We’re Getting a Cat!
Vivian French and Salvatore Rubbino
Walker Books
Vivian French does narrative non-fiction beautifully and so it is in this book about a family that have recently moved into a flat in an old house. A flat that’s overrun with mice.
Dad is no cat enthusiast but he likes small furry rodents even less, so a decision is made. It’s off to the cat rescue centre and that’s where they meet big, strong Kevin. His skills as a mouse-catcher seem certain and so a week later, the girl narrator and her sister are thrilled by Kevin’s arrival at their home.
With the help of cat-owning neighbour, Mrs Harris, the family help Kevin settle into his new home. He learns how to use his litter tray
although he does use the family toilet for his own purposes.
He also discovers the best place for a good old scratch – certainly not Dad’s favourite chair – and gets used to the feeding time routine. In short he makes himself comfortable but as for mouse catching, it’s a great big No. It looks as though Dad might well decide to send him back to the Rescue Centre.
“Isn’t that what cats do” the narrator asks their neighbour on the mice-catching topic, the answer isn’t exactly what she’d hoped though.
But then Kevin takes himself off to explore the great outdoors and vanishes. Has he read Dad’s mind perhaps?
Up-beat in style, with additional captions that provide information on feeding, grooming and cat care throughout the book and a final ‘If you’re getting a cat’ page at the end, along with an index and some helpful websites, this is an ideal read for potential cat owners.
Even this cat-phobic reviewer was charmed by Rubbino’s scenes of the trials and tribulations Kevin puts his new family through, and the manner in which he establishes himself as an essential part of their household.
Ocean Meets Sky
Eric & Terry Fan
Lincoln Children’s Books
Everything about this, the second Fan Brothers picture book, is absolutely superb: the jacket, the cover, the endpapers, the paper used and of course, the story and illustrations.
It’s a magical tale of young Finn who, inspired by memories of his grandfather’s sayings, his voice, and his stories – stories of a far distant place where ocean and sky meet – on what would have been his ninetieth birthday, builds a boat in his honour.
Then, imagination fuelled by those stories, the boy sets off on an amazing dream of a voyage. A voyage aided by a huge golden fish that tells him it knows of the place he seeks: “It’s high and low … It’s up and down and very far.” and offers to show the way.
The journey takes Finn through such wondrous places as the Library Islands populated by bibliophile birds; (love that there’s a copy of The Night Gardener tucked in one of the piles of books)
then, after landing to explore an island of giant shells, they travel onwards crossing a sea of dancing jellyfish until eventually they reach their destination, perhaps,
whereupon the boat lifts towards the sky (or had the water fallen away?) and the boy drifts through starry, steampunkish spreads whereon hot air balloons, zeppelins, submarines, a giant whale, float following the fish towards the full moon. There, a transformation takes place.
Smiling back at him benevolently, illuminating his farewell, is a face Finn knows so well.
Then comes a voice summoning him home from his dreaming. It’s his mother calling him (with echoes of Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are) for dinner– Grandpa’s favourite dumplings.
The Finn Brothers vision of eternity is, in this affecting story, one that offers a bereft boy some healing from his sadness, leaving him able to face forwards, full of wonder. ‘It had been a good day for sailing.’
Elegant scenes grace every spread providing much to explore: observant readers/listeners will notice that an early picture of Grandpa’s room is filled with treasured objects that become part of the dream sequence.
Moth
Isabel Thomas and Daniel Egnéus
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Interestingly this is the second picture book introducing adaptation and natural selection to children I’ve seen in the past few weeks – could a new trend be starting. I was first taught about these scientific ideas with reference to the Peppered Moth, the particular example used in this story, when doing A-level zoology donkeys ages ago, and now they’re part of the KS2 science curriculum – quite a thought.
‘This is a story of light and dark. Of change and adaptation, of survival and hope.’ So says science writer, Isabel Thomas in the opening lines of her narrative, a narrative that seamlessly interweaves both science and social history.
In the nineteenth century almost all Peppered Moths had light grey patterned wings that blended with the tree trunks and branches it frequented.
With the coming of the Industrial Revolution also came air pollution blackening buildings, monuments and trees alike.
In this new environment, the light-coloured moths became easy to spot and were gobbled up by birds.
Darker forms of the insect were less conspicuous and more likely to escape predation and to breed whilst the lighter form became extremely scarce.
With the advent of the Clean Air Acts in the mid-twentieth century air pollution from smoke and soot was greatly reduced, trees and buildings were no longer stained. Now the dark moths were more conspicuous and less likely to breed successfully, though both forms of the moth can still be found.
All this, Isabel Thomas recounts in her dramatic, sometimes lyrical text that ends with hope. A hope which, as we hear in the final explanatory pages, might lead to other living things being able to adapt to the changes, including climate change, that we humans inflict upon our planet.
Daniel Egnéus’ illustrations are as lyrical as the text, embodying at once arresting beauty and veritas, and instilling a sense of awe and wonder. It’s rare to see such an eloquent science-focused book that also embraces the arts side of the curriculum.
Baby’s First Bank Heist
Jim Whalley and Stephen Collins
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Utterly crazy, but equally hilarious, is this tale of an errant infant with an overwhelming desire for a pet.
Let me introduce baby Frank, ardent animal lover who decides to take the law into his own tiny hands in order to procure the necessary wherewithal to make his dream come true.
The trouble is, this tiny lad isn’t content with just one animal and before long the whole house resembles a menagerie;
but still he wants more and there’s cash aplenty to fund his passion so there’s nothing to stop him. Until, one afternoon, Mum makes a discovery …
Eventually Frank’s deceitful doings are uncovered and it’s time to make amends. Without any of his loot left what can they do to raise the money to repay the bank? And, what can they do with all the animals?
There’s only one way to put everything right. I won’t say what ensues but merely add that it entails Frank spending some time behind bars.
Tongue-in-cheek text from debut author, Jim Whalley coupled with Stephen Collins’s retro-style illustrations make for a corker of a book.
Pet-related preposterousness to make both children and adults splutter with glee; I’m sure this will quickly establish itself as a story time favourite.
Alison Murray has reworked the original Little Red Hen traditional story giving it an environmental slant. Herein her main character resides in the hollow trunk of a large apple tree growing atop a hill.
The Little Green Hen cares for the tree and sows the apple seeds to grow more trees. Before long an orchard has sprung up and she’s in need of some assistant cultivators.
“Who would like to help me tend the apple trees?” she asks. Peacock is too busy preening himself but Dog offers his help as assistant pruner.
Requests for assistance with bug control and seed sowing are turned down by Fox and Cat respectively but she finds willing helpers in Sparrow and Squirrel. Throughout the year the new friends tend the orchard and all are rewarded by its bounties.
As autumn turns to winter, down comes the rain, day after day, week after week.
The industrious friends are safe, warm and dry in the old apple tree but Peacock and Fox are flooded out of their homes and seek refuge on Cat’s log.
Fortunately for the trio, The Little Green Hen is big-hearted enough to offer them a place of safety and together they wait for the flood waters to recede.
When the sun finally reappears, it’s time to clean up.
How will the Little Green Hen’s call for help in cleaning up the mess be received by her guests?
Fortunately for all the animals and of course, the orchard, the word is now teamwork.
Thanks to this and the thirsty roots of the new young trees, a new orchard grows up providing food and shelter for all to share.
Alison Murray’s crisp, clean-cut illustrations have a pleasing freshness and the body language and facial expressions of her characters capture their changing feelings eloquently.
What do you do when your brother and best friend starts school leaving you to spend a long, gloomy day alone doing the things – cake baking, drawing and playing hide-and-seek – you’ve always done together?
That’s what happens to the small ursine narrator of Claudia Boldt’s new picture book. But that is only the beginning.
Big brother Barney, now calling himself Barnaby, has so many new and exciting ways to pass his time, and interesting new friends to play with, that his little brother is side-lined.
Life just isn’t fun any longer.
Enter new friend, Podgy. This cuddly creature participates in the activities previously shared with Barney,
but the new friendship makes boy narrator and Podgy the object of amusement to big bro. and his pals.
When Barney declines his favourite food one day, our narrator senses something is wrong
and that night he discovers what’s troubling his brother – it’s the thought of his first school trip away from home.
Brotherly love and understanding come to the rescue as both bears realise that no matter what changes life brings, one thing – or rather two – are forever.
Warm, realistic and imbued with gentle humour, this story will strike a chord with siblings especially.
If all the world were …
Joseph Coelho and Allison Colpoys
Lincoln Children’s Books, First Editions
Be prepared to shed tears when you read this first person narration by a little girl who takes readers on a journey through four seasons and a whole life’s experiences shared with her beloved Grandad.
Starting with spring, she talks of long exploratory walks hand in hand and then takes a seasonal flight of fancy: ‘If all the world were springtime, / I would replant my grandad’s birthdays / so that he would never get old.’
In summer Grandad buys a wooden racing track (second hand with bits missing) and together they play, sometimes zooming the cars up into space. This action triggers the narrator’s second imagined scenario to make her granddad happy.
I love the notebook with handmade paper, bound with Indian-leather string Grandpa makes for his granddaughter in autumn, wherein to write and draw her dreams with a special rainbow pencil.
That suggestion leads to her third loving musing:
‘If all the world were dreams, / I would mix my bright Grandad feelings / and paint them over sad places.’
Come winter it’s time for cosying up by the fire and listening to Grandad’s tales of his boyhood of Indian sweets and homemade toys, and hear him tell of ships, snakes and tigers. Now though Grandad is ailing and the little girl supposes a world of stories and making her grandad better merely by listening to his every tale.
One day though his chair is empty; Grandad is no more. From the ephemera she finds in his room, the narrator creates a beautiful mandala of memories; memories she wishes could be rooms where she could visit her granddad.
On Grandad’s chair she finds a brand new notebook made by him with her name on the cover, the perfect thing in which to record all her precious memories.
I’m sure that like me, you’ll find yourself reaching for that box of tissues as you read this beautiful, lyrical book. Joseph’s Coelho’s poignant text in combination with Allison Colpoy’s tender illustrations infused with nostalgia and love, are a celebration of life as well as a perfect starting point for a conversation about loss and dying.
A boy narrator talks about his best friend and faithful dog, Alfred, always on hand to bring cheer to his owner and a great soccer player to boot.
If we take a closer look at this hero of a pet we discover that despite his wonderful character, there’s a problem with Alfred: foul odours emanate from every part of his body; in short, HE STINKS!
And he does so morning, noon and night and everywhere that Alfred takes him which is pretty embarrassing.
There’s an even bigger issue though as the boy’s family is soon to move to New York and a malodorous dog is not something they’ll be keen to take with them.
Time to pay the problem some attention. Aftershave (dad’s) perfume and air freshener only make matters worse so something more serious must be done. Into the bathtub goes Alfred. He’s thoroughly lathered and bubbled until hurrah!
No more stink! Alfred is positively sparkling
Uh-oh! All of a sudden the dog appears to have undergone a complete personality change. He starts cavorting around in welly boots and raincoat and is obsessive about his oral hygiene. Perhaps this destinkifying thing wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Out into the mud goes the boy who rolls around until Alfred follows suit. Soon his characteristic canine pong is well and truly restored and with odour issue resolved their whole stinky normality can resume.
But what about that New York move? Will both boy and dog make it to the new home?
A wonderful tale of love, acceptance and individuality is given a delightful carefree spin by Christine Roussey’s distinctive illustrative style, which will surely cause readers to smile at every turn of the page.
Ross Collins will certainly have audiences spluttering with delight at the finale of what is essentially an extended joke of a book. That’s getting ahead of things though, so let’s go back to the beginning.
Surely any self-respecting anteater, even one that wakes up hungry, should not need to go around asking the various creatures he encounters one morning what he ought to be dining upon but that’s exactly what happens here.
The responses he gets range from an indolent “I’m very busy. Don’t bother me.” through some recommendations …
and helpful advice about thorough chewing (that’s from snake)to a lip-licking contemplation of the anteater’s own potential as a meal
until Anteater arrives at a large nest. Now surely the penny will drop so to speak at the sight of this …
It does, but perhaps not in quite the way we might have been anticipating.
This tongue-in-cheek tale is delivered with panache: the expressions on the faces of the animals – anteater’s and all the others’ are wonderfully droll as is the dialogue throughout.
Be sure to watch out for the tiny insects crawling through almost every spread clearly intent on a spot of nest building.
Here’s a picture book that transcends so many boundaries seemingly effortlessly delivering a powerful punch, or rather several, through a wonderfully empathetic affirming story and richly coloured, heart-stoppingly beautiful, watercolour and gouache illustrations.
On a ride home one day with his Nana, Julian sees three mermaids, or that’s what he considers them to be. When they enter his carriage, the boy is totally transfixed – he LOVES mermaids.
We then join him in a wordless 3-spread daydream that shows the boy becoming a mermaid swept along in a mass of sea creatures.
Once back home, while his Nana showers, Julian sets to work: he adorns his hair with palm fronds and flowers, applies some make-up and fashions a flowing tail, transforming himself into a fabulous mermaid.
What will his Nana’s reaction be though? His anxiety is palpable when she returns and we’re left momentarily, as unsure as Julian. Is he in trouble? Shamed perhaps?
Then comes her reaction and it’s truly what we’re longing for …
With the boy’s transformation complete, Nana leads him to a place filled with other people like him.
(I must add here that it’s not only the main characters that are so ‘real’: just look at the people they pass: their portrayal is genius).
An awesome unforgettable tale of non-conformity, understanding, acceptance and belonging; it speaks to the desire for love and understanding in us all, no matter who we are.
A book to be shared and celebrated by anyone and everyone, young or not so young and amazingly, this is Jessica Love’s debut picture book – wow!
Alex Latimer certainly keeps his audience guessing in this rhyming tale concerning an identity issue.
If you’ve never heard of an egg that speaks, you’re about to in this review.
Said egg, having been blown from a nest and spent a cold dark night at the foot of a hill emits a gentle ‘Excuse me, please, but am I yours? I’m sure I am a dinosaur’s.’
Yes it’s another dinosaur tale with lots of children’s favourites making an appearance.
First to come along is Stegosaurus but the egg doesn’t fit its specifications, says so, but remains upbeat.
Nor does it fit those of Brachiosaurus, Triceratops, Corythosaurus
or Tyrannosaurus, by which time an entire day has passed and the egg, feeling lonely begins to cry out ‘… I can’t stay out in wind and storm! / I’ll freeze alone! I must stay warm!’
The sun sinks and in so doing renders the eggshell translucent allowing the five concerned adult dinosaurs a view within.
Now they know what to do with the lost egg: back it’s rolled up the hill from whence it came, and there, to the sound of heavy feet, it makes a final plea:
‘One last time – I must be sure – / Are you the ones I’m looking for?’ …
In addition to the enjoyment of meeting some of their favourite prehistoric creatures in the story, with its invitation to join in the telling through the rhyming repeat refrain, ‘What do you look like inside that shell? / I can’t see in so I can’t tell.’ children will love becoming co-inquisitors of the egg,
(There’s lots of potential for small world play here once you’ve shared the story.)
For dinosaur enthusiasts who like to colour:
Fuzzy Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
illustrated by Papio Press
This is a touch-and-feel book with 7 spreads to add colour to, featuring animals of the prehistoric land, sea and sky, set out in chart-like form with brief snippets of information relating to each featured (numbered) animal one side of the spread, opposite which is the colouring page on a dramatic black background with the numbered creatures and other flora and fauna.
The book is written in association with, and fact-checked by, the National History Museum.
Mabel and Sam at Home
Linda Urban and Hadley Hooper
Chronicle Books
It’s moving day for Mabel and Sam and things look pretty chaotic from the viewpoint of the siblings.
To keep out of the way of the grown-ups they embark on a series of adventures related in three chapters. The first is ‘On the High Seas’ and here Captain Mabel and First Mate Sam set out in the good ship Handle With Care. Bossy sis. gives the orders as they go sailing on the high seas, a dangerous voyage full of pirates, whales and sea serpents
until they spy some friendly landlubbers, after which it’s “All ashore” for some tasty pizza.
‘At the Museum’ has curator Mabel showing Sam new ways of looking at old familiar things: the dialogue here is especially wonderful with Mabel “Behold“ing at every opportunity as she introduces the various artefacts to her brother.
Finally, after supper the two become astronauts blasting through space heading for Planet Perfecto and for this they need to be especially bold, “Space Bold” Astronaut Mabel declares, “Space Bold is bigger, because space is bigger.”
Linda Urban’s entire text is a delight – funny, full of charm, reassuring and cleverly structured so as to embrace the kind of things that cause young children moving day anxieties; and before the end, the children are feeling upbeat about the move with Mabel concluding that their ‘new planet was surprisingly homey’.
Hadley Hooper’s illustrations (created with printmaking techniques and Photoshop) are, like the siblings’ adventures, wonderfully imagined, both in their rendering of the children’s adventures and the portrayal of the somewhat frazzled parents at the end of the book.
Just right for sharing with a child or children moving home.
Migration
Mike Unwin and Jenni Desmond
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Mike Unwin documents the migratory journeys of twenty animals large and small, from the monarch butterfly to the great white shark
and the African elephant to the Southern pilchard, all of which travel incredible distances due to the seasonal changes to the environment in which they live. They move in pursuit of food, to escape bad weather or hostile environmental conditions, or in search of a suitable place to breed.
Each of the animals featured is allocated a double spread impressively illustrated by Jenni Desmond; and there’s a world map showing all the migrations at the back of the book.
Just imagine weighing less than a lump of sugar and having to fly 800km across the ocean like the ruby-throated hummingbird. Come spring, these iridescent birds leave their tropical winter home in Central America, fly across the Gulf of Mexico, north to North America, even as far north as Canada, where they breed, nesting somewhere in woods, a garden or park.
I was amazed to read the fascinating details about green marine sea turtles, which sometimes weigh as much as two humans and migrate across the Atlantic to breed on Ascension Island.
Unwin’s accounts are beautifully, at times poetically written, while Jenni Desmond’s illustrations make you want to linger long over each one enjoying the form, details and individual beauty of each animal portrayed.
Hero vs. Villain
T. Nat Fuller and Alex Eben Meyer
Abrams Appleseed
Using comic-book style images, the creators of this little board book manage to provide an engaging storyline while at the same time demonstrating opposites – hero/villain, smile/frown, up/down, build/destroy, truth/ lie
and enemies/friends – in just eight spreads.
Toddler super-hero enthusiasts will love the female sporting cloak and mask and laugh over the mock-scary, tooth-snapping, top-hat wearing crocodile villain and delight in the surprise finale. As a tool of conciliation, the cupcake rules!
Conflict resolution for tinies and a satisfying adventure is pretty good going in so brief a book.
For slightly older superhero fans:
Monty + Sylvester: A Tale of Everyday Super Heroes
Carly Gledhill
Orchard Books
Meet best pals Monty (mouse) and Sylvester (bear), new super heroes on the block. They’ve already got the gear, read the manual and followed the training regime and now they’re ready for operation ‘Save the World’.
RING! RING! It’s a call for help and off they go for their very first emergency.
Now this looks tricky but suddenly Mouse has a light-bulb moment and using their faithful vacuum cleaner, mission one is soon successfully completed.
Word of their skills spreads and everything is going swimmingly until …
This rascally rat mounts a counter-attack that really tests the abilities of the friends and makes them wonder if they’ll ever see the light of day again.
Rest assured though, thanks to a deft flick of this …
they do and gain a few extra helpers too.
With its delicious characters, (love the hatching on Sylvester) this is a book to appeal to young listeners especially would-be superheroes. Carly Geldhill’s illustrations are sprinkled with splendidly silly, giggle-inducing details both visual and verbal.
Between Tick and Tock
Louise Greig and Ashling Lindsay
Egmont Publishing
Most of us lead frenetic lives, dashing from here to there, mostly doing rather than being; but what would you want to do if you were able to stop time?
Liesel, the little girl in this story does just that. Liesel lives in a city, a city of hustle and bustle, a city of Grey, of loneliness, where almost everyone is far too busy to notice the details.
Not so watchful Liesel. She knows what is needed. She must pause the clock – just for a short time –bringing everything to a halt. Then she quietly springs into action working her way through the city beautifying the Grey with deft strokes of colour and creativity, showing kindliness to humans and creatures alike
and restoring calm and happiness.
She knows though that she cannot hold back time for longer than a very little while: that tick must be allowed to become a tock, that stop must once gain become go. Only now a transformation has taken place: things will never be quite the same again;
but just in case they ever should, Liesel knows exactly what to do …
Louise Greig and Ashling Lindsay’s enchanting day time story is every bit as beautiful as the nocturnal evocation they created in The Night Box, if not more so. Once again, lyrical words and pictures work in perfect accord to make a memorable, magical book.
Rosa is happiest when using her drawing pencils and letting her imagination run wild and that’s what this story is all about.
Seemingly her favourite subjects are animals, fairly ordinary ones, but what happens to them is anything but ordinary.
For when Rosa adorns her fuzzy black cat with a ‘RIDONKULOUS’ hat, it triggers an increasingly crazy concatenation of events involving a hat-eating bear with GLAM-U-LICIOUS long hair (yes the whole thing is recounted in rhyme with only the occasional slight creak).
Said bear has its hair sat upon by a moose that takes tea with a la-dee-dah goose and so on until the ants – a zillion of them – board a train and plunge Rose into darkness, cutting off her train of thought and completely stifling her imagination.
Only temporarily though, for the tugging on a light switch cord puts her back ‘on track’ and her ideas flow freely once more until suddenly who should arrive on the scene but Rosa’s mum.
Apologies are immediately forthcoming but it turns out that young Rosa isn’t the only one with an artistic bent …
Packed with zany details – look out for the peacock sporting jazzy socks – Wray’s illustrations will amuse both children and adults and the former will enjoy the invented words and the surprise finale.
The Little Mouse and the Red Wall
Britta Teckentrup
Orchard Books
Little Mouse lives in a community surrounded by a big red wall. It’s always been there but why? And what lies beyond?
When she asks the other animals, each one comes up with a different reason – for protection, thinks Scaredy Cat; Old Bear cannot remember; Fox doesn’t care and Lion Who Had Lost His Roar says ‘just a big black nothing’ is behind the wall.
None of these responses satisfy Little Mouse but then one day she meets a Bluebird. Thanks to the bird, she is able to discover the answers to her questions.
What she sees – a world of freedom and beauty – and an ensuing conversation with the Bluebird are life changing, altering completely her way of seeing and being in the world.
“They were looking with fear… YOU are looking with wonder. You were brave enough to find out the truth for yourself.”
Little Mouse goes back to her friends and tells them of the wonders she’s seen and one by one they walk through the wall, all except Lion, although one day he too is ready to join the others in the land beyond.
Despite the simplicity of her telling, Britta Teckentrup’s beautifully illustrated story is profound and would be an ideal starting point for a community of enquiry style philosophical discussion.
When we in the UK, and other countries, seem to be putting up boundaries, its timely themes of discovering freedom and embracing change, both personal and in the world, will resonate with both children and adults.
After focussing on monkeys, sharks and cats, Owen Davey turns his attention to beetles, a particularly successful insect group.
I knew that that were a great many different beetle species, some very tiny, others around the size of a human hand, but I had no idea that already 400,000 different kinds have been found, nor that beetles account for a quarter of all the animal species in the world being found on every continent other that Antarctica. Awesome!
There are basically four different ways of life; there are predators, herbivores, omnivores and decomposers each of which Davey explains giving examples of each of these kinds.
Clearly beetles come in many different shapes and sizes, although as we see here, all have a similar basic design.
As always in this series, Owen Davey’s playful sense of humour comes across in his choice of titles for some of the spreads as well as paragraph headings; for instance ‘Love You and Leaf You’ heads up some information about leaf-rolling weevils that construct special rounded homes for their eggs, taking around two hours to do the job.
And, dung beetles shaping dung balls to enclose their eggs, (one per egg) is under the heading ‘Let the Good Times Roll’.
What tickled my quirky nature particularly was discovering there’s a beetle that practises yoga: the head-stander beetle lives in the southern African Namib desert where the lack of water means it’s often difficult to find a drink. In the early morning, head-stander beetles climb to the top of the dunes when there’s a fog laden with moisture. They put their heads down and lift their rear ends to the sky so water collects on their backs and runs down into their mouths:
amazingly clever creatures.
I was also especially taken with the ‘Weird and Wonderful’ spread showcasing the likes of the giraffe weevil, the violin beetle and the harlequin beetle.
I’ve loved all Davey’s brilliantly illustrated books in the series but this one has to be my favourite.
What next I wonder?
But the Bear Came Back
Tammi Sauer and Dan Taylor
Sterling
‘You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it’ is what the little boy protagonist in this story discovers when a large furry ursine character comes a-knocking.
It all starts quite politely on the boy narrator’s part; he’s disturbed from his reading and understandably a tad irritated but isn’t on this occasion rude. ‘And I said, “Go home, bear.” And that was that. ‘
However, this bear is persistent, returning over and over;
but time and again the boy sends him packing until things get just too much. He yells at the creature at the top of his voice, after which there are no further visits.
Peace ensues but the boy isn’t as happy as he’d expected; in fact, he really misses that hulking great irritating animal.
Can he ever find his friend again? The boy certainly goes to great lengths to do so …
but will he ever hear that longed for knock on his door?
There is much to discuss about the way the characters behave in Tammi Sauer’s gently humorous story – not the least being the lengths each goes to find a friend.
Day Taylor’s illustrations are captivating: the bear is adorable – decidedly huggable in fact; and there are lots of lovely details to spend time over.
Gary’s Banana Drama
Jane Massey
Simon & Schuster Children’s Books
Gary the huge gorilla is a banana-phile so you might imagine that his discovery one day that there are ‘NO MORE BANANAS’ would send him into a crisis. Not so! Gary isn’t one to panic; instead he dons his smart new titfa’, trims his toenails and sallies forth to carry out his plan: to search for his favourite food.
Pretty soon, it seems as though his plan is going to prove fruitful: there are bananas at almost every step.
The trouble is not one of the banana-looking items is the real thing. Some leap and lick his face, others burst into song
and then have the audacity to peck him; others come hurtling at him courtesy of one Billy.
He sees bananas wherever he looks; it’s enough to drive the creature absolutely err, bananas, especially when it starts to rain.
Then however, Gary’s luck changes. He bashes his bonce on a huge obstacle
and then despite not at first wanting anything to do with the object he’s bumped into, suddenly changes his mind and launches himself off towards the most wonderful place he could never have imagined …
Is it possible though to have too much of a good thing? …
Totally crazy – bananas you might say – but with some wonderful slap-stick moments Gary and his banana-filled drama will have your audience chortling with delight.
Cinderella of the Nile
Beverley Naidoo and Marjan Vafaeian
Tiny Owl
Cinderella is one of the most often told and recognised stories all around the world with its themes and motifs appearing in the folklore of many cultures.
Rhodopsis is an ancient Greek/Egyptian tale said to be the earliest Cinderella story.
Now, Carnegie award-winning author Beverley Naidoo retells this little known tale, the first in the publisher’s ‘One Story, Many Voices’ series. I was particularly excited to see this book having become interested in how stories cross cultures and wrote an assignment on this theme in relation to the Cinderella story while studying at London University’s Institute of Education many years ago.
In this version, unlike the Cinderella most young children are familiar with, a young Greek girl, Rhodopisis is captured by pirates and sold into slavery.
Her master has a special slave, the storyteller, Aesop who becomes friendly with the beautiful red-haired girl and the only one able to make her smile.
After a while her master, unhappy at her unwillingness to smile for him, sells her to a merchant travelling to the Egyptian port of Naukratis.
There she is bought by a Greek merchant who, having heard her story, treats her kindly, rather like a daughter, angering his Egyptian servants, in particular, three sisters who do unkind things to the girl behind their master’s back.
One day her master sees her dancing barefoot down by the river and so he gives her a pair of beautiful rose-red slippers.
Not long after, the Pharaoh sends out an invitation to his subjects asking them to a feast at his palace. Hearing that he was looking for a bride, the three sisters lie to their master and set off to attend.
The kind-hearted Rhodopsis is left to do all the chores and while she does so, Horus, the falcon-god seizes one of her slippers and flies off with it, dropping it into the hand of the Pharaoh Amasis.
Taking it as a sign from the god, the Pharaoh orders messengers to seek out the slipper’s owner: it is she who will become his Queen …
The ancient origins of the story is evident through Marjan Vafaeian’s use of the side on figurative imagery found in the Greek art of the period as well as in Ancient Egyptian wall paintings. Her stylised patterned landscapes in opulent shades of red, brown and green are stunning and a perfect complement to Beverley Naidoo’s fine telling.
Grandma bear – a nice old soul – has just baked a pie, a rather yummy-looking one at that.
She leaves it to cool and in a trice, a greedy fox has leapt in the window, seized the object and is making off to his lair for a feast. Fox however, forgets to look where he’s going and whoops! he takes a tumble, the pie flies out of his grasp and lands beside a hungry mouse.
“Oh me, oh my,” says Mouse, intent on getting that yummy pie into his tummy as soon as possible and off he goes down the street professing same.
Who should be watching though but a greedy cat and you can guess what happens next.
Cat is the owner of the pie for barely a moment when a nasty looking canine snatches it
and sets off homewards, only to lose it seconds later to Little Owl flying overhead.
The pie is big – too big for a small owl to manage to get back to her nest: down, down it falls, landing, perhaps you can guess where?
Right back at Grandma’s, just in time for tea, rapidly followed by a host of hungry animals all with their thoughts on the same thing.
Now, being as we were told at the outset, ‘a nice old grandma’, she invites them in to sample her pie, but only on one condition. They have to share.
I wonder if they can …
With a rhyming text that’s a treat to read aloud – especially with that oft repeated ‘oh me, oh my!’ refrain to join in with – and delectable illustrations full of wonderful details to linger over, Jan Fearnley has cooked up a delicious tale that’s destined to become a story time favourite.
How the Borks Became
Jonathan Emmett and Elys Dolan
Otter-Barry Books
Who better to introduce the concept of evolution and Darwin’s theory of natural selection to primary age children than author Jonathan Emmett and illustrator Elys Dolan?
So let’s take a journey to a distant planet, quite similar to earth, named Charleebob, home to a species going by the name of Borks.
When we arrive a group of llama-like Bork mothers has just given birth to a large brood of Borklings, long-necked, shaggy, yellow creatures, each one slightly different.
They didn’t always look that way though: long, long ago their appearance was altogether different: their fur was short, smooth and blue and their necks short and thick, at least that’s how most of them were. A few exceptional ones had shaggier fur – not ideal for hot weather but when the chilly time arrived later in the year, they were the ones that survived.
Over the next couple of generations, more changes took place; first instead of all the offspring having blue fur a few were bright yellow.
This meant that the latter blended in with their surroundings so that when a Ravenous Snarfle was on the lookout for its lunchtime feed, the blues were hastily consumed
leaving the yellow-furred few to thrive and breed the next Borkling batch – all yellow, the majority with short necks, a few with long skinny ones.
You can guess which ones survived the drought that year, saved by their ability to feed on the thick leaves high up in the Ju-Ju-Bong trees. And that’s it – evolution in just four generations of Borks.
Clearly changes don’t happen that fast, but artistic licence on behalf of the book’s creators demonstrates how three key environmental factors – climate, predation and food availability brought about evolutionary changes with only the fittest surviving by natural selection.
The combination of Emmett’s brilliant, quirky rhyming narrative and Elys Dolan’s wonderfully witty, whimsical illustrations is an enormously enjoyable amalgam of science and storytelling, which offers a perfect starting point for the KS2 evolution topic.
(At the end of the book it’s explained that the Borks’ evolution story is a hugely speeded up account of what really happens: evolution happens at a much, much slower rate and the changes are smaller and more gradual so that an earth animal could take millions of years to change.) While you’re looking at the back matter, do check out the quirky end papers.
Oh my goodness! Ostrich and Penguin are getting married and we’re all invited to their wedding. Needless to say Maisy, decked out in her new outfit, is super-excited.
At the flower-bedecked venue, Maisy greets all her friends. Every one of them has brought something for the couple and soon it’s time for the celebration to start.
Music plays as Tallulah leads the way festooning the aisle with flowers and is closely followed by Penguin on the arm of Charley. They reach the waiting Ostrich.
Owl does the officiating, rings are exchanged, “I do” is said by both partners and then it’s the party. Hurrah!
Delicious food, toasting the couple, music and dancing and cutting the cake follow.
Then the bride throws her bouquet: who will catch it though?
After a wonderful party the happy couple leave for their honeymoon …
Maisy fans will love this latest episode in the ‘First Experiences series’, which now numbers over 15 titles.
Bigger! Bigger!
Leslie Patricelli
Walker Books
The story really starts before the title page with a little girl gleefully emptying out her box of coloured blocks onto the floor.
‘Build’ she says smiling, hard-hat balancing precariously on her head.
From then on her imagination appears to take over as the blue wall behind her is transformed into blue sky and her pets too have donned hard-hats and their buildings look real: first a dog kennel ‘Big’; then a wooden house ‘Bigger!’ and ‘Bigger! Bigger!’ is the cry …
as a block of flats, a large bridge, office blocks appear until we see the happy builders exuberantly celebrating the finish of their task.
They’re certainly an ambitious crew these three.
Suddenly there’s a ‘BOOM! BOOM!’ followed by at the turn of the page a huge nappy-clad baby (has it escaped from the author’s board books?) wreaking havoc.
Thereafter reality is restored with tears from big sis. and then a penitent babe attempting a silent apology.
Finally co-operation wins the day and ‘Stronger! Stronger!‘ comes the cry.
Share with a group of nursery children or an individual around the age of the girl builder – either way they’ll demand repeats. Equally, with its minimal text writ large, this is perfect for those just starting to read.
Imagine opening a book and discovering that the first spread is virtually blank, save for a single sentence. So it is in Mariana Coppo’s new picture book of which showing rather than telling is the essence.
Five creatures show up on the second spread and when one decides they’ve landed in a book, four are content to wait for the story to arrive.
Not so the little pink rabbit.
Having had its “Can we play?” suggestion turned down by the others who are willing to be patient and chat among themselves, the rabbit makes its way to the verso page of the book.
There, using the colour pencils from its backpack and a bit of imagination, the little pink animal populates the page with a tree, birds and much more besides.
The tree grows and with it and further colour pencil additions from rabbit, life on the verso becomes ever more exciting, spilling across the gutter
and attracting the attention of the passive quartet of story waiters.
Before long they are drawn into the action so that when the postman arrives with the mail, the story he delivers to them is surplus to requirements.
Cleverly conceived and SO brilliantly executed, this is a real joy of a book.
Barman follows up her Creaturepedia with a celebration of more than 600 plants that includes trees, fruits, flowers – wild and cultivated, vegetables, herbs, weeds, healing plants and more from all over the world.
Somewhat strangely for this reviewer at least, we start indoors with ‘The air fresheners’ – plants to grow indoors that clean the air. This section is followed by ‘The all-blacks’ and then ’The aquatics’ ‘The big eaters’ and another colour section – ‘The blues and purples’. I’m not sure whether the author had a plan in mind when she arranged the spreads but to me the section sequencing seems quirky and perhaps random which creates something of a surprise element.I particularly liked The Stars pages.
Having said that the whole book is packed with learning possibilities in various curriculum areas such as science, geography, history, art perhaps (although it’s better to use real plants I suggest) and almost every topic could be an inspiration for further investigation.
In contrast to the rest of the book, the appendix devoted to three aspects of leaves – shape, arrangement and edges/veins – is straightforward botany.
The illustrations are bright, engaging and gently humorous – look out for animals popping up on lots of spreads, and the odd human from time to time.
One for budding botanists, the family bookshelf or school library.
For younger readers, with plants also taking centre stage is:
Summer
David A. Carter
Abrams Appleseed
Just in time for summer comes David A. Carter’s fourth and final pop-up in his seasons series. Carter has created six plant pop-ups –one of which he places at the centre of each spread,
and in and around them are to be found various animals including birds, butterflies and other minibeasts, small mammals, a snake, a turtle and a fish.
A brief accompanying text invites children to get involved by asking such questions as ‘Who eats the flowers?’ or ‘Who swims in the creek?’
Fun and captivating, this is an American publication so some of the named items will be unfamiliar but that offers a good talking point for readers in parts of the world other than the USA.
The Case of the Red-Bottomed Robber!
Richard Byrne
Oxford University Press
The chalks are an artistic lot creating colourful drawings at every opportunity so imagine their feelings when something or someone starts ‘stealing’ their pictures, and not just once either.
Thus begins this daft tale wherein Sergeant Blue and of course, readers are hot on the trail of the miscreant although I expect young listeners will already have their own suspicions as to his identity.
It’s not long before the Sergeant has lined up an identity parade of possible candidates and there’s one particularly suspicious-looking character that fits the evidence and his behind is covered in tell-tale red dust.
Caught red-bottomed! But before the prison doors are closed on the culprit, he makes a dash for freedom.
Will the chalks ever catch up with that slippery customer and if so, what will happen?
This light-hearted romp embodies an important message about not being too hasty in making judgements.
Children will enjoy the chalk-board style illustrations: in the face of the near ubiquity of white boards and markers in schools, could this be the start of a chalk-board revival – you never know!
The Very Hungry Hedgehog
Rosie Wellesley
Pavilion Children’s Books
Isaac the hedgehog returns in a third story – a springtime adventure this time.
The spiky little creature is summarily awoken from his long winter sleep by Starling, but the greedy bird then refuses to share her breakfast worm. “Bad hair day for hedgehog!” laughs the bird before flying off leaving Isaac’s feelings somewhat dampened. Fine friend she is, he thinks to himself but a very hungry Isaac decides to search for his own food. Unknowingly he has a follower as he encounters other non-sharers – first it’s gluttonous Toad – a real tease of a creature.
Next comes a heron that snatches a fat, juicy slug right out of Isaac’s paws and flies off with it
leaving an even hungrier Isaac rueing the day he left that cosy winter bed of his, until he catches sight of some real signs that Spring has arrived, signalling to him a wealth of food for all to share.
He very nearly doesn’t get his share though for, were it not for his quick thinking and his prickles, Isaac himself would have become the next snack for the fox that’s been trailing him all the while.
Even after a very near miss, the kindly little animal is willing to adopt a benevolent attitude about the abundance of food that’s all around for all the creatures to share.
Enchantingly told and vividly portrayed, Rosie Wellesley’s latest story offers young listeners a gentle sharing message and some wonderful scenes of animals in the natural world.
Here are Nina and her parents sharing the story, mum reading the main text and dad supplying the voices
Little Mole is a Whirlwind
Anna Llenas
Templar Books
I’ve had a Little Mole in some of the classes I’ve taught over the years: ADHD, whether or not it’s so labelled, is challenging for all involved but underneath the child who is at times making you feel deskilled is usually a youngster who is desperately trying to reach out for reassurance and help. It’s certainly the case in this new story from Anna Llenas.
With his bounding, bouncing and bellowing, Little Mole exhausts his parents.
At school he finds it almost impossible to concentrate and is constantly distracted, fiddling, fidgeting and forgetting so it’s no surprise that his classmates shun him. Sadly the little creature has all sorts of labels assigned to him.
His teacher is at the end of her tether; try as she might, she just can’t help Little Mole to focus.
A note goes home asking for a parental conference but almost simultaneously a newspaper is delivered advertising the services of ‘Serena the Forest Bunny’ offering ‘creative learning for wonderful children’. Could this be the answer?
Little Mole’s parents take him to meet Serena who thinks she might be able to help.
The following day Little Mole tells her about his worries regarding his end-of-year project, about his inability to stay focussed and his lack of friends.
In response Serena takes him to a room filled with creative materials and gives Little Mole free rein. At first he’s over-excited and soon chaos reigns.
Serena remains calm and supportive both then and on subsequent visits as they play, cook …
and even stargaze. Most importantly though, they talk, and gradually over the course of several months his concentration span increases.
Serena helps her pupil discover what he really likes to do and with her reassurance that he’s wonderful just the way he is, Little Mole is ready to work on that end-of-year project.
Come the last day of term his teacher has a wonderful surprise when it comes to project showing time. Little Mole has finally found his passion and his outlook on the world is completely changed.
Anna Llenas understands all this so well and her story, with her trademark collage style illustrations, portrays Little Mole as a thoroughly likeable character deserving of the tolerance and understanding shown by Serena.
We Wear Pants
Katie Abey
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
No, this isn’t another story about pants, although that particular item of clothing is the subject of the first spread in this humorous offering. You’ll also see thereon a horse in pants watering plants , a giraffe wearing them – and not only on its rear end; and youngsters will delight in the invitation to search for ‘who is sitting on the toilet?’ Wouldn’t the octopus have pants with eight leg holes? one of my book sharers wanted to know.
Wellies come next and all manner of animals are sporting theirs, including a waterproof wombat and a funky frog that asks readers to ‘Count the rubber ducks’. Not so the cheeky monkey however; that particular creature pops up on every spread offering a sneak preview of which item of attire is coming next.
We Wear Hats invites children to choose a hat – a tricky operation but for me the crocodile won; and I think I’d go for the croc. as my favourite animal too, on account of the fact that he’s reading a book.
The weather is decidedly changeable on the coats spread so many different kinds are show-cased including blazers, anoraks, puffer jackets, macs and ponchos.
Snazzy shorts aplenty are shown off on the beach: “Shorts cover up your pants” announces the bird atop the palm tree, although those belonging to the tortoise close by appears to be serving an alternative purpose.
Glasses, scarves, socks, shoes, T-shirts – watch out for particularly groan-worthy puns here – and pyjamas are also featured and the book ends with a final free choice page asking “What will YOU wear today?” Now there’s a thought …
Entertaining, absorbing and most definitely giggle inducing (that’s adults as well as children); a great book for sharing and absolutely full of language development potential.
The Brilliant Deep
Kate Messner and Matthew Forsythe
Chronicle Books
‘It starts with one.’ So begins the inspiring true story of Ken Nedimeyer, who as a boy was fascinated by the underwater world of Florida Keys, in particular the coral reefs. He became troubled when he discovered that those reefs were fading and dying, seemingly there was nothing he could do to save them.
Then as an adult he had one of those ‘what if …?’ moments relating to the staghorn corals he’d grown on his rock farm. His brilliant idea was to transplant the staghorn coral colony he’d grown onto that reef he’d loved as a child: could that colony be brought back to life?
It was surely worth a try and so Ken went back to his beloved reef and glued six small coral colonies onto the limestone surface of the erstwhile reef.
Month by month these transplants grew and became the catalyst for the Coral Restoration Foundation, which now has international links.
Kate Messner pitches her telling of this inspiring story perfectly for primary school age audiences, telling of Ken’s passion, of staghorn corals grown on the rock farm, of his successful experiments and of the volunteers his inspirational work has recruited, finishing as she began with the upbeat, ‘It starts with one.’
A love of wildlife shines through Matthew Forsythe’s exhilarating illustrations. Using a rich colour palette to portray the undersea world and the divers he takes us right up close to the action making this a great book to share with a class or group and who knows, it might just inspire budding marine biologists.
To that end, the final spread provides details of further reading, websites to visit, ways to help and explanations of some of the terms used in the narrative.
Tony Ross’s latest slice of humour, Little Princess style, has the heroine considering her dad the King, making comparisons with other dads and finding him wanting in many respects. He’s much shorter that they are, is useless at baking, gets wheezy in the presence of any animal large or small, is totally inept in the water
and unlike the Gardener who takes his offspring on forest walks, gets lost in his own castle.
“I wish my dad was as much fun as other dads!” she cries to the Maid. … He’s useless.”
Her response is to teach the young complainer. First it’s pony riding, then baking, followed by swimming and walking in the woods, none of which are a resounding success. Our Little Princess is left feeling cold, decidedly damp, with hurting teeth and head, and exceedingly hungry.
In short, she feels absolutely useless.
As she heads for home who should happen along but his royal highness out walking and when he hears about her failures, just like all dads, he knows just what to say to put everything right.
With My Daddy
Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
Abrams Appleseed
In this sturdily built book, a little girl talks about how she feels when she’s with her dad.
He arouses the whole gamut of emotions: a hug makes her feel like ‘a little bird in a warm, comfy nest, … safe.’
He can also make her feel unafraid, ‘brave’ in fact, ‘daring’, ‘confident’ because he inspires self-belief,
being ‘adventurous’ particularly when it comes to swimming, ‘playful’ on the most ordinary of days, ‘calm’, and ‘excited’ especially when he plays at being a monster. Sometimes though he invokes anger but it’s a storm that quickly passes thanks to Dad’s gentle calming hands on the narrator’s back.
Interestingly we never see the complete dad, or even indeed his face. Rather it’s only huge hands, or feet and legs on the final page, that are ever visible. In this way, Christine Roussey emphasises the huge amount of love he bestows upon the small narrator and the scope of his influencing power upon her feelings and emotions.
I Love You Dino-Daddy
Mark Sperring and Sam Lloyd
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
According to his offspring, Dino-Dad is a pretty cool guy with all manner of useful attributes. He’s full of fun on trips to the park, , ace at building with blocks, great at playing monsters, pretend wrestling, giving pony rides and doing magic tricks (especially where cake is concerned) ; he’s even great to play with – albeit unknowingly – while taking a nap.
As described in Mark Sperring’s jolly rhyming text and portrayed, with his dapper blue shoes and striped scarf, in Sam Lloyd’s exuberant illustrations, this Dad is a doted-on dino. who is sure to charm your little ones; and this is a lovely fun-filled, love-filled book for dino-littles to give to a dad on his special day be that Father’s Day, a birthday or for that matter, any other day they want to bring a Daddy smile.
Dylan the Baker
Guy Parker Rees
Alison Green Books
Dylan the exuberant stripy dog is back once again and this time we join him as he dons a chef’s hat and apron ready to bake a birthday cake – his favourite extra special Choccy-Banana one for his pal Jolly Otter.
The trouble is that right from when those wonderful baking smells start wafting from the oven, Dylan’s tum starts to rumble.
Trying not to eat the yummy cake becomes Dylan’s major preoccupation as he removes it from the oven, leaves it on the table and dashes outside to distract himself.
It’s there that his friends Purple Puss and Titchy Chick find him and they too join Dylan in the not-eating-cake activities. First it’s head-standing, then spinning around in the woods,
followed by swinging and a host of other games; the problem being that before long Dylan isn’t the only one suffering from tummy rumbles and super salivation.
Will Jolly Otter get even so much as a sniff of his birthday cake when three friends all have an irresistible urge to sink their teeth into the delicious confection?
Look out for Dotty Bug, another of Dylan’s pals who pops up on every spread encouraging listeners to join in with this fun story. And fun it certainly is especially as the anticipation builds with those ‘Rumbly-tumbly- grumbly GRUM tummies, not to mention Dylan’s song to sing along with; and the final twist in the baking bonanza is entirely satisfying.
Moreover, if you fancy trying some of Dylan’s cake, he’s been kind enough to include a recipe at the end of his story.
In a previous book we left Square obstructing the entrance to Triangle’s home and now he’s back moving in and out of his own secret abode hauling large rock cubes from his subterranean stash all the way up to the top of a hill. This he regards as his ‘work’.
One day while he’s thus engaged along comes Circle pronouncing him a “genius” and “sculptor”. Thinking his block sculpture to be a self-portrait, she commissions one of her, promising to return the following day. Now Square really does have a tricky undertaking: Circle is perfect.
Anxiously he sets to work but as the rain falls, Square’s far from perfect shape begins to disintegrate and come nightfall he’s surrounded by a circular pile of rubble into which the rain falls.
By now his anxiety is almost palpable and having determined to stay up all night, overwhelmed by despair, he falls fast asleep.
Morning comes and with it the realisation that he’s allowed himself to be beguiled by Circle’s talk of genius. There he stands in a large puddle surrounded by a circle of rubble.
Eager to set eyes on her portrait, Circle rolls along early and sees her reflection in the puddle.
Declaring it “perfect” she reaffirms Square’s genius and departs.
Barnett’s final throwaway ‘But was he really?’ leaves readers, and indeed Square, to ponder and make their own decisions, not the least of which are, what does it mean to be an artist? And, what is art?
With his characteristic minimalism Klassen imbues his art with humorous detail: the twig for instance that looks like a wilted aerial on Square’s head, and the way he just keels over in utter exhaustion, are superb.
Barnett’s brief, droll text, combined with Klassen’s illustrations make this a perfect offering for those who enjoy pondering upon and discussing philosophical questions. Community of Enquiry enthusiasts and artists in particular will love this, as indeed will anyone who enjoys the subtlety of this duo’s picture books.
Zeki Gets a Checkup
Anna McQuinn and Ruth Hearson
Alanna Books
Lulu’s little brother is now a playful toddler drinking from his own cup and feeding himself. It’s the day he’s going for a health check and having helped pack his bag, Daddy and the infant are ready to visit the clinic.
Once there they have to wait their turn so Zeki is glad he’s got his favourite Mister Seahorse to play with but it’s not too long before it’s their turn.
Zeki is happy to show what he can do; he’s weighed and measured, has his eyes, ears and heart checked
and is given a jab to help him stay healthy. He leaves with a well-deserved sticker, a new book and a cheery farewell wave from the health practitioner.
Full of warmth, reassuring, and as with all the books in this series, inclusive and beautifully portrayed.
Definitely one to add to the bookshelves of those with toddlers be that at home or in a nursery setting.
My First Day
Amber Stewart and Layn Marlow
Oxford University Press
This is one of the newly packaged My First Milestones series and features little duckling, Puddle who, along with his two friends is about to start nursery school. Having eagerly anticipated the big day since he was ‘barely more than an egg’, when it finally arrives the little duckling is more than a tad nervous.
His Mummy Duck however, has taken steps to ensure things go smoothly. She offers words of reassurance and packs into his school bag things that will remind him that she’s never far off: one of her soft feathers, his favourite nibbles, some biscuits to share with his friends
and his Cuddly for afternoon rest time.
Creative activities fill the rest of the day and before you can say, ‘going-home time’ there waiting is Puddle’s very own Mummy Duck with a warm hug.
It’s not nerves but excitement that causes the duckling’s heart to go pitter-patter that night as he anticipates his next day at duckling school.
A sweet story, told in a direct manner that expresses so well Puddle’s feelings, beautifully illustrated with scenes of the riverside in spring, this is just right for sharing with children about to have their own first day at nursery.
The New Baby
Lisa Stickley
Pavilion Books
In her third book, big sister Edith – not very big but bigger than she was last year – gives readers a month-by-month account of the first year with her baby brother Albert.
He arrived, so she tells us, in a basket one January day, very tiny and making his presence felt with loud, I’m hungry ‘Waaaaaaa’ sounds followed sometime later by ‘teeny windy pops’.
As the year progresses Albert takes pleasure in watching the movement of a home-made mobile dangling above his cot; befriends the rattly Gerald Giraffe;
increases the volume of his bottom sounds and produces lots of very stinky nappies; and adds raspberry blowing and ‘slurpy sloppy’ to his repertoire.
By the summer he’s beginning to sit up and in August begins the messy process of eating baby food.
Big sis. gives him a very gentle go on the swings in September; then in October he becomes a fast crawler and in November an ever faster one especially when he’s set his sights on there’s a tower to demolish.
December sees Albert take his first tottering steps, wobbling his way around penguin style.
Then it’s time to celebrate his first birthday. Who wouldn’t love this special little brother with all his funny noises? Edith most certainly does.
I’m sure there were times when our young narrator felt jealous of the attention others were giving baby Albert but she doesn’t tell readers about it; rather Edith concentrates on the fun side of having a new sibling keeping her chronicle up-beat and accompanying it with a plethora of sound effects along the way.
As with previous Edith stories, Lisa Stickley’s collage style illustrations have a fresh child-like quality that makes them entirely appropriate to accompany her young narrator’s voice.
An enchanting book: it’s perfect for sharing with early years audiences and likely to spark off lots of my little brother/sister discussion.
That transition from only child in the family to big brother or sister can be a difficult time for young children so if you want something portraying that you might try:
Marigold & Daisy
Andrea Zuill
Sterling
Life is pretty good for Marigold until the birth of baby snail sister Daisy.
Daisy is a real pain, stealing the limelight and following her older sibling everywhere. Marigold feels left out and resentful,
particularly when Daisy ruins her favourite toy and goes off to be on her own.
However when she finds herself in a sticky situation, guess who comes to her rescue. Perhaps having a little sis. isn’t so bad after all.
Wonderfully expressive pen-and-ink and watercolour illustrations document this quirky story with a gentle humour. The plethora of speech bubbles add to the fun.
With the month of Ramadan starting soon here are two lovely picture books to add to your early years or KS1 class collection:-
Night of the Moon
Hena Khan and Julie Paschkis
Chronicle Books
There’s a slither of a new moon in the sky and Yasmeen’s mother reminds her that it heralds the start of the month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.
We then follow 7 year-old Yasmeen and her family through the month as the moon waxes and wanes and the girl expands her understanding of what Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr mean.
All the while, the author skilfully integrates information about the celebrations with the warmth of Yasmeen’s love of family and friends as she talks to her mother about fasting, attends family parties, goes to the mosque
and learns about the importance of sharing during Ramadan.
Eventually there is no moon in the night sky and Yasmeen knows that the next night will be the Night of the Moon signifying the end of Ramadan and the much-anticipated Eid-ul-Fitr.
At sunset Yasmeen’s family go to the community centre for a special Night of the Moon celebration and from one of the stalls her mum buys new clothes for the family to wear on the day of Eid.
Back home Yasmeen has her hands decorated with beautiful Mehndi patterns …
and finally next morning it’s time to wish everyone “Eid Mubarak”.
What makes this book so arrestingly gorgeous is Julie Paschkis’ richly coloured gouache paintings bordered with motifs and designs borrowed from Islamic art.
Children of all faiths and none can enjoy sharing in the young girl’s joy in celebrating her faith and its traditions.
a Muslim family celebrates
Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets
Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Amini
Chronicle Books
Following on from Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, the author and illustrator explore both shapes and some cultural and religious aspects of the Muslim world.
Most shapes are two dimensional – the rectangle of the mosque’s wooden door; the octagonal pond surrounding a fountain; the triangular sides of the mimbar’s stairs.
There’s a beautiful square garden fragrant with sweet smelling oranges; the large drum used on festive occasions – a daff – is circular; a painted tile hexagonal; the table an oval and there’s a diamond design on the child narrator’s new Eid kaftan.
Others such as the cone shaped tip of the minaret are 3D and the Ka’aba stone is an enormous cube shape.
“So much beauty / in the shapes that I see / adds to my faith / and the world around me.” So concludes the narrator at the end of the book after which comes a helpful glossary in which I discovered that ‘ayah’ used here is a verse from the Quran rather than the meaning ‘nursemaid’ that I’m familiar with.
Mehrdokht Amini’s illustrations, which accompany Hena Khan’s straightforward rhyming text portray Muslims from a number of countries, each spread representing a different country, thus encompassing the cultural diversity of Islam.
Crash! Boom! A Maths Tale
Robie H. Harris and Chris Chatterton
Walker Books
Block play elephant style is pretty much the same as that of young children particularly when little Elephant has such a wonderful resource to use.
Kneeling on a carpeted floor our pachyderm starts stacking; his aim to build a tower the same height as he is (intention). How many more do I need he wonders (estimating) .
‘1 2 3 4’, he counts the precariously balanced blocks, then hurrah! – arms stretched out wide in celebration (self-expression and self-esteem).
Elephant stands beside the stacked blocks (comparing/measuring), but almost inevitably given the unstableness of his stack CRASH! BOOM! Disaster …
Elephant though is not one to give up so easily. “It has to be as tall as ME!” he reaffirms. (resilience and determination).
He stops and thinks about the placement of that first block …
before starting to build another tower, self-questioning as he goes until, 8 blocks high it’s “WHOOPEE!” Success! This time Elephant gives the tower a celebratory bottom bash sending his stack crashing.
He still isn’t finished though; it’s time to experiment with that very long block and those others he’s yet to play with … “What if” – imagining. (love that one)
Harris introduces a multitude of maths concepts along with a host of other learning possibilities of block play. Chatterton’s simple, uncluttered, but oh so telling, illustrations show not only Elephant’s learning but also his sheer joy in his experience.
Those, like myself who champion the activity – especially with the kind of equipment in Chris Chatterton’s photographic collages, will celebrate this book and want to show it to anybody who ever thought block play was mere messing around: they need to read it right away. It’s such a brilliant example of learning through play, made even better because the publishers let the story speak for itself.
After you share it with young humans (and any elephants that happen to be around), make sure you have a large set of wooden blocks available; they’re sure to be inspired.
Evie Bear and her Dad are moving home and Evie feels full of doubts – ‘heavy’ in fact. “How will I make new friends?” she wants to know. She doesn’t understand why they need to move at all but eventually everything is loaded and it’s time to say goodbye to their city life and set off into the unknown.
As they drive further from everything familiar Evie’s worries continue. “Dad, what if I don’t like my new home?” she asks.
“Where am I from now?” Evie wonders aloud when they stop for blueberry pancakes.
All the way Dad does his best to reassure the little bear with carefully considered words of comfort and activities to distract her from her worries.
When they stop for the night, tucked up together in a hammock they continue their discussion about home
and Dad tells his little Bear that he considers home is more about feelings and not really things at all.
After what seems like a very long drive next day, father and daughter finally reach their new abode
and as they start to unpack Evie comes to her own conclusion about what home means for her: no matter where they live, so long as her dad is with her, she will always feel at home.
Rich in detail both domestic and of the natural world, Nicola Byrne’s illustrations have plenty to pore over and enjoy, not least being the two tiny mice that move house along with the bears and appear in several scenes along the way with their suitcase. On the penultimate picture attentive readers will see them moving into a hole in the skirting board, a scene that also shows The Great Dragon Bake Off among Evie’s books.
The expressions on the bears’ faces say much about the loving bond between father and Evie and also about the emotional upheaval involved in their move.
Why this is happening, especially as their new home appears to be in the middle of nowhere, is left for audiences to ponder upon and draw their own conclusions as is the question of what has happened to Mother Bear; but then, gaps for the reader to fill are part and parcel of a good picture book.
Frank the Seven-Legged Spider
Michaele Razi
Little Bigfoot (Sasquatch)
Frank the spider enjoys spinning beautiful webs;
he also enjoys scaring humans; most of all though he likes his eight ‘beautiful, glorious legs.’
One day though, Frank wakes up minus one of his prized limbs: with only seven legs, is he still a spider?
Once he’s got the hang of being a tad lop-sided, Frank sets off in search of his missing leg. He tries several likely spots including a dark, warm cave
but no matter where he searches there isn’t any sign of his lost leg.
Fortunately just when everything seems totally dismal some ants come along and what they tell him makes Frank realise that all the things that make him spidery – web spinning, leg wiggling and scurrying – are still on his can do list.
Hurrah! Identity crisis averted; bring on self-acceptance; for sure, despite his physical disability, Frank’s lost none of his capacity for pranks.
That final spread doesn’t quite hold the last laugh though. After it come a credits page showing another spider holding something that might just belong to our protagonist …
Michaele Razi’s straightforward text and abundance of speech bubbles, in combination with her uncluttered illustrations executed in a carefully considered colour palette, present the physically challenged arachnid as a positive character ready to take on whatever life throws at him. Pretty cool!
Roxy the Racoon
Molly the Mole
Carlos the Chameleon
Vincent the Vixen
Alice Reeves and Phoebe Kirk
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Roxy the Racoon introduces a physically challenged racoon living in the forest along with her three friends. Needing a wheelchair means that she can’t always do the same things as her pals. Visiting Brad Beaver in his dam is impossible as is playing football with Sammy and the other squirrels. Climbing the tree to call on Cherry Chipmunk is also too much of a challenge.
However after some thought each of Roxy’s friends manages to make adaptions that allow the racoon to be included in all their activities. Beaver builds a ramp, Squirrel changes the game and then the animals work together to make a hoist so that the four animals can view the sunset from the top of the tree.
The story ends with Roxy and her friends deciding to collaborate in making the whole forest an all-inclusive environment.
Part of the ‘Truth & Tails’ series this little book will help young children understand the importance of working together to remove barriers so that the differently abled can always be included. It’s a good starting point for discussion whether at home or in a classroom. To that end the author has included circle time suggestions at the end of the story.
Lack of self-confidence and feeling the need to be the same as the peer group is something that troubles many children and so it is with Carlos the Chameleon.
Herein we discover that Carlos is in the habit of changing his colour from his own bright green to that of which ever of his animal friends he wants to fit in with at any particular time. One day however when the animals discover what he’s been doing, they assure him that looking different isn’t a barrier to being friends: it’s what he is on the inside that matters. At last Carlos is free to be himself – kind, caring and a beautiful shade of green. Molly the Mole too suffers from low self-esteem and despite being a very helpful friend she is constantly comparing herself with the other animals rather than being happy and celebrating what she has to offer. Thankfully though her friends help her to come to understand that everyone is unique and that she should believe in herself.
Vincent the Vixen introduces the tricky and complex topic of gender identity.
As is the case with Roxy the Racoon, after each story, author Alice Reeves includes helpful circle discussion points, and follow-up resources.
A useful set of books to have in a teachers’ library available to all primary school staff.
The Rhythm of the Rain
Grahame Baker-Smith
Templar Publishing
We first meet Isaac playing in a mountain-side pool under a brooding sky. Down comes the rain; water flows in little rivulets from the pool becoming first a stream and then a river. Isaac empties his jar of water into the flow pondering its journey seawards.
We see it passing through country and town eventually joining the vast ocean. However, the journey doesn’t end there (although some of it is swallowed by a whale);
currents deep in the ocean draw water towards a distant shore.
Next morning the warm sun pulls the seawater upwards to form a cloud – a raincloud whose water falls on a village where Cassi lives, filling its pool with much needed water.
Still the water flows, forming a life-giving river
that eventually flows again into the sea and finally right back to Isaac.
Baker-Smith’s narrative documents the water-cycle from raindrops to ocean depths, outlining the importance of the life-giving properties of the element while letting his artwork show its beauty.
The magical and transformative power of water permeates every one of his illustrations be it the luminosity of the mountainside rivulet,
the efflorescence slip-steaming from the ocean dwelling whale, the sparkling spangled surface of the sun-soaked sea or the foaming, steaming spray plunging over an African waterfall.
This breathtakingly beautiful book would make a superb addition to a topic on water or as an introduction to the water-cycle.
Being a Princess is Very Hard Work
Sarah Kilbride and Ada Grey
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
If you ever thought being a princess was fun, or even easy, then this funny rhyming picture book will set you straight.
Imagine having to sit for ages on a throne, or smile benevolently and wave at your subjects when all you feel like doing is having a nap.
Think of having no time to play, of trying to keep all those body noises inside and definitely no nose-picking. Table manners have to be immaculate and fussy eating is not allowed.
Worse still are all the spinning wheels and dragons you might have to contend with and what about all those frogs just waiting for a kiss to be bestowed upon them.
You’d have to look neat and spotlessly clean at all times which makes pretty much anything fun strictly off limits.
Just being yourself- a real little girl – moody, energetic, noisy, messy yes of course, but also kind and generous is much better. That’s the opinion of one would-be princess’s mum and dad, and they want their daughter to know that they love her for who and what she is.
Read-aloud entertainment for would-be little princesses especially, but also for all who have imagined what taking on such a role might entail.
Ada Grey’s scenes of the trials and tribulations involved in so doing are full of amusing details – the frogs that invade almost every page are a real hoot – and the little royals, a delight.
The Little Pioneer
Adam Hancher
Lincoln Children’s Books
Adam Hancher’s story, set in 19th century US, tells of one small wagon train heading off into the West and is inspired by the accounts of real-life pioneers.
Its narrator is a fiery-haired young girl who, following the death of her father, must leave everything familiar and head west to make a new life in California.
The long journey on foot, horseback and wagon with her mother, younger brothers and three other families is gruelling and full of challenges, not the least of which for the narrator at the outset, is getting used to the wild ways of their guide, Mr Reed.
However it’s not long before a treacherous swirling river forces her to change her opinion of the man and a firm bond is formed, not only between the narrator and guide but also with their fellow travellers.
Mr Reed actually becomes the girl’s saviour not once but twice during their time on the trail.
By the time their journey ends the narrator has learned SO much, not only about the wild and her fellow pioneers, but having had to stand being left alone, about herself.
The tale is beautifully told using language of the time, ‘Weary and footsore, we stopped to rest.’ but it’s Hancher’s superb artistry that make this such a compellingly beautiful book.
The girl speaks little about her loss but one senses it all around during their travels through the bleak landscapes of the journey. The dramatic, textured illustrations and Hancher’s switch of colour palette – that perilous Platte river crossing,
the family-like gathering around the camp fire …
and the bleak surrealism of the shady spot the narrator wakes in to discover her aloneness, speak for themselves.
Powerful, poignant and perfect for reading with young audiences many of whom will know little of those pioneering days, this is a book to share and savour.
Luna and the Moon Rabbit
Camille Whitcher
Scribblers
This is Camille Whitcher’s debut picture book: it’s the winner of the first Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival and Salaria Book Company competition to find ‘the next big children’s author-illustrator’.
Camille’s inspiration for her book was the Far Eastern folk legend of the Moon Rabbit that her Japanese grandmother told her around the time of the ‘Otsukimi (moon-viewing) festival,’ when, in honour of the autumn moon, people make offerings of food to the moon.
It’s a lovely story that starts with Luna’s Grandma telling her about the Moon Rabbit and how he comes to visit those who leave him an offering of rice cakes.
Despite her scepticism, Luna places a rice cake on her windowsill and is rewarded by a visit from the rabbit.
Together child and rabbit embark on a magical nocturnal adventure taking them into dark woods aglow with fireflies
and fields mysteriously lit by dandelion flowers
and down to a river alive with koi.
It’s there that sleep gets the better of Luna and the Moon Rabbit takes her back home to her bedroom.
Mesmeric, dream-like images grace every spread: the colours and textures employed give a somnolent softness to the whole book and I love the mix of full-page, double spread and vignette illustrations. There’s a magical glow emanating from each one that further heightens the otherworldly quality of the story, a story that is ideal for bedtime sharing or as a calming interlude in a busy nursery or pre-school session. Either way it is likely to become a much-requested favourite.
Along Came A Different
Tom McLaughlin
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
What is a ‘Different’? Well that all depends on your perspective. If you’re a Red then it could be a Yellow and vice-versa.
Suppose however, quite unexpectedly, a Blue happens along into ‘your’ territory sporting a blue bow tie, twanging a blue guitar and slurping a blueberry shake, supremely happy in its blueness, then what? It might well mean trouble and dare I say, separatism. BIG TROUBLE indeed, and by the look of things, a complete loss of joie de vivre.
Maybe it’s time to come together and draw up some rules …
The resulting isolation of each group appears to be working – temporarily at least but then a whole host of ‘different’ differents appear on the scene – friendly ones; could that be the start of a change of heart?
It might, but wait for it: how about a ‘really different different’ with an all-embracing attitude to life and living, maybe that could really make a difference …
Time to tear up that rule book guys!
Tom McLaughlin has surely created a fable of our divisive times. How much better we’d all be to take notice of the message of this wonderful picture book that blows the horn for inclusivity, difference and friendship everywhere.
It should be read, pondered upon and discussed and then trumpeted by all who value positive relationships across the world.
Red Reading Hub is thrilled to be part of the blog tour for a truly stunning picture book; thank you Lantana Publishing for inviting me to participate.
You’re Safe With Me
Chitra Soundar and Poonam Mistry
Lantana Publishing
It’s night-time deep in the Indian forest: the moon is high and the stars a-twinkle. Suddenly though the skies turn deepest dark as a storm brews. All the baby animals are wakeful and scared.
Fortunately for them, Mama Elephant – huge and wise – arrives on the scene and with her softly spoken “Hush … You’re safe with me.” rocks the little ones to sleep.
The wind causes them to whimper and Mama Elephant offers an explanation, “Don’t worry … He’s an old friend of the forest. He brings us seeds from faraway lands.”
Further explanations are provided concerning the clattering thunder, the zigzagging lightning and the rumbling river all of which are proffered in the manner of a lovely gentle lullaby that brings comfort and slumber to all the little animals.
Simply and memorably told with a repetitive structure, onomatopoeia and alliteration this tale is rich indeed.
I’ve been fortunate to visit India – the Keralan forests, coastal Kerala, Goa, Himachel Pradesh and Rajasthan – many times during the Indian monsoon season: it truly is an amazing multi-sensory experience, different in every location.
Both author, Chitra Soundar and artist, Poonam Mistry capture monsoon time so beautifully in their wonderful book.
I now hand over to Chitra to talk about her own monsoon memories that inspired her story …
You’re Safe With Me originates from the memories of the monsoon storms of my childhood. I grew up in the coastal city of Chennai, a port and a fishing hub. During the monsoon season, we got used to listening to the radio for news about the storm and we knew all the technical terms that define the ferocity of the storm.
Here is a sample of a video in Tamil that describes the storm that’s expected. We heard similar broadcasts, except on the radio. As kids of course we didn’t have TV until I was 15 (another long story).
My memories of rain are clearly etched with sound, the feeling of damp and wetness everywhere – clothes not drying, squishy doormat, wet clothes and the smell of damp clothes. As a 6-year old I remember climbing on to the top shelf of my cement cupboard because our flat was flooded. We waited the water out by sleeping on the top shelves.
As an 8-year old and later, I have sat by the radio listening to the news, waiting for my father to return from work. An hour’s journey would stretch into four as he waded through the streets, drenched in the rain. As a teenager, I have cycled in the rain to school, my book-bag wrapped in three sheets of plastic. I remember losing my expensive raincoat at school and having to cycle through the torrential downpour.
But all my memories of tropical thunderstorms are not scary or stressful. For a city that’s hot most of the year, rains are both a blessing and a curse. The first drops fall on the parched ground, evoking the fragrance of the earth. The rain is relentless, loud and full of promise. The good memories are always associated with the cool air, the sound of rain and a spicy Indian snack with a book by the window.
I’ve returned to the topic of the thunderstorm often and in various ways. Long ago when I was just starting out, I wrote a story that was inspired by a real life incident during the monsoon rains called Afraid of Dogs.
And of course my love for flood stories led me to the story of Pattan’s Pumpkin, which is again set during the torrential downpour of the monsoon season.
You’re Safe With Me is a storyteller’s take on the thunderstorm. Monsoon rains and thunderstorms are dramatic elements of this beautiful earth. Clouds gather over the ocean, they create low pressure and they bring rain and storm. I wanted children not to be afraid of its ferocity.
But this is also a book about perspectives. I wanted young readers to look at anything loud or bright or scary from a different viewpoint. Something unfamiliar might terrify us. Once we understand an unknown, it’s familiar, it can be fun or perhaps it needs to be respected.
I had no expectation of how the illustrations would turn out. I knew Poonam Mistry will and should interpret the story the way she sees it and she would bring her own experience of the storm to the story. And she has done it wonderfully, hasn’t she?
Her art inspired by India has brightened the pages and created a third dimension to the story.
Thunderstorms are a necessary part of living near the ocean. And we’re just a small part of how things work on this planet. And therefore, we should do our part to protect the nature around us, lest we should one day be deprived of its beauty and kindness.
Thank you Chitra.
For more guest posts and reviews, I hope readers will follow the rest of this blog tour.
I Really Want to See You, Grandma
Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books
First published in Japan (the home of the book’s creator), in 1979, this story about a small girl and her grandmother and their efforts to see one another is now available in English for the first time.
Yumi and her Grandma live some distance apart, Yumi on a hill, her grandma on a mountain, and simultaneously each decides to visit the other – why they didn’t ring one another one can only assume is due to there being no mobile phones in those days.
They both leave home in upbeat mood, Yumi boarding a bus, her Gran taking a train.
Both arrive at the other’s home to discover the muddle and head back to their own homes …
missing each other again.
Will they ever get to meet or are they destined to spend the day passing each other on the way?
Gomi’s illustrations fill in much of the detail not mentioned in his simple text: ‘How come she was allowed to go on a bus without a grown-up?’ my listeners wanted to know after hearing this story of mix-ups and changing emotions.
Those in the early stages of becoming readers may well be able to try this one for themselves having heard the story read aloud first.
I Wish I Was Sick, Too!
Franz Brandenberg and Aliki
The New York Review Children’s Collection
I first came across this book as a young teacher in its Picture Puffin incarnation, I Don’t Feel Well.
It features sibling kittens, Elizabeth and Edward. Elizabeth is resentful of the attention her brother receives when he’s ill in bed. “It isn’t fair! … I wish I was sick, too!” she says.
When her wish comes true a few days later, she realises that, rather than all the attention received, it’s as her brother says, “The best part of being sick is getting well.”
Aliki’s chalky illustrations capture the emotions of the infant cat characters superbly and the story’s as amusing now as it was over three decades ago.
Share and enjoy no matter the state of the listeners’ health; equally, with its clear print and inviting layout, it’s a good book for solo readers to try for themselves.
Deep in the jungle live five elephants, fruit lovers all, but content to stick to their own favourites until one day they come upon a new tree, a very tall one bearing the ‘MOST delicious-looking exotic fruit’ they’d ever set eyes on.
Inevitably each one wants that tasty-looking object for him or herself.
“MINE!” calls Elephant One, huffing and puffing till her lungs were fit to burst.
Elephant Two launches herself at the tree but fails to dislodge the object of her desire.
The other three elephants are equally unsuccessful despite ingenious attempts, and all the while unbeknown to the pachyderms, but spotted by readers, a group of five tiny mice working together reach and seize the yellow fruit
and carry it away triumphantly. “OURS!”
Their teamwork lesson so adeptly demonstrated, is then put into action by the elephants and a combination of their original individual ideas bears fruit of a truly yummy kind.
Even yummier is the tale’s final twist.
Anuska Allepuz’s debut as author is a delectable offering, with its wry humour, theme of the fruitfulness of cooperation and sharing and alliterative phrases to relish. The use of different typefaces for elephants and mice works in harmony with the splendidly expressive, comical illustrations.
This is an enigmatic debut picture book – a modern fable essentially – that will I suspect, have as many interpretations as there are readers.
We follow a group of five friends as they contemplate and then endeavour to visit the other side of the island they live on.
They set out in a canoe only to discover the far side is ‘too rocky to land on’; one of the crew is lost overboard. Four encounter vegetation ‘too dense to cut through’ where big cats stalk and the explorers’ number is reduced to three.
The trio construct a slide down which they eventually slither in so doing losing another one of their number
leaving the remaining two to discover they are unable to get back from whence they came.
The elaborate edifice they co-construct eventually attracts outsiders who start destroying the beauty of the place
and as the book concludes we see just a single one of the original five setting out alone …
This is a long book with a kind of circularity, richly illustrated in textured crayon, which raises many questions, leaving readers to ponder and to try and draw their own conclusions. It would be an interesting one for community of enquiry discussions, be that with primary or secondary age children, or with students in college.
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Red Reading Hub - Jillrbennett's Reviews of Children's Books 