Tag Jonny Duddle

The Pirates of Scurvy Sands

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The Pirates of Scurvy Sands
Jonny Duddle
Templar Publishing

Just when you were thinking there couldn’t possibly be room on the high seas for another pirate, along comes young Matilda, friend of pirate boy Jim Lad. But can she really cut the mustard as a true pirate or is she the land-lubbing pretender that the other Scurvy Sanders suspect her to be when she goes a holidaying with the Jolley-Rogers?

Excited to be allowed to accompany her pirate pals on a visit to Scurvy Sands, Matilda bids her parents goodbye and three days later, is greeted by Cap’n Ollie Day at the pirate resort who tells them of lost gold buried long long ago by one Mad Jack McMuddle..

The pirate kids are highly doubtful about her pirate credentials, as are the adults,

all of whom are just waiting to expose the girl with her neat clothes, clean teeth, perfect table manners and lack of unwashed odours, wherever she goes and whatever she does.

“Take the pirate test” is the command.

What can she do to prove herself?

Suddenly, inspired by a portrait of Mad Jack, Matilda has an idea. All she needs is Jack’s map, a compass and her own excellent sense of direction; oh and a spade carried by her pal Jim Lad.

You’ll certainly need your best array of pirate voices when you share this rollicking sequel to The Pirates Next Door, but don’t worry. I suspect your audience will be focussed on the filmic illustrations, which are absolutely brimming over with larger than life, roguish-looking characters and piratical paraphernalia. Do take a look at the superbly detailed end-papers too.
Whether or not children will on first hearing, notice the underlying theme concerning those who appear different having to prove themselves worthy to gain acceptance, I doubt, they’ll most likely just be carried along by the action.

The Great AAA-OOO!

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The Great AAA-OOO!
Jonny Lambert
Little Tiger Press
I’ve had to read this so many times in quick succession on several occasions that I’ve been rendered almost permanently hoarse – hopefully only a temporary trouble! Just gotta stop all that AAA-OOOing or my voice box will pack up completely and then I’ll be chasing after the brilliant Jonny Lambert demanding compensation for damages… But it is just SOOO brilliant and such STUPENDOUS fun – a crackingly great read aloud – that it makes everything worthwhile.; five packs of throat sweets not withstanding.
Better get on and explain what all the fuss is about. Fuss it certainly is for Mouse, on his way home through the dark rackety wood hears, guess what … AAA-OOO! AAA-OOO! AAA-OOO! Here we go … Owl thinks Mouse is responsible:
“ Twaddle, not I! ” hooted Owl.
“If it was not you, then who,
tu-whit tu-whoo, is making this
awful AAA-OOO?”
Mouse thinks it was Owl but it’s gotta have been somebody so who ? Certainly not Bear; he’s convinced it’ s one of the others … but there it goes again AAA-OOO! AAA-OOO!

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‘KNOCK, SMACK, THWACK.’ That’s Moose demanding to know if one of the three is the perpetrator of the din. Hot denials follow and another howl. By now jitters and chitters have begun to set in: There’s a mention of a monster – “boggley-eyed and blue” – is Mouse’s suggestion. “Or hairy and scary … with big claws.” – that’s Moose’s offering, to which Bear adds … “huge teeth that chomp, gnash and chew!” Owl is having none of it; monster indeed. But then comes an enormous “AAAAA-OOOOO!”
Dove joins those on the branch and then Bear scoops up whimpering Wolf Cub from below. There are mentions of a pie,

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“A pie?” roared Bear.”Save yourselves! Follow me!”

followed hastily by a whole lot of scrambling higher up the tree, which is starting to show signs of stress. A resounding crack! echoes through the woods and catastrophe …

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Oh-oh! the culprit is revealed, apologies proffered and an explanation provided, followed by a mighty hug – Bear to Wolf Cub and a promise – ditto.
Finally peace, harmony and sleep reign over the rackety wood until …
My latest rendering of this corker of a tale resulted in a largish group of 5s to 9s going around a school AAA-OOOing with great gusto, so much so that I felt duty bound to ask them to damp down their howls or we’d all be in trouble. If that isn’t testament enough to the quality of this tale, then nothing is. Dare I say, it’s a howlingly, show-stoppingly, way beyond magnificent, book.

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A Trio for Tots

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Gigantosaurus
Jonny Duddle
Templar Publishing
This is a board book edition of an already popular story and unlike many board books the text has not been cut down.
“His feet go STOMP!
His jaws go CRUNCH!
In the blink of an eye
You’d be his LUNCH!”
Shudder, shudder. The Gigantosaurus is about, warn the dinosaur mums as Bonehead, Tiny, Fin and Bill set off to play on the hill one day.
Bonehead posts himself to stand watch on the termite nest and before long he raises the “GIGANTOSAURUS! alarm …
THUD THUD THUD – a false alarm as it turns out. So too is the second cry and the third. Bonehead laughs at his pals, leaves them and goes off, supposedly to take a nap but “GIGANTOASARUS! Run as fast as you can!” he calls. Enough is enough the others decide and off to explore they go; but then …

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Duddle’s prehistoric take on The Boy Who Cried Wolf is enormous fun. The rhyming story rollicks along and with their filmic quality, the digitally created illustrations seem to leap off the page.
There’s also a fold out page and, to whet the appetites of knowledge seekers, there are snippets of information about the featured dinosaurs on the two final double spreads.
Dinosaur style, Duddle has definitely done himself proud.

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I’m Shy
David A. Carter
Walker Books
This has the subtitle ‘A Bashful Little Pop-Up Book’ and it’s a delight, as is the eight-limbed creature that after a little coercion, bit-by-bit reveals itself in its full glory:

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before scuttling back into its hidey-hole again.
‘Again’ is the response I’ve had from every small child I have shared this little book with; although there have also been many demands to ‘do that bit again’ at the very first appearance of the eye

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when the front cover is opened fully.
Short and sweet it surely is: I envisage this one being read to destruction by enthusiastic little hands.

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Cheep, Cheep!
Sue Downing
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Cockerel crows a good morning on a bright new day and this sets off a chain of greetings. ‘With something new to share and say/little chick goes on his way.’ “Cheep cheep!” says Chick to little calf.

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Little calf in turn moos to little lamb who baas to little foal and thus the four baby animals are off out to play.
Simple, charmingly effective and very ‘join-in with-able’. And surprisingly with such chunky, easy to turn pages, it’s also very light to hold.

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Prehistoric Animal Brigade

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Woolly
Sam Childs
Scholastic pbk
The new addition to the mammoth family has something of a problem. She’s not woolly at all, just the opposite in fact; she’s bald and pink and feels the cold terribly. Mum has an idea – a tea towel wrapping, but this scares off the potential friends she meets. Poor Woolly: back home she goes. Time to start knitting advises Daddy but Mummy has another idea in the form of a rainbow-hued, feathery coat. However, Woolly’s attempts to emulate the birds win her no friends either so it’s back home once again.

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This time though, Mummy heeds Daddy’s advice and gets knitting.

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The outcome? A very happy Woolly with lots of playmates until she gets overheated in the family cave and rushes out to play in the cold, cold snow. That proves to be her undoing but it’s not a total disaster; far from it in fact … Unashamedly cute and heart-warming; what endearing characters Sam Childs has portrayed in the mixed media illustrations of her hugely enchanting story.
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Dino-Mummy
Mark Sperring and Sam Lloyd
Bloomsbury pbk.
Dino-Mummy is a marvel. From singing a morning ‘Tra la la” to after lunch rocket launcher, afternoon dino-pirate

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or evening bath time bubble maker she is hard at work caring for and entertaining her two demanding dino-offspring. Nothing seems to faze this super-mum and although it would have been good to see her engaging in some less traditional female activities, Dino-Mummy as portrayed by Sam Lloyd is a charmer with her matching pink shoes, necklace and floral adornment. Sperring’s rhyming text reads aloud well though I suggest if you are sharing it with a group that you try it on your own first as the phrasing in one or two places can be a bit tricky on the tongue.
Definitely a good bet for appreciative (dino) tinies to give to their mums on Mother’s Day.
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There’s a Dinosaur in My Bathtub
Catalina Echeverri
Bloomsbury pbk.
Not so much a dinosaur, more an imaginary friend is the huge green creature in this story, especially as he is only seen by Amelia, sports a large black curly moustache, hails from France and answers to the name, Pierre. Said large beast certainly adds spice to Amelia’s life: together they picnic on the moon, dance upside down to Pierre’s magic violin and much more besides, the bathtub becoming a vehicle for their flights of fancy.

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Sadly though, Pierre and others like him only stay during the summer months and so, when the autumn leaves begin to fall, it’s time to bid farewell. But not before one last special picnic with Pierre’s most favourite food: can you guess what that might be?
Catalina Echeverri’s wonderful scenes abound with witty detail, including captions and labels, adding to the quirky humour of her tale, a tale told by Amelia herself who engages her audience with her opening speech … ‘My name is Amelia. … Shhh!! It’s a secret so you mustn’t tell anyone in the whole world … OK?’
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Toot Goes to Dinosaurland
Catherine and Laurence Anholt
Nosy Crow pbk
Toot has a little red car with a magic satnav that will take him and his toy puppy to all manner of exciting places. He decides to visit Dinosaurland. (I can see a series coming here.) Off goes the car, through the city, into a tunnel, up and down mountains, to the top of a high hill and down to his destination. There he meets dinosaurs of different sizes – a weeny one, a middle-sized one and a big one but not, much to Toot’s relief, a huge enormous one. So what is that long green slope you are driving up Toot? “ROA-AR!”

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Time for some fast thinking and a clever trick to escape those open jaws.
This story will go down well with very young children either individually or in a preschool setting. The bright illustrations are engaging and will hold their interest; and the text offers lots of opportunities for audience participation through sounds and actions, Children will enjoy being in the know as they notice what Toot does not; that he is driving along a tail-shaped road towards danger.
After sharing the story you could take the opportunity offered therein to talk about comparative sizes. Then, why not let preschoolers play out the story with small world dinosaurs of various sizes, a little rabbit soft toy for Toot and a toy car large enough to fit him in; the children could decide what else is needed.
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Nina is immediately grabbed by the story

Gigantosaurus
Jonny Duddle
Templar Publishing
“His feet go STOMP!
His jaws go CRUNCH!
In the blink of an eye
You’d be his LUNCH!”
Watch out! The Gigantosaurus is about, warn the dinosaur mums as Bonehead, Tiny, Fin and Bill set off to play on the hill one day.
Self-elected lookout, Bonehead posts himself on the termite nest and it’s not long before he raises the alarm “GIGANTOSAURUS!”…

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THUD THUD THUD – a false alarm as it turns out. So too is the second cry and the third. Bonehead laughs at his pals, leaves them and goes to take a nap so he says, but “GIGANTOASARUS!” he calls again. Enough is enough decide the others going off to explore but then …
Duddle’s prehistoric take on The Boy Who Cried Wolf is nothing short of stupendous. The rhyming story rollicks along and with their filmic quality, the digitally created illustrations almost leap off the page.

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There’s also a fold out page and sturdy dust jacket that doubles as a large two-sided poster,one side of which shows the dinosaurs on a time-line and, to whet the appetites of knowledge seekers, there are snippets of information about the featured dinosaurs on the two final double spreads.
With his dinosaurs, Duddle has definitely done it again.

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WOW!

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Finally, not really a picture book

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Hot Dogs and Dinosnores
Amanda Li
Macmillan Children’s Books pbk
‘What do you get when a dinosaur sneezes? Out of the way’.  You can find this joke, more dinosaur jokes and a whole host of others in this ‘first animal joke book’. It’s ideal for those gaining confidence as readers, and even if they don’t laugh uproariously at Li’s one hundred odd groan making jokes, Jane Eccles’s dotty line drawings are sure to raise a smile.
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