Tag Charlotte Voake

Granny and Bean

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Granny and Bean
Karen Hesse and Charlotte Voake
Walker Books

Granny and Bean are out walking on the beach: the sea and the sky are dreary shades of grey and beige, but Granny and Bean are undeterred. Suitably clad in raincoats, warm hats, and boots, the pair make their way along the beach, enjoying their time together. Nothing is going to stop these two making the most of their time together. ‘Their laughter rose. Full of joy, it spilled / ‘cross sand, through mist, / as the curlews trilled.’ As they watch the spotted gulls,

so strong is the wind that their hats are blown off, their hair gets progressively wetter and their ‘cheeks chafed red’.

Still they keep walking, only pausing briefly to greet dogs, slowing while Bean jumps over logs until eventually they find a place out of the way of the wildness and there they stop and sit. Time for some tea: bananas and cakes come out of the bag Granny has brought with her. Then they sort through the things they’ve collected during their walk

and keeping only the best shells and a stone, with the sun trying to break through the clouds, the two head for home.

Karen Hesse’s rhyming text has the ideal complement in Charlotte Voake’s mixed media illustrations, which capture both the chill beauty of the natural environment and the tender, loving bond between grandparent and young child. I love the way the stand-out colours of their clothing helps to focus the reader’s attention on their faces and body language throughout.

Memories are made of days such as this; days spent in the natural world. From endpaper to endpaper, a gently magical book to share over and over, especially between grandparents and grandchildren.

Some Dinosaurs are Small

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Some Dinosaurs are Small
Charlotte Voake
Walker Books

Can you EVER have too many dinosaur books? Definitely not if one of them is this, the latest offering from Charlotte Voake.

Charlotte weaves opposites – big/small, fast/slow, flat/pointy, (as well as showing both carnivorous and herbivorous creatures), into an exciting and amusing picture book story where the action and feelings are shown in the art, while the words are pretty much descriptive: it’s the amalgam of the two that makes this book such a tasty offering.

It begins with one very small dinosaur foraging for fruit which goes into a basket.

Lurking in the background are some BIG, sharp-clawed, pointy toothed dinosaurs with their eyes on a tasty snack or two. And seemingly these speedy movers are never satisfied …

While the confrontational drama is taking place between the marauders and one ENORMOUS dino.

little humans will be relieved to see the little dinosaur has found a safe place to withdraw from the action before embarking on some further foraging, which is shown on the final endpapers.

Terrific fun with thrills aplenty, early years audiences will find this irresistible and, like those big hungry dinosaurs, are bound to demand second or even third helpings …

The Things That I Love about Trees

jillrbennett Leave a comment

The Things That I Love about Trees
Chris Butterworth and Charlotte Voake
Walker Books

As I write this the trees all around are bursting forth with blossoms and new leaves; it’s just like the little girl in this arboreal tribute says as she leaves her house and sallies forth, ‘… changes begin. There are buds, like beads getting bigger on the branches…’. I’ve yet to see trees ‘buzzing with bees’ like the plum tree mentioned, ’but I know it will soon be so.

The child goes on to talk about the beauty of trees through the other seasons: in summer it’s the sheer enormity that impresses her, that and the shade they offer as well as the swishing sound that brings to mind the sea,

and the tiny green plums that are beginning to form.

Come autumn, the striking thing is the colour change to yellow, orange and red; the ripe fruits and seeds that feed the birds and animals.

As the leaves are tossed by the wind and fall you might even, like the girl catch one and make a wish.

Trees are lovely too in winter when they’re stripped of their leaves you can see all the way up to the topmost branches as everything is in its resting phase just waiting for the cycle to begin all over again, as we know it will.

The final spread has some suggestions for tree related things to do.

Walker Books do natural history for very young children beautifully and this book is no exception. Chris Butterworth’s main narrative is supplemented with small print that gives additional tree facts, which can be read alongside or after the child’s descriptions.
Rendered in watercolour and outlined in thick black ink lines, Charlotte Voake’s trees are absolutely superb; your fingers itch to touch the wonderful bark of the oak and make sure you check out the lovely leafy endpapers.

I’ve signed the charter  

Showing and Sharing Love

jillrbennett Leave a comment

DSCN5563 (800x600)

Say It!
Charlotte Zolotow and Charlotte Voake
Walker Books
A small girl and her mother walk together enjoying ’a golden windy autumn day.’ “Say it,” urges the child as she clutches a leaf.
“It’s a wild, wondrous, dazzling day,” comes the response and they move on encountering a little black cat

DSCN5564 (800x600)

and then pausing beside a pond: ‘and the trees in the pond shivered into a million zigzagging streaks of colour.’ – What wonderful images Zolotow conjures. The mother describes it as …”a golden, shining, splendiferous day!” But that’s not what the little girl wants to hear either.
Neither the amber-eyed, leaping dog nor the fluffy floating seeds …

DSCN5565 (800x600)

can illicit the longed-for words – what a tease that mother is – and eventually after an affecting walk they approach home once more and the little girl is finally rewarded for her persistence …

DSCN5566 (800x600)

Zolotow’s uplifting poetic text (originally written well over thirty years ago) has the perfect complement in Charlotte Voake’s warm pen-and-ink and watercolour illustrations. The scenes are alive with autumn colours and the tenderness that so evidently exists between mother and daughter.
An appealing and engaging autumnal book for sure, but equally one that might be shared around Mother’s Day or to illicit discussion about showing rather than telling (in this instance in relation to parental love).

The special love shared between grandparents and grandchildren is simply and beautifully explored in:

 

DSCN5567 (800x600)

I Love My Granny
Giles Andrea and Emma Dodd
Orchard Books
The toddler narrator shares the delights of a day spent with granny – ‘She’s like a mum, but unlike mine, she seems to have just loads of time.’ It’s a day that can be spent close to home or going out for special treats …

DSCN5569 (800x600)

It might hold exciting adventures or baking yummy things …

DSCN5570 (800x600)

but no matter what, a day spent in the company of a granny is sure to be full of fun and warmth. Both of which are captured delightfully in Giles Andrea’s rhyming text and Emma Dodd’s affectionate scenes.

Use your local bookshop         localbookshops_NameImage-2

Grissel Hunting, Unsuitable Pets and a Dragon Quest

jillrbennett Leave a comment

devon 022 (800x600)

Daniel reading the story to his mum

Beetle and Bug and the Grissel Hunt
Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura
Andersen Press pbk
Some people go hunting for rarely seen animals: Beetle and Bug decide to hunt for the never before seen, Green-Spotted Grissel but then they do have a magic rug that can carry them through the air and sea. First stop is the ocean depths where they spy something red and promising looking. Up close however, despite bright green dots and ‘terribly Grisselly wiggles and loops’, the forked tail is a giveway – “IT’S A MAWK!” cries Bug.

bob & flo 008 (800x600)

Off they go again, into space this time (having first donned suitable gear and taken on some air). Suddenly Beetle spies something on an asteroid, something prickly and spiny, something with peculiar curves and lines just like a Grissel. A close encounter reveals a distinct lack of green spots and the thing doesn’t seem at all friendly – time to beat a hasty retreat guys. Back home they go, more than ready for a bite to eat. But what should they find lurking in their fridge – oh no! the dreaded G-NUZZLER and what’s worse, the creature has demolished every single morsel therein.
Hungry and Grisselless the pair go off to bed. Tomorrow is another day and tomorrow’s hunt? ‘SOMETHING TO EAT’
Completely crazy, this wildly offbeat story is such fun to read aloud, provided you can keep up the breath-taking pace of Hiawyn Oram’s somewhat Lear-like rhyming saga. Don’t go too fast though; children will want plenty of time to explore Kitamura’s wacky, surreal collage illustrations.

pets 006 (800x600)

Melissa’s Octopus and other Unsuitable Pets
Charlotte Voake
Walker Books
Pets of all shapes and sizes inhabit Charlotte Voake’s latest offering. There is Betty’s disappearing chameleon, Arthur’s willful warthog,

pets 008 (800x600)

Simon’s well-behaved worm and Caroline’s gentle giraffe to name just a few;
but watch out for Kevin and Bertrand’s new pet with its long tail, huge jaws and ‘glittering teeth’. Despite his smile, he might just be the most unsuitable of all …

pets 010 (800x600)

A lovely playful book. Owners and pets alike are portrayed in lively, humorous pen and watercolour illustrations; and how refreshing to have the text printed in red on a grey background almost throughout.

pets 004 (800x600)

The Moon Dragons
Dyan Sheldon and Gary Blythe
Andersen Press
‘Long ago, when even trees had dreams, moon dragons flew through the night sky. Their scales shone silver as stars and they filled the dark with songs as old as time.’ This is the tale a traveller tells to a king, but he also tells him that a few such dragons still hide high up atop a distant mountain. The king offers a room full of gold to anyone who brings him one. From far and wide come all manner of men but none succeeds in the dragon quest. Then comes young Alina, a peasant girl from the foot of the mountain who had heard of said dragons from her grandmother and had them visit her dreams too. Despite the king’s scorn, she is determined to seek out the dragons and off she sets with her head full of long ago songs. Finally she discovers what she seeks

pets 005 (800x600)

but does she take the king his dragon? Read the ending yourself to discover the answer to this magical story.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch