make himself familiar with his new surroundings showing a distinct preference for vegetarian fare.
Dog lessons prove something of a challenge for both Milo and Beans …

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and the latter certainly doesn’t appear to be exhibiting the usual canine characteristics like bone chewing and cat chasing. And as for barking well …

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However, the one thing beans excels at is increasing in size and before long, he needs new accommodation. Even this though, cannot contain the voracious eater and after just one night in his new abode, Beans has made a spectacular exit …

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seemingly never to be found again.

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But could that training be about to pay off after all …

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Milo and his family’s failure to notice the difference between a dog and a calf is the key to the reader’s enjoyment of this wonderful story. As with all good jokes, it’s the way you tell them that counts for most. Here, Catalina Echeverri’s text is the ‘straight man’ so to speak giving hardly a hint that anything is amiss. In the know young listeners though will spot what’s really going on in her deliciously playful illustrations and will revel in recognizing Beans’ true identity from the outset.

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Learning About Art

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Matisse King of Colour
Laurence Anholt
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
This is a reissue of one of Laurence Anholt’s excellent series featuring famous artists and the children who knew them. It tells of a special friendship that developed between young nurse Monique and the artist Matisse who is in bed recovering from an operation for abdominal cancer. When Monique first enters the artist’s home it seems to her almost like a vividly coloured jungle. Gradually as the old man recovers, a special bond grows with Monique helping him to a chair to sit and paint, and taking on the role of artist’s model as well as nurse.

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Then it’s time for Monique to move on: she becomes a novice nun but still remains a nurse working in the local community. One day she discovers that an empty house, called The Dream, is to have a new owner and it’s none other than her own dear friend, Henri Matisse who is overjoyed to see her again and eager to demonstrate his new way of creating colourful scenes.

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When the artist hears of the sorry state of the nuns and their lack of a chapel he is inspired to build them a ‘house of colour’. Despite the skepticism on the part of some of the nuns Matisse perseveres with his project and finally the ‘Matisse Chapel’ is complete.

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This heart-warming account is based on the true story of the friendship between Henri Matisse and Monique Bourgeois (who he names as his principal co-worker in the chapel project). Anholt’s artwork in vibrant colours beautifully evokes the style of the famous artist and further details of Matisse’s life are given on the final page of the book

Another entirely welcome reissue is

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Katie and the Bathers
James Mayhew
Orchard Books
When Katy and her Gran find the swimming pool packed to capacity one hot summer’s day, they decide to head for the nearby art gallery instead.
There, while grandma takes her customary snooze, young Katie goes exploring and before long finds herself plunging into the river to join the Bathers at Asnières. Therein she meets young Jacques and the two then find themselves embarking on a whole series of watery adventures via the other Pointillist pictures on display.

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Katie saw a little girl in a white dress in Seurat’s SUNDAY AFTERNOON ON THE ISLAND and climbed inside the picture.

But then with the whole place awash …

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Katie hears the guard and so hastily seeks the help of a magical looking man, subject of Paul Signac’s Portrait of Felix Fencon.

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With a flick of his stick and an ALLA-KAZOOM, Felix succeeds in reversing the mayhem and restoring the room to order in the nick of time.
Totally engaging and an excellent way to introduce children to Pointillism if you cannot get to see the real thing, or before visiting a gallery with a Seurat, Pissarro or Signac on view. The final page provides a brief note about how readers can create their very own Pointillist pictures after the style of the artists in the book.

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Unlikely Criminals

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The World-Famous Cheese Shop Break-In
Sean Taylor and Hannah Shaw
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Situated between the Greengrocer’s and an underwear boutique is The Cheese Shop.

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This entirely bonkers story featuring Daddypops, a paternal rat is narrated by one of his offspring and relates how this father-figure involves his family of mischievous rodent children in a plot to break into the Cheese Shop and steal its tasty wares. Several failed attempts later, there is a complete change of plan: tunneling is the order of the day but this too proves rather more challenging than anticipated …

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Worse is to come though – when the ratty robbers finally resurface, they discover that they’ve actually burrowed into the shop next door: the Fancy Pants Boutique.

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And then, it’s a case of ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’ Daddypops becomes the proud vendor of stylish underwear for his fellow rodents…
The sight of those rats with their carrier bags of new undergarments is a real giggle maker,

 

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as are many of the other tasty visual tidbits proffered by Hannah Shaw.
Only Sean Taylor would think of calling a young rat robber Shanice; that’s just one of his crazy verbal details and, as Daddypops’ daughter rightly says “What a cheesy ending.” Tee hee! Delicious endpapers too.

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Molly Maybe’s Monsters: The Dappity-Doofer
Kristina Stephenson
Simon & Schuster
Meet Molly Maybe and her dog, Waggy Burns residents of a sleepy little place called Smallsbury. We first encounter them as they peer out at their neighbour Mr Bottomly who seems to have discovered something unexpected while digging a pond in his garden.

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Thus begins a strange adventure for Molly and Waggy courtesy of their amazing contraption called The Mundervator. This secret contraption conveys them from their treehouse, deep down beneath Smallsbury to the magical monster world of Undermunder where they see this …

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Off they head (guided by Waggy’s Walkie-Talkie collar) to the town square where there are monsters in abundance awaiting the appearance of their leader the Monster Meister. This creature informs the crowd of the loss of The Mydol Idol from its plinth. Shock horror! Banishment of the thief will result unless the precious mascot is back in its place on the stroke of midnight. But which of the throng is responsible?

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It looks like it’s down to Molly and Waggy to solve the mystery of the missing statue and the holes in Mr Bottomly’s lawn …
With its pair of adventure seekers, a whole host of mock-scary monsters inhabiting a subterranean world, and a magical machine to connect one to the other, I suspect Kristina Stephenson has concocted a recipe for another successful series.

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Stay!

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STAY!
Alex Latimer
Picture Corgi
Buster is the best dog in the whole world: that’s Ben’s opinion at any rate though his parents might not endorse that …

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And that is why when it’s time for the family holiday Buster will be left in the care of Grampa.
Ben, like the majority of pet owners is worried about leaving his pet for others to care for so, he acts on Mum’s suggestion to write instructions for Grampa. He doesn’t write just one note though, he creates a whole host of them with detailed instructions and information on every ‘Buster’ topic you could imagine and some you probably couldn’t …

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And not only that but once he reaches his holiday destination, Ben continues to send further instructions – on postcards this time, dozens of the things.
There’s one vital communication though, that fails to arrive on time because Grampa and Buster have
gone for a walk to collect a parcel …

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and the result, as you might expect is disaster – from the postman’s point of view certainly.
Grampa’s too, so he decides it’s time to take matters into his own hands: a bad behaviour cure is the order of the day, or rather, many orders of some pretty exhausting days I suspect. It’s time well spent however and by the time the family returns Grampa has Buster pretty well trained and is himself ready with some notes for Ben.
And future holidays? Well that would be telling …
Love that ending!
Alex Latimer’s illustrations are chock-full of witty details that should amuse adult readers aloud as much as children. I love the way he incorporates scraps of paper torn from notepads, postcards and various other bits and pieces of mark-making paraphernalia into his artwork. And, the sight of Buster hurtling down the middle of the road after that departing car is hilarious.

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Focus on Traditional Tales

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HONK! HONK! Hold Tight
Jessica Souhami
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Anyone with an interest in traditional tales will likely be familiar with versions of stories about a sad-faced princess who never so much as smiles being reduced to laughter when she sees a procession stuck to a goose or other magic object; or a king offering his daughter’s hand in marriage to any man who can make his sad daughter laugh. These elements are the basis of Jessica Souhami’s latest folk-tale style rendering of a traditional story that has variants in Russia, Egypt and various parts of Europe.
Here we meet po-faced princess, Alice and her despairing father who has announced that he’ll share his kingdom with whomsoever can make his daughter laugh. This news reaches a poor young fellow, Peter who then sets out to try his luck carrying only a loaf and a carafe of wine. These he gives to a hungry old woman on the way and she in return gives him a gold-feathered goose, a warning and some instructions.
Following her instructions to the letter results in an ever-growing procession of adherents

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as he journeys to the palace and the spectacle duly works its magic upon the doleful Alice. Her laughter breaks the ‘sticking’ spell and the delighted King keeps his bargain. And young Princess Alice? She gradually comes to appreciate the possibilities in a young man who can make her laugh and proposes, resulting in …

 

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Jessica Souhami sets her story in what looks like the early twentieth century from her jewel-bright, cut paper collage style illustrations. With its direct telling, and funny scenes, it’s sure to bring a smile to the faces of audiences young and not so young. It would also be great fun for children to act out – with or without puppets. Get that hooter ready …

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Favourite Mixed Up Fairy Tales
Hilary Robinson and Sarah Horne
Hodder Children’s Books
This is the third in the series of Mixed Up split page books and has a new illustrator, Sarah Monk. Herein readers meet all manner of characters large and small, good and not so good: The Pied Piper, The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, Rapunzel, Tom Thumb, Rumpelstiltskin, The Gingerbread Man, Thumbelina, Hansel, The Wizard of Oz, Robin Hood, even the Frog Prince and can involve them in all manner of likely or unlikely adventures and encounters with lesser characters such as a wicked witch or a spotty toad. The possibilities are seemingly countless (I’m certainly not going to bother working out the possible number of permutations) and hours of playful fun are assured. One random opening resulted in:

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For those who enjoy being the co-creators of off beat scenarios, this will doubtless prove as popular as its predecessors.

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Gracie exploring the possibilities.

Sarah Horne’s zany, brightly coloured cartoon style images are full of fun and there are some particularly playful mini freeze frames such as that of the yellow brick road …

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that would make interesting starting points for further flights of fancy.

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One Hundred Bones

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One Hundred Bones
Yuval Zommer
Templar Publishing
Rascally mongrel Scruff leads an independent, free-spirited existence much to the disgust of the other inhabitants of his neighbourhood. His penchant for excavating leads to tirades of hostile comments from the human owners of the pampered pet dogs until Scruff finally decides enough’s enough and sets out in search of somewhere more welcoming. He follows his nose (a nose that is particularly expert at sniffing out juicy bones.) And on this occasion his olfactory organ picks up on that most desirable osseous scent leading him up hill and down dale to a spot from which said awesome odour emanated.
You should see those little paws go as down, down he burrows until he finds …

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Oh joy! Our canine pal is almost beside himself with pleasure at the sight of the stash.
Back he dashes to call for some assistance, only to meet with considerable resistance to his pleas until that is, he mentions the b- word. Then it’s a case of follow-my-leader and all paws on deck so to speak.
There follows a conflab as to the nature of the find until Percy the pug has a light-bulb moment after which it’s public transport all the way in a mad dash to – you’ve guessed it – South Ken.

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and in particular, the Natural History Museum and its resident palaeontologist, Professor Dinovsky.
The outcome is a win/win situation as our lovable Scruff and the prof. both come up trumps one way and another.

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What a delicious canine caper and it’s great to see Scruff emerging as top dog (and digger) in the end.
Wittily written with plenty to make adults smile as well as children. I love the dog-eyed view from which Yuval Zommer portrays the action and his characterisation is splendid. Each of those dogs – Percy the pug, Pixie the poodle, Sidney the sausage dog and Ada the Afghan has a distinctive and wholly apt personality.

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Another sure fire winner from Yuval Zommer who brought us The Big Blue Thing on the Hill.

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School Is Fun

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Hugless Douglas Goes to Little School
David Melling
Hodder Children’s Books
Miss Moo-Hoo certainly has her hands, or rather hooves, full when Douglas spends his first day in her care at Little School, especially when he gets that characteristic TICKLE in his tummy in response to her question “what do you like doing best?”

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Indeed I suspect she was somewhat surprised at the responses from some of Douglas’ classmates too, especially “Thinking“.
I’m pretty sure that everyone thoroughly enjoyed the art activity especially bottom printing; now there’s a thought!

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And the interpretation of “wash before you eat” is interpreted rather liberally by her charges

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but at least they get rid of all that paint before lunch.
Probably the best bit of the day was the co-operative block play … Oops!

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I’ve no doubt young Douglas will eagerly join that walking bus when it leaves for school on the next day and the next and … wouldn’t you?
Enormous fun (despite the ‘naughty step’ – one of my pet aversions) and just the thing for those starting nursery or reception when term starts once again.

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Owl Wants to Share at Moonlight School
Simon Puttock and Ali Pye
Nosy Crow pbk
It’s time for the pupils at Miss Moon’s School to get creative: They are to draw “a FAVOURITE night-time THING.” Mouse announces hers will feature “a dark and glinty SEA.” Bat’s will be a “dark and whispery TREE.” Cat chooses a BEE, one that’s dark and mysterious; but Owl’s picture is top secret. Because he’s so slow in starting, all the night-time colours are in use and his classmates refuse to share

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(selfish lot) so Owl is forced to use daytime shades instead.
His effort is belittled by the others, but Miss Moon, (the subject) is more supportive

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commenting that Owl has made her look special and different.. This leads to a swapping of crayons, additions to each picture and a satisfactory outcome for everyone.
A story about learning to share resources and making creative use of what’s available to you. The gently humorous text, with its unusual characters and setting, is delightfully brought to life in Ali Pye’s glowing lunar-lighted scenes. Her characters all look enchanting despite some unfriendly behaviour towards Owl; and their pictures really do look as though they’ve come from a nursery setting.

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