Monkey Business
Smriti Prasadam-Halls and David Wojtowycz
Orchard Books
We had the story of Major Trump’s missing knickers: now from the same partnership comes another of those books that quickly reduces early years audiences to uncontrolled giggles. Once again we are on board the ark and Mr Noah has been woken by cries from young monkey, Charlie Chatter who is in desperate need of a wee and has lost his potty. What group of under fives will be able to resist his opening speech?
“ Oh, bother my botty!
            Where,
          oh where,
          oh where
        is my potty?”
The thought of sitting on the toilet is too distressing for young Charlie so Mr Noah calls upon the other animals for some loo loving anecdotes. These win him over but when he finally heads for his bathroom, the door’s stuck fast. Will the result be a puddle on the floor? Fortunately not for it’s Mrs Noah on the other side doing a spot of DIY on the bathroom roof and guess what she had been using to catch all the drips… All’s well that ends well though and Charlie finally enters the little room for some very important and by then very urgent business.
David Wojtowycz’s bright exuberant illustrations are a real hoot and the perfect complement to the rib-tickling, rhyming text; I especially like the story-reading snakes sitting with their heads in books from the bathroom library; they won’t be out in a hurry then.
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The Memory Tree
Britta Teckentrup
Orchard Books
Fox has lived a long, happy life with his friends in the forest but one day he is tired and it is time for him to fall asleep – for ever. He goes to his favourite clearing and as the snow falls and slowly covers him, the other animals gather to remember him.

Owl is the first to share his most precious memory of Fox and then, one by one, Squirrel, Weasel, Bear, Deer, Bird, Rabbit, Mouse and others talk of their favourite memories about Fox. As they do so, a little orange plant begins to peep through the snow and as each animals adds to the story telling, it grows bigger and stronger till in the morning it has become a small tree; and Fox’s friends know in their hearts he is still a part of them. Time passes, the tree grows with each new memory and finally it is large enough to shelter all the animals that had loved Fox: a strength-giving tree of memories and love.
Beautifully told without sentimentality, this book celebrates life, love and friendship. Teckentrup’s  illustrations in suitably subdued colours perfectly capture the sadness of the animals at the loss of their friend and their warmth as they  recount their memories of him. Every turn of the page is a delight.
A tearjerker? Yes if like me you are a bit of a softie but ultimately this is an uplifting book.
Recommended for family reading and a must buy for all primary schools and nursery settings. A lovely book to sit alongside Badger’s Parting Gifts.
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Octopus’s Garden
Ringo Starr and Ben Cort
Simon and Schuster
I defy you to read this book and listen to the accompanying CD without getting the classic number stuck in your brain. Apparently, Ringo Starr wrote it in 1968 when holidaying in Sardinia after a sea captain told him about how octopuses move around the seabed collecting objects. Ringo was taking time out from the Beatles and wanted to escape somewhere; what better place than under the sea?
Back to the book. Here we find a little boy gazing at his goldfish bowl from whence he is transported, along with four of his friends, to a wondrous sub- marine garden. There they ride on turtles, share a story read by their cephalopod host,

cavort on the pillars of an ancient temple and much more.

These joyous scenarios and others are brought into being in ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ artist, Ben Cort’s wonderful illustrations. These absolutely bubble over with the kind of exuberant fun that young children take delight in.
Share the story, listen to the song, listen again and your children will be joining in. Then they can follow the story with the book as it’s read aloud by Ringo. There are opportunities for movement too, when the tune is played over at the end.
Everyone loves the idea of a special place where they can take time out from the real world, away from any worries or niggles they might have and away from watchful adult eyes. This book offers an opportunity for you to invite children to think about and discuss the kind of place they would like to escape to.
I’d definitely include this in an early years sea theme collection and possibly leave a copy in an undersea role-play area for children to enjoy once they have had the book read to them. They (and you) will have to be adept at turning the book around on a couple of occasions, as the page layout becomes portrait to deepen the undersea experiences.
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