Tag David Creighton-Pester

First Friends: Colours, First Friends: Opposites / Don’t Ever Mess with a Monkey

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First Friends: Colours
First Friends: Opposites
Mk Smith Despres and Libby Burns
Barefoot Books

Colours begins with the nursery children and their teachers heading outside to play. The instruction is, ‘Look high, look low. / Look all around!// So many colours/ to be found.’ There are black ants marching across the sand, pink worms wiggling on two children’s hands, a red slide, a blue swing and a purple bar to swing along, as well as a wonderfully messy opportunity to use mud and leaves to create mudpie faces. Meanwhile at the water tray a floating and sinking activity has yellow, orange and white objects to test. Then just before snack time everybody blows bubbles with rainbow colours. The final spread encourages interactive learning with a ‘can you find’ showing all the coloured items featured throughout the book.
In Opposites, we join the children preparing for a rest time with some winding down movements that involve stretching high and low, then yawning, mouths open and sleepy eyes closed. When everyone wakes up, some are smiling, others frowning as they stack the mats up and take down the toys.
During the remainder of the session the narrative builds in other opposites – empty/full, small/big, behind/ in front and the final spread asks listeners to act out eight pairs of opposites.
Both books have bright, inclusive illustrations that show a diverse cast of characters.

Don’t Ever Mess with a Monkey
Harriet Evans and David Creighton-Pester
Little Tiger

The latest in the Don’t Ever pop-up series features five wild animals that live in the savannah region. Readers/listeners are warned against riding a zebra, boxing with hyenas, question the decision of rhino, rob an ostrich or give a monkey food that isn’t to its taste. For sure, the results will be far from pleasant for anyone who ignores the warning on each spread.
Harriet’s rhyming text accompanies David Creighton-Pester’s dramatic scenes, each of which includes one or more bit part players that young children will enjoy spotting

Colours, Pretend Play, Nursery Fun and an Angry Bear

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Colours
Tim Hopgood
Oxford Children’s Books

Here’s a lovely introduction to the wonderful world of colour for the very young. After presenting the primary colours with gorgeous images of the natural world, Tim Hopgood next shows the result of mixing first red and yellow, then yellow and blue, folllowed by blue and red. He then goes on to say that some things change colour during the year: a rose that’s pink in spring might fade to white in the summer, while summer’s green leaves often turn brown when autumn comes. Whereas ripening tomatoes change from green to red as the sun helps them ripen and yellow bananas, if left eventually blacken.
Best of all however is the final gatefold, opening to reveal a glorious … rainbow.

Let’s Pretend: Animal Hospital
Nicola Edwards and Thomas Elliott
Little Tiger

An animal hospital is the backdrop for young children’s role-play in this new title in the My World series. Thomas Elliott’s illustrations are a fusion of photograph and digital imagery showing the children giving a check-up to a dog, sharing the contents of a vet’s medical kit, showing the range of animals they treat and the variety of tasks they perform on pets large and small. Nicola’s narrative gives voice to the young children imagining what it might be like to be part of the team whose job is to care for the animals that visit their hospital.
This shaped-book would make a lovely addition to a role-play area in a nursery or other early years setting.

Bear & Mouse Go to Nursery
Nicola Edwards and Maria Neradova
Little Tiger

Best friends Mouse and Bear return and now they’ve started going to nursery. It’s there little humans can enjoy spending the day with them as they experiment with paint, have fun outside in the playground, share their snacks, take a nap and participate in a noisy music making session. With flaps to lift and sliders to move, this is another book of interactive fun delightfully illustrated by Maria Neradova who includes just the right amount of detail in each of her colourful spreads.

Angry Bear
Dr Naira Wilson and David Creighton-Pester
Little Tiger

Very young children, babies even, enjoy tactile books such as this one from the publisher’s Touch & Feelings series. Herein we’re introduced to Bear who on this particular morning is feeling grouchy, particularly round his middle.
perhaps keeping to his normal routine that includes some sweet tasting honey might help improve his mood unless … oops, you drop it. GRRRRR – that’s the best way to vent your anger; after which hopefully, you’ll be back to your normal calm, contented self: breathing deeply helps.
As though speaking directly to her protagonist, clinical psychologist specialising in childhood mental health, Dr Naira Wilson writes in a chatty style and the book is illustrated by David Creighton-Pester, whose pictures of the bear show the character’s range of feelings with gentle humour.