Category Picture Books

Beasts and Baskets

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Picnic
John Burningham
Jonathan Cape
There are echoes of the wonderful Mr Gumpy’s Outing in Burningham’s latest book. Boy and girl invite sheep, pig and duck to join them for a picnic. Their search for a picnic place proves protracted. They are chased by bull and have to hide in the woods, the wind whisks sheep’s hat away, pig drops his ball and duck loses his scarf. When all the items are retrieved they share the picnic basket spread and after fun and games the tired picnickers return to boy and girl’s house on the hill and bed.
Burningham’s peerless pictures in crayon, ink and watercolour and his spare, clear short sentences with engaging questions are in perfect balance within the empty spaces of each page.
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Big Book of Beasts
Emily Gravett
Macmillan
Emily Gravett has a co-creator for her latest offering; it’s Little Mouse (from a Big Book of Fears). Said rodent proceeds to edit her efforts throughout, daubing, nibbling, scribbling and generally interfering with every spread. As the author attempts to present ten animals pictorially with accompanying verse, Little Mouse offers his own take on each one. So, he proceeds to silence the lion’s roar, placing mittens over its claws, swat the worrying wasps with a specially pressed newspaper, and put dainty high-heeled shoes on the feet of the rampaging rhinoceros; but can he avoid being swallowed by the crushing Boa-Constrictor? Seemingly so, for after one final confrontation, what do we find fleeing across the final end-papers but a small, white, paint-spattered mouse?
Purists may be left aghast at mouse’s defacement but the rest of us will revel in this ingenious, truly interactive creation with its mini book of origami, wasp-swatting newspaper, healthy teeth guide, flaps to open and holes throughout.
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The Cat, the Mouse and the Runaway Train
Peter Bently and Steve Cox
Hodder Children’s Books
This adventure starts when a mouse – a skitter-scattery one – living in the stationmaster’s house, steals a piece of cheese and is seen by Carruthers the cat. The mouse is trapped, escapes and is hotly pursued by Carruthers but as he crosses the track, the cat takes a tumble getting his tail stuck in the rails. The minutes tick by and a large red steam train is speeding ever closer, Carruthers promising to chase him no more, begs the mouse to stop the train. Can that tiny creature get back and warn the stationmaster before the train makes mincemeat of his much-loved moggy? Suffice it to say that by the end of the day there is a third resident in the stationmaster’s house, and now he’s entirely welcome.
This rhyming tale, like the train positively races along and one can almost hear the rhythmic sound of the wheels on the track echoing when reading the book aloud. There’s some delicious alliteration too and the tension builds as the stopwatch counts the minutes to ten o’clock when the train is due.
Full of humour and pathos, Steve Cox’s bold bright illustrations mirror the gathering pace and tension of the text. For additional fun, spot Cat and Mouse among the cogwheels, clocks and pipes of the endpapers.
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The Lion and the Mouse
Nahta Noj
Templar Publishing
Cleverly interactive die-cuts really make this version of one of the most retold of Aesop’s fables distinctive.
Standing out against the flat colour backgrounds, composite, collage-style cut-outs help build up the bold images which are truly striking. Jenny Broom’s retelling too is noteworthy and further enlivened by variations in the font size, and weight with lines of print sometimes following the outlines of the illustrations.

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A great book for the primary classroom or for individual sharing.
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Little Evie in the Wild Wood
Jackie Morris and Catherine Hyde
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
One afternoon, wearing red and carrying a basket, Little Evie sets off alone into woods. Following the path ever deeper, her senses alert, she emerges into a clearing and there encounters a great black she wolf. Shades of Red Riding Hood; but, Evie has been sent by her Grandma to find the wolf and share with her seven blood-red jam tarts. After their meal, as the sun sets, the wolf carries Evie on her back to the edge of the wood where she can see the cottage and her waiting mama.
It’s not so much the story, but the manner of the telling that is so striking. Its lyrical, powerfully atmospheric, eerie haunting quality draws you right in from the start creating an air of wonder and mystery.
Visually wonderful too, Catherine Hyde has used acrylics to conjure soft-focus woodland scenes suffused with glowing sunlight, which intensify the air of mystery.
Truly, a book to enchant young and old alike.
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The Day the Crayons Quit
Oliver Jeffers and Drew Daywalt
Harper Collins
Have you ever thought about the crayons you give children to use; did you know for example that they have feelings? No? Well, this hilarious book/story by the brilliant Jeffers (no prizes for guessing which medium he has used) and debut author, Daywalt might make you think again.
Duncan wants to do some colouring but when he goes to use his crayons, he discovers a bundle of twelve letters all of which contain strong words of admonition for the would-be artist.
Red complains that he is even has to work on holidays, Purple is upset that Duncan won’t keep his colour within the lines, Beige is fed up with playing second fiddle to Brown, Grey is demanding a break from colouring large animals, White feels empty and Black doesn’t want to be limited to outlines, Green is happy with his use but wants Duncan to settle a dispute between Yellow and Orange over which is the rightful colour of the Sun, Blue is bothered that he is almost completely used up and Pink thinks she is being discriminated against because Duncan is a boy. And finally, Peach doesn’t want to leave the crayon box because Duncan has peeled his label off leaving him naked.
Needless to say, this wonderfully wacky, creative picture book has plenty of colour particularly after Duncan takes on board all the crayons concerns. I’m not convinced that Beige will be entirely happy though.
Don’t miss this one.
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Eddie and Dog
Alison Brown
Little Tiger Press
Eddie lives close to an airport; he spends time watching the planes and dreaming of adventures in faraway places. One day he spies a small dog in a basket on the luggage carousel and invites him to play. The two briefly enjoy some adventures together but on their return home, Eddie’s mum sends his new playmate to a more suitable home. Next day however, dog is back and despite further attempts to send him packing, Eddie’s determined canine pal returns. Moreover he has a plan: a clever one involving a rooftop space whereon he and Eddie construct a garden compete with lawn, topiary, a tree-house and more.
I like the fact that imagination, determination and perseverance win the day in this story for which Alison Brown’s illustrative style creates the illusion that the characters and objects have been created with a modeling medium.
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Trolls, Toucans and Travels

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Troll Swap
Leigh Hodgkinson
Nosy Crow pbk.
Meet Timothy Limpet. Unlike other trolls, Timothy is nice, polite and tidy, his cave light and dry; a rubbishy specimen is what his fellow trolls consider him. Meet Tabitha Lumpit, a noisy, messy, loopy little girl who likes nothing better than jumping into muddy puddles and making a ‘super-splashy muddy mess’, much to the consternation of her long suffering parents. When these two characters meet, they decide it’s time for operation place swap. Though initially surprised and delighted at the changes, the trolls and parents soon begin to miss the old Timothy and Tabitha. Equally Timothy and Tabitha find their new ways of being, equally dull; time for plan two – operation swap back. So, do all live happily ever after? Not only that but loopily too.
Sporting spotty clothes, and bobbly headgear, the two misfits are a delight.
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The Toucan Brothers
Tor Freeman
Macmillan pbk.
Meet the super plumbers of Tapton, Sammy and Paul. Their skill is unrivalled when it comes to plumbing problems. One day however, a new plumber arrives on the scene, one Flash Rover. He beguiles the townspeople with all his flashy gear, undercutting his toucan rivals and stealing their business. But, before long, this dodgy dealer has a flood on his hands: thanks to all his botched jobs and short cuts the entire town is awash. Then of course, it’s time to call in the real experts and sure enough the talented toucans save the day with their watery wizardry and send the dastardly dog packing to the jubilation of all Tapton’s residents. For sure he’s one dog that won’t be plying his trade there again.
The toucans’ tale truly trips off the tongue as the talented tradesmen turn near tragedy to triumph. There is talent aplenty too in Tor Freeman’s truly funny, action packed illustrations. Every spread is liberally scattered with visual jokes and dotty details. These in themselves will ensure hours of fun for young children even without an adult reader aloud to orchestrate the action.
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Russell, Grunt and Snort
Jason Chapman
Red Fox pbk.
Russell is certain there’s more to life than muddy fields and pigpens so he starts hatching a plan. A plan that involves, an upturned pigpen, some twisted hedgerow twine, some broken branches and some very tricky cliff -edge manouevering but by the following evening he and his two companions are heading off into the sunset. Well, that was what they thought. However, the world outside the farm is much more dangerous that the three pigs had anticipated especially when they start receiving ‘join us for dinner’ invitations. So will the porcine trio end up as pork chops or can they find that perfect place with all the apples and truffles they can eat after all?
The ending does seem rather abrupt but despite that there is plenty to amuse in this tale of misadventure and the illustrations are great fun; the expressions on the faces of both hunted and hunters are superb.
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Eleanor’s Eyebrows
Timothy Knapman and David Tazzyman
Simon and Schuster pbk.
Insulted at being called ‘silly, scruffy, hairy little bits of fluff!’ Eleanor’s eyebrows take off to have a life of their own in the Big Wide World, determined to find somewhere or someone appreciative. They try out various roles including being caterpillars, a magician’s moustache, woolly hand-warmers for lady beetles, tyres on a stick insect’s motorbike, even an exclamation mark on a SLOW DOWN SIGN. None however prove satisfactory. Having frightened off her own Granny, an eyebrowless Eleanor meanwhile, is realizing the error of her ways. She makes various attempts to replace her missing facial features, but to no avail. Time to think seriously about the next move for all parties concerned; time for a spot of signwriting …
All ends happily in this totally crazy tale, which is certain to make your own eyebrows do more than a little twitching. Tazzyman’s illustrations of the assorted quirky characters both human and otherwise perfectly complement the text .
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May Miscellany

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Don’t Spill the Milk!
Stephen Davies and Christopher Corr
Andersen Press
From a tiny village in Africa one rainy season, young Penda sets out to take her daddy a bowl of milk as he tends the sheep in the grasslands some distance from their home. With her mother’s words ‘Try not to spill any on the way’ ringing in her ears as she walks, bowl on her head across the dunes, through the cavorting beasties of the mask dance, crossing the River Niger aboard a fishing boat, then travelling on among the giraffes on the plains and finally up the high mountain all the while balancing the bowl perfectly without spilling a drop. Then as she approaches her dad sitting under the mango tree, disaster strikes as a fat mango drops from above, SPLOSH! spilling the milk everywhere. But all is not lost as her father explains: in that bowl there remains something even more important, Penda’s love, not to mention some juicy mango.
A riot of colour and pattern abound in this heartwarming story of determination and family love: a splendid follow-up to The Goggle-Eyed Goats.
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J&D Owl 2

Little Owl’s Orange Scarf
Tatyana Feeney
Oxford University Press
Little Owl is a creature with definite tastes: he is fond of maths, ice-cream, scooter riding and especially surprises, well usually. However, the new orange scarf lovingly knitted by his mother is one surprise he does not like at all. Despite his most determined efforts, Little Owl just cannot get rid of that long, itchy accessory until that is, his class visits the zoo from where he returns sans scarf at last. After a fruitless call to the zoo, Mummy Owl determines a new scarf is called for and this time, the joint endeavor is much more to the little owlet’s liking and just the thing to wear on return trips to the zoo.
Delightfully minimalist in style (unlike that orange scarf), this cute story has warmth to match the new soft jade green wrap-around Mummy Owl lovingly knits for her little one.
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The Book of Dreams
Shirin Adl
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
By nocturnal journeying readers are invited to enter into a whole variety of dream worlds narrated in short explanatory sentences and gloriously illustrated in Shirin Adl’s magical collage illustrations. We are transported to a jungle landscape, a perplexing riverside location, confront a dinosaur, find the ability to breathe underwater, to fly and even to gather clouds from atop a mountain. We can swing from star to star, time travel and hold dream-related conversations with animals large and small. Such exciting possibilities come in dreams of many forms if only you can remember them.
This unusual picture book offers a multitude of possibilities for discussion, art work, movement, music making and of course, for dreaming, either at home or school.
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Bubble & Squeak
James Mayhew and Clara Vulliamy
Orchard Books
With her amazing Pyramid of Peril act, Bubble the elephant is the star of Mr Magnifico’s travelling circus. People come from far and wide to see the amazing feat wherein Bubble’s balancing atop the pyramid is assisted only by her bouquet of flowers. The trouble is, being constantly on the move, Bubble never manages to make a real friend; in short, she is lonely. One night however, a tiny mouse seeking a place to shelter comes upon the circus tent and once inside, is mesmerized by Bubble’s performance. Full of admiration, he watches her night after night but hasn’t the courage to tell her; instead he stows away when the circus moves on and is eventually discovered. There follows a search, which ends when he is chased out of the big top. Fortunately he hasn’t got far when he discovers that Bubble is in terrible danger. So, being a brave little fellow he returns to save his heroine and become not only a hero but also a friend and named co-star in the famous show.
This new partnership of two already established creative talents has resulted in a charming book. Much of the charm comes from Clara Vulliamy’s retro-style illustrations in striking colours which are at once funny and tender, capturing the gentle humour and warmth of Mayhew’s tale of an unlikely friendship beautifully.
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The Hundred Decker Bus
Mike Smith
Macmillan pbk
Bored with his dull routine wherein the same people board the bus at the same place at the same time, day in day out, the bus driver decides to do something different. Rather than following his normal route he takes an alternative road, a small one he’d not noticed before. So begins an amazing adventure over days, weeks and months with the double decker bus growing ever taller as it travels over land and sea, taking on an ever-increasing number of passengers until, CLUNK! CLUNK disaster strikes and then there is only one way to go…
With an enormous fold-out page (one snag here: the perforations do tear rather easily), bright pictures packed full of interesting and amusing details, not to mention counting opportunities galore, Mike Smith’s debut offering is sure to win votes with young audiences. Long live co-operation, a sense of fun and imagination.
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The Wheels on the Bus
Jan Ormerod and Lindsey Gardiner
Oxford University Press
We start with the opening lines of the favourite song and then it’s the action off the bus rather than on it that is the focus of attention, for the bus (sporting its zebra stripes) is heading for a wildlife park. Therein we and the passengers can see (and join in the action of) springing gazelles, singing, ringing birds in the trees,  howling, yowling wolf cubs, tumbling, bouncing, baboons, splashing pouncing otters, mud-loving hippos  wallowing and rolling, dashing leaping cheetahs, trot trotting llamas, slow moving sloths beaming in the trees and last of all as the sun goes down, leaping lemurs … as the wheels of the bus just keep on turning all day long.  Despite the sleepy looking passengers on the final spread, the whole emphasis is on movement and sound; both of which young audiences will delight in joining in with.
A lovely variation on the early years favourite for nurseries and playgroups in particular, it’s great for both language and physical development.
Why not try adding a basket of musical instruments alongside and letting children choose which ones to use to represent each animal and its antics.
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