Tag Alex Field

Ava Spark: Hello I’m Here!

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Ava Spark: Hello I’m Here!
Alex Field, illustrated by Joanna Bartel
New Frontier Publishing

Ten year old Ava lives with her mum and twin sister, Flo, in London. One day she’s sent for by the deputy head of her school and Ava wonders why. She learns that she has been given a very important job. A new girl is coming from Australia (staying with her granny to start with) and Mrs Taylor wants Ava to be her buddy and show her around and generally make her feel comfortable in her new surroundings when she starts school the following day.

Ava, who uses a wheel chair and speaks by means of a communication aid she calls Swiftie, is concerned these may prove problematic to her befriending the new girl. To help matters, she decides to give Swiftie an Australian accent, which gets the approval of Mrs Taylor.

After school Ava’s best friend Jack comes round to her home clutching a toy koala bear, saying it’s for Liv, which surprises Ava who thinks they’re a bit old for such toys but doesn’t actually say so. She suggests they should think of something special to do with Liv, and Flo suggests it should be on the upcoming Sports Day. They agree to make two teams, England and Australia to make Liv feel at home. Jack says they can use the koala as a mascot for the Australian team if they kit it out in the appropriate colours – green and gold, maybe having made a trip to the charity shop to find something suitable.

After school Liv is invited to Ava’s house and to their surprise she comes and Sports Day is one of the topics they talk about. Clearly organising the event will take a fair bit of work, particularly who should be in which team. Eventually they sort it out, but will it all go to plan and most important will Liv have a good time?

A warm=hearted celebration of family, friendship and being yourself that shows the importance of communication by whatever means is appropriate for you.

Mr Darcy and the Christmas Pudding / Santa’s Tight Squeeze

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Here are a couple of Christmas treats from New Frontier Publishing both written by Alex Field

Mr Darcy and the Christmas Pudding
Alex Field and Peter Carnavas
New Frontier Publishing

Another delightful episode in the life of duck, Mr Darcy and his friends, this time with a seasonal feel.

It’s ‘Stir-up Sunday’ (the day five weeks before the big day, so the final note explains, when the Christmas pudding is traditionally made). Mr D. is busy with Christmas preparations at Pemberley Park.

Having saved his friend Maria from the clutches of Mr Collins the cat, he takes her indoors just before the rest of his friends arrive to help make the pudding.

While they are busy so doing who should appear at the window but Mr Collins looking wan and chilly. Mr Darcy’s reaction is to close the curtains and carry on with the stirring once more.

The sweet, kind Lizzy however causes Mr Darcy to have a change of heart and Mr Collins is allowed in to help with the stirring, till wishes and all, the mix is just perfect.

Come Christmas Day everyone gathers to share in the Pemberley hospitality and all’s right with the world.

Alex Field’s text is as always, wonderfully whimsical and combined with Peter Carnavas’ enchanting illustrations, makes for an enormously enjoyable, thought provoking festive read aloud.
From the same author comes:

Santa’s Tight Squeeze
Alex Field and Karen Erasmus
New Frontier Publishing

As Santa whizzes around the world (love his flying goggles) on his Christmas Eve round, the offerings left by various hopefuls cause his girth to increase considerably.

So much so that well before he’s finished his task, he knows that all his treat eating has to cease: instead he gives the goodies to his reindeers.

Not all of them however, for he saves some for his elves as a thank you for their labours. Then back beside his fire, it’s time for him to tuck into a rather sizeable slice of Christmas cake.

Karen Erasmus’ mixed media illustrations provide the perfect degree of humour to this enjoyable story.

Just right to share with little ones before a sing-along to the nursery favourite ‘When Santa got stuck up the chimney’.

I Wrote You A Note / Mr Darcy

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I Wrote You A Note
Lizi Boyd
Chronicle Books
Herein we follow the journey of a note written by a little girl sitting beside a stream, as it travels from her hands until it finally finds its way to the intended recipient.
During its journey the note becomes briefly, a sail for Turtle’s raft; a resting place for some baby ducklings; a bridge for Spider.

Bird then uses it as nesting material; it’s discovered by a restless squirrel; Snail mistakes it for a house; Mouse fashions it into a sunhat;

Rabbit makes a basket from it; Dragonfly rests beneath it; Goat – well he can’t read so abandons it in favour of grass.
Finally the wind whisks the paper skywards dropping it in just the right place for a friend to find. But what does the note say? Aah! You’ll need to get hold of a copy of this enchanting book to discover that.
This is a lovely, rhythmic read aloud with some natural sounding repetition and gentle humour throughout. Lizi Boyd’s gouache illustrations are enchanting. They, along with the stream, seem to flow across the pages as the note makes it journey; and the sender is, all the while, exploring and interacting with the natural world around her. It’s absolute delight from cover to cover, with text and illustrations working so perfectly together.

Mr Darcy
Alex Field and Peter Carnavas
New Frontier Publishing
Meet Mr Darcy, a genteel, refined and shy character living alone on the edge of Pemberley Park. One day he receives an invitation to tea from Lizzy and her sisters who live in an ordinary park. Seemingly considering himself a cut above such creatures, Mr D. tosses the invitation aside

and goes on his way, cutting short the sisters as he passes by.
The following day, Mr Darcy embarrasses himself by crashing right into a tree while endeavouring to ignore Lizzy, and then suffers another disaster of a very messy kind.

Once again its Lizzy together with several others, including Mr Bingley who, despite Mr Darcy’s rudeness, come to his aid.
Grateful for his assistance, Mr Darcy decides after all to accept the invitation to tea and once there, he feels ‘quite loved and not alone at all.’
If any of this sounds familiar, then it’s because the author, a Jane Austen lover, chose to create this rather softer character in her reimagined Pride and Prejudice for young children with its basic plot, main characters and settings remaining intact. Alex Field’s charming tale about shyness, encouragement and the joys of friendship, demonstrates beautifully how easy it is for shyness to come across as rudeness. It’s made all the more enjoyable by Peter Carnavas’s gently humorous, painterly portrayal of the characters.

I’ve signed the charter