Tag Chuck Groenink

Grandpa is Here

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Grandpa is Here
Tanya Rosie and Chuck Groenink
Walker Books

Meeting her Grandpa at the airport with her parents, the little child narrator quickly overcomes her initial shyness when he gives her an enormous hug, and on the drive back home she anticipates all the things she wants to share with Grandpa.

When he opens up his case, out comes the aroma of Persian spice and other culinary delights, including walnuts from his very own trees. The little girl doesn’t speak any Farsi and Grandpa seemingly doesn’t speak English but they laugh in the same language.

After he’s had a nap, our protagonist takes the opportunity to show Grandpa various places she loves as they take ‘the darkest path in the world’, wandering downhill and up tall hills. She introduces him to a horse named Santiago and Malou the frog and hills she calls Mount Sledge-Top and Rabbit View. As they sit looking at the view, the child wishes Grandpa could stay to share the coming of spring. “Grandpa is like snow, I never want him to go, never want his magic to leave,’ she thinks to herself.

As the sun goes down the two make their way back to the family home and there everyone sits and shares a celebratory meal

until they can’t stay awake any longer. Somebody does though and she creeps in to see her Grandpa fast asleep; gently she reaches out her hand and touches his and ‘hope that these days go slowly’ – just like the falling snow flakes she sees through the window.

Tenderly told through Tanya Rosie’s lyrical rhyming narrative in which the loving connection between grandpa and granddaughter is implicit; so it is too in Chuck Groenink’s illustrations which radiate the warmth and tenderness of the intergenerational bond. Like that tight hug at the start of the story, this will surely evoke strong emotions in adult readers who share this with children.

Memories are made like this.

Mum, Me and the Mulberry Tree

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Mum, Me and the Mulberry Tree
Tanya Rosie and Chuck Groenink
Walker Books

Rituals are important and this lovely gentle book evokes the joys of simple childhood rituals as shared between a mother and child one day; rituals that will become cherished memories as well as giving pleasure in the here and now.

We follow the two from sunrise to sunset as they relish a day trip to the countryside, a special journey that takes them by bus to visit a large mulberry tree that stands on a hill in a field – ‘our tree’. Once there, the mother lifts her child high into the canopy of the tree and together they gather its abundant mulberries, eating some and getting juice all over themselves.

When they stop for a picnic lunch, down comes the rain so the two hurry back to sit sheltered beneath their tree. After lunch Mum cannot resist climbing the tree to search for more berries till as the sun sets, the two, tired but very happy, travel home together.

Back indoors Mum assisted by her daughter, gets to work preparing and baking a pie

which they sample together before the sleepy, pie-filled child is taken to bed ready to dream of her happy mulberry day.

Tanya Rosie’s lyrical text is a delight to read aloud and the calming nature of her writing makes the book an ideal bedtime share. Equally though, this would be a lovely story to share with a class of young children. Warmth radiates from Chuck Groenink’s illustrations, be they double spreads, single images or smaller framed scenes, they show so well the close relationship of mother and child and are the ideal complement for the words.

Hungry Jim

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Hungry Jim
Laurel Snyder and Chuck Groenink
Chronicle Books

This is a tribute to Maurice Sendak with a delectably dry deadpan delivery by both author and artist.

When Jim wakes up one Tuesday morning he feels at odds with himself – beastly in fact –and definitely doesn’t feel like breakfasting on the pancakes his mother is busy downstairs cooking.

Instead he devours her, but still feeling hungry he leaves home and consumes everyone who crosses his path. There’s no getting away from it – the more he rampages, the more he wants to eat. He wants to cry too though.

Finally he can run no further. As he stands contemplating his conflicting emotions he hears a growl that isn’t emanating from his stomach. There before him stands a larger, even more ferocious looking creature …

but Jim’s ferocity grows too …

Hunger sated at last, he heads home, burping and ‘braap’-ing along the way,

and there ‘It was a huge relief to find things mostly as he’d left them.’

Back in his own room another transformation takes place and finally the only hunger he’s left with is ‘For pancakes’.

After all that beastliness, it’s breakfast in this case, not supper that is waiting, but of course, it IS still hot.

This deliciously wicked tale demonstrating the power of the imagination will make you uneasy, it will make you gasp, and it will make you aware of the hidden wildness that lies within. What young listeners will make of it, I’m yet to discover. They will however definitely appreciate Groenink’s masterful pencil and Photoshop illustrations that are the perfect complement for Laurel Snyder’s pithy prose.

How To Be a Hero / Mary Had a Little Glam

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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.

Mermaid Messages and a Mix-Up

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Dear Mermaid
Alan Durant and Vanessa Cabban
Walker Books pbk
If, like young Holly in this story, you discovered a mermaid’s purse on the beach what would you do? Give it back to the mermaid perhaps? That is what Holly decides is right and she writes a message in the sand.

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So begins a pen friend correspondence (using the mermaid’s purse as a dead letter box) and in the first letter the mermaid, Princess Kora, (daughter of the Mer King and Queen) mentions a missing key. Holly in return determines to find it and the hunt – as well as the pen-pal exchange – continues. Holly provides Kora with updates on her attempts to locate the key, asks questions about Kora’s undersea life and leaves her small gifts. Kora in return responds to the questions and provides details about her mer-life, the creatures around her and the forthcoming Mer Festival.
Can Holly locate the golden key (a key that the Mer Queen needs to open her jewellery box) in time to save her friend having to face her mother’s anger?
This magical story will appeal most strongly to those who enjoy the excitement of the letter exchange, relish small treasures and like dressing up. Vanessa Cabban’s colours are gorgeously dream-like

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and the pages sparkle with gently glowing marine objects

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and bubble with small blessings.

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The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Little Mermaid
Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard
Picture Corgi
In addition to the customers who visit Kittie Lacey’s salon, she also does home visits on occasion. One of her regular clients is Coral, the little singing mermaid who tells Kittie of a special human she’d like to meet – Prince Marino – royal diving instructor. Enchanted by her wonderful singing voice, the prince is equally eager to find its owner; but will the two ever get together? Happily yes, for Kittie is on hand to help. To do so however involves getting the better of the wicked sea witch and her evil enchantment.

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This is the sixth in the Fairytale Hairdresser series and as always, there’s a happily ever after ending and it’s packed with fairy tale characters to join in the celebrations. Doubtless Kittie’s fans (and she has many )will lap this one up too.

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Under a Pig Tree
Margie Palatini and Chuck Groenink
Abrams Books
When is a fig not a fig? Why, when it’s a pig of course. At least that is what seems to be the crux of the matter in this enigmatic picture book subtitled ‘A History of the Noble Fruit. (A Mixed-Up Book) and a mixed up book, it certainly is and a funny one. First of all we are told that ‘Pigs were presented as “medals” to the winners of the first Olympics in 776BC.’  I googled this putting in pigs and figs and the only thing I could turn up was that sometimes figs (dried ones) were recommended as a dietary tip for Ancient Olympian athletes prior to competing. Pigs however were used as a sacrifice, each athlete going to the sanctuary of Zeus and sacrificing one to the god.
I decided not to bother with Google any longer but just to enjoy the on-going battle between the book’s author and her editor in this post-modern foray; not forgetting of course, the wonderfully quirky illustrations provided by Groenink who has clearly had enormous fun creating all manner of porcine characters including celebrities,

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in his mixed media illustrations that also include parodies of ancient Greek vases, those of the Chinese Ming Dynasty and the medieval Book of Hours.

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This is certainly NOT a book for everyone but I can see it appealing to those readers who enjoy something different from a straightforward narrative: something that tickles and teases the taste buds perhaps.

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