Tag jackie Morris

One Cherry, One Cheetah

jillrbennett Leave a comment

One Cherry, One Cheetah
Jackie Morris
Otter-Barry Books

Originally published as a smallish hardback, it’s great to see this available in board book format.

A dozen exquisite watercolour and gold leaf paintings, all except one of wild animals, are to be found in this super-stylish counting book. To start with there is just one cherry – it’s almost begging to be eaten immediately. Turn the page and there are two regal dogs face to face . and ‘two balls, one big, one small.’ Then follow three bears, three bowls, three silver spoons.’ The next spread gets one wondering: why ‘Four fine foxes, sharing strawberries’ but they have only three strawberries.

Next come five elephants, elegant for sure, walking nose to tail but one of the them is sans elegant Indian style regalia. why one wonders. The six cheetahs are clearly having fun playing pat-a-cake, each pair with tails entwined. The seven pandas – giant ones – have ‘pretty painted parasols,’ five of them: two are sharing and another has a fan. (Love the alliteration in that sentence.)

Eight clever otters, two sporting sunhats, juggle with small stones
The nine white mice, so we are told, are ‘happy as can be’ though I have to say that to me at least two look rather downcast as they partake of the tea served with a ladle from a large pot into tiny china teacups..
Then, we have the one cheetah again, only now it has ten cherries. What do you think it will do with those? The final spread reveals all, or rather, a cheetah, thoroughly sated, one imagines, beside a row of …

Make sure to peruse the endpapers, they too are lovely: the front depicts ornately decorated numerals plus the cheetah and a cherry; the final one is a chart of numbers 1 to 10 but there’s no cheetah in sight. Maybe it’s exhausted from orchestrating the numbers at the front.

Every illustration offers both a wealth of aesthetic possibilities and opportunities for speculative and extended talk with a young child.

The Summer Puppy

jillrbennett Leave a comment

The Summer Puppy
Jackie Morris and Cathy Fisher
Otter-Barry Books

This truly beautiful book was inspired by memories of a real and much-loved dog that belonged to Jackie’s daughter and tells the story of Rosie and her first summer spent at their Pembrokeshire home. Cathy Fisher, the illustrator lives in Pembrokeshire too and it’s evident how much they both put into creating the tale. Jackie’s lyrical descriptions of the countryside: ‘The scent of sweet clover filled her nose / as the flowers towered over her. // So much to see, so much to find / in this emerald world.’

and in complete harmony with the words are the magnificent illustrations of the dog exploring its environment with its child owner. Through the changing seasons from early summer to autumn and the onset of winter, they investigate the woods, fields and beach.

Every turn of the page brings fresh delights for readers and listeners, including this reviewer who is cynophobic (but also a lover of the natural world) and likely to encourage lots of people to embrace the great outdoors and explore the joys of nature.

The Panda’s Child

jillrbennett Leave a comment

The Panda’s Child
Jackie Morris and Cathy Fisher
Otter-Barry Books

Left behind by her fellow villagers as they walked in the forest, a mother lies down with her baby boy in the warm sun. She drops off to sleep briefly and wakes to discover the infant has gone. After three days of searching the villagers conclude that the baby must have been taken by a creature of some kind or perhaps the forest spirits.

The mother refuses to give up though and continues searching alone, hope gradually fading the longer she looks. But then, drifting on the wind she hears something: could it be? Wonder of wonders, in a cave beside a large ursine creature lies her child, alive after seven days.

The bear – a she panda – must have kept the baby alive, the villagers decide, and henceforward, they have a strong bond with the animal. They also have a special bond with the little child.

The years pass and on the child’s ninth birthday some strangers ride into the village. It’s evident from their lavish dress these are rich people, accompanied by large hunting dogs and elephants most of which bore cages of animals of various kinds. One cage however is empty. The villagers hope that by ignoring the visitors, they would move on but the boy, attracted to the horses, approaches them and is told they are searching for a black and white creature. Said creature is to be a gift for a great ruler, Alexander. Eventually the riders depart, only to return several days later. This time the empty cage has been filled by a black and white animal: the panda’s child. The boy begs them to take him with them to ensure the creature remains alive and eventually they agree, to the horror of the entire village. But has the child really betrayed all those responsible for keeping him safe? Or does he have another reason for wanting to accompany the wealthy travellers even if it means risking his own life?

Hugely moving, Jackie Morris’s spellbinding tale with Cathy Fisher’s mesmerisingly beautiful illustrations will stay with readers long after the book has been closed. With its environmental and conservation themes it will appeal to a wide age range and would make a wonderful present for a lover of the natural world.

The Song That Sings Us

jillrbennett Leave a comment

The Song That Sings Us
Nicola Davies, illustrated by Jackie Morris
Firefly Press

This thought-provoking, dystopian eco-thriller is set in a world governed by the sinister Automators. In this world too, live certain humans who have a power, siardw, that enables them to understand animal thoughts; they are called the Listeners. The ruthless Automators want to destroy anyone who has this gift and drive the rest of the citizens into cities, away from nature’s influences where “They must be made to understand that animals and plants are resources to be owned and used; that they have no rights.” Their slogan is ‘escape the tyranny of nature’ and anything not manufactured is being destroyed.

As the story starts Harlon and her twin siblings, Ash and Xeno, are trying to help their mother defend their home against the approaching Automators. Ma tells them to flee to save themselves – and their world. They must seek out a ‘lost island’. Their flight begins with the three snowboarding down a 6,000-foot sheer slope, but the siblings are separated, so they must each find a way to carry out Ma’s final instruction.

We follow their individual journeys through wild landscapes, even right into the centre of the enemy’s empire. Xeno, with her affinity with birds, and Ash, are in particular danger because they are Listeners and should the merciless Automators discover this, they will obliterate the twins’ minds. All three siblings are really up against things, but like-minded people and nature itself are fighting back and the Automators fail to realise the strength of their network.

Thrumming through this tale is an interconnecting force, liorna that ‘flows from earth and sea to sky’ and runs through all living things, until it’s time to sing the world anew … to unite in ‘the song that sings us … ‘ It’s a song to which readers will definitely add their voices and sing with all their hearts in the joyous finale.

Wow! Just wow! Wow at the quality of the writing and the way Nicola has interwoven all the strands of the story with such consummate artistry: with so many wonderful characters, animal and human, (and some mal-intentioned ones) – this epic tale is powered by her deep love of nature and fuelled by her knowledge and understanding of zoology.

Something About A Bear

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Something About A Bear
Jackie Morris
Otter-Barry Books

This is a new large-format edition of Jackie Morris’s ode to bears. It begins with a large brown bear nose to nose with a teddy bear and the words, ‘Let me tell you something, something about a bear.’ Readers are then introduced to eight kinds of bears through stunning watercolour illustrations and a poetic text.

Each turn of the page takes us to the natural environment of one sort of bear or another starting with Brown Bear watching salmon in a river. On a mountainside in China, a Panda is shown nurturing its child ‘Born as soft and small as peaches.’ Next we see a Sloth Bear carrying her cubs on her back set against ancient Mughal architecture; a Spectacled Bear with cubs high up in the canopy of a South American jungle;

from her nest an enormous Asian Moon Bear waits and watches, all set to go a-hunting. Now you might be surprised to learn that Polar bears are not white – their fur is ‘hollow’, their skin, black. Nor is the American Black bear always black; it could be cinnamon or honey coloured and even, rarely, white.

The very essence of each one of the magnificent ursine creatures is captured in Jackie Morris’s awesome paintings and it’s incredible to see the range of browns she uses. A considerable amount of information is included in the main narrative, which eventually comes full circle to the two we met on the first spread, closing with the words, ‘the very best bear of all is YOUR bear. Two further spreads give additional notes on each bear featured. A terrific gift book for bear lovers of all ages.

Lord of the Forest

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Lord of the Forest
Caroline Pitcher and Jackie Morris
Graffeg

‘Tiger was born fluffy and small, with his eyes tight shut.” So begins this gloriously lyrical fable about a tiger cub that doesn’t fully appreciate until he reaches maturity the meaning of his mother’s words, “The Lord of the Forest is …”.

Roaming the forest where all is new and exciting, or playing with his brothers, the little tiger’s focus is the sounds around: the sap rising in the trees, the slither of snakes, the Monkey’s whooping; he’s even aware of the curling of Chameleon’s tongue and little Gekko’s gulps, the flip of fish and Water-snake sliding down from the logs. His mother says, “When you don’t hear them, when silence burns and time stands still, then my son, be ready.” It’s then he’ll know the Lord of the Forest is present.

As he walks alone, grown considerably now, the tiger still listens and waits for the coming of the Lord of the Forest; but who is he? 

He asks the other forest creatures about this Lord, and the beautiful peacock, the rhinoceros and the enormous elephant all arrogantly claim the title belongs to them. However, Tiger understands that screeching, bellowing, roaring beasts such as these, couldn’t possibly be the one that his mother has readied him to meet. 

He continues searching but it’s not until he’s fully grown, with a mate and cubs of his own, that he discovers the identity of the beast he’s been seeking.

Elegance and humility reign both in Caroline Pitcher’s lyrical telling and Jackie Morris’s awesome art.
Jackie’s stunning watercolours immediately breath life into the creatures she portrays: the dignity and grace of the tiger in particular is palpable, while Caroline Pitcher’s poetic narrative truly transports us to the forest habitat with its magnificent sights and mellifluous sounds.

This enlarged edition of a book first published 18 years ago seems even more beautiful than the original. Sheer joy to read aloud, it’s one to add to family bookshelves and classroom collections.

Mrs Noah’s Song

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Mrs Noah’s Song
Jackie Morris and James Mayhew
Otter-Barry Books

The third in this series wherein Jackie Morris’ lyrical words are visually sung in collage style art by James Mayhew, is again gorgeous. Together they tell a magical tale about how Mrs Noah brings song back into the world. Music and song are a way of connecting people no matter where they are and Mrs Noah assuredly unites her family by singing to the children, morning, noon and night, while Mr Noah listens enraptured.

One morning the children ask Mrs Noah where she learned to sing and she tells them sadly that it was “Far away and long ago.” Called by the sunshine, the children then leave, save the youngest who asks the singer, “Why are you sad?” Having given an explanation about remembering her mother and grandmother, Mrs Noah says that-sometimes the sadness caused by missing somebody you love is a good kind of feeling.

They then both venture outside to greet the day watched by Mr Noah who had heard what was said.

Outside it’s time for a singing lesson, which must start with learning how to listen properly – eyes closed, ears open wide, wide. After a while the youngest child joyfully announces, “I can hear the garden singing.” And, it most certainly was, with birdsong, humming bees, dragonfly wings rattling and a gentle breeze setting the leaves in musical motion.

Mr Noah gets busy fashioning a huge hammock and they all spend a blissful night under the stars listening to the magical music created by the natural world together with Mrs Noah’s songs.

Next morning having slept soundly, to everyone’s delight they’re woken as the sun rises, by the dawn chorus. United in song, united in music, united in love. If only it could be so the world over, if only …

Like many people in our current turbulent world with wars and people forced to flee, Mrs Noah was actually a refugee who had to start her life anew in an unknown place; she knew that music could be a way of helping her children develop a sense of belonging in a new land. Music speaks a universal language, one that transcends barriers and that’s something that’s vitally needed in our divisive world. “If music be the food of love, play on.” So said Duke Orsino in the first scene of Twelfth Night. Let it be so.

Mrs Noah’s Garden

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Mrs Noah’s Garden
Jackie Morris and James Mayhew
Otter-Barry Books

The terrific team that is Jackie Morris and James Mayhew have created a sequel to Mrs Noah’s Pockets that moves forward in time with the Noahs now safely aground high on a hill where Mr Noah is hard at work fashioning a home from their enormous ark.

Mrs Noah meanwhile is missing her garden and as the story opens has just found a place to start creating a new one.

She enlists the children’s help, first in building walls and terraces on the hillside and then in planting. For not only had the ark carried animals two by two but also all manner of plants – bushes, bulbs, trees and shrubs. And in those deep pockets of hers Mrs Noah had even thought to stow away seeds.

With the planting done, she sets about creating a beautiful willow bower complete with gorgeously scented honeysuckle and jasmine. The children are expecting the seeds they’d help sow to start bursting through the warm earth right away, so Mrs Noah pauses to explain that germination takes a while.

After a day hard at work outside Mrs Noah has more to do, this time with fabric; what can she be making? Mr Noah thinks he knows.

Time passes and the garden thrives becoming alive with both flora and fauna till Midsummer morning arrives. Now nature’s own magic has truly done its work

and there’s a very special surprise awaiting Mr Noah when he follows the children outside. What could it be?

With themes of fresh beginnings, nature’s bounties and enjoying the safety of one’s abode and its surroundings, (and there’s new life too), Jackie Morris’ beautifully crafted fable has a magical feel to it.

Alive with magic too, are James Mayhew’s fantastical illustrations. Using a mix of collage, paint and print techniques he makes many of them absolutely dance on the page. At other times, the richly textured images and colour palette conjure a feeling of peace and tranquillity as in this Midsummer’s Eve scene.

The Secret of the Tattered Shoes

jillrbennett 1 Comment

The Secret of the Tattered Shoes
Jackie Morris and Ehsan Abdollahi
Tiny Owl

The latest addition to Tiny Owl’s ‘One Story, Many Voices’ is a rather different interpretation of the Brothers Grimm tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Here the princesses are still locked up each night, and their dancing shoes are still worn down each morning.

However, having met a beautiful woman in the forest

and learned of the princesses, the strong handsome soldier who takes it upon himself to accept the king’s challenge to discover their secret, is weary of life.

Unlike those who have gone before he has a different ending in mind from that offered by the princesses’ father.

Jackie Morris’s text is poetic: ‘The soldier followed, out from the twisting tunnel of steps to an avenue of trees lit by curious starlight. The leaves shone with silver as if painted by moonlight’.
It’s also rather dark: it’s certainly not marriage to one of the king’s daughters – the happily ever after ending of the Grimm version that this soldier seeks. Nevertheless although readers are left to decide for themselves what happens to him, we’re left with a hope that the soldier finds that which he goes in search of after leaving the royal gathering.

Ehsan Abdollahi’s collage illustrations are absolutely right for Jackie Morris’s rendition: from endpaper to endpaper, with puppet-like figures, they’re exquisitely detailed, infused with melancholy and mystery, and reminded me rather of medieval tapestries.

Can You See a Little Bear?

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Can You See a Little Bear?
James Mayhew and Jackie Morris
Otter-Barry Books

Stunningly beautiful illustrations by Jackie Morris accompany James Mayhew’s sequence of rhyming statements relating to a variety of animals and a question ‘Can you see a little bear …?’ as we accompany the young polar bear on a fantasy journey.

It takes us through a medieval landscape during which he encounters hot air balloons, entertainers of various kinds, a camel train and a host of exotic creatures including an elephant, musical mice, parrots, peacocks, a walrus, zebras and a whale, beautiful moths, foxes, dolphins and geese.

Little bear engages in activities such as balancing on a ball, and head standing; he tries on items of the performers’ attire

and even participates in a performance.

Then, towards the end of the book into the array comes a big bear carrying a light to guide the little one homewards

for a bath, some tea and then, as he’s drifting into slumbers, bed.

The patterned text and questioning nature of the rhyme serves to draw the listener’s focus into the spectacular scenes, gently guiding attention towards the little bear’s named activity among the wealth of gorgeous detail on each spread. For example ‘Parrots can be green / and parrots can be red, / Can you see a little bear standing on his head?’

Full of mystery and magic and along the way introducing colours, opposites and contrasts: this book was first published over a decade ago. If you missed it then I urge you to get hold of a copy now: it’s sheer, out of this world bedtime enchantment for both child and adult sharer.

Mrs Noah’s Pockets

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Mrs Noah’s Pockets
Jackie Morris and James Mayhew
Otter-Barry Books

This totally fresh and original take on the Noah’s Ark story is an absolute bobby-dazzler and what an inspired author/artist pairing.
Jackie Morris’ s powerful prose is honed to perfection so that not a single word is superfluous: here’s a taste:
‘This rain came from a sky
dark as a bruise,
falling hard and fast,
beating the earth,
washing down tracks,
making streams of pathways
and rivers of roads.’

I love that Mrs Noah is portrayed as a subversive character who, instead of snipping, threading, tacking, tucking and stitching what her husband assumes are curtains for his ark windows, is in fact fashioning herself a multi- pocketed cape within which to stash all the ‘troublesome creatures’ that Mr Noah has on his list to leave behind when they set sail on their voyage. Genuis!

James Mayhew has used a strikingly brilliant, new style for his atmospheric illustrations – a mix of collage and print-making …

The design too is superb and those vignettes are little beauties.

This, I think, is destined to become a classic: it deserves a place on every family bookshelf and would make a great addition to any primary classroom collection.

Classic Christmas Briefing

jillrbennett Leave a comment

%0a

The Twelve Days of Christmas
William Morris and Liz Catchpole
Penguin Random House V&A
With a gorgeously tactile cover, this is a super-stylish rendition of the ever popular classic seasonal song. It’s illustrated with a mix of patterns chosen from the V&A’s William Morris archive and glorious new artwork by illustrator Liz Catchpole inspired by the work of Morris who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement.
Best-loved designs such as ‘Cray’ furnishing fabric …

dscn9394

and ‘Pimpernel’ wallpaper are included …

dscn9395

but every turn of the page brings fresh delight.
Just the thing to give to a loved one especially a book-lover, or to anyone who likes art and design of the classic kind.

%0a

The Newborn Child
Jackie Morris
Otter-Barry Books
Jackie Morris has created her own text as an accompaniment to her gorgeous illustrations for this new edition of a book previously published a decade ago as Little One We Knew You’d Come. This is very much a feelings-centred telling of the nativity story with much of the focus being on how the mother herself feels before …

%0a

and after the birth. There’s beauty on every page: into Jackie Morris’ richly coloured scenes are woven symbols from the natural world – butterflies and moths, birds and their feathers …

%0a

flowers, fruits and shells, making them truly memorable, especially that final mother and child spread with the thumb-sucking infant.

%0a

Little Grey Rabbit’s Christmas
Alison Uttley and Margaret Tempest
Templar Publishing
A classic Christmas read if ever there was one. I can still recall, as a small child laughing over Hare standing outside in the snow “catching cold, and eating it too,” as my dad read it to me. First published in 1939, but still offering lots to savour and talk about, it’s deliciously nostalgic and full of Christmas kindness. Imagine inviting carol singers in, to pass round a mug of wine and hot mince pies …

%0a

Animals, One Cheetah One Cherry & Flip Flap Pets

jillrbennett Leave a comment

%0A

Animals
Ingela P Arrhenius
Walker Studio
This over-sized picture book by Swedish illustrator/designer Arrhenius is sure to have youngsters poring over its gigantic retro-style pages. It features thirty two animals large and small from grasshopper …

%0A

to gorilla, and hippo to frog …

%0A

Every one of the pages would make a lovely poster and it’s hard to choose a favourite animal: I love the muted, matt colours used and the careful placing of pattern; and the lettering fonts and colours seem to reflect the essence of each animal portrayed.

%0A

If you’re looking for something impressive to generate language in youngsters, try putting this book on the floor in your book area and see what happens.
It might also be put to good use in an art lesson for older children.

%0A

One Cheetah, One Cherry
Jackie Morris
Otter-Barry Books
Absolutely stunning paintings of wild animals grace the pages of this stylish, smallish counting book. We start with ‘One cherry, one cheetah’ showing a graceful beast with a luscious-looking cherry between its paws and continue, encountering two dogs, three bears, four foxes …

%0A

five elephants, six tigers, seven pandas, eight otters, nine mice, ten cherries – all carefully poised, thus :

DSCN8682

which takes us back (numberwise) to None. The cheetah has feasted on those ten delicious cherries and looks mighty pleased about it.
What a wonderful array of animals and activities. The language too is so carefully chosen: alliteration abounds as here: ’Four fine foxes/ sharing strawberries.’
or, try getting your tongue around this one: ‘Seven giant pandas, with pretty painted parasols.’

%0A

Such delicate patterning on those parasols and lantern. Indeed pattern is part and parcel of every painting, so too is gold-leaf; but that’s not all. The end papers are equally gorgeous, the front being a dance of numerals, orchestrated by the cheetah and the back shows the number symbols in order with animals/cherries alongside.

DSCN8591

Flip Flap Pets
Axel Scheffler
Nosy Crow
Axel Scheffler offers a multitude of opportunities to create quirky creatures in his latest Flip Flap rhyming extravaganza. Youngsters can turn the basic ten or so popular pets into a whole host of crazy combinations of feather, fur, scale, shell and more. What happens for instance when you cross a stick insect with a budgerigar? You get a STICKERIGAR of course …

DSCN8593

Try crossing a goldfish with a tortoise – that results in a GOLDFOISE:

%0A

and a snake crossed with a cat gives something pretty irresistible – a cake!
It’s possible to make – so that butterfly on the back cover of this bonkers book informs us – 121 combinations. What are you waiting for? If my experience of previous titles in this series is anything to go by, this new addition to the series is likely to inspire children to set about making their own flip flap books.

WNDB_Buttonlocalbookshops_NameImage-2

The Crow’s Tale & The Wild Swans

jillrbennett Leave a comment

DSCN5979 (800x600)

The Crow’s Tale
Naomi Howarth
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Right from the dazzlingly beautiful cover, this book is sheer magic. Told through a lyrical rhyming text and gorgeous, iridescent lithographic/watercolour illustrations, every turn of the page brings new delight – visual and verbal as we are treated to this tale inspired by a Lenni Lenape Native American legend.
It centres around Crow, a beautiful rainbow coloured bird: well that was then. Moreover, at that time, he had a sweet singing voice. So how/why did he end up with that black plumage and harsh-sounding call?
This pourquoi tale tells just that. It begins one day in the depths of winter, snow has covered the ground and the animals huddle together to forge a plan.

DSCN5984 (800x600)

One of their number must take on a perilous journey to bring them some of the Sun’s warmth. The one chosen is none other than Rainbow Crow:
‘The magnificently coloured kaleidoscope Crow
was the one who would battle through ice, wind and snow.”
His flight is swift but hard and long, taking him through the blizzard and into the dazzlingly bright Sun’s realm.

DSCN5983 (800x600)

Awoken from his deep slumbers, Sun however is unwilling to return; instead he gives Crow a burning branch to take back to the animals. During his return flight, Crow’s feathers are blackened by smoke and soot, and his voice becomes nothing more than a harsh croaky ‘caw’.

DSCN5982 (800x600)

A successful mission, yes and his friends praise him wholeheartedly, but still, Crow has lost his beauty and is despondent.
No matter the Sun tells him: “it’s not how you look but how you behave.” that matters … ‘your beauty inside is the heart of the matter.’
In truth however, there is about Crow, an altogether different kind of beauty – a special gift from the Sun.

DSCN5981 (800x600)

It’s the arresting artwork that really steals the show here, wonderfully highlighting the message inherent in the text. Wow! What a debut for Naomi Howarth.
And what an exciting group art project it would make with every member of a group/class contributing a feather for Rainbow Crow and another for his new plumage.

Probably for somewhat older readers/listeners is this amazing retelling of another old tale

DSCN5912 (800x600)

The Wild Swans
Jackie Morris
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Everything Jackie Morris does is brilliant and this is no exception. Here, she takes what is a fairly short story and expands it to 175 pages, enhancing it with her wondrous watercolours

DSCN5913 (800x600)

and turning it into something quite out of this world, a coming of age story with new twists and glorious descriptions of the natural world through which Eliza moves and has her being.
‘In the morning, Eliza woke to a chorus rich with the singing of birds. She walked, and soon came to a place in the trees where the branches arched over a clear-water pool. Surrounded on all sides by brambles, with a space where the delicate deer came to drink… also on the smooth surface, so still in the forest glade, a mirrored image of sky and leaves, each crystal sharp.’
And as she reaches the sea: ‘’the waves, slate and gold, wind-wrinkled water. The sun was sinking, lower, lower. Soon it would touch the water, slip down behind the horizon.’ Such mesmerisingly beautiful words.
How brilliantly too, we are allowed to share Eliza’s thoughts and feelings, as well as gaining some insights into various characters. The queen, Eliza’s stepmother we are told, ‘learned the ache of loneliness and the sharp pain of jealousy.’ These are truly three-dimensional characters rather than those one often encounters in the fairy tale genre.

DSCN5914 (800x600)

…the bishop…drew the  spider’s web of his plan closer around him like a net.

A book to savour and to revisit, to give and to keep and treasure for oneself; a book to share in the classroom, or, if you can bear to let go of it, for the family bookshelf .

Use your local bookshop           localbookshops_NameImage-2

Bear Hug and other Ursine Delights

jillrbennett Leave a comment

rapunzal 001 (800x600)

Bear Hug
Katharine McEwen
Templar Publishing
A young bear wakes up and senses that winter is approaching: time to make preparations for the cold that is to come. His parents have prepared him well. Papa showed him how to use the vegetation to make a warm winter bed and mother taught him how to fish. On the cusp of winter, he meets another young bear. Together they fish and feast on ripe berries until as the snow falls harder, they head for the cave

rapunzal 002 (800x600)

and snuggle down together, on a ‘shudder-cold night’, cosy, warm and sated for the long sleep, a sleep that lasts until birdsong calls them and it’s time to emerge once more. Out they come to greet the spring and before long, their very own little cub ‘soft as thistledown and lively as a sunbeam’. Then the cycle begins all over again.
With its elegant prose and stylized collage illustrations executed predominantly in earthy colours with occasional splashes of contrasting bright hues as the seasons change, this is a beautiful book.

rapunzal 003 (800x600)

I particularly like the pictorial rendition of the birdsong through steamers of colour.

 

bob & flo 004 (800x600)

Something About a Bear
Jackie Morris
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
There’s no doubt about Jackie Morris’s love of all things ursine: it shines out from every one of her glorious watercolour paintings in this book. We come close up to bears from all parts of the world. There’s the salmon catching, Brown Bear, the adorable-looking Giant Panda with her child from the mountains of China and the shaggy-coated Sloth Bear in what looks like the grounds of an ancient Indian forest palace.

bbear 002 (800x600)

South America’s only bear, the Spectacled Bear is portrayed sunbathing and nursing her cubs in the tree tops; the huge watchful black Asian Moon Bear stands out starkly against the snowy mountain landscape. In contrast, the next spread reveals the Polar Bear, the largest of all bears swimming through the icy ocean. Smallest of all, the Sun Bear, despite its beguiling look and dog-sized stature, is feared by tigers and even fiercer than a leopard.
Despite the name, American Black bears can be of several different colours from black through ‘cinnamon and honey’ to white, the ‘rarest, sacred spirits of the forest.’
Magnificent every one; but as the child in us all knows, as Jackie Morris suggests, and the penultimate spread reveals, ‘the very best bear of all is …

bob & flo 006 (800x600)

The final spread contains small vignettes and additional facts about each bear featured and you and any children you share this superb book with, simply MUST place your hands against those life-sized bear paws on the endpapers.
You can buy this one direct from:
http://www.solvawoollenmill.co.uk/jackie-morris-books

If you can’t get enough of bears then there is also:

bob & flo 001 (800x600)

Happy Birthday, Hugless Douglas!
David Melling
Hodder Children’s Books pbk
Poor Douglas is devastated when, on his long anticipated birthday, those decidedly overbearing twin cousins of his, Felix and Mash seem determined to usurp all the fun and play things entirely their way. Upset, Douglas heads outside and before long, with a hurt leg and a dizzy head, the birthday bear declares, “This is my worst birthday ever!” It’s time for those crazy cousins to come to the rescue and put their special present into action –

bob & flo 002 (800x600)

with the help of Rabbit and some not too willing volunteers. Then they all set off for a surprise birthday tea party and before it ends, Douglas has changed his mind:

bob & flo 003 (800x600)
With the characteristic Melling warmth and humour, (there’s a laugh at every turn of the page) this is just the thing for sharing with under sixes on birthdays and other days.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Animal Alert!

jillrbennett Leave a comment

A new Burningham book always calls for shouting and waving from the rooftops; this one, for me, especially so:

DSCN2080

The Way to the Zoo
John Burningham
Walker Books
When Sylvie discovers a door in her bedroom wall leading to steps and a passageway, of course she decides to investigate. Torch in hand, she moves along only to discover another door.
Hard work and determination make it yield and Sylvie comes face to face with a zoo full of animals.

DSCN2091

Back to bed she goes, taking with her as sleeping companion a small bear, with the proviso that it is returned to the zoo before school-time next morning.
This, naturally leads to other nocturnal visitors – the small ones only – to Sylvie’s bed but then she brings back penguins; these of course splash water all over the bathroom. Next night comes a tiger and cub, the next a whole collection of birds.

DSCN2092

Not all animals however, are suitable guests,
some steal, DSCN2093

others smell and size is an issue in a couple of instances …

DSCN2095

Then one morning, in a rush Sylvie forgets to close the bedroom wall door and on her return discovers that there’s been an animal invasion of the sitting room. Sylvie vents her wrath,

DSCN2097

the animals depart and it’s time for a hasty clean up before her mother returns – O OH!
Now, there’s a lesson to be learned there, Miss Sylvie.
As the inimitable John Burningham himself says, children do believe that their bears are real. Indeed, in my experience, at a young age, the line between fantasy and reality is often blurred and as teachers we frequently encourage their imaginative play and flights of fancy.
This wonderfully understated story works on several levels and the interplay of the verbal and visual is, as ever, truly brilliant Burningham.
Buy from Amazon

DSCN2098

Barbapapa’s Ark
Annette Tison and Talus Taylor
Orchard Books
The shape-shifting Barpapapas don their ‘green’ hats and come to the aid of all manner of threatened animals in this story, be they suffering from pollution sickness, chased by hunters or hounded out of their ocean home by zealous fishermen.

DSCN2099

The hunters are particularly persistent with the result that even Barbabeau with his desirable fur pelt, finds himself in danger.

DSCN2100

Time for the Barba flea sprinklers to set to work …

DSCN2101

Eventually the Barbapapa Refuge is not only over flowing but in serious danger of the encroaching city’s pollution. A rocket-style ark is designed and the Barba family, Francois and Cindy plus all the animals blast off in search of a peaceful, green planet.
Only then do the earth’s inhabitants see the error of their ways: a clean up operation ensues, air and water are purified, promises made, trees planted. Finally Barbabright spies the newly greened planet Earth and the Barba family and animals return home.
The environmental message comes across loud and clear in this delightful re-issue and it is equally pertinent today as it was when the story was first published in 1970. (Interestingly, Talus Taylor, co-creator of the series was himself a biology teacher.) Let’s hope that the people of our earth pay more heed to the Barbapapas’ message this time.
Buy from Amazon

DSCN2102

Zeraffa Giraffa
Dianne Hofmeyr and Jane Ray
Frances Lincoln
What is a giraffe doing in Paris of all places?
Crazy as it may sound, this gorgeous book relates how in 1824, Zeraffa is caught on the plains as a baby giraffe and sent by the Great Pasha of Egypt to the King of France as a gift.

DSCN2103

First though, she is slung on the side of a camel, fed on camel’s milk, then put on board a felucca sailing craft and travels from Africa all the way down the Nile to the coast

DSCN2104

and thence to France. From where, accompanied all the while by the devoted Atir who protects her and cares for her, their journey continues on foot to the palace of Saint-Cloud and where she becomes beloved by the King’s granddaughter too.

 

DSCN2106

Jane Ray’s glorious illustrations illuminate every facet of the journey from the start to Zeraffa’s triumphant welcome into Paris. There seemingly, the entire city is struck by an attack of ‘giraffism’, which embraces everything from baking to hairstyles, musical notation even.

DSCN2105

Ray’s patchwork of giraffe pieces is particularly fine and suitably tinged with humour.
Assuredly this beautifully told and illustrated story is an example of the oft said ‘Truth is stranger than fiction.’
Buy from Amazon

newly out in paperback and previously reviewed are:

DSCN2162

Monkey Found a Baby
Jeanne Willis and Jane Chapman
Walker Books pbk
A charming rhythmic story about a baby monkey found by a larger one ‘beneath the banyan tree‘.
Buy from Amazon 

and:

DSCN2163

The Ice Bear
Jackie Morris
Frances Lincoln pbk
This lyrical story from the beginning of time when people and animals shared the earth, tells of a polar bear cub, stolen from his mother by Raven, raised as their own child by hunters and much later, having wandered far away from home, forced to make a choice between two families.
Both words and pictures are of equal beauty. Morris’s paintings are both magical and awe-inspiring and as she says at the beginning of the story, ‘Words held a magic‘; assuredly hers do herein.
Buy from Amazon

Find and buy from your local bookshop: http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Beasts and Baskets

jillrbennett 1 Comment

Picnic
John Burningham
Jonathan Cape
There are echoes of the wonderful Mr Gumpy’s Outing in Burningham’s latest book. Boy and girl invite sheep, pig and duck to join them for a picnic. Their search for a picnic place proves protracted. They are chased by bull and have to hide in the woods, the wind whisks sheep’s hat away, pig drops his ball and duck loses his scarf. When all the items are retrieved they share the picnic basket spread and after fun and games the tired picnickers return to boy and girl’s house on the hill and bed.
Burningham’s peerless pictures in crayon, ink and watercolour and his spare, clear short sentences with engaging questions are in perfect balance within the empty spaces of each page.
Buy from Amazon

DSCN0984

Big Book of Beasts
Emily Gravett
Macmillan
Emily Gravett has a co-creator for her latest offering; it’s Little Mouse (from a Big Book of Fears). Said rodent proceeds to edit her efforts throughout, daubing, nibbling, scribbling and generally interfering with every spread. As the author attempts to present ten animals pictorially with accompanying verse, Little Mouse offers his own take on each one. So, he proceeds to silence the lion’s roar, placing mittens over its claws, swat the worrying wasps with a specially pressed newspaper, and put dainty high-heeled shoes on the feet of the rampaging rhinoceros; but can he avoid being swallowed by the crushing Boa-Constrictor? Seemingly so, for after one final confrontation, what do we find fleeing across the final end-papers but a small, white, paint-spattered mouse?
Purists may be left aghast at mouse’s defacement but the rest of us will revel in this ingenious, truly interactive creation with its mini book of origami, wasp-swatting newspaper, healthy teeth guide, flaps to open and holes throughout.
Buy from Amazon

The Cat, the Mouse and the Runaway Train
Peter Bently and Steve Cox
Hodder Children’s Books
This adventure starts when a mouse – a skitter-scattery one – living in the stationmaster’s house, steals a piece of cheese and is seen by Carruthers the cat. The mouse is trapped, escapes and is hotly pursued by Carruthers but as he crosses the track, the cat takes a tumble getting his tail stuck in the rails. The minutes tick by and a large red steam train is speeding ever closer, Carruthers promising to chase him no more, begs the mouse to stop the train. Can that tiny creature get back and warn the stationmaster before the train makes mincemeat of his much-loved moggy? Suffice it to say that by the end of the day there is a third resident in the stationmaster’s house, and now he’s entirely welcome.
This rhyming tale, like the train positively races along and one can almost hear the rhythmic sound of the wheels on the track echoing when reading the book aloud. There’s some delicious alliteration too and the tension builds as the stopwatch counts the minutes to ten o’clock when the train is due.
Full of humour and pathos, Steve Cox’s bold bright illustrations mirror the gathering pace and tension of the text. For additional fun, spot Cat and Mouse among the cogwheels, clocks and pipes of the endpapers.
Buy from Amazon

DSCN0985

The Lion and the Mouse
Nahta Noj
Templar Publishing
Cleverly interactive die-cuts really make this version of one of the most retold of Aesop’s fables distinctive.
Standing out against the flat colour backgrounds, composite, collage-style cut-outs help build up the bold images which are truly striking. Jenny Broom’s retelling too is noteworthy and further enlivened by variations in the font size, and weight with lines of print sometimes following the outlines of the illustrations.

DSCN0986

A great book for the primary classroom or for individual sharing.
Buy from Amazon

Little Evie in the Wild Wood
Jackie Morris and Catherine Hyde
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
One afternoon, wearing red and carrying a basket, Little Evie sets off alone into woods. Following the path ever deeper, her senses alert, she emerges into a clearing and there encounters a great black she wolf. Shades of Red Riding Hood; but, Evie has been sent by her Grandma to find the wolf and share with her seven blood-red jam tarts. After their meal, as the sun sets, the wolf carries Evie on her back to the edge of the wood where she can see the cottage and her waiting mama.
It’s not so much the story, but the manner of the telling that is so striking. Its lyrical, powerfully atmospheric, eerie haunting quality draws you right in from the start creating an air of wonder and mystery.
Visually wonderful too, Catherine Hyde has used acrylics to conjure soft-focus woodland scenes suffused with glowing sunlight, which intensify the air of mystery.
Truly, a book to enchant young and old alike.
Buy from Amazon

DSCN0988

The Day the Crayons Quit
Oliver Jeffers and Drew Daywalt
Harper Collins
Have you ever thought about the crayons you give children to use; did you know for example that they have feelings? No? Well, this hilarious book/story by the brilliant Jeffers (no prizes for guessing which medium he has used) and debut author, Daywalt might make you think again.
Duncan wants to do some colouring but when he goes to use his crayons, he discovers a bundle of twelve letters all of which contain strong words of admonition for the would-be artist.
Red complains that he is even has to work on holidays, Purple is upset that Duncan won’t keep his colour within the lines, Beige is fed up with playing second fiddle to Brown, Grey is demanding a break from colouring large animals, White feels empty and Black doesn’t want to be limited to outlines, Green is happy with his use but wants Duncan to settle a dispute between Yellow and Orange over which is the rightful colour of the Sun, Blue is bothered that he is almost completely used up and Pink thinks she is being discriminated against because Duncan is a boy. And finally, Peach doesn’t want to leave the crayon box because Duncan has peeled his label off leaving him naked.
Needless to say, this wonderfully wacky, creative picture book has plenty of colour particularly after Duncan takes on board all the crayons concerns. I’m not convinced that Beige will be entirely happy though.
Don’t miss this one.
Buy from Amazon

DSCN0987

Eddie and Dog
Alison Brown
Little Tiger Press
Eddie lives close to an airport; he spends time watching the planes and dreaming of adventures in faraway places. One day he spies a small dog in a basket on the luggage carousel and invites him to play. The two briefly enjoy some adventures together but on their return home, Eddie’s mum sends his new playmate to a more suitable home. Next day however, dog is back and despite further attempts to send him packing, Eddie’s determined canine pal returns. Moreover he has a plan: a clever one involving a rooftop space whereon he and Eddie construct a garden compete with lawn, topiary, a tree-house and more.
I like the fact that imagination, determination and perseverance win the day in this story for which Alison Brown’s illustrative style creates the illusion that the characters and objects have been created with a modeling medium.
Buy from Amazon