Tag Christiane Engel

Body Detective!

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Body Detective!
Janet Krauthamer and Christiane Engel
Barefoot Books

Written by an occupational therapist, this board book presents interoception to very young children. It’s important for little ones to be able to know and name what they are feeling: to that end author Janet Krauthamer and illustrator Christiane Engel use clear explanations, bright illustrations with flaps to lift, tabs to pull and mindful actions.

A playful, interactive, fun learning exploration of the human body’s signals: little ones will enjoy being body detectives and learning by means of descriptive language that for example, a dry, sticky mouth and lips are signals from the body that the person is thirsty and need to drink water. Chattering teeth and goosebumps on the skin are body signals indicating a person is feeling cold.

The last two spreads provide more information about interoception, and relevant body parts and describing words including discombobulated – now there’s a great word for tinies to use.

Use at home and in an early years setting for promoting health and well-being.

Wildlife Crossings

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Wildlife Crossings
Catherine Barr and Christiane Engel
Otter-BarryBooks

Human activity has an ever increasing impact upon the natural environment. Deforestation, agricultural expansion and urban development all have adverse consequences for the animals with whom we share our planet. This book looks at some examples of how this disruption is being ameliorated by taking positive action.
Catherine Barr allows readers to track the journeys of seven animals in different parts of the world and discover how ‘wildlife corridors’, together with education programs, are enabling precious wild creatures to survive. The first destination is India, in particular an area where the ancient paths elephants follow to find food and water are blocked by roads and railway tracks, so in order to facilitate their migration, elephant wildlife corridors have been created. Solar powered electric fences help keep the elephants out of crops that are important for the local village people who inform one another when the elephants are on the move.

UK readers may be aware of the disastrous decline in the hedgehog population but thanks to the work of the the UK Hedgehog Street campaign especially, Hedgehog Highways, people have been encouraged to leave holes in their fences to allow hedgehogs safe free passage as well as to create hedgehog friendly spaces in their gardens.

Bird migration flyways around the world with wetland stopovers, aerial bridges to help gibbons across forest gaps in China, fish ladders for migrating salmon to pass dams and weirs,

bear bridges across busy highways in Canada and cougar crossings in the USA are the other examples featured. Each one is allocated two double spreads where Catherine’s words are integrated into Christiane Engel’s detailed scenes of each location, one presenting the problems the second, how they are being solved. A final spread gives brief illustrated paragraphs about seven other animals whose ancient paths have been disrupted.

A book to raise awareness among children who one hopes, will find ways to support the vital work being done. Highly recommended for primary school collections.

Water: Protect Freshwater to Save Life on Earth

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Water: Protect Freshwater to Save Life on Earth
Catherine Barr and Christiane Engel
Otter-Barry Books

I was surprised to learn from this absorbing book that despite 70% of the Earth’s surface being covered by water only 3% of all of that is freshwater, most of it existing in polar ice sheets. These because of global warming, are starting to melt at an alarming rate.

Having given readers that information and more in the opening pages of this book, author Catherine Barr presents eleven further spreads, illustrated with lots of detail by Christiane Engel. These look at a variety of topics including the water cycle, freshwater habitats (some of the Earth’s most endangered environments); water power (the pros and cons); the impact of climate change on farming; the importance of careful usage of freshwater (there’s mention of the impact of large companies using more than their fair share of this precious resource).

It’s alarming to read the way in which polluted water – 80% of Earth’s wastewater – is adversely affecting freshwater habitats, killing wildlife and poisoning drinking water.

Of the final three topics: one explains that despite many women and girls still having to walk considerable distances from their village homes to access water, the provision of pumps and taps close to where they live is enabling girls living in some sub-Saharan African villages to go to school regularly and giving their mothers time to work.

Another calls on humanity to act now to protect vital freshwater; and this is followed by a look at some of the ways readers can use water judiciously: Take action to shrink your water footprint! urges the author. If those of us fortunate enough to have ready supplies of water at the turn of a tap followed the suggestions perhaps we can still make that all important difference in what is the UN’s Water Action Decade (2018-2028).

Maths, Manipulations and Mindfulness

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5 Wild Numbers
Bella Gomez
Words & Pictures

Vibrant scenes of jungle animals introduce counting and the numerals 1 to 5 in this chunky book.
The thick sturdy pages accommodate a die-cut numeral on each spread with a sliding disc so that small fingers can follow the arrows, move the disc and trace the numeral for ‘One fierce tiger’, ‘Two stripy zebras’, ‘Three parrots’, ‘Four long-tailed monkeys’ and ‘Five pink flamingos’.

The rhyming text introduces exciting words such as ‘paces and snarls’ for the tiger; ‘laze’ and ‘scorching days ‘ for the zebras and even metaphorical language – ‘ their feathers shining bright as jewels’

A fair bit of pressure is needed to move the discs so in my view the value of this activity lies in helping develop fine motor skills but is of limited help in learning to form the numerals.

Shapes Colours Numbers
Dario Zeruto
Words & Pictures

This is a wordless, (apart from the initial ‘How many shapes and colours can you find?) simple, yet ingenious, chunky book that as it unfolds, encourages youngsters to find out about 2D shapes and colours, and do some counting along the way as they explore a series of gatefold flaps.

Playful, engrossing and educational, and all based on five colours, squares, triangles, rectangles, circles and diamonds.

Touch Think Learn Wiggles
Claire Zucchelli-Romer
Chronicle Books

An engaging rhythmic text, inspired perhaps by Hervé Tullet, urges young children to use their wiggly fingers to dance on each spread as they trace shapes, tap and hop, slide up and down, follow circle outlines, zigzags, and spirals as the text is read aloud.

The text is upbeat and playful, the shapes cut out in fluorescent green, pink, or yellow are attractive and inviting but the white type against pale blue pages less satisfying that the brighter shade of blue used for the cover.

ABC Mindful Me
Christiane Engel
Walter Foster Jr.

Mindfulness – paying attention to the present moment, or being in the here and now – is very much in vogue at the moment, with schools adding it to their daily programme, often sadly, tacked on as an optional after school extra rather than it being part and parcel of the curriculum.

Christiane Engel’s sturdy large format board book could help integrate it into the foundation stage curriculum at least. She takes us on a journey through the alphabet linking each letter to an activity – walk, yoga, breathe for example, or a state of mind or concept –awareness, giving, joy or thankfulness.
The rhyming text talks directly to the child and the illustrations are attractive and inclusive.

The book concludes with some creative ideas related to the book’s overall theme.

If you think young children need help to be mindful then this will be useful: I know from experience that if left to their own devices, preschool children naturally reach a state of mindfulness; adults just need to step back – it’s they, rather than children who need a book such as this.