Just Like Me! & A Handful of Playful Board Books

April 28, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

Just Like Me!
Joshua Seigal and Amélie Falière
Flying Eye Books
A joyful spin off from the favourite nursery game ‘Everybody Do This’ populated by adorably playful animals, a hairy, sluggy-looking quadruped, and one small girl, that simply cries out to be joined in with. There are instructions to ‘suck your thumbs’; ‘rub your tums’; ‘lick your lips’;

‘shake your hips’, ‘spin around’; ‘touch the ground’

and ‘stretch up high’.
I’m pretty sure your ‘littles’ still have plenty of oomph left to enjoy flapping their arms and trying to fly, tapping their toes, nose picking – not much energy required for that but the instruction will be greeted with relish; and then comes a final leap before snuggling down for a little nap zzzz …
If this book doesn’t fill your nursery group with exhilaration, then nothing will.
Perfect for letting off steam; but equally so for beginning readers.

Peek-a-Boo What?
Elliot Kreloff
Sterling Children’s Books
This title from the ‘Begin Smart’ series is just right for a game of peek-a-boo with a baby. Its rhyming text, bold, bright collage style, patterned artwork and die-cut peep holes, introduce in a playful manner some animals, a chain of rhyming words – boo, two, blue, shoe, moo, zoo and who’. Irresistible delight; and there’s even a ‘Dear Parents’ introduction explaining the rationale behind the game/book’s design.

What Do You Wear?
Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books
Taro Gomi takes a playful look at the outermost layer of various animals including penguin’s classic suit, snake’s snug stocking – striped in this instance, and goldfish’s patterned ‘skirt’ …

Although perhaps the metaphors will go over the heads of toddlers, they will delight in the sheer silliness of animals supposedly wearing clothes; and sight of the small boy in his nuddies. Slightly older, beginning reader siblings can enjoy sharing the book with their younger brothers or sisters too and share in the whole joke.

Welcome to Pat-a-Cake Books, a new Hachette Children’s Group imprint focusing on the years from babyhood to preschool. Here are two of its first titles, both board books:

On the Move
illustrated by Mojca Dolinar
This is one of the ‘First Baby Days’ series and aims to stimulate a baby’s vision ‘with pull-tabs to help … focus’. With a carefully chosen, high contrast, colour palette, a sequence of animals – using different modes of transport – cars, a train, a space rocket, an air balloon, and a boat is illustrated. Every spread is beautifully patterned; the illustrations stand out clearly; there are transport sounds to encourage baby participation and of course, the sturdy pull-outs to enjoy.

Colours
illustrated by Villie Karabatzia
This title introduces the ‘Toddler’s World’ Talkative Toddler series with colour spreads for red, blue, orange, yellow, green, pink, brown, purple, grey, black and white; and then finally comes a multi-coloured fold-out spread with an invitation to name all the colours thereon. Each colour spread has at least nine labelled items and patterned side borders.
Each book is sturdily constructed to stand up to the enthusiastic handling it’s likely to get.

Bedtime with Ted
Sophy Henn
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
This is one of a pair of enchanting, lift-the-flap board books from the amazing Sophy Henn. Herein the utterly adorable toddler fends off shouts of “Bedtime, Ted!” with a chain of wonderful deferral tactics: sploshing in the bath with flappy penguins; brushing “teeth with a snappy crocodile”; slurping milk with a big, stripy tiger; jumping “out the fidgets like a bouncy kangaroo”. Then it seems, young Ted is finally ready to bed down – along with a few snuggly pals of course.
Perfect bedtime sharing; make sure your toddler is already in bed first though …
Ted himself is a tiny tour-de-force.
The companion book is:
Playtime with Ted
Herein the little lad uses a cardboard box for all kinds of creative uses: racing car, digger, submarine, train; and space rocket bound for the moon – whoosh! And after all this imaginative play, he’ll make sure he’s back in time for his tea. Play is hard, appetite-stimulating work after all. Two must haves for your toddler’s collection.

I’ve signed the charter

A Nest is Noisy / Secrets of Our Earth / Secrets of Animal Camouflage

April 21, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

A Nest is Noisy
Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books
Full of fascinating information, poetically presented, (like its companion titles from this super-talented duo) is this rivetingly illustrated look at the irresistible world of nests. Who could resist Dianna Hutts Aston’s opening ‘ … it’s a nursery of chirp-chirping … (Ruby-throated Hummingbird) buzzing … (honeybees) squeaking … (American Alligator) peep-peeping … (Fox Squirrel) bubbling babies (Gourami)’ …

Did you know for instance that the world’s smallest nest – that of the bee hummingbird – is golf-ball sized and normally wrapped in spider’s silk, the stretchiness of which allows the nest to expand as the babies increase in size?
Or, that orang-utans braid beds of strong branches high up in the rainforest canopy and on rainy nights a woven umbrella of leaves keeps them dry? I certainly didn’t, nor was I aware that lampreys make underwater nests from pebbles varying in size from a pea to a base-ball; and that the temperature of an alligator’s nest determines the sex of the baby alligators.
A splendid introduction to a captivating topic, this is sure to inspire awe and wonder at nature’s creativity while at the same time prompting children to revisit its contents over and over.

Secrets of Our Earth
Carron Brown and Wesley Robins
Ivy Kids
A recent addition to the cleverly conceived Shine-a-Light series of non-fiction titles that makes reading all the more exciting as you need a torch or flashlight, in this instance, to reveal the secrets of our earth from the outside in.
Readers are shown topographical features such as mountains …

and volcanoes, rivers and oceans, deserts and grasslands, rainforests and even cities: Holding the light behind the page gives a behind-the-scenes look at each destination.
Just the thing for Early Years and KS1 topic boxes and ideal for those youngsters who prefer to read information books. Build your topical role play area, then place the book strategically inside with a large torch and see what happens.
Other titles in the series include:
Secrets of Animal Camouflage
Carron Brown and Wesley Robins
Ivy Kids
This is another one of the series. Here you need your torch or flashlight to reveal the hidden world of arachnids, stick insects, Bengal tigers, tree-trunk hiding owls, amazingly camouflaged butterflies and more. Each of these creatures and others are hiding in plain sight in its natural habitat and by holding a light behind the page the camouflaged animal is revealed.

A clever and fascinating, interactive introduction to the vital topic of adaptation made all the more so by Robins’ alluring art work.

On the Plane
Carron Brown and Bee Johnson
This one features everything airport-related from the airline staff at the check-in desk to the pilots who, with the help of a computer, fly the planes.
This is one to read just before that first flight, or next trip.
The Human Body
Carron Brown and Rachael Saunders
This takes readers below the skin to see the skeleton and muscles, and then resurfaces to look at skin patterns, before going internal again to find out about the respiratory system, the nervous system, digestion, excretion, teeth, reproduction and more.
It’s almost a case of whatever topic happens to be your focus, there’s one of these books to illuminate it. Perfect for inquiring minds and show me a young child that doesn’t have one of those.

I’ve signed the charter

One Happy Tiger/ Colours: A Walk in the Countryside / My Little Cities: London

April 9, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

One Happy Tiger
Catherine Rayner
Little Tiger Press
What a delight to have Augustus back and between the sturdy covers of a wonderful board book. Everything about this is splendid from the look and feel of that cover through to Augustus’s sublime smile as he watches the movements of his ten friends on the final spread.
In between, he starts off sitting alone and then we see a sequence of encounters with 2 bugs (beetles I think); 3 birds with bright plumage; 4 ‘floating butterflies’;

5 dragonflies hover above his head. Augustus then bounds off leaving 6 large footprints and moves through a rain shower dancing with 7 ‘plump raindrops’ …

relaxes to watch 8 bees; splashes into the pool to tease 9 fish before clambering out to dry off in the sun and greet his friends all together.
This is a board book, (based Catherine Rayner’s Augustus and His Smile), that looks, apart from its sturdy card pages like a real picture book; and its shape is truly satisfying too. Adults will get as much pleasure as the toddlers they share this one with.

Colours: A walk in the countryside
Rosalind Beardshaw
Nosy Crow
Published in collaboration with the National Trust, this is another delightful countryside walk wherein readers accompany two toddlers on a joyful nature ramble; this time, it’s colour-related. We join the children as they exuberantly run down a slope surrounded by green – look closely and you’ll see a cricket and a butterfly on the plants. They stop to observe a ladybird on a grass stem in a poppyfield; then notice an orange-tip butterfly by a stone wall; a group of ants attracts the attention of the boy while the girl views a black bird through her binoculars. Their walk continues apace till picnic time, when they have a snack before moving on, all the while keeping their eyes open for interesting sightings such as …

A veritable paintbox of twelve colours and an entire rainbow are part and parcel of their rural ramblings. Awe and wonder for tinies: if this doesn’t inspire an adult to take their young infant out into the countryside on an observation walk, which may or may not mirror that of the children in this lovely little book, I’d be very surprised.

My Little Cities London
Jennifer Adams and Greg Pizzoli
Chronicle Books
Board the bus and take a tour of London. Ten of its famous landmarks are featured in this board book although none is named until the final spread whereon there is a ‘cast in order of appearance’ style briefing about each one depicted. The whole thing is beautifully presented, the text being in rhyming couplets; and the font changes on each spread.

Concepts such as new/old, many/few, soft/hard (rain) are introduced in relation to The Tower of London, the Shard, Trafalgar Square (many pigeons), the Natural History Museum (few dinosaur skeletons), and the two final spreads show wonderful illuminations – the London Eye

and Big Ben – against the night sky.
Altogether a class act, with so much to see and so much to talk about: that’s London. Author, Adams, and illustrator, Pizzoli, have, for toddlers, done it proud.

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A Farm Visit, An Egg Hunt Activity Book & Masha and her Sisters

April 4, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Look and Say What You See in the Farm
Sebastien Braun
Nosy Crow
Published in partnership with the National Trust, this book with its thick pages presents us with thirteen farm scenes going right through the year from early spring when there’s an abundance of lambs in the fields, little chicks have been born and there are calves needing their share of milk …

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Back outside at the pond, ducklings and goslings are learning to swim and tadpoles wiggle and waggle their tails. In summer, there is an abundance of insects, wild animals and wild flowers; their presence enriches the farm and some weeks later, it is time for the collecting of yummy vegetables .

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Autumn brings the wheat harvest, pumpkins aplenty and in the orchard, the apples are ripe and ready for picking, so too the pears.. Mmm!
Winter sees the animals snuggling in the warm barn with the door firmly shut against the cold.
Every spread has a strip along the bottom asking readers, ‘What can you see … ? with nine items to search for in the large scene above. Perfect for developing visual literacy, for encouraging storying; and, it’s lots of fun.
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We’re going on an Egg Hunt Activity Book
illustrated by Laura Hughes
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
The bunnies from last year’s We’re Going on an Egg Hunt picture book return inviting youngsters to participate in a variety of activities including matching shadows to images, egg decorating, spot the difference, a word search and much more. The centre spread has beautiful stickers with which to adorn the pages as instructed – or otherwise if you’re divergent. I suspect some children won’t want to cut out the triangular shapes to make the bunting, especially as there’s a game of hide and seek with the bunnies and a follow the path game on the reverse sides; if so, I’d suggest copying the spread or drawing your own triangles to decorate. These are just some of the games in this attractive book, made all the more delightful by Laura Hughes’ cute bunnies. Just right for Easter.

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Masha and Her Sisters
Suzy Ultman
Chronicle Books
This is a retro delight: a maryoshka doll-shaped board book that, once the cover is lifted, opens downwards to reveal, one by one, five dolls, the first being the smallest. Flip that page down and a slightly larger sister is revealed and so on. First we meet Natasha, the storyteller, then nature lover, Galya; Olya is the chef, Larisa, the performer and finally, Masha who is the collector. The body of each is decorated – front and back – with objects related to their special interest. Thus for instance, Galya has fauna, trees and a tent;

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Olya the chef has herbs, mixing bowls and kitchen tools. Innovative, charming and near enough egg-shaped to make an Easter treat for a small child.

Over and Under the Pond

March 29, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Over and Under the Pond
Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal
Chronicle Books
In this follow-up to Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt we join a mother and child as they take an evening row across the pond :‘Over the pond we slide, splashing through lily pads, sweeping through reeds.’ The boy narrates using a beautifully attentive, almost meditative voice that immediately connects us to the watery setting: ‘The water’s a mirror, reflecting the sky, /Sunshine and clouds – then a shadow below.’
Unhurriedly, the pond reveals its riches, both hidden and more clearly visible, as the two people in their craft skim, ‘lift and dart and pull past a row of painted turtles on a waterlogged tree‘ …

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On they go, with occasional help from the wind, passing a great blue heron about to dive for minnows, a woodpecker clinging to a ‘teetering pine, digging for ants.’;

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dragonflies skim the water’s surface below which dragonfly larvae seize passing minnows in their jaws. How skilfully, occasionally using onomatopoeic phrases such as ‘splash – gurgle – splosh!’ ‘to heighten the dramatic effect, author, Kate Messner, reflects that way young children can be ‘in the moment’ excluding all else as they immerse themselves in the here and now.

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Gradually the shadows engulf the scene as dusky darkness falls over the pond and it’s time to return ‘swish – bump!’ to the shore and home, leaving nature still watching and waiting …
Neal’s richly hued, mixed media illustrations show us the pond from every possible perspective both above and below causing readers, like the rowers, to pause and linger over every scene, taking in its stark beauty.
In the final spreads, the author provides notes about some of the fauna inhabiting the pond, especially useful for readers in the UK who may not be familiar with all of them. A book to inspire, enthuse and send readers (accompanied by an adult) out into the wonderful natural world to find out for themselves what lies Over and Under the Pond.

Museums and Machines

March 26, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

A Funny Thing Happened at the Museum
Davide Cali and Benjamin Chaud
Chronicle Books
The terrific twosome of The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School fame have combined forces in another zany Henry adventure; and as always he is accompanied by his dachshund pal. This time the protagonist is put on the spot by a question about the class trip to a museum. The lad seems to have been rather tardy in his arrival at said museum and consequently undertaken his own explorations therein. Whether he, or the exhibits were more entertained, one can only imagine. He supposedly got up to all manner of unlikely activities: balloon sculpting for the Neanderthals,

and there was certainly plenty to feast his eyes on. A T.Rex for instance, sculptures, a great whale and a woolly mammoth, lots of paintings –

some abstract art requiring the odd finishing touch here and there, and the museum’s storage facilities needing a bit of reorganisation.
See how many art references you can spot …that dachshund portrait does appear to bear more than a passing resemblance to the famous Mona Lisa. And yes, Henry does eventually catch up with the rest of his class, albeit by some rather risky means.
Pretty off-the-wall stuff; but those who have enjoyed the previous flights of fancy delivered by Cali and Chaud will certainly find plenty to amuse herein.

Winnie and Wilbur Gadgets Galore
Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
Oxford University Press
This bumper book of three, re-named, previously published titles featuring the much-loved duo, Winnie and Wilbur in Space, Winnie’s New Computer and Winnie and the Big Bad Robot will surely appeal to those of a mechanical bent.
The first sees the pair hurtling skywards in a rocket and discovering the ‘Purrfect” picnic spot, then having their picnic invaded by a horde of hungry space rabbits. The odd swish of her magic wand produces the ideal fare for the bouncing bunnies; but the voracious consumption of their favourite metallic meal leads to the visitors being without any means of getting back home. Can Winnie’s wand save the day once again?
You’d think after all that excitement in previous adventures involving machines, now renamed for this compilation, Winnie would have learned to stay clear; but her first foray, that involving a misunderstanding on Wilbur’s part, the scanning of her spell books into her computer and a mal-functioning mouse – Wilbur’s doing; and the second, an extremely unfortunate experience with the robot constructed by Winnie in her weekly creativity class at the local library, didn’t deter her at all. Hence her ‘big adventure’ in space.
The magic still holds good, no matter how the stories are packaged.

I’ve signed the charter

Counting with Tiny Cat / The Fox Wish

March 15, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

Counting with Tiny Cat
Viviane Schwarz
Walker Books
Tiny Cat is an energetic bundle of mischief with a particular penchant for red wool. At the outset there isn’t any but then yippee! A ball of the red stuff rolls right along. That quickly becomes TWO! THREE! FOUR! Which is all the creature can really juggle; but still they keep coming.

Clearly Tiny Cat’s counting skills have yet to develop further, though oddly the feline’s vocabulary encompasses ‘ABOUT A DOZEN– emphasis on the about here I should add.

Still though, the creature’s appetite for the red stuff isn’t satisfied: ‘LOTS’ leads to a very greedy ‘AS MANY AS YOU CAN GET’ but even that isn’t sufficient. SOME EXTRA gives way to …

Will the frisky thing ever realise that enough is enough?
A wonderful visual comedy with a delightfully playful star: Tiny Cat most definitely commands the performance, and viewers will definitely demand instant encores.

The Fox Wish
Kimiko Aman and Komako Sakai
Chronicle Books
A small girl – the narrator – and her younger brother return to the playground in search of the skipping rope left behind earlier. There’s no sign of their rope but they follow some sounds of laughter and in the clearing, come upon, not the friends they’d anticipated. but a group of foxes enjoying a skipping game.

“Doxy, foxy, / touch the ground. / Doxy, foxy, / turn around. / Turn to the east, / and turn to the west, / and choose the one that / you like best.”
The children decide the foxes are less adept skippers than they on account of their tails and Luke lets out a giggle. Fortunately the foxes aren’t offended: instead they approach the children and ask for some coaching. Soon animals and humans are playing together happily, taking turns to hold the rope ends. When the little girl’s turn comes to do so, she notices the name, painted on the handle.

It’s her name, but also happens to be that of one of the foxes; and, the little creature has assumed it now belongs to her because of a wish she’d made.
Does the little fox’s wish come true: what does the little girl decide to do?
A wonderful, slightly whimsical tale of empathy, altruism and kindness, and a delightful portrayal of the way young children so easily slip between fantasy and reality, told with sensitivity that is captured equally in Sakai’s glowing illustrations and Aman’s words, which in their direct simplicity, echo the voice of a child. Such exquisite observation.

I’ve signed the charter

Board Book Shelf 2

March 5, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Mix & Match Animal Homes
Mix & Match Colours
Lo Cole
Walker Books
Innovative design – a tiny book within a small one – is key to these two board books for the very youngest. In Animal Homes, six habitats the (African) plains, the desert, the jungle,

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the sea, the forest and the Arctic are visited with four animals per spread and a fifth is waiting to be discovered in the inset smaller book.
Colours has a spread for each of the primary colours plus green, pink and orange each of which has eight or nine brightly coloured objects both large and small (although relative sizes aren’t explored) and the inset book has the pages of the six colours which children need to match to the colours of the objects on the surrounding larger pages.

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Vocabulary development and colour concepts are the main learning opportunities offered in these playful little books.

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Where’s Mr Lion?
Ingela P Arrhenius
Nosy Crow
A handful of wild animals – Mrs Giraffe, Mr Crocodile, Mrs Elephant and Mr Lion are the subjects to search for in this board book. With its felt flap hiding places and a final hidden mirror, toddlers will have lots of fun manipulating the flaps to reveal and missing animals which have in fact only partially managed to conceal themselves behind the various brightly coloured objects. This of course adds to the enjoyment, as does the repetitive patterned nature of the text.

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Cheep! Cheep!
Sebastien Braun
Nosy Crow
In the latest addition to the Can You Say It Too? series Sebastien Braun involves readers in a trip around the farm and surrounding area where five animals have hidden themselves behind a clump of flowers, a gate, a basket, a stable door and a clump of reeds.. Once located, toddlers can emulate the ‘Cheep! Cheep!’, ‘Baah! Baah!’ ‘Meew! Meew!’, ‘Hee-haw! Hee-haw!’ and ‘Quack! Quack!’

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of the baby animals. Involving, noisy fun made all the more so by Braun’s gently humorous visuals.

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Flora and the Chicks
Molly Idle
Chronicle Books
Flora, the balletic star from Molly Idle’s Flora and the Penguins and Flora and the Peacocks now performs in an almost wordless counting book for a younger audience. The young miss, suitably clad in her red jump suit, more than has her hands full with the nest of hatching chicks emerging one after the other. As each new chick breaks out, the book counts, the numeral being revealed when the page-sized folds are opened out, or as one turns to the next spread to follow the action,

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until finally all 10 chicks have hatched, the mother hen has her full brood and Flora sits for a well-earned rest. Then come the only words ‘The End’ aptly heralding the show is over. The tottering first steps of the chicks provide a nice contrast to Flora’s graceful swoops, lunges and stretches as she attempts to round up the fluffy yellow hatchlings. Lots of fun and deliciously re-readable.

Cats, Dogs, Baby Animals and Their Parents

March 3, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Cat Book
Silvia Borando
The Dog Book
Lorenzo Clerici
Walker Books
These two small pet manual Minibombo books, along with The Guinea Pig Book, now have a category all of their own ‘Paper Pets’. I’m no lover of furry creatures, especially cats and dogs, but I am an enthusiast where the Minibombo series is concerned and these two are full of interactive fun.
The former is all about keeping your cat ‘purrfectly’ happy from the moment he wakes up until he beds down for the night. That entails some flea squishing, behaving like a mini brolly when it rains, fluffing up – no not ruffling – and then smoothing, his fur; a spot of cheek squeezing bird releasing…

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followed by a gentle behind-the-ears scratching; then Shhh! Sleep time.
Canine care is pretty much taped in The Dog Book. All that entails is a little back scratching (while he performs his down dog asana),

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a spot of rebel rousing when he dozes off again, a belly rub, and some rather intensive getting active training. Learning to respond appropriately to commands such as ‘sit’ and ‘fetch’ might well cause the odd challenge – to the trainer that is, but it’s all part and parcel of a dog’s day. Lorenzo Clerici adds his own brand of mischievous illustrative humour – including a blank page – to the series.

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Fly!
Xavier Deneux
Chronicle Books
This wonderfully playful, chunky board book is the latest addition to the Touch, Think Learn series. Two cute-looking birds meet, nest, mate and raise a family together. The fledglings eat, grow, and fly –eventually, to find their own tree…
Immersive fun with thick card removable pieces that can be taken from their places and moved to the recessed space on the opposite page to act out the narrative as an adult reads. (Or, a learner reader could enjoy its straightforward text as a solo experience). Either way, they’ll have lots of fun.

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Baby Goz
Steve Weatherill
Steve Weatherill Books
If you’re looking for an ideal picture book for a beginning reader, then look no further, Goz, with its playful patterned language, is your ‘gosling’ so to speak. It’s great to see the little character has re-incubated; he’s certainly lost none of his charm. I’d actually forgotten his wonderful ‘Knock, knock! Who’s there?’ entry into the world; that made me smile all over again, as it has the countless beginner readers I’ve taught since Goz burst onto the scene over 25 years ago, and set off around the countryside …

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in search of his mummy.

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Safe & Sound
Jean Roussen and Loris Lora
Flying Eye Books
‘Many baby animals, (many, but not all) … / whether very, very big or very, very small … / would not be safe all on their own and need some help unil they’re grown.’ So begins this classy picture book account from a father and mother’s perspective, as they tuck their child safely into bed for the night. They talk of the ways numerous animals mothers especially, protect their offspring, whether it be in an underground burrow like the little chipmunks, a nest like the bluebird, snuggled at the side of a mother lion, close to a rhino, grizzly cubs huddled in a warm den,

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hiding inside their mother’s mouth as the crocodile hatchlings do, or …

riding between fluffy wings …

Reassuring, informative and told through Jean Roussen’s gentle rhyming text and stylishly snugglesome retro illustrations from Loris Lora, this is a winner as a bedtime book or in an early years setting.

Mighty, Mighty Construction Site

February 19, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Mighty, Mighty Construction Site
Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld
Chronicle Books
It’s wake-up time at the construction site and the construction vehicles are back, to share their working day. Teamwork is needed for their new task – the erecting of an enormous building: but the trusty truck crew are ready. First comes Cement Mixer blasting his horn, calling to his fellow trucks.

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A ‘SUPERCREW’ is required to work on this job; so the fleet becomes ten. Small and quick Skid Steer partners big Bulldozer working side by side to clear the way with Skid performing some of her super spins.
Excavator and Backhoe make another duo, the former digging the trenches, the latter putting the drainage pipes in place and then both covering them, the process being repeated – over and over …
The work continues apace with Crane Truck, Flatbed Truck, Front-End Loader, Dump Truck and Pumper

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all playing vital roles until finally, it’s job done! (The building itself stands out starkly in its setting: its shape and transparent nature suggests it is made largely of glass: an interesting talking point.)

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Now, the sun has gone, the moon is out and the trucks wend their weary way back to sleep. ‘Shh … goodnight!’
Like its predecessor, Rinker’s rhyming text reads aloud well as it details the various roles of the team members – it’s great to see how the trucks work in co-operation – and Lichtenheld’s robust, action-packed illustrations (alternating spreads and panels) help pace the rhyme. There’s so much to enjoy and discuss and after a reading or two (or more I suspect) this story could be turned into a movement session. Children can use their bodies to emulate the truck actions adding appropriate sound effects too.

Also just out is an unabridged board book edition of the predecessor:

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Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site
Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld
Chronicle Books
There’s such a lovely rhythmic feel to this bedtime tale that features five large machines, which, on the first spread, are still hard at work making a road and constructing a building. A turn of the page shows the same vehicles with one task each to complete before their day’s work is done.
‘Shh … goodnight, Crane Truck, goodnight.’ One by one, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer and Excavator each completes its work and is duly bid goodnight in similar fashion, the repetition helping to add to the sleepy ambiance of the telling. Earthy hues at sundown, and indigo night shades, are just right for Lichtenheld’s scenes, which are full of gentle visual humour.

Our Dog Benji / Little Oink

February 18, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Our Dog Benji
Pete Carter and James Henderson
EK Books
The small boy narrator of this little book has a large dog; a dog that, unlike the boy, is pretty much omnivorous, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, avocado, grass, daffodils, ice-cream – understandably – are all tasty treats for the animal.

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Mornings see him searching the kitchen floor for crumbs, at mealtimes he sits hopefully under the table and even goes off alone on food forays. Building sites (for the odd bite of a sandwich) …

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and parties for a sample of ‘posh food’ are also fruitful places for a visit.
Summer comes with samplings of crunchy bugs and unripe apples (with dramatic effects on his tum and er… bum). What about our narrator though? He seems to be acquiescing somewhat: did I hear a mention of eating fruit and veg.?
Not however the green crunchy leaf stalks of a certain vegetable beginning with c.
Henderson’s duo-tone artwork works well for this tale of a food faddy child and his dog. Adults concerned about fussy eaters especially, will smile at Carter’s tale and hope that perhaps like the small boy protagonist, their charges will try some new foods, perhaps even ‘green stuff’

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Little Oink
Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace
Chronicle Books
The hero of this board book, Little Oink, is a tiny treasure; a fun loving, nursery school savouring, family loving little guy. However, unlike most youngsters, he has a great dislike for mess-making of any kind; in fact he wants everything to be just so: after all his pals are allowed to have tidy rooms. “Why can’t I?” Little Oink asks his parents one day.

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Papa Pig’s ‘respectable grown up pigs are proper mess makers’ explanation and Mama Pig’s proviso for going out to play, “Mess up your room, put on some dirty clothes,” have him obeying – eventually. Then off he goes to have fun – playing … house!

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This makes a trilogy of ‘Little’ books from Rosenthal and again, her humour shines through and is delightfully illuminated through Jen Corace’s deliciously droll illustrations.

When an Elephant Falls in Love / I Love You

February 5, 2017jillrbennett 1 Comment

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When an Elephant Falls in Love
Davide Cali and Alice Lotti
Chronicle Books
Davide Cali of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School and The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer fame brings his sardonic wit to an exploration of falling in love, elephant style.
In his straightforward text, he offers, one by one, eight symptoms of this state of being. Alice Lotti portrays each of these ‘foolish things’ with equal wit in her stark, mixed media illustrations. Elephant is the perfect purveyor of the condition as his huge bulk serves to emphasise the daftness of each action …

He hides whenever he sees her.

And, there’s a tiny yellow bird that pops up as an observer of each scene, further adding to the overall impact of the whole crazy scenario …

Look by the bowl …

Both young readers and adults will find plenty to make them smile in this, whether or not they recognise the symptoms from personal experience or observations of others, for it’s plain to see that when an elephant falls in love …

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his actions are pretty much those of a besotted human.

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I Love You
Clemency Pearce and Rosalind Beardshaw
Nosy Crow
The all important title message is delivered through Clemency Pearce’s warm-hearted, rhyming text and super-cute, patterned illustrations. With its textual pattern that begins, ‘ When you feel so very small, / when no one seems to care at all, / what can make you ten feet tall? // Three little words …
(turn over) … ‘I love you!’ …

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this cries out to the very young to join in with those three words after each verse is read aloud.
But those recipients of love can also help make others feel better …

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Ideal to share with your toddler, this board book is a delight.
Another board book with the same title is

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I Love You
Dawn Sirett
DK
This is the latest addition to DK’s Baby Touch and Feel series.
Colour photographs of animals, toys and humans …

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each with a finger-sized tactile feature are the ingredients of this chunky little book. Just right for the very youngest to explore.

A Rocketful of Space Poems / Things To Do

February 4, 2017jillrbennett Leave a comment

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A Rocketful of Space Poems
John Foster and Korky Paul
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Reputed anthologist , John Foster has compiled a book of twenty-six poems on the ever- popular space theme. Four are Foster’s own work and there are three from Eric Finney. Supposing went down well with my audience as did Judith Nicholls’ A Space Odyssey with its fun alliterative opening ‘Percival Pettigrew packed his pyjamas / and parted for Pluto, pausing at Mars.’
Many of the poems are, I think, newly penned. If you use this collection in a primary school, children can have great fun inventing additions to the items for sale at Greasy Peter Pluto’s Fast Food Superstore – a good starting point for some imaginative writing of their own; ditto Robert Scotellaro’s Garage Sale in Outer Space and David Harmer’s Inter-galactic Squibble-ball, the Official Rules.
Old favourites are here as well: there’s Richard Edwards’ Asteroid Dog and Max Fatchen’s ‘Jump Over the Moon?’ the Cow Declared, to name but two.
Korky Paul’s weird and wacky visuals further add to the overall humorous feel and every spread is enclosed within a galactic-themed border …

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Cool endpapers too from pupils of Rockwell Nursery & Infant School.
Add this one to your primary classroom collection or topic box.

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Things To Do
Elaine Magliaro and Catia Chien
Chronicle Books
Erstwhile primary school teacher and now children’s poet, Elaine Magliaro, has written a short poetic sequence focusing on the small things and moments that occupy the thoughts of young children in their everyday lives from Dawn until the Moon brightens the night sky. If you’re Birds you can ‘Stretch out your wings/ on the brightening sky/ Morning’s upon us. / Get ready to fly!’

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If you’re a Honeybee ‘Flit among flowers/ Sip nectar for hours / Be yellow and fuzzy. / Stay busy. / For hours.’
Other natural world focuses are an Acorn, a Snail, the Sun and Sky, Rain, an Orb Spider, and Crickets and some made objects – Boots, an Eraser and Scissors …

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This lovely picture book, with Elaine Magliaro’s vivid verbal imagery and Catia Chien’s textured, acrylic illustrations, very much reflects that way of being in the present moment, very young children exhibit when we allow them to follow their own interests, as well as being reflective of the natural poets or ‘versifiers’ – ‘avid creator(s) of word rhythms and rhymes’ that Kornei Chukovsky called them, in his famous From Two to Five, ‘pouring forth verse to express their exhilaration.’
One to add to the home, or primary school, bookshelf.

Don’t forget 14th Feb.

The Winter Fox / Presents Through the Window

December 1, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Winter Fox
Timothy Knapman and Rebecca Harry
Nosy Crow
As summer gives way to autumn, a little fox is too busy enjoying himself romping in the flowers and chasing butterflies to pay heed to his friends, Rabbit, Owl and Squirrel as they prepare for the long winter that’s to come. He plays through the autumn too …

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and come winter when the other animals are all snuggled cosily in their nests, Fox is alone out in the forest.
Cold and hungry, he makes a wish beneath a star. What happens then changes the course of events not only for Fox but for the other forest creatures too.

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Full of wintry warm-heartedness and friendship, and just enough seasonal sparkle, this is a story to share with young listeners in the weeks leading up to Christmas. They’ll need to look carefully at the sky to discover where that surprise parcel came from.

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Presents Through the Window
Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books
It’s Christmas Eve and Santa is out on his present delivery round. He has an unconventional mode of transport and seems in rather a rush. So much so that his quick peep through the (die-cut) window of each house before dropping off a gift will result in some rather inappropriate offerings being received come Christmas morning.

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Part of the fun is that by turning the page, readers will discover the identities of the gifts recipients and relish each mis-match.

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Santa in contrast never does learn the outcome of his hasty choices: another part of the fun is imagining the reactions of the recipients. However the most fun of all is seeing how everything works out just fine come Christmas morning.
The entire text is composed of Santa’s utterances presented in speech bubbles as a running commentary – literally – directed to his audience as he moves from one home to the next. Simple, clever and highly effective.

A Dot in the Snow / Bunny Slopes

November 30, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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A Dot in the Snow
Corrine Averiss and Fiona Woodcock
Oxford University Press
Polar bear cub Miki would much rather play with his mother in the soft snow than fish in the icy Arctic waters. Off he goes up the ridge presumably in search of a playmate. That’s when he sees it – a red dot in the snow. Then from out of the blizzard emerges a figure – one that looks, smells and sounds friendly.

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And, joy of joys, it wants to play at first anyway…

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Suddenly though, the dot isn’t so smiley and playful; something has gone missing. One of the child’s mittens: can Miki rescue it and save the day? He can; the ice breaks, the two continue playing; more snow falls blotting out almost everything. Two infants bid each other farewell, return to their respective mothers and doubtless each will have much to talk about.
Gorgeous texturing in the illustrations and a suitably spare text combine to create a warm-hearted wintry read with themes of friendship, determination and parental love, albeit with a bit of stereotyping. Snuggle and share.

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Bunny Slopes
Claudia Rueda
Chronicle Books
Following in the footsteps of Hervé Tullet (Press Here, The Dot), Claudia Rueda has created a metabook with a wintry theme – a wintry theme that is, if readers play along. Bunny is ready for a ski day and invites us to join him; but snow is decidedly lacking. Readers have to create it by shaking the book – hard. Oops!

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Then tap the top of the book to extricate Bunny but that ground looks rather flat. The book needs a right tilt to set our would-be skier in motion, and again. Yeah! He’s off … but all of a sudden …

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(ingenious precipice-gutter moment). A hasty 180 degree book turn and a page flip will, sort things. Now what?
More manipulating will see a battered Bunny up on his skis again and ready for another run at that cliff. Whoppee! He’s made it right to the opposite side but can he clear that hole? Phew! Just about, but surely not another one; the little fellow’s getting just a tad too big for his boots now but there he goes again …

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Fortunately this leap leads to his very own den where Mummy Bunny is ready and waiting with a warming treat …
Love those rabbitty expressions and the minimal colour palette: with its simple text this is a good bet for those in the early stages of reading as well as individual listeners and book manipulators.

Being in the Present: One Minute / Love You Hoo

November 28, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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One Minute
Somin Ahn
Chronicle Books
Have you ever thought about what you can do in a minute? If you’re a teacher of young children, you may well have done some playful activities on that theme: How many times can you write your name? How many cubes can you join together? How many times can you bounce a ball? and so on.
Here, after providing a few basic snippets of information: ‘In one minute, the second hand moves sixty times while the long hand moves once.’ Or ‘In one minute, you can blink your eyes 20 times …’ artist Somin Ahn offers some ideas for filling that unforgiving minute: hugging your dog; saying hi to a neighbour or planting seeds …

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She then goes on to explore the way time can apparently expand or contract according to the particular situation: a roundabout ride makes a minute feel very short, as does playing in the park with your friends …

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whereas that same time spent in the dentist’s chair feels like a long time …

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We also discover that in one single minute a life can be saved, a train can be missed.
Observant listeners and readers will have noticed that the little girl’s mother is pregnant and this fact is used in the final two spreads: ‘In one minute, someone can leave’ shows the child tearfully hugging her mum farewell. Turning over, we have ‘And someone can arrive.’ – presumably a new sibling for the little girl.

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Sensitive and thought-provoking, this small book offers much to ponder and discuss with nursery and infant children.

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Love You Hoo
Rachel Bright
Orchard Books
Woo-hoo-hoo! It’s snuggle time for little ones; but first, one particular Big Owl wants to share some very important thoughts with Little Owl, thoughts about the wonderful times the two have shared together and the wonderful times that are yet to come. Parent and offspring are alternately teacher and learner in this relationship,

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a relationship that is always sunny no matter what the weather; a relationship full of promise …

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and the occasional mishaps …

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The most important part of the message though is the final one and something every infant needs to hear: “Whoever you are going to be … Whatever you may do … Wherever you may choose to fly … I’ll always love you – hooooooo!”
With a tenderly composed rhyming text and amusing scenes of the totally delightful owls, this is one to share with the very young. I’d suggest reading the text aloud to yourself first though as the phrasing of the rhyme is a little tricky on occasion.

First Snow / Brrr! Brrr!

November 27, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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First Snow
Bomi Park
Chronicle Books
With impactful minimal text and a limited colour palette, debut picture book artist Park creates the magic of a first snowfall as experienced by a toddler. Said toddler dons warm outdoor gear (good on her) and creeps out into the white world beyond her front door, there to discover the joys of building a snowman. First though it seems, she must roll her ball of snow down urban streets, across a moonlit field, beside an elevated railway track – ‘Fast, fast fast’ –

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into the woods where she joins a throng of other snowman-building children. A magically uplifting moment occurs

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after which reality reasserts itself and we, and the little girl, are returned once more to her back garden and another kind of enchantment.
Go back and look once more at the details in Park’s captivating snow-filled scenes. Notice: the snowflake patterns on the child’s mits, the activities of the pup accompanying her the whole time, and the animals emerging and watching in the dark woods.

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Gorgeous! And as an added bonus, the spare text, with its built-in repetition, is such that beginning readers can, once the story’s been read to them, read those fifty odd words for themselves.
For even younger children is

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Brrr! Brrr!
Sebastien Braun
Nosy Crow
This is one of the series of lift-the-flap books for those ‘just beginning to talk’ and it certainly has a chilly feel to it. Peeking out from behind five objects –an iceberg, a boat, a cave entrance, an igloo and a clump of fir trees, each of which forms the flap, are five animals. Youngsters can enjoy a game of hide and seek in response to the sequence of ‘Who’s that … ?’ questions

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and then join in with the animal sound once it’s revealed. Sebastien Braun’s snowy scenes are a delight: I particularly like the woodland one.

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With the repeat pattern of the simple text, beginning readers can enjoy sharing this with a toddler sibling too.

How To Be a Hero / Mary Had a Little Glam

November 19, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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How to be a Hero
Florence Parry Heide and Chuck Groenink
Chronicle Books
Anyone who has read The Shrinking of Treehorn will be familiar with the author’s wry humour: that same humour is inherent in this posthumously published picture book. Meet Gideon, a nice boy who lives with his parents in a nice house and has, seemingly, everything a boy could want. What young Gideon really wants though is to be a hero but he’s not quite sure how to go about it. He has some ideas though: You have to be strong, brave and clever like this surely?

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After further foraging into fairytales such as this one ‘the story where a witch gives a girl a poisoned apple and when she takes a bite she goes into a deep sleep which is sort of being dead but not really and nothing will get her awake except a kiss and someone does see her sleeping there and he kisses her and he’s a hero, just like that.’ however, he comes to the conclusion that really, all this heroism takes is just being in the right place at the right time. QED! Well that and err… keeping your eyes open. This does entail actually noticing what’s going on around you though – something of which Gideon appears unaware, as heroic act opportunities present themselves to left and right as he heads, eventually, to the supermarket to spend his pocket money.

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There, a heroic act is, assuredly performed but by whom? Yes, Gideon is the recipient of a whole lot of media attention but for what? Wish fulfilled, he’s certainly front-page news – a hero. Err? He certainly thinks so.
Groenink brings out the subtle humour of the telling beautifully; it’s there all the way through if you look closely – very closely in some places; and in others, such as the shop sign with its reference to Propp (Vladimir – Morphology of the Folk Tale) and (Bruno) Bettelheim above the butchers it’s likely to go over the heads of young children. I love the way he switches from the dreary reality of Gideon’s home and locality to the more colourful fantasy world of the fairy tale world he visits in his imagination.
Certainly with this book, it’s a case of what you bring to the story making a big difference to what you get out of it.

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Mary Had a Little Glam
Tammi Sauer and Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Sterling
A funky take on the nursery rhyme wherein fashion fanatic “I must accessorize” Mary starts school determined to make her mark. Seemingly her classmates at Mother Goose school are happy to merge into their surroundings though …

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Mary however, is set on bringing a whole lot more glitz and glamour to her pals. She gets to work adding accessories and generally jazzing up not just the pupils, but everyone and everything in her school.

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Playtime comes and with it a realisation that Mary and her decked-out pals are way too over-dressed for energetic outdoor romping and rampaging. No matter – Mary can turn her hand to un-accessorising too …

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and she’s certainly queen of messy play – hurray for Mary.
With its bouncy rhyme and suitably flamboyant illustrations of Mary and her supporting cast, this is lots of fun to share with those around Mary’s age.

The Wish Tree

November 7, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Wish Tree
Kyo Maclear and Chris Turnham
Chronicle Books
When I taught reception age children we’d sometimes have a wish tree as part of the classroom environment, perhaps for the International Day of Peace or as part of an RE theme. Of course it wasn’t a whole tree, just a branch that had broken off and been collected for the occasion. Now here’s a storybook character wanting to find a wish tree in the great outdoors. His brother and sister dismiss the idea but with his trusty ‘Boggan’ for company, Charles sets out into the snowy world on his quest to find one.

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Up hill and down they search, venturing into the woods where they stop to help various animals and make some new friends;

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but try as they might, they cannot find a wish tree. Evening is nigh and the searchers are weary; they can go no further. But then something truly wonderful and magical happens as Charles and Boggan’s kindnesses are rewarded.

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His newfound friends help him on his way and when he wakes up, he sees before him a snow-laden pine tree. Charles writes a wish, ties it to the tree and then he, Boggan and the animals partake of a seasonal feast together.

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As the moon glows in a star-filled sky, Charles and Boggan finally make their way home to bed and perhaps to dream.
The snowy scenes have a subtle pinkish glow that radiates the wonderful warmth of the story despite the chilly outdoor setting. Openheartedness and friendship win through in this subtle tale of determination and tenacity.
With its in-built repetition that offers listeners opportunities to join in with those ‘La-di-da-di-da-daaaa’s of Charles and Boggan’s ‘Whishhhhh’ songs, this is a lovely book to share as temperatures drop and the nights draw in. I love the magical elements and the way gaps are left for readers and listeners to fill for themselves.

They All Saw a Cat / Picture This

September 20, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Brendan Wenzel
Chronicle Books
A cat is a cat, is a cat, no matter what. Right? Perhaps not. The world looks different depending on the lenses through which we view it, surely? I certainly think so. It’s a wonderfully philosophical consideration brilliantly demonstrated by author/illustrator Brendan Wenzel in this creative, thought-provoking mixed media exploration of observation, imagination and perspectives, which begins thus:
‘The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears and paws …’. The child sees the cat, the dog sees the cat – sleek and slinky, the fox sees the cat – chunky and stubby, the fish sees the cat thus …

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and the mouse – well the mouse sees an alarmingly jaggedy, predatory monster, and the bee sees a pointillist image. On walks the cat and is seen by the bird, the flea, the snake, the worm and the bat …

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A dozen sightings, every one through different lenses, lenses which create shifts between texture, colour and tone, underlined after all twelve sightings by ‘YES, THEY ALL SAW A CAT!’

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We’re then told ‘The cat knew them all, and they knew the cat.’ –a lengthy discussion might ensue from this statement alone. But wait, we’re not quite done yet; the cat walks on and comes to the water: imagine what it saw …
Wenzel uses a range of painterly styles borrowed from impressionism, pointillism and others to make readers think about how perception, art and emotion are intricately linked. But that’s not all: the use of italics and capitals and the patterned structure of the narrative all contribute to the impact of the whole.
This is a book that can be used right across the age range from early years to adult students of art and philosophy: what a wonderful way to help the young to begin to understand and give credence to other people’s viewpoints.

The manner in which emotions are engaged and affected by the visual composition of images is explored in the revised and extended edition of a fascinating and insightful book first published 25 years ago:

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Picture This
Molly Bang
Chronicle Books
In the first hundred or so pages, Molly Bang takes the story of Little Red Riding Hood and shows how different placement of cut paper shapes and colours on the page work together to help create and build up emotionally charged scenes, our perceptions of which are bound by the context of our own experience. Why does a triangle placed on a flat base give us a feeling of stability whereas diagonal shapes make us feel tense?

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How come we feel more scared looking at pointed shapes, and more secure or comforted looking at rounded shapes or curves? These questions are explored as are others of colour choice and combination.
In the second, much shorter (new to the revised edition) section of the book, the author takes her story When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry, and using four pictures from it, looks at how she created four distinct feelings – one per illustration – of Fury, Sadness, Expectancy and Contentment/contemplation and uses them to explore the principles she’s looked at in the first part. And the final pages invite readers to create and analyse a picture of their own. Perhaps but first I’m off to take another look at some picture books starting with Bethan Woollvin’s Little Red.

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Good Night Like This and This and …

September 16, 2016jillrbennett 1 Comment

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Good Night Like This
Mary Murphy
Walker Books
Adorable adult animal characters – a horse, a rabbit, a firefly, a bear, a duck, a cat and a mouse bid their respective, equally adorable infants good night in this lovely book. It’s one that uses soporific language ‘ Yawny and dozy, twitchy and cosy. Good night rabbits, sleep tight… ‘ to lull listeners into a sleepy mood too as they share in the rituals of the respective animals’ bedtime biddings …

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and by turning the split pages can play their own part in the good nights …

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before they too, enter the land of nod.
Gorgeous! Such a beautiful, dreamy colour palette, so much love and tenderness at every turn of the page – aaaahhh! Sweet dreams little ones. Sleep tight.

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Sleep, Little Pup
Jo Parry
QED
Insomnia hits us all from time to time and in this story told in a gentle rhyming text, it’s a cuddly-looking Pup that has tried all the usual ways of inducing sleep – sheep counting, star counting and even more puppish pursuits such as tail chasing, bone chewing, mice teasing and even howling at the moon: all to no avail. Out come the nocturnal bugs and beetles, the fireflies and moths and all sing a lullaby for Pup but he remains wide awake …

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so much so that when fox comes along, guess who joins the moonlit patrol. Over at the pond is where Pup finds himself next and there he stops for a bit of fish tickling, lilypad floating and frog-style leaping …

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Will he ever get some shut-eye?
Finally back to his basket comes a sad-looking Pup but then along comes his Mummy with a goodnight kiss and cuddle, and a new soft blanket. It’s that soft, warm snuggly blanket that at last, does the trick: sweet dreams little Pup; you’ve plenty to dream about.
With a cute main character and an equally lovable supporting cast, Little Pup is likely to win many friends among early years listeners: the text could well help induce sleepiness but not, I suspect, before the story’s over. Jo Parry’s scenes have a soft charm, similar to that blanket. One to add to the bedtime story shelf.

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Everyone Says Goodnight
Hiroyuki Arai
Chronicle Books
It’s Little Bear’s bedtime but first he needs some help packing away all his toys. Toddlers can assist by turning the split pages to get the toys in the toy box.
It’s also time for Little Bunny and Little Kitty to go to bed but they too have toys to put away and again ‘littles’ can assist, as they can those three little piglets –

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they have a kitchen play set to put in the box …

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Now finally, we need to get those children tucked up too and then it’s …

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Gentle interactive fun for tinies at bedtime and just the thing to encourage them to tidy up first like the characters in this cute little book.

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My Dreams
Xavier Deneux
Twirl
A small child shares his dreams – flying high a-back a huge bird or soaring on a magic carpet, entertaining a princess in her tower, playing on an enormous slide …

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or participating in a game of hide and seek in a poppy field, or enjoying a ride on a dinosaur’s back or even that of a whale.

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All these fanciful scenarios take our dreamer far from home; but then it’s time to return to a place of quiet calm and perhaps finally, some snuggly stillness …
With its ‘glow in the dark’ silvery tactile component of every dream scene, this small chunky book is a delight at every turn of the page; and the limited colour palette is used to great effect, heightening the whole nocturnal drama.

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Animal Magic, Cuddly Cow, Portly Pig, Baby Elephant & Baby Reindeer

August 21, 2016jillrbennett 1 Comment

Animal Magic
Phil Allcock and Gina Maldonado
Maverick Arts Publishing
Delightfully playful is Phil Allcock’s nonsense rhyme featuring what starts out as a hedgehog – a funny one – and morphs into eight other animals – small and smaller. There’s a hopping one, a wiggler…

a strutting clucker, a quacking swimmer, a jogger, a hopper (furry this time) and slimy slitherer and finally …

Toddlers will have enormous fun guessing what each new disguise will be before the page is turned to reveal it in one of Gina Maldonado’s enchanting dayglow spreads.

Cuddly Cow/ Portly Pig
Axel Scheffler
Nosy Crow
Another two lovable animals star in the latest ‘Sound Button’ farmyard stories from the inimitable Axel Scheffler. The first features a very dozy Cuddly Cow intent on finding a quiet peaceful spot for some shut-eye. Her own meadow’s no good because the other cows make too much of a din: surely there’s somewhere else though, after all it is past sundown.
The chicken shed’s full of clucking hens, the horse is inhospitable, there’s a right old row in the pig pen – thank you ducks – but what about the sheep field? Maybe a spot of counting might help …

Portly Pig’s troubled on account of his clean, pinkness. He’s against green grass, yucky flowers and trees as he describes them, and sets off in search of a mucky place. Soon he discovers just the thing: a cool, muddy pool; and a delightful day of splashing and sploshing follows. Until that is, the sky changes colour …

Pig, like most young children is a real mud lover but unlike them, he can keep on getting muddy, letting the rain wash him off and immediately getting mucky all over again – in an instant. Youngsters will delight in Portly’s mucky, messy coat and might well be tempted to emulate his actions – adults beware!

Baby Elephant / Baby Reindeer
illustrated by Yu-Hsuan Huang
Chronicle Books
In the first of two new offerings in the ‘Finger Puppet’ series we discover how Baby Elephant greets her Mama, finds food, keeps cool and communicates with fellow baby elephants.
Baby Reindeer lives in a contrastingly cold tundra climate and to find food, has to use his hooves to dig in the snow and uncover tasty lichen. Like Baby Elephant, he too swims in a river – albeit a very icy feeling one and snuggles against Mama Reindeer for warmth at the end of the day.
Both board books provide a lovely way for human adult and baby to interact with a book.

A Pandemonium of Parrots & An Acorn

August 18, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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A Pandemonium of Parrots and other animals
illustrated by Hui Skipp
Big Picture Press
Essentially what we have here in this super book is a series of spreads featuring collective nouns for a dozen or so animals large and small, each one playfully and alluringly illustrated by a talent new to me, Hui Skipp; and embedded within each illustration is a descriptive quatrain (presumably written by Kate Baker), such as this:
With nimble legs and pinching claws,
they run across the forest floor.
Their gleaming armour shimmers bright,
while fragile wings prepare for flight.
… as well as questions to answer by exploring what’s depicted on the spread.

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Representing the feathered ones are the parrots of the title, flamingos (a flamboyance), penguins in a huddle and these Hummingbird dazzlers …

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There are tigers – an ambush, a Lounge of Lizards basking in the sunshine …

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Casually they lie around
slouched on rocks or on the ground.
Suddenly one spots its prey
and in a flash it darts away.

and on the river banks ‘An Army’ of frogs – croaking, singing wonders every one. The mammals are represented by a Sloth of Bears, An Ambush of Tigers, A Troop of Monkeys, A Conspiracy of Lemurs …

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and A Caravan of Camels – beauties all.
The final two spreads are a “Did You See?’ array of all the animals with questions, followed by a concluding Who’s Who that gives snippets of information about each animal included.
Altogether this book is a treat for the eyes, an opportunity to learn some collective nouns and a chance to discover a few facts about thirteen fascinating groups of creatures. One for the primary classroom or family bookshelf.

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Because of an Acorn
Lola M.Schaefer, Adam Schaefer and Frann Preston-Gannon
Chronicle Books
This is a simple, but wonderfully effective look at a forest habitat and the interconnectedness of the flora and fauna that are a part of the ecosystem.
Because of an acorn, a tree grows; this in turn provides a nesting place for a bird, an insect-eating one that happens to aid seed dispersal.

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The seed in turn grows, producing a flower that fruits, providing a chipmunk food. A snake with its beady eye upon the chipmunk …

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is in turn seized in a hawk’s talons and when the hawk lands on the branch of, yes, an oak, down comes an ripe acorn and more until ultimately, there’s …

a forest

Circles and cycles of life are evident in this cleverly conceived, unassuming little book that packs a powerful punch.
In addition to being a super little book to share with a class or group of young children, the fact that the text is simple, patterned, and perfectly matched to the pictures on each page, beginning readers can try reading it for themselves and feel empowered having done so.
There’s so much to see and to discuss in Frann Preston-Gannon’s lush foresty illustrations. UK readers will find some of the animals less familiar and the oak species is different from the British ones but this could be a good talking point.

Summer Evening/Unbelievable Summer Truth

July 17, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Summer Evening
Walter de la Mare illustrated by Carolina Rabei
Faber & Faber
What a glorious evocation of the countryside in summer is this book. Just eight lines penned by one of our best loved poets, have now been made into a glowing portrayal of a group of people delighting in their rural life as the sun slowly sinks over the hills.
We share the red, orange and golden sunset with the Farmer, a woman and two children, a cat and a dog,

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‘Old Rover in his moss-greened house/ Mumbles a bone, /and barks at a mouse.’
We then see the children following a cat-and-mouse chase as it unfolds inside and out …

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until finally, peace and harmony are restored, the animals all fed and the sun has given way to the moon.
You can almost hear that scintillating shimmering sun and feel that incandescent haze of high summer

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coming off the pages through Caroline Rabei’s scenes in this beautiful synthesis of poetry and pictures.
A ‘must have’ for the family bookshelf and for all early years settings and primary schools.

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The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer
Davide Cali and Benjamin Chaud
Chronicle Books
The summer hols. are over (that really must be a bad dream; they’ve not even started yet: but back to the story). “What did you do this summer?” the teacher – as they always do – asks the young narrator of this crazy tale. Instantly we’re on the beach where the lad, accompanied by his dachshund, finds a treasure map only to have it snatched immediately by a passing magpie. Thus begins a chase which takes boy and dog (and readers) onto a pirate ship …

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and thence into a fast moving adventure involving a giant squid, a submarine …

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a film set with a very helpful actress who assists in the retrieval of the map.

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With the treasure hunt back in full swing so to speak, there follows a trip in a hot air balloon, a foray into the desert, a timely rescue by the boy’s uncle (in his flying machine) who drops his nephew onto a desert island where the pesky magpie (yes, the same one) seizes the map once again.

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Operation map retrieval is thus resumed taking our hero to the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and a snowy land populated by yeti.
Yes, in case you are wondering, the boy does finally discover treasure which, after all that, is something of a let down, although it’s not actually THE treasure but hey! the underwater scenes are still pretty wonderful. (Observant readers won’t miss what the boy does.) And that’s not quite the end of this bonkers book; there’s something of a twist in its tale; something that took place a few months earlier … bringing us back full circle to where we began, and I suspect readers back to the start of the book searching for clues of a visual nature, in Benjamin Chaud’s gigglesome, detailed pen-and-ink illustrations.
Another winner from the Cali/Chaud partnership.

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Play and Pondering Possibilities

July 11, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Blocks
Irene Dickson
Nosy Crow
Most children, young and not so young, delight in block play. It’s brilliant for developing concentration, spatial understanding and creativity; and, sometimes, sharing and co-operation: however, at least at the outset of this story, not the last two.
First off we meet young Ruby busily balancing and building with her blocks – all of one colour notice.

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Along comes Benji with his blocks intent on doing a bit of constructing and off he goes. Soon both are absorbed in their play …

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But then, Benji reaches out (hand across the gutter) for one of Ruby’s blocks, seizes same leaving a cross Ruby desirous of her block. “Mine!” each of them shouts and pretty soon, catastrophe …

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Time to repair the damage and work together; that way lies a super co-creation …

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until Guy appears on the scene. Guy has green blocks. What do you think will happen now? Maybe these endpapers will give a clue …

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A wonderfully simple story on the sharing theme that will surely pack a powerful punch with early years audiences; it’s a must have book for pre-school settings and families with very young children and even has die-cut block shapes on the front cover. What’s more, with its easy to read, brief text, this debut picture book is ideal for those just beginning to read for themselves.

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Over the Ocean
Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books
This book was first published in Japan over 30 years ago but it still has plenty to say to children today, especially those of the contemplative kind. It features a girl who stands at the water’s edge gazing out across the ocean waves and wondering. ‘What is in the ocean over the ocean?’ she asks; ‘Are there farms over the ocean?’ or …

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‘Maybe there are kids living there’ and ‘Are they all friends?‘

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She never moves from her lookout spot but continues pondering on the possibilities of fairs, animals, the night-time, different climates and other watchers …

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and then makes a wish. A wish that, so it seems in her mind’s eye at least, is about to come true … Her longing is heartfelt and readers will surely feel it too.

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The whole thing is a marvellous, if quietly spoken celebration of the imagination and the wide, wonderful world. I particularly like the way that the author has given the girl a credible child’s voice: ”Maybe there are kids living there … I bet there are probably some bullies.” She certainly doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind there.
Those who look closely will notice that the details in the illustrations open up further questions – where are all those boats going, especially that ocean liner? Whither the air balloon? And many more in addition to those the girl herself raises.

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This is not a picture book

June 11, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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This Is Not a Picture Book
Sergio Ruzzier
Chronicle Books
Essentially this delicious work of metafiction is about learning to read, or rather, becoming a reader. It begins with a duckling coming upon a book. No actually it begins with the front endpapers which, for a competent reader, present no problem, but might well be how a not yet reader views a printed text – as an intimidating jumble of letters and seemingly senseless words. Here are the first few lines: ‘One day, a itellet ldgicukn was anigtk a wkla, nhwe he wsa itegmohsn erd nyigl on the gonrdu. “A book!” he etyclxied. He kiecpd the book pu, eladyra ikgnntih fo all the faileutbu eispcutr hatt, he was eicnrta, eerw snedii.’
Back to our duckling and his book, a fat looking volume, which, he discovers on opening it, is completely lacking in pictures. This is what happens next …

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Along comes a bug, eager to know what duckling has and whether he can read it. There follow an ingenious couple of spreads symbolising the beginning of duckling’s transition from someone that finds pictureless books a no go area, to a reader in the full sense of the word …

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One who appreciates the worlds that open up through words be they funny, sad,

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wild or peaceful, words that take you far away and also, bring you back home again, words that no matter where you are, will always be with you …

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What a wonderful testament to the power of reading and the way it can change individuals and, one hopes, the world.
Readers of this terrific book should turn now to the back endpapers to see the transformation to comprehendable text completed … job done for that particular duckish reader.

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Ruzzier’s gentle watercolour and ink illustrations speak volumes demonstrating the power of visuals too. Quite simply, brilliant.

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Flora and the Peacocks

May 22, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Flora and the Peacocks
Molly Idle
Chronicle Books
Flora, so I believe, has already starred in two previous picture books though this is my first encounter with the diminutive dancing delight. Herein she encounters a pair of preening peacocks who proceed to use their gloriously coloured tails in tandem with her fan, mirroring her every move until one, the rather more curious of the pair, crosses the gutter and approaches the girl. Thereafter we have a paired dance on the verso and on the recto, something of a solo drama. Eventually however, we have this …

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After which Flora reaches out (here readers can lift the tails or lower them as the fancy takes them).

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What then follows is a tug of war over her fan,

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orchestrated by readers moving an arched page (we know threesomes can be problematic where friendship is concerned) until the delicate fan becomes two pieces and Flora flounces off-stage in despair

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leaving the birds to work out a solution – which they duly do – with an amazing fold-out finale that more than makes up for the disaster and places a smiling Flora centre stage in a dazzling display of iridescent beauty and bewitchment.
Beautifully choreographed by Molly Idle, this breath-taking, wordless pas de trois is a real virtuoso performance, both on stage and off, that will have readers transfixed and wanting encore after encore. And don’t you just love the way those wispy willow fronds form a kind of proscenium arch for the whole show.

Those who particularly enjoy wordless picture books may also like:

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Dog on a Train
Kate Prendergast
Old Barn Books
This wordless debut picture book begins with a boy dashing downstairs and dropping his hat in his haste to leave the house. His dog spots said hat and chases off down the road after the boy, all the way to the tube station.

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‘Dogs must be carried’ says the sign at the turnstile and as luck would have it, a girl comes along and takes Dog down the escalator onto the platform.

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Dog then boards an underground train, makes the journey, is jostled by crowds, almost loses the hat and finally catches up with the boy and gives him the hat.
Kate Prendergast’s detailed drawings are beautifully executed in soft pencil, with just the red and white stripes of the boy’s hat and red and white details on his trainers standing out, giving a splash of colour on every spread and drawing the eye to the main characters. The pacing of the story is cleverly managed by the use of whole page, double spread, split page and comic strip images.

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A warm story about friendship and determination: wonderful for developing visual literacy.

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The Big Book of Bugs/A Beetle Is Shy

May 14, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Big Book of Bugs
Yuval Zommer and Barbara Taylor
Thames & Hudson
Now is the time of year to go in search of all things buggish and armed with inventive illustrator, Yuval Zommer’s and bug expert, Barbara Taylor’s fantastic book, you’ll be in a position to find out all about them. It’s absolutely packed full of fascinating facts and some figures relating to minibeasts of all kinds – insects, snails, spiders, centipedes and worms and indeed we are given a classification explaining how to tell what’s what …

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as well as some other general bug-related information, before moving on to look at particular species in greater detail. This, the author does by posing intriguing questions such as ‘Does a dragonfly breathe fire?’ or ‘Just how slow does a snail go?’

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as leads in to double spreads on over twenty-five topics. Most spreads look at one kind of mini creature, say spiders, where among the facts we find that spiders have 48 knees (I’ve never thought of spiders having knees before, I have to say); or Ants ‘the queen ant can live for 15 years!’

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Or, Centipedes where we discover ‘most of these creatures have around 30 legs and can have over 300.

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And, in relation to Bugs on the Move, ‘A horsefly (my most unfavourite bug) can fly faster than a car on the motorway.’ That’s as maybe, but the one that bit me and caused an infected wound on my back that grew to the size of a duck’s egg and needed daily lancing for over a month, certainly wasn’t doing that!
Each spread is beautifully illustrated by Yuval Zommer, who adds touches of humour here and there, making bug discovery and factual learning a fun activity for all. Zommer even extends his creativity and readers’ enjoyment by including a ‘search and find’ element throughout, asking on the title page, ‘Can you find exactly the same fly 15 times in this book? Watch out for imposters.’ And he’s also hidden a couple of stripey wasps on the Bees spread …

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This is exactly the kind of captivating, treasure trove of a book that will turn youngsters into bug lovers, effervescing with enthusiasm to go on a minibeast hunt. It’s a must have for all family bookshelves, primary schools and early years settings – most of the latter two include some kind of minibeast theme in the curriculum.

Also on the topic of minibeasts, focusing on one category of insects is:

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A Beetle Is Shy
Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books
This one is vibrantly illustrated in glowing watercolours by Sylvia Long, and the poetic text is provided by Diana Hutts Aston. Although originating in the US,(and so some of the species may be unfamiliar to say, UK readers) the book has plenty to offer everyone with an interest in the subject. And some species just have different names ‘Convergent Lady Beetle’ is a ladybird.
The author uses attention-catching phrases such as ‘A beetle is kaleidoscopic’ …

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or ‘A beetle is telegraphic’ …

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to introduce particular characteristics that are then further explored on the spread in text that is perfectly pitched to engage and keep readers involved and wanting to know more.
We learn of the helpful things some beetles do (ladybirds eat aphids for instance), others can be a food source (in India some people eat stag beetle chutney. I’ve never come across this despite frequent visits). But some kinds such as weevils devastate crops like cotton and lettuce.

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A good one for individual reading or for sharing – it reads aloud so well.

Board Books Briefing

April 29, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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I Wish I Were a Pirate
Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Sarah Ward
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
In a jolly rhyming narrative, a small boy entertains the possibilities of a piratical life sailing the seas, capturing a baddie of two …

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and of course, searching for buried treasure.
Small fingers will have lots of fun working the various sliders …

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and there’s plenty to amuse in Sarah Ward’s jolly nautical scenes, not least the activities of the stowaway mice.

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Cars Go
Steve Light
Chronicle Books
Bright watercolour illustrations accompany the irresistible onomatopoeic outpourings of the eight vehicles featured in this wide format board book.
With an old jalopy that goes CHITTYCHITTY CHITTYCHITTY KKKKTTT SHHPPPTTT SHHPPPTTT, a Monster Truck that goes KR-KR-KR KR-KR-KR- KRRUUUNCH and this beauty …

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You’re guaranteed a wonderfully noisy story session when you share this with early years children; and think of all that inbuilt sound/symbol awareness potential herein.
And, don’t you just love the playful finale …

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Listen to the Jungle
Listen to the Things that Go
Marion Billet
Nosy Crow
This pair of interactive board books with lots of noise making opportunities and amusing animal pictures should provide hours of fun for the very youngest. Lions, a hippo, monkeys, an elephant, pandas and parrots …

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plus a sprinkling of minibeasts and other birds inhabit the landscapes of the former, each being introduced with a single sentence such as ‘Listen to the hippo in the water.’
Each spread has a strategically placed button, which when pressed, makes the animal’s sound.
The Things that Go are cars, a lorry, a bike …

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a train, a boat and a tram and all the drivers, riders and passengers are animals.
Both books, when shared with an adult, offer plenty of potential for talk about each spread. (And you can discretely turn the sound switch inside the back cover to the off position if you want to.)

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Mog and Me and other stories
Judith Kerr
Harper Collins Children’s Books
For a delightful introduction to the world of Mog for the very youngest, this is just the thing and, with its easy to read text, it’s ideal for beginning readers to share with their toddler siblings.

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Here in four brief stories, we meet not only the forgetful cat herself, but also members of her extended family.

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The Hueys in It Wasn’t Me
Oliver Jeffers
Harper Collins Children’s Books
The Hueys – usually a peaceable group of characters are having an argument when along comes Gillespie and dares to ask, “What are you fighting for?” but they’re too busy deciding who started it, so he tries again …

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Err …
The humour in this story of escalating conflict is subtle and quite sophisticated. It works well with 4s to 6s but one wonders whether it might go right over the heads of toddlers – the usual board book audience.

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Goodnight Tiger/Little Hoot

April 18, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Goodnight Tiger
Timothy Knapman and Laura Hughes
Little Tiger Press
It’s the middle of the night and Emily is still wide awake; but what is the cause of the BELLOWING, STOMPING, TRUMPETING and GROWLING that’s stopping her from sleeping? It’s not animals out in the street escaped from the zoo, nor anything under the bed, or in amongst her clothes and toys – she’s checked those possibilities; my goodness, that commotion is actually emanating from the animals on her wallpaper. They too, so they tell Emily, are unable to sleep. So she climbs into the wallpaper and thus begins a lesson – or rather several –on getting ready for bed, as the young miss takes them through a routine of bathing themselves, having a goodnight hot chocolate drink …

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snuggling up with a cuddly bear and a lullaby rendition. But even after all this, there’s only one tired being and it certainly isn’t any of the animals. Did I just say routine though? What actually happened was tiger caused a rumpus at the water hole; the drink was truly disgusting, the bear bolted and the lullaby became a raucous chorus …

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Hold on though, what’s that Emily is clutching?

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Could this be the answer to the animals’ insomnia and finally, her own …
Well, yes and no: it certainly works for some …

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With a satisfying final twist in the tale, this book is enormous fun to share at bedtime (though maybe not if there happens to be jungly paper on your child’s bedroom walls) or indeed at any time. Emily is a delight as are the creatures whose nocturnal world she temporarily enters. I can see this one becoming a much requested, just before bedtime favourite.

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Little Hoot
Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace
Chronicle Books
Little Hoot is generally a happy little fellow. He enjoys school, loves playing with his friends and will even do the practice routines his Mama Owl asks him to. But there is one thing he absolutely hates and that is staying up late. “All my other friends get to bed so much earlier than me!” he complains. Yes, he actually said that and what’s more, decides that when he grows up he’ll let his offspring go to bed as early as they want. He’s definitely not a night bird, this one despite papa Owl’s “Rules of the roost.” But off he duly goes for one hour more play …

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and it seems to be an especially long time when it comes to the last ten minutes …

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Having done his owly duty at last, he whizzes off to bed without even waiting for a bedtime story. Now that is not so good, Little Hoot.
This enchanting story will appeal to adults as much as to the young children who will delight in the irony of Little Hoot not wanting to stay up late. The tiny day birds I shared it with also loved the bed jumping and fort building in particular. My favourite scene however was that wonderful pondering practice …

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Adorable.

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Playing the Game

April 16, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Very Cold, Freezing, No-Number Day
Ashley N. Sorenson and David Miles
Familius
Talking numbers are certainly an innovative device for reader engagement, particularly when they send out a desperate-sounding cry across what looks like a snowy landscape. Who can resist that plaintive H -E-E-E-E–L-L-L-P-P-P-P–! plea as the numbers fall from the clocks and are scattered across the ground?

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“We’re NUMB. B-B-B-BRRRRR!” they continue from the blocks of ice surrounding them … “Unless we warm up, time stops.” With such things as birthdays at stake, young children are unlikely to ignore the warning. Fuelled by their motivation to participate in the rescue, children free the numerals and with the thaw, the colours change from chilly blues and purples to warmer hues: greens, yellows, oranges …

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and tiger striped. Here they’re hiding among thick foliage, so counting, tracing and even soft blowing are required to further warm them up …

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until finally success – 20 is reached and it’s time to celebrate …

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David Miles’ clever use of colour transports readers from chilly climes to ferociously hot ones, as they’re swept along by their textually-driven actions.

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Let’s Play!
Hervé Tullet
Chronicle Books
Readers will find it hard to resist the invitation issued by the sunny yellow dot – a dot that enjoys exercise moreover – to join it on a journey filled with fun, feelings and a sense of freedom as it leaps, loops, lurches, hides, …

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hops and hurtles its way through, and on one occasion off – the book’s pages, encountering thrills, hazards and horrors in so doing.

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What makes this one work is the tacit pact made at the outset between painter Tullet and player, the reader, whose head even becomes a landing place for the errant dot at one point. Crazy but lots of fun nevertheless and a wonderful demonstration of creativity unbound.

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A Moose on the Loose & Some Monsters

April 15, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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There’s a Moose on the Loose
Lucy Feather and Stephan Lomp
Nosy Crow
When Moose leaves his rural residence and heads for the big city, it’s not long before everyone therein knows there’s a MOOSE ON THE LOOSE. First port of call is the fire station through which he dashes, catching a fireman’s bucket on his antler as he goes. From there he visits a department store full of shoppers where he adds a wellie boot to the bucket on his antler and a shop assistant joins the fireman in the chase.
Imagine the mayhem a loose moose in a busy library can cause, especially when there are several book-filled floors but our moose isn’t hanging about here, particularly as he’s somehow managed to add a dictionary to the items attached to his antlers and now the librarian too is in hot pursuit. There’s no stopping our moose though as he dashes on, galloping madly through the museum, speeding through the supermarket, hurtling through the hospital, careering through the castle, sploshing through the swimming pool …

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sprinting through the school collecting all manner of objects upon those antlers and increasing the number of pursuers at each location. Then, he goes bounding through an apartment block …

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and up onto its roof where it seems his presence, though not that of all his pursuers, is awaited. Oh NO! Now it looks as if our rampaging moose has forgotten something; he certainly doesn’t seem full of the party spirit …

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Uh-oh – there he goes again …

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My readers were immediately sucked in to the action and eagerly dashed through the book following the footsteps of moose and then immediately turned back to the beginning and spent a considerable time exploring each detailed, action-packed spread. It’s absolutely full of comic scenarios such as the elephant having a hair do, the music lover in the library …

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and the impending trolley disaster on the supermarket ramp and if you are looking for a book that generates interactive talk between young children, then this one is definitely a good bet.
It has all kinds of potential in the classroom; for mapping, counting, positional vocabulary and more but most important, it’s enormously entertaining. I had to beg my copy back out of the hands of a group of enthusiastic children, and that surely speaks for itself.

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Monster & Son
David Larochelle and Joey Chou
Chronicle Books
We share in fun and games monster style as all manner of dads and their offspring engage in such activities as throw and catch …

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chase and tag, tickling, fishing, making music …

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building a hideout, telling jokes, piggy back riding and occasionally pausing for a snack.
These are the daytime activities of the mock-scary creatures –ghosts, ghouls, yetis, werewolves, dragons and the like – that inhabit this book. When the night comes and the moon shines bright, it’s no surprise to discover that their bedtime rituals are pretty much the same as those of humans – filled with love and gentleness – ahhhh!
In addition to the innocent-sounding rhyming narrative running through the book, there are stories aplenty to be found in Joey Chou’s digital illustrations rendered in suitably subdued hues. Indeed, it’s the mismatch between what is said and what is seen that is key here: The dragon laughter is such that it sets a castle blazing; the snack being gorged on is a car, the occupants of which look on helplessly …

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and the sea serpents’ ball game is causing boats to founder and capsize.

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Clothes and Countryside ABCs

April 10, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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D is for Dress-Up
Maria Carluccio
Chronicle Books
Wonderfully playful: every page in this delightful alphabet book is a starting point for discussion or storying. What is being made by the cook wearing that apron on the A page?

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Who are the children sporting the bow and bow tie illustrated for B? Where are they going?
On what occasion will the ensemble be worn?

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Indeed Maria Carluccio’s digitally rendered scenes celebrate the world of clothing and fabrics for a whole variety of occasions from costumes to be worn for Hallowe’en to glasses and underwear for every day use.
There are also activity-related items such as leotards and yoga pants …

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and I like the way fabric-related words such as quilted, and polka dots & pinstripes

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are included in addition to articles of clothing.
An unusual choice of theme for an alphabet book but it’s one that works, although one might want to quibble about ‘neckties’ for instance (I guess this is in use in the USA) and none of the clothes featured on the overalls page equates to the UK definition of the word. All in all though, this is certainly worth adding to any early years book collection; and it could be a good starting point for children to collaborate on their own ‘Dress-Up” alphabet.

For a slightly younger audience is:

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ABC A Walk in the Countryside
Rosalind Beardshaw
Nosy Crow
In this charming alphabet book, published in conjunction with the National Trust, we accompany two small children on a gentle stroll in the country. There are frequent pauses to observe …

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to play,

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and sometimes to be observed too.

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Every spread has plenty to engage and to discuss with youngsters around the same age as the two walkers; and the sturdy board book format should stand up to the enthusiastic handling it’s likely to receive.

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Twinkle Tames a Dragon/Mamasaurus

March 15, 2016jillrbennett 1 Comment

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Twinkle Tames a Dragon
Katharine Holabird and Sarah Warburton
Hodder Children’s Books
In this, the third story of friendship, fun, frolics and all things fairy, young Twinkle has a yearning for a pet as do her pals Pippa and Lulu. Her wishing song is heard by the Fairy Godmother who duly grants each one a wish. Pippa’s pet is a butterfly; Lulu gets a ladybird and Twinkle? The ‘sweet little pet’ she’d anticipated turns out to be anything but cute and fluffy, rather it’s scaly, decidedly boisterous …

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and in need of a rather drastic training regime – Dragon Obedience Class no less. But can she tame him in time for that Fairy Pet Day her godmother had mentioned?
The day of the show dawns and Scruffy has certainly scrubbed up well; in fact he looks pretty darn cute, but winning a prize?

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He definitely isn’t the prettiest pet: Pippa’s butterfly wins that award and Lulu’s ladybird is the cleverest trickster but what about the best-trained pet? No chance surely; or maybe, just maybe …

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I know quite a few under sixes who will love this book though I have to admit they’re all female. Sarah Warburton’s illustrations are just quirky enough to be cute but not sugary sweet; they’re full of zany details that will delight adult readers aloud as well as young children – look at the expressions on the faces of those animals here …

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Don’t forget to have a good look at the endpapers too; you’ll find all the animal characters there.

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Mamasaurus
Stephan Lomp,
Chronicle Books
When Babysaurus accidentally loses his grip on Mamasaurus’s spine he’s launched into space

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and then finds himself in a heap of leaves but with no sign of his parent. So there’s nothing for it but to wander about in the jungle asking its other inhabitants if they’ve seen her. However, each one he asks only sees Mamasaurus with characteristics of their own parent. But she can’t run like the wind, doesn’t have a long horn, nor wings to fly as high as the sun,

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she’s much larger than tiny Hespero’s mama and she definitely doesn’t have the sharp teeth that Rexy’s mama has.

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Where, oh where is Babysaurus’s mama? I wonder what that loud noise might be …
The luminous colours of the various prehistoric creatures set against the black background really make the images stand out in Lomp’s striking brush pen and photoshop illustrations. The storyline reminds me somewhat of P.D.Eastman’s’ classic Are You My Mother but the visuals are altogether different.

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Fantastical Journeys

March 10, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Are We There Yet?
Nina Laden and Adam McCauley
Chronicle Books
A small boy and his mother set off to drive to Grandma’s and they’ve barely started the journey when the boy pipes up with the words most parents are all too familiar with, “Are we there yet?” It’s a question that is repeated over and over together with mum’s “No.” response as the trip takes them onto the motorway, across a suspension bridge …

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through farming countryside and a desert landscape, each of which includes increasingly surreal happenings …

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They then leave the road and go first beneath the sea …

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And then deep into outer space …

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before finally emerging at their destination to be greeted by Gran whose garden is filled with topiaries of various things observant readers will have noticed along the way. And what does the boy have to say about the journey? He certainly doesn’t seem to number among the observant ones. His, to my mind, enigmatic final response seems at odds with what I had all along been taking (and celebrating as such) to be a series of glorious flights of fancy. Was it or was it not all in the child’s head?
McCauley’s mixed media illustrations are deliciously playful: look carefully at the opening living room scene and there, mainly scattered around the floor and sofa, are objects whose significance emerges during the drive.
A great book for developing visual literacy and developing talk most certainly; and those just starting to read too will get enormous pleasure in being able to read the minimal text themselves. There is so much to discover in every spread; this is one to revisit time and again when new insights and meanings will emerge.

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My Family is a Zoo
K.A.Gerrard and Emma Dodd
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Courtesy of a boy narrator we learn what happens when he and his dad start out on a journey (destination unknown to the younger of the two at least) together with one or two additional passengers.

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On route they stop to pick up other family members together with their special friends

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Seems the car has an every increasing capacity to take on all those extra passengers …
but where are they all going?

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This is ‘not so much a family – More a family zoo!’
Finally they reach their destination where a wonderful surprise awaits …

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There’s so much to enjoy in this story told through Kelly Gerrard’s gently humorous rhyming text that reads aloud well and Emma Dodd’s cute and cuddlesome character-filled scenes.

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Terrific Truck Tales

March 4, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

Old MacDonald Had a Truck
Steve Goetz and Eda Kaban
Chronicle Books
What on earth is going on down on Old MacDonald’s farm? Certainly the animals are there but what are they up to? We join them and the farming couple as they start the day, the latter in a truck loaded with a what looks like metal, and are greeted by the livestock: all looks pretty normal …

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but turn the page and an excavator confronts us with a ‘DIG DIG here and a DIG DIG ‘there … ‘
Thence follows a whole lot of scooping, pushing and shoving,

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scraping and raking, dumping and thumping, squishing and smashing, spinning and whirling as the noisy narrative takes readers through the book page by page and Mrs M gets on with the job of reconstructing the truck’s engine, adding new tyres (huge ones) and giving the whole thing a respray.

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Mr M. meanwhile has been in charge of the digging, building –

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and generally directing the construction of an arena.
With the day’s work finally complete, Mr and Mrs Macdonald don goggles and safety helmets, jump into their reconstructed vehicle and she drives them off into the night with a wave to their co-constructers.
Exuberant pencil and gouache illustrations, digitally composited, coupled with a jaunty, onomatopoeic text are just the thing for a lively story session be it with an early years audience or an individual vehicle-loving youngster. Whatever your audience, make sure you allow plenty of time to explore the humorous details on every spread –much of the story is told in the visuals.

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Little Blue Truck
Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurry
Nosy Crow
The little blue truck trundles merrily on its way greeting the animals as it passes them: ‘Sheep said, “Baaa!”/Cow said, “Moo!”/”Oink!” said a piggy./”Beep!” said Blue.’ On it goes over hill and dale

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until a large and very rude dump truck hurtles past, swerves and ends up stuck in a whole load of muck. His honks for help go unanswered by the animals. However, being the kind-hearted vehicle that he is, Little Blue attempts a rescue but he too ends up stuck fast in the mire. That’s when all that friendliness of his pays dividends: the animals rally together, ‘Head to head/and rump to rump, /they all pushed Blue -/ who pushed the Dump.’
But even that doesn’t quite do it; then up pops one more creature – that tiny green toad

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and it’s he whose added power finally frees both Dump and Blue. Paying it forward certainly works and even Dump drives off having learned an important lesson about being a good friend and the rewards of neighbourliness.
I’m not surprised this story is already a best seller in the USA. It’s full of opportunities for listeners to join in with the animal (and vehicle) sounds that are part and parcel of the rollicking rhyming text.
I love those rural scenes with their nostalgic feel and dusky palette.

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Line, Shape, Form & Colour

February 29, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Do You See What I See?
Helen Borten
Flying Eye Books
Not so much a question, more an invitation to readers from Helen Borten, to look carefully at the world around them, to look at everything in terms of line, shape and form, and colour.
She also shows, through her poetic verbal imagery the way in which what and how we see influences how we feel: ‘Lines that bend in a zigzag way seem to crackle with excitement. They make me think of thunderstorms and jagged mountain peaks. I see huge jaws of a crocodile, wide open and bristling with jagged teeth, ready to snap shut.’

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There are also curves – swirls and twirls full of grace and beauty; and often adding texture …

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Lines are everywhere, in abundance – skinny or fat, timid or bold, wiggly or straight, hard or soft, shaggy or smooth, fast or slow – ‘Wherever I look I see lines making patterns of beauty. Can you see them too?’

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Moreover, lines can become shapes – circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and more; these too are all around us.

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Moving on to colours: are they hot like a fire, cold as a mountain stream, warm like the rays of the sun, or cool as a crispy lettuce leaf?

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What about this for wonderful visual/verbal evocation: ‘Colours can be pale and timid as a mouse – or dark and mysterious as the night.’

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Seeing and feeling are inextricably bound when it comes to art appreciation and understanding, and this book is an excellent starting point for discussion and then doing as the author urges, ‘… see the world as a great big painting, full of lines and shapes and colours to look at and enjoy.’
A modern classic in the 1960s, it’s great to see it back in print with Flying Eye: a real little treasure.

Line, shape and colour are also key elements of

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Apples and Robins
Lucie Félix
Chronicle Books
Here, every turn of the page changes one thing to another: circles to apples at summer’s end, out of reach apples that require a ladder for picking. For this rectangles are needed –short and long,
Triangles, ovals, parallelograms, squares both as blocks of colour or die-cuts are used to conjure up the robin,

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bird-house,

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the elements, and much more as we move through this cleverly conceived book from autumn through winter to the coming of spring to a garden in which stands the apple tree.
With something to surprise and delight readers on every new spread encountered,

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this is definitely one to revisit time and again, to listen to the author’s commentary as she takes us through the changing seasons and shows us how the scenes are constructed.

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Board Book Roundup

February 27, 2016jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Hugless Douglas First Words
David Melling
Hodder Children’s Books
Our favourite hugging bear certainly has his priorities right in this six-word board book. Having safely deposited his Teddy, Douglas relaxes – well that was his intention – in a Bath

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and indulges himself with his favourite preserve, then dons his Pyjamas and dressing gown ready for a spot of Book sharing …

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followed by a Hug (of course) and then everyone snuggles down in and around the Bed.
That, in a nutshell is it; but there’s so much going on in the illustrations that there’s at least one story on every spread.
There’s also a session of book sharing in:

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I Love My Mummy
Fhiona Galloway and Jonathan LittonLittle Tiger Kids,
Little Tiger Kids
Bright, cheery art work, die cuts and an assortment of humanised animals (other than the final one) are the key elements of this little rhyming ‘thank you to mum’ book published just in time for Mother’s Day. A calf, a little frog, a kitten, a bear,

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a young croc. a lamb and a bee all have their own ways of delivering the message and each has a floral offering for their very special mother, little bee’s being the most spectacular in my view.

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Animal mothers also feature in

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Baby Tiger
Baby Bear
illustrated by Yu-Hsuan Huang
Chronicle Books
A pair of tiny chunky board books each with a cute finger puppet, present some basic information about the respective baby animals and how they spend their days from early morning through to bedtime, and at the same time encourage playful interaction between the adult and infant sharing them. Book sharing is one of the very best experiences you can give your very young child to nurture his or her language and general cognition. When you read as if you’re having a conversation with your child it’s supplying brilliant brain food in addition to helping to develop that very special bond between you.

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Listen to the Music
Marion Billet
Nosy Crow
Half a dozen different animals strut their stuff as musicians herein: there’s recorder-playing Pig, Elephant the pianist, violinist Cat,

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a pair of guitar strumming Zebras, a couple of Bear drummers and finally Mouse tinkles on the xylophone. When you press the button on each instrument (once you’ve activated the switch inside the back cover, that is) the musician in question starts playing.
I have a suspicion this jolly little book will be played to destruction: it’s a fun way to introduce some musical instrument names to tinies and you could perhaps play a memory game: What did Elephant play? etc. Or turn it around: Which animal played the piano. No peeping on the final page though.

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The Bear’s Surprise/ And then …

February 17, 2016jillrbennett 2 Comments

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The Bear’s Surprise
Benjamin Chaud
Chronicle Books
Spring has come to the forest and emerging from hibernation, Little Bear discovers Papa Bear missing. Intent on discovering the whereabouts of his parent off he goes down a ‘never-before-seen path’ as it twists and turns taking him through the cut-outs on every spread: down a dark hole into a cave wherein he spies an intriguing pipe …

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Then, emerging from the washing machine – for that was where the pipe led – he finds himself in a huge circus tent. There, on a very tiny bike, he spots Papa Bear performing a stunt before himself becoming part of the show …

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and eventually, courtesy of a cannon blast, landing atop a large nose belonging to none other than his very own Mama Bear.

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And she has a very special, very tiny surprise of her own to share with Little Bear and with delighted readers and listeners. Just the thing to complete a family balancing act

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before the whole family wends its way back home to the bear den and some well-earned sleep.
There is just so much to see in this book. Almost every spread is teeming with minute details of animals, circus performers and avid spectators. And just in case all this isn’t enough, Chaud drops in the odd character or two from Lewis Carroll along the way. This is definitely one to enjoy with a small group, or for sharing with an individual.

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And then …
Alborozo
Child’s Play
Determined to divert some of the attention away from her newly born baby brother, the young, birthday girl narrator of this marvellous story creates a portrait of the recent arrival, makes a special wish

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and then lets her imagination run riot … as she miniaturises her parents, deals with a squid emergency –

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with a little bit of help from a friendly doc once …

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or twice … ,

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allows herself another wish – it’s her birthday after all AND something of an emergency, before coming to a momentous decision concerning her baby sibling.

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Do I hear another story starting to emerge …
Enormous fun, this offbeat tale is a testament to the imagination (storying in particular) and how it can help youngsters, indeed all of us, deal with those life experiences that challenge us from time to time.

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Identity Puzzles: My Wild Family/Who Done it?

November 20, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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My Wild Family
Laurent Moreau
Chronicle Books
On outsized pages, through a first person narrative, readers are introduced to all manner of family members and finally, as she calls herself, the ‘unique’ female narrator.
“I have a very special family” we are told on the opening spread and assuredly that is true for the girl then goes on to show each family member as a wild animal. Her older brother is ‘strong and respected’; her younger brother in contrast is ‘flighty and a dreamer, his head often in the clouds.’ Unsurprisingly he’s also an excellent singer.

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‘Sweet and generous’ her grandmother likes to stay at home whereas her aunt ‘always perfectly primped, never leaves the house without looking her best.’

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The animals themselves are never named; you have to look carefully at the respective scenes – a classroom, busy street, sandy beach, a shopping centre for instance, to discover which one each person is portrayed as.
Friends too get the ‘treatment’: her best female friend ‘makes the best scary faces’

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and, to outrun her record-breaking runner, best male pal, would be well nigh impossible – unless that is, you were another member of the same species.
Audiences will delight in hearing the narrator’s family story and if mine are anything to go by, will be inspired to think about themselves, their own personality traits and those of their families in animal terms. (A lead into the Phillip Pullman daemon idea perhaps.)
Below are two from children I know…

Gracie thought about her younger brother thus

and …

James’ brother is often very amusing …

The retro-modern illustrations have just the right amount of detail and I particularly like the judicious use of red outlines that give an added dimension to the scenes. For sheer energy, my favourite has to be that ‘Cousins’ ‘scene

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and here the text does actually spill the beans as to the animal identity.
The whole thing is imaginative, funny and splendidly thought- and talk-provoking.

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Who Done It?
Olivier Tallec
Chronicle Books
The title question is not one of the twelve posed to young children as they work their way through this unusual shaped book. With his minimalist, not quite static art work, Tallec proffers, all manner of amusing scenarios, interrogating a delightful line-up of characters – human and animal – with such as Who forgot a swimsuit? , Who ate all the jam?

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And, the funniest and favourite with my testers, ‘Who couldn’t hold it? ‘ has a delicious degree of ambiguity but that’s half the fun of the whole thing.

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The same is true of the jam spread. Number one suspect is the jam-spattered fox; but equally the dark haired boy has an enormous grin across his face and the rabbit looks decidedly as if he could throw up at any moment. For those who require certainties, the final page supplies all the ‘correct’ answers.
The allure of this one is great and the promise holds good throughout. Every delightful double spread sets the scene for the development of talk and imaginative storying, culminating in what is probably the most tricky poser of all to decide: Who is in disguise?

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The book’s probably best shared with small groups or individually; and in addition, the predictable nature of the text makes this a good bet for beginning readers.

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War or Peace? Ninja Baby/Green Lizards vs Red Rectangles

November 18, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Ninja Baby
David Zeltser and Diane Goode
Chronicle Books
An original take on a new sibling is offered in this hilarious book written in a wonderfully wry manner. Born a ninja for sure, Nina immediately shows her nature by karate chopping the doctor in return for her ‘make sure she’s breathing thump on the behind’.

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We then follow her path as she masters the sneak attack, hand-to-hand combat, obliteration, even advanced infiltration:

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total independence no less. Life is, one might say, pretty peachy for young Nina until that is, the arrival of a new prodigy: a veritable Kung Fu Master.

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In no time at all, this creature has wormed his way into his parents’ affections by doing nothing other than being utterly adorable. Guess who is far from happy.

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And seemingly young Nina has a few things to learn from the Master and vice-versa …

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Together they can become an indomitable force …

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I love the way the different, contrasting energies are portrayed in Diane Goode’s delectable watercolour and ink scenes: Fast moving, Ninja Nina’s success is her stealth. (That all out tantrum scene is sheer genius in its demonstration of the art of ninja.) Her placid, manipulative baby brother is altogether other. A total heart-stealer if ever there was one (or two!)

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Green Lizards vs Red Rectangles
Steve Antony
Hodder Children’s Books
The Green Lizards and the Red Rectangles wage war on one another as first one side – the GLs – is in the ascendant, and then the other, as tricky tactics from the RRs truly test the strength of the GLs.

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Until one Green Lizard has the audacity to question the whole thing.

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He however is firmly squashed and the battle then quickly reaches epic proportions …

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culminating in total exhaustion on both sides.
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” declares a small Red Rectangle and indeed it is for the two sides then face one another for a truce.
And, finally they work together to construct a way of living in peace and harmony.

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Long may it continue …
Seemingly simple, this is a brilliantly clever, totally original fable of our time. It packs a powerful punch about peace (and the futility of war), delivering a message that one hopes young children will take on board and keep with them as they mature. Indeed the questions raised here in this allegorical story are equally relevant to older children and adults. I suggest teachers of children in KS2 and beyond share it with their classes too.

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The Bear Report & Land Shark

November 13, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Bear Report
Thyra Heder
Abrams Books for Young Readers
Homework – bor-ing!
That’s certainly the feeling of most children when faced with something as seemingly dull as Sophie is in this beautiful book. Hardly surprising then that her response is thus …

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That’s it, she thinks as sits down to watch TV. But then …

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The bear – Olafur by name – invites young Sophie to visit his Arctic home. And ignoring her indifferent “Um, no thinks. I’ve seen the pictures.” response, he whisks her away to a glorious world of ice-floes, snowy landscapes inhabited by whales, seals, Arctic foxes and snow rabbits; a place where she can fish with a stick, scramble across moss-covered rocks, birdwatch lying on her back – BRRR!

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and even slide down glaciers.
Inevitably such adventures make for sleepiness so the two snuggle up for some shut-eye but then suddenly find themselves struggling through the sea as the ice-floe melts. Then it’s Sophie’s turn to take charge as she dives beneath the waves calling – summoning – and help comes in the form of a Humpback Whale …

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And as darkness begins to fall, Olafur has one last surprise for Sophie …

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who now has a whole lot more to add to her homework assignment –thanks to that mind stretching adventure.
Inspired by Thyra Heder’s own Arctic visit, this truly impressive book really does, in comparatively few well-chosen words and stunning watercolour scenes in icy blue, grey and green shades shades, paint a breathtaking world while at the same time one hopes, sparking the imagination and engendering a fascination for wild places with their amazing flora and fauna. A delight through and through.
Perhaps homework can be worthwhile after all …

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Land Shark
Beth Ferry and Ben Mantle
Chronicle Books
Shark-obsessive, Bobby is determined to get his parents to buy him a pet shark for his birthday. What is he to do then, when the big day comes and he’s given a puppy? Certainly not fall immediately in love with her no matter how charming she might appear to be. This shark lover’s not for turning …

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Maybe then, the best solution is to sit by and observe as the pup begins to leave a trail of devastation throughout the house, chewing shoes, chair legs and stuffed toys and that’s before she starts on the neighbours’ property.

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Hold it there: didn’t Bobby’s original raison d’etre for that shark demand something like this: ‘frightful, bite-ful, delightful’? Couldn’t that equally well be applied to the most recent resident in Bobby’s household? But no: ‘Shark lovers can NOT be converted to dog lovers.” Not just yet but … then comes a bite to beat all bites and guess whose gnashers are responsible?

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That little canine beauty has chomped her way right into Bobby’s heart. QED
This slightly off-beat story, told with wit and charm, and great fun to read aloud is perfectly complemented by Ben Mantle’s deliciously dynamic visuals. Chock full of detail and delivered with aplomb, every character is beautifully realised, best of all being Bobby with his funky fin hairstyle: and what a range of perspectives Mantle uses.
There’s a wonderful ‘tail end’ too: one that leaves audiences free to unleash their own imaginations along with Bobby, as well as perhaps signaling follow-up possibilities. This reviewer says ‘More please!’

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The Big, Big Bing Book/Big Bear little chair

November 1, 2015November 1, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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The Big, Big Bing Book
Harper Collins Children’s Books
This outsize board book, which is adapted from Ted Dewan’s original Bing books, certainly is a splendid BING THING! Clearly it’s designed for group sharing and I envisage small children lying flat on the floor poring over and discussing the plethora of images they find herein.
It’s thematically organized with each of the half dozen double spreads being given over to a different topic. Thus we have ‘Hello Bing! that introduces Bing Bunny’s friends and relations, Bing’s house (and garden)

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that is simply crammed with everyday objects that are part of Bing’s domestic life.
From there, Bing’s world enlarges to encompass the immediate environment – the woods, his street, the park and playground, Amma’s crèche and more.
We also join in with the numerous Playtime activities that absorb Bing and his pals, each of which is illustrated vignette style,

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then there’s a Colours page with Bing’s own ‘Rainybow Song’ and another for Numbers.

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The final spread looks at two more concepts Opposites and Seasons.
Each double spread is packed with details that will assuredly get children talking, enthusing, laughing and learning in a playful, enjoyable way be it at home or at nursery.

Also full of opportunities for language development is:

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Big Bear little chair
Lizi Boyd
Chronicle Books
Take a comparatively simple size concept – big/small – and turn it into a beautiful, stylish three-story book encompassing the concept but with so much more is what Lizi Boyd does here beginning thus …

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And continuing with …

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and finally, after the butterfly has hatched –

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The second story introduces little bear and moves on to …

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and eventually …

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The bears then come together and another story unfolds and finally we meet the whole cast of story characters.

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Read differently, each page itself could be the starting point for a story that the reader goes on to create.
With its bold, patterned, slightly whimsical illustrations executed with a limited colour palette, no matter how it’s read, this offers an experience full of delight and potential.

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Hauntings

October 18, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Leo a ghost story
Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson
Chronicle Books
Leo is a house ghost – we readers can see him but others can’t. He’s been in his current residence for years, drawing and reading,

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but one spring day a new family moves in and Leo becomes a host ghost. His efforts definitely aren’t appreciated by the incomers who immediately decide the house is haunted and call in all manner of exorcists.

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Leo decides to move out anyway and goes a-roaming in the city. People walk past or even through him until his wanderings eventually result in an encounter with a young pavement artist, Jane who mistakes him for an imaginary friend.

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“If I tell her I am a ghost, I will scare her away,” he fears.
Then late at night a thief enters Jane’s home, Leo apprehends him by donning traditional ghostly garb

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and finally gains acceptance as the being he truly is.
Christian Robinson’s wonderful retro-style illustrations, executed with collage and paint in suitably spectral shades work so well in combination with author Mac Barnett’s matter of fact, economic narrative style: ‘ A squad car came and hauled the man off the jail. That was that.’ he comments when the thief is taken by the police.

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And, “Jane I told you a lie. I am a ghost … I am just your real friend.” “Oh!” said Jane. “Well that’s even better.”
This is a wonderfully wise, warm story of friendship and acceptance, and a great one for sharing at this, or any time of the year, especially accompanied by honey toast and mint tea.

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The Mystery of the Haunted Farm
Elys Dolan
Nosy Crow
Newly moved into the farm, Farmer Grey is more than a little discombobulated by the phantoms that seem to have invaded his residence during his somnambulatory activities.

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So, the terrified fellow calls in the Ghost-Hunters who quickly confirm that neither the pond, nor the farmhouse itself have any ghosts – according to their Scare-o-Meter, the Phantom Finder 5000 that is. So it’s off to check the barn, but the seeming invasion by ‘terrifyingly gooey supernatural creatures’ doesn’t register on that PF5000 either. What can be going on?
But then, a clue leads to the chicken coop up on the hill and it’s a case of follow those goats and see what’s going on in that ‘incredibly creepy chicken coop’

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Once inside and down the stairs, those Ghost-Hunters are amazed at the sight before their eyes: an underground fear factory the likes of which they’ve never seen before.
But why are all those animals taking on ghostly or ghoulish appearance? Mother Hen starts to explain and all is about to be revealed in an amazing show-stopping finale …
I won’t reveal the rest of this brilliantly funny romp but suffice it to say that the moon has something to answer for and those Ghost-Hunters put a pretty clever training plan into action, which is highly effective …
most of the time.

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Definitely other winner from the stupendously clever Elys Dolan

For older readers:

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Witchmyth
Emma Fischel
Nosy Crow
Flo, the modern young witch with a worldy-wise, rather eccentric Gran and a sceptical mum returns for a second Haggspitt extravaganza. Herein she has to take on the horrifying Haggfiend – head and arms of Hagg and body of Fiend with ‘evil in her cold cruel heart’; but is she real or merely a character from that book of Magical Myths.
As with the first story, there’s plenty of excitement and humour sizzling away between those gorgeous Chris Riddell covers. I can’t envisage many 8s to 10s not being caught up and swept along by this super, spellbinding story narrated by Flo herself. I was!

Use your local bookshop

For plenty of visual thrills visit the wonderful Children’s Books Illustration Autumn Exhibition at Waterstones, Piccadilly 23^rd-29^th October

Hallowe’en Frights, Spooky Skeletons and Boos

October 16, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

Fright Club
Ethan Long
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
It’s the night before Halloween; a final meeting has been called for Fright Club members and it’s in full swing when …

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The little bunny on the other side of the door is quickly sent hopping and it’s back to business, Vladimir’s being to train his fellow members in ‘The 3 Traits of HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MONSTERS’, not very successfully it seems but then there’s another knock.

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That bunny has returned bringing her lawyer along to back her anti-discrimination cause but again the would-be entrants are sent packing.
A third knock is opened to …

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And it seems these determined ‘cute little critters’ are not for turning: and they’re jolly well going to prove their point to boot …

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So come Halloween and Operation Kiddy Scare it seems the more the frights, the better the night.
With Long’s aptly gloomy, largely grey toned palette, he has created just the right mock-scary atmosphere in which to place those would-be scary monsters and would-be club member animals.
A Halloween laugh out loud, not scream out loud, treat packed with visual humour and with a multitude of opportunities for joining in with growls, groans, cackles, claps, boos, whooshes and more, this silly tale is great for an atmospheric story time session around the end of October especially.
What ghoulish faces, scary moves and chilling sounds can your listeners come up with; I’m sure they can outdo those Fright Club members.

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Ten Spooky Skeletons
Garry Parsons
Caterpillar Books
We start this cumulative rhyming ‘peek-through’ picture book with a single lonely skelly setting out in search of some friends and finish at the day’s end with ten merry skeletons together in a rattling song and dance extravaganza before it’s lights out and …

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In between, the second skelly’s a pirate, three become a circus act, four are fortune telling, five do magic tricks, six are time travellers, seven go ice-skating …

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eight enjoy a feast and nine are bedding down for some pre-party shut-eye.
With it’s glow-in-the-dark finale, this one is sure to hit the mark around Halloween time and is likely to inspire some skeleton creativity from enthusiastic young listeners.

Finally a couple of playful board books for the very youngest:

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Peek-a Boo!
Nina Laden
Chronicle Books
A handful of Hallowe’en sights and sounds are up for guesses as toddlers are offered a series of peeps through the die-cut holes and can then try to guess what follows that rhymes with BOO on each of the subsequent pages. (Supplying the correct word is quite tricky even when the full picture is revealed.) And there’s a special final surprise provided by the mirror on the inside back cover.

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Boo!
Jonathan Litton and Fhiona Galloway
Little Tiger Kids
‘Were you the one who shouted BOO?’ That is the question in this bright, holey board book. With its patterned, repeating text that takes the form of a question and answer chain

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with the answerer becoming the questioner on the following page until the small wizard changes the question demanding ‘Who’s hiding out there in the night…?’ and all is revealed on the final spread.
Yes, this might be aimed at the very youngest children but the simple repeat pattern text herein makes this an ideal book for beginning readers too.

Use your local bookshop

Loss and Leaving: Shine & Double Happiness

October 11, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Shine
Trace Balla
Allen & Unwin
Most writers of books about death for children use fiction as a vehicle and in so doing, provide a ‘space apart’ wherein youngsters can explore this disturbing and difficult experience. As we know however, all story grows out of life, indeed all life is story and Trace Balla’s story was written for her sister’s children shortly after the death of their father and is, so we are told, based on the great love shared between their parents and the love they in turn shared with their children.
“We all come from the stars, we all go back to the stars…” so said Granny Hitchcock, grandmother of the author and her bereaved sister and it’s this saying that is at the heart of Trace Balla’s story.
Shine , so called because his kindness made him sparkly and shimmery, was a young horse that grew to become an amazing one that loved to gallop among the golden stars with the other horses. One day Shine notices some hoofprints in the sand belonging to another horse, the lovely Glitter and together they raise a family. Their little ones are called Shimmer and Sparky and there grows a great bond of love between all the family members.
But then, one day Shine learns that it’s his turn to return to his star. “… my time has come. I love you all so much,” he tells his family as he leaves them to join the other stars in the beautiful night sky.

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That night a heart-broken Glitter and her offspring cry and cry creating an ocean of golden tears. They together then climb a high mountain – a mountain of grief – from the top of which they are able to see and come to understand the enormity of the love they shared.

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And, as they curl up together, far above them shines the brightest of all the stars, their daddy’s star glowing golden and bringing them a sense of peace.
Trace Balla’s use of mythical horse characters that have no solidity works well as signifiers of life’s transient nature whereas the dark solidity of the huge mountain is perhaps, a metaphor of the process of grieving itself: a process that is likely to be very hard and take an enormous amount of time to climb, but which can ultimately be transcended by joy and the power of love in the world.
Yes, this is a book about loss but it also offers children an invitation to think about the possibility of light emerging from darkness, an idea that should fit with any world view. Indeed the restricted colour palette – shades of blue plus white and yellow are effectively used to symbolise the opposing concepts light/dark, life/death, love/loss, happiness/sadness.
In addition to being a book to offer young children who have suffered the loss of a loved one, particularly a parent, this powerfully affecting story has enormous potential for opening up discussions on a number of topics with a whole class or group.

Moving home can also be a very sad time especially for children who have to leave behind their friends and perhaps relations too. Here is a book in which two children cope with the transition helped by their loving family.

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Double Happiness
Nancy Tuper Ling and Alina Chau
Chronicle Books
The book takes the form of a series of twenty four poems relating to moving from a city (San Francisco) to a new rural home. Sister and brother Gracie and Jack both give voice to their feelings as they search for special things to place in their happiness boxes intended to help with the move:
“Find four treasures each/leading from this home/to your new.”says their grandmother(Nai Nai) who has given them to boxes
Gracie’s first treasure is donated by Nai Nai, her panda toy – he too is to have a new home.

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But it’s Jack who is first to fill his box, his last object being a blue and green marble.

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Alina Chau’s delicate, detailed watercolour paintings grace the pages, serving to bring the whole thing together into a bitter-sweet account of the family’s transition from old home to new and all that it entails: a looking back and a looking forward – memory and anticipation …

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Use your local bookshop

Exciting event at Piccadilly Waterstones 23rd-29th October – don’t miss it if you are in London: Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition

Hindu Tales Retold

September 8, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth
Sanjay Patel and Emily Haynes
Chronicle Books
Ganesha is the Hindu deity said to be the remover of obstacles and a very popular one he is too. With those extremely large ears he is reputed to be a good listener and Hindus often pray to him before embarking on a new venture or going on a journey. I have a large collection of Ganesha murtis collected on my numerous visits to India and each and every one seems to have a slightly different personality; all have a pot belly and many of them have him accompanied by his vehicle, a small rat (called Mr Mouse in this story).
There are many stories about Ganesha – how he got a broken tusk being one of the most popular and this colourful book is a modern version of the particular episode. It tells how as a young child, Ganesha liked nothing better than to eat sweet things, in particular laddoos, the Indian confection. This predilection results in a tragedy when our young hero comes upon a new kind of laddoo – The Super Jumbo Jawbreaker Laddoo. Despite warnings from Mr Mouse, Ganesha cannot resist chomping down on the thing – “I’m invincible.” he reassures his friend – and snaps off one of his tusks.
So furious is young Ganesha that he hurls the broken tusk at the moon. It misses, landing at the feet of the ancient sage and poet, Vyasa who just happens to have a special task for the tusk thrower and thus Ganesha lands the job of scribing the great epic of Hindu literature, the Mahabharata.

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The whole book is a riot of dayglo colour in which Sanjay Patel so brilliantly creates ultra-modern visuals, some of which are reminiscent of what you might see in a temple in South India.

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Others are decidedly closer to some of the contemporary Pixar animations he has worked on.

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By adding their own embellishments and playing slightly with the original plot, Patel and Haynes have between them concocted a wonderfully playful rendering of a classic legend that will surely have wide appeal.
It’s just the thing to read around the time of Ganesha Chaturthi the festival, which celebrates Ganesha’s birthday and falls in 2015 on 15^th September.

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Rama and the Demon King
Jessica Souhami
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
My original hardback edition of this book has been read and recommended more times than I care to remember and after its publication soon became the ‘must share’ book for teachers at the time of Dussehra/Diwali. So, I’m thrilled to see a new paperback of Jessica Souhami’s wonderful rendition of the ancient Indian tale. For those who have yet to discover this gem, it’s wonderfully illustrated with wondrous scenes based on Jessica’s own shadow puppets (She has an amazing travelling shadow puppet company).
If like me, you had a copy from the 1990s and it’s been lost, read to death or perhaps, stolen, then you’ll welcome this opportunity to replace it. For those yet to discover this gem, I urge you to get a copy now. Souhami’s spare storytelling style is splendid for reading aloud and her visuals of Rama and his monkey army led by Hanuman, overcoming the evil demon King Ravana are magnificent.

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Rocks and Sharks

September 4, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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A Rock is Lively
Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books
I was hooked by this book right from its provocative title and dazzling blue front endpapers. Essentially it’s a basic introduction to petrology but the author’s enthusiasm for the topic shines through in her poetic text that begins thus:
‘A rock is lively … bubbling like a pot of soup deep beneath the earth’s crust … liquid … molten … boiling.’
A rock is also, so we hear , ‘mixed up …

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galactic, old, huge … or tiny, helpful, surprising, inventive, creative, recycled and finally once more … lively.
Each of these statements is explored in its own double spread and illuminated with Sylvia Long’s stunning watercolour visuals, making the whole thing a combination of science, poetry and art.
Thus we learn about the range of temperatures at which various rock types melt, the mineral composition of rocks and that some rocks were formed not on earth but far out in space. We are told about some of the very oldest of all rocks from between 2.5 and 4.5 billion years ago – awesome! And I was surprised to learn that sea lions, seals and crocodiles ingest rocks to act as ballast that helps them stay steady or dive deeper in the water.

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I did know though that various other animals use them as tools as did early humans and indeed humans today use rocks in the manufacturing processes of bricks, glass, cement, paper, pencils, toothpaste even.
Some rocks – the surprising ones – have wonders hidden within. These geodes when opened reveal wonderful jewel-like crystals: agate, tourmaline, amethyst, azurite.

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Then there are amazing sculptures and monuments all over the world, some dating back thousands of years, others a few decades …
If like me, you believe that science should engender in children feelings of awe and wonder, then this is a book that will surely help to do just that. And assuredly it will make you look at and think about mountains and grains of sand in a different way.

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Would You Rather Have a Shark for a Sister or a Ray for a Brother?
Camilla de la Bédoyère and Mel Howells
QED Publishing
This is one a series of books that presents information on a specific topic, sharks in this instance, in an offbeat manner. The reader is invited to make choices in response to such questions as ‘Would you rather visit … a Greenland shark, a frilled shark, or a whitetip reef shark?’ This is followed by some fascinating factual snippets and a visual relating to each species mentioned.
The whole thing has a light-hearted feel to it and is likely to appeal to those who prefer a touch of humour alongside the basic facts, for instance with parents in mind …
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And siblings?

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Or in response to the consideration of teeth …

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A book such as this could well result in youngsters, with appetites whetted, going on to look beyond the information given. And of course, there are possibilities for all manner of flights of fancy too, as well as some activity suggestions.

Use your local bookshop

From Small Beginnings ….

September 2, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Who Woke the Baby?
Jane Clarke and Charles Fuge
Nosy Crow
Using the narrative structure of The House that Jack Built as a basis, Jane Clarke has penned a wonderful rhyming tale set in the jungle early one morning. But what has woken that baby who’s ‘smelly and yelly and all forlorn.’? Well, Hippo yawned, Zebra fussed, Lion roared, Crocodile snapped,

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Frog croaked and Bee buzzed. And what about that stunningly coloured butterfly that just happened to float along and land gently on the particular flower occupied by Busy Bee …
If nothing else, it’s certainly caused a change of mood in that baby gorilla, no longer forlorn but full of delighted giggles and gurgles, as it watches the dancing butterfly in the sunlight.

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The story reads aloud beautifully and Fuge’s eye-catching illustrations convey the changing moods of the various animals with verve and a droll, at times befittingly languid, humour.
This should be a real winner with early years listeners.

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Emily’s Balloon
Komako Sakai
Chronicle Books
What a quiet, gentle unassuming book but such a delight is this story about a little girl and her balloon. We follow the course of the interplay between the child and the balloon during the course of a single day, as the girl becomes ever more enchanted by the object that has assumed the role of friend. Once her mother has devised a tethering device, the girl and balloon enter a special world of their own as they play in the yard.

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But then their blissful idyll is interrupted by a sudden gust of wind that whisks the balloon aloft depositing it in the branches of a tall tree. Try as she might, Emily’s mother is unable to retrieve it and it’s a very sad little girl who sits at the dinner table contemplating what might have been …

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Despite her mother’s promise to get a ladder and rescue the balloon in the morning, Emily goes to bed worrying about her precious object until, through her bedroom window, she spies its comforting moon-like presence glowing outside in the darkness.
This is one of those books that really stays with you, so tenderly realized are those moments shared between Emily and her balloon, and Emily and her mother …

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conveyed through the sparely worded text and enormously eloquent drawings executed in minimal colours. Each and every vignette speaks volumes about the precious vulnerability and innocence of early childhood and the way children can get enormous pleasure from very ordinary everyday objects.

Use your local bookshop

Tree of Wonder

August 3, 2015jillrbennett Leave a comment

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Tree of Wonder
Kate Messner and Simona Mulazzani
Chronicle Books
I loved the author’s Up in the Garden, Down in the Dirt. Now for her latest narrative information book she takes readers to a more exotic habitat, the tropical rainforest and in particular one Almendro tree.
This tree, which we are told, is able to produce over a 1,000,000 flowers when it blooms, is in fact the centre of an ecosystem of its own with over 1,000 different living things depending on it. Among those creatures that rely upon it for shelter and/or food are brightly coloured birds – Great Green Macaws and Keel-Billed Toucans,

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both of which feast on the ripe fruits, and Howler Monkeys (they help disperse the seeds of the fruits. Then there are the nocturnal fruit bats that also help in seed dispersal as do the Agoutis, which snuffle around the tree’s base gorging on the fallen fruits. The Blue Morpho butterflies sip the juice of the rotting fruits, roosting in groups to deter predators. For further protection, they flash their brightly coloured wings …

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then fold them up with the brown undersides against the trunk, the spots thereon giving their wing undersides a hawk- or owl-like resemblance.
Among the residents of the Almendro are tadpoles of Poison Dart frogs carried by their parents for safety into the tree where there are small pools of water; and spiders, and leafcutter ants.
Maths is also embedded within this fascinating book. The number doubles as the page is turned and a new species is featured: thus we are shown for instance 4 toucans, 8 Howler Monkeys,

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16 Fruit Bats and so on until we reach 1,024 – that’s the number of Leafcutter ants symbolically represented. And if readers want more maths, then there are, at the end, ten problems, some more challenging than others, just waiting to be solved.
Simona Mulazzani’s detailed scenes of the rainforest fauna and flora are beautiful. Every turn of the page offers a new and glorious painting to linger over.
Engagingly written and superbly illustrated, this book has much to offer primary schools using a topic-based approach to the curriculum. (I came upon several classes using the tropical rainforest as part of their investigative studies recently.)

Use your local bookshop

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