Tag Jo Williamson

What’s For Lunch, Papa Penguin?

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What’s For Lunch, Papa Penguin?
Jo Williamson
Scholastic

Somewhere in the Antarctic is a café, the best in the region. It goes by the name of Papa and Pip’s. The only thing on the menu is fish, albeit served in a variety of ways: fried, baked, grilled, boiled; they even offer fish ice cream, lollies and pancakes. Seemingly fish is everyone’s favourite.

One day however, a customer demands something else.Papa Penguin is nonplussed but quick to respond.

He and Pippin set out on a long journey in search of some new culinary possibilities. The pandas certainly seem to relish bamboo shoots, after all they’re very bendy, but the chefs need more.
Next stop is a hot hilly location; the climate isn’t to their taste but the nuts, seeds and dates offered by some camels definitely hit the spot.

On they journey adding bread, cheese, cakes, chocolate shakes and yummy fruits to their trolley before heading back to the café.

Before long they’re ready to re-open with a brand new, lip-smacking menu that’s certain to please their faithful customers. Frank however, – the penguin whose demand for “something different” sent Papa and Pip off on their travels – has a surprise in store when he places his order …

Jo Williamson’s new offering is a taste-bud tickler set to please those with a liking for adventure especially of the comestible kind. Papa and Pip are a great comic team whose antics are sure to delight. Love the colour palette and the interplay between words and pictures.

I’d put this one on my early years menu any day.

Cat In A Box

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Cat in a Box
Jo Williamson
Scholastic

The joys of being a family cat are chronicled through the eyes and voice of one particular black and white moggy.
She starts by waking the household – a gentle walk over the twins, a more vigorous pushing and miaowing for the grownups.
As the family day unfolds, our narrator pretty much pleases herself despite assertions that she’s indispensible.
Jo Williamson shows her sitting about, chasing a ball of wool, clawing the curtains,

fishing with her pals, climbing and hunting outside …

and in.
She has to be in on the action no matter what or where; and all, or almost all, in the name of necessity. Who’s kidding whom?
There are one or two activities that don’t offer such delights even if they are self-induced …

but that’s the penalty for wanting to be a part of everything, no matter what!
Who wouldn’t fall under the charms of such a creature: even this cat-phobic reviewer was totally beguiled; but then Jo Williamson’s portrayal of this particular feline’s antics are so delectably insouciant and the feline narration so wonderfully tongue-in-cheek.

I’ve signed the charter  

Messy Molly

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Messy Molly
Jo Williamson
Scholastic Children’s Books
Molly and mess are almost synonymous: no matter that she starts each day clean and tidy, things go downhill however hard she might try. And try she certainly does during one particular week when she’s due to sing in the school show on the Saturday. The weather doesn’t help poor Molly: it’s a case of water-filled wellies on Monday; and she’s a muddy mess by the time she reaches school on Tuesday, despite having scooted all the way …

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Wednesday’s cake baking inevitably ends in mucky disaster and on Thursday, her mum should have known better than to buy Molly a large portion of her favourite ice cream …

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Friday is best not mentioned other than to say, this is what she looked like by the time she went home …

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So, when Saturday dawns, Molly is determined to look her best for the show: it’s no walks in the park with Pip first, no scooting to school, no stopping at the ice-cream van, a careful avoidance of puddles and PHEW! That was a close one …

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Here’s Molly on stage, looking decidedly pristine in her best dress. Hmm …

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Molly is a child after the hearts of most youngsters (and a whole lot of adults I suspect) and Pip too, is a charmer. I love the way the story switches between straightforward narrative to Molly’s utterances throughout the book; and the understated humour in Jo Williamson’s text is wonderful.
The illustrations too are wonderfully entertaining: seemingly scribbled and splodged using a limited colour palette, every one is sure to make you smile. They certainly did this reviewer.

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I Will Love You Anyway/How to Be a Dog

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I Will Love You Anyway
Mick and Chloë Inkpen
Hodder Children’s Books
We share a puggish pup’s thoughts directed at his small boy owner in this delicious book from the Inkpen father and daughter team.
Said pup is anything but your ideal dog; he’s a furniture wrecker, thief and inveterate chaser …

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he cannot follow instructions and worst of all, he keeps on running away – with disastrous consequences sometimes.

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But does this pup ever learn? Oh dear no and when he and his boy hear the terrible words, “We cannot cope! He cannot stay!” he takes off once again running and running into the inky black, wet night.
Being lost, out all night and wet

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and scared is no picnic even for our canine hero. It’s fortunate then that a certain small boy happens along at the crucial moment and back they go to share a blissful moment or two.
You might now be thinking that at last this runaway has finally come to his senses but the trouble is, as we hear, “I don’t do words. They make no sense. I jump for joy …”  

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and er …
The spare rhyming text takes the form of the pup’s reportage narrative recording of what he does and what he hears, cleverly conveying the animal’s lack of any real understanding of what is expected of him. An unusual manner of telling for sure but it’s really effective and affecting here.
Chloe Inkpen truly does capture the full gamut of the emotions of both pup and boy in her captivating illustrations. I’d love to show you every single one but you will just have to get your paws on a copy of the book for the whole experience.

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How To Be a Dog
Jo Williamson
Scholastic Children’s Books
A mischievious, tongue-in-cheek guide penned purportedly, by a dog for his fellow canines. It’s full of need to know tips and advice on such topics as choosing the right human, sleeping arrangements,

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how to meet and greet, toilet training …

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getting the best food by whatever means, “To get the best treats, pretend that you have not been fed. If that doesn’t work … you may need to learn some new tricks … “, games to play with your human,

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forging new friendships with neighbours’ dogs and more.
The narrator is a delightful character (even to non dog lovers like me), full of mischief and endearingly portrayed, as are all the other characters – canine and human – we meet. My only wish is that some recognition had been given to the multi-ethnic dog-owning society we live in.
With a restricted colour palette, Jo Williamson has created a highly entertaining and engaging debut book and I look forward to seeing more of her work.

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