Tag Mark Chambers

I Could Be Eaten By a Shark

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I Could Be Eaten By a Shark
Marcela Ferreira and Mark Chambers
Oxford Children’s Books

One day when on the beach with his grandfather, Louie sees a shark, albeit only a small one, and refuses to go back in the water. So instead his grandpa takes him to a variety of other watery places – the lake and swimming pools but they too cause the boy to see sharks. As do even paddling pools and bubble baths, indeed anywhere where there’s water. How can this problem be sorted out?

Grandpa (‘who is very wise)’ takes Louie to the library to learn about sharks. Having discovered that shark attacks are rare and been surprised to read of a shark that’s smaller than a human hand, Louie remains cautious, refusing to go right up close to relevant book. Moreover he sees potential sharks lurking in places everywhere, even the loo.

Now, rather than telling his grandson not to worry, Grandpa says something else, for he knows how Louie feels as he too was terrified of a large creature and convinced it would eat him. Maybe through ‘time – and hard work’ Louie, like his Grandpa, could learnt to live with his fear and keep it under his control. That way he wouldn’t miss out on the wealth of opportunities life has to offer …

Cleverly interweaving basic shark facts into the narrative, Marcela Ferreira offers a story that demonstrates how one’s fears can be embraced and made manageable: in tandem with Mark Chambers’ witty scenes full of amusing details, this is a book that offers reassurance and lots of discussion possibilities, especially for anxious little ones.

Bear vs Dragon

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Bear vs Dragon
Marcela Ferreira and Mark Chambers
Oxford Children’s Books

This is a rib-tickling tale of a stand off on a bridge, a very rickety bridge over a rapidly moving river. The two animals involved are both large and both are determined to be the first to cross to the other side. From the moment both Bear and Dragon are standing on the bridge, children (and adult sharers of the book) will notice the creaking and cracking sounds coming from the wooden construction indicating disaster for the foolhardy pair.

As their self-aggrandising dialogue proceeds, Mark Chambers’ splendidly droll illustrations capture to perfection the body language of the speakers until eventually, following a barrage of verbal insults,

the inevitable happens sending the protagonists hurtling downwards into the ravine and they SPLASH into the rushing water.

Happily they are not swept away; rather what follows is a highly precarious ascent to safety

and the forging of a powerful bond of friendship.

Young listeners will painlessly absorb the important messages about seeing something from another’s perspective and the power of co-operating.

A cracker of a book to read aloud and discuss in Foundation stage and KS1 classrooms and at home.

Supersaurus: Total Tricera-Flop!

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Supersaurus: Total Tricera-Flop!
Angela Woolfe and Mark Chambers
Little Tiger

Supersaurus is something of a disaster when it comes to saving the day. Smalltown’s ice cream seller, Dan’s residence catches fire during the jamboree and with the assistance of his sidekick, Hatch, Supersaurus hurls the fossil-flinger at the roof extinguishing the flames but wrecking the roof. The duo then notice moggy, Mr Tiddles stuck in a tree. Chaos ensues as they rescue the cat but flatten Dan’s ice-cream van, leaving its contents wide open to thievery in the form of Burglar Gran.

Supersauarus attacks the burglar with his T.rex trap causing cake to fly every which way and ice cream from Dan’s van to squirt forth all over the place super speedily. Just as Supersaurus is about to clear up the mess with his Bronto-Broom, the town’s mayor calls a halt and sends the duo packing. Only Hatch is aware of the impending fate of Dan’s van but he’s caught in a torrent of ice cream.

Can Supersaurus finally save this whole sorry situation once and for all?

Totally daft, Angela Woolfe’s funny rhyming saga of a muddlesome dinosaur and his disasters, is illustrated in suitably silly scenes of the inept superhero at large in the community. With its combination of two of young children’s favourite topics – superheroes and dinosaurs – team Woolfe and Chambers are surely onto a winner with this one.

The Hoys

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The Hoys
Kes Gray and Mark Chambers
Happy Yak

ARRR! Me hearties! How many of you have ever wondered what a hoy is? No? Well, you are about to find out in this zany piratical tale.

When his friends call out ‘Ahoy There’ Pirate Jake is confused – what are these hoys and where can he find them?

His hoy hunt around the harbour proves unsuccessful so Pirate Jake goes on a very long and very miserable walk along the beach during which he argues with his parrot and having run out of beach, ends up at the bottom of a tall cliff. There, in the sand, he discovers a trail of strange- shaped footprints …

Now where might they lead, the two wonder and who do they belong to? They decide to follow them and see.

‘Ahoy there!” he calls on entering a well-concealed cave. Could this place contain the answer to Pirate Jake’s puzzlement; will he perhaps end up feeling like a true pirate at last?
Ho! Ho! Ho! To reveal the ending would make me a story-spoiler.

Mark Chambers’ bold bright art, some scenes bursting with fun piratical details, is perfect for Kes Gray’s crazy telling, which contains some smashing descriptive phrases. A thoroughly enjoyable read aloud and one to re-read come ‘talk like a pirate day’ this year’s being on 19th September.

Supermouse and the Volcano of Doom / Ebb and Flo and the Baby Seal

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Supermouse and the Volcano of Doom
M.N. Tahl and Mark Chambers
Little Tiger

In case you didn’t make the acquaintance of Supermouse in his previous adventure, Peter Parmesan is no ordinary mouse. When disaster strikes, Peter morphs into Supermouse ready to save the day.
Now along with the regular news of crooks creating chaos comes news of the imminent eruption of Mount Fondue, way too big a task for our hero to handle entirely alone. So, he decides to hold auditions for ‘The League of Remarkable Rodents’ but none of the many that show up for the audition are sufficiently remarkable. Supermouse must face the volcano of doom alone.

As he starts to investigate this hot, hot mountain, there’s a sudden SPLAT that sends our hero skywards. However, refusing to be overcome he fights with all his might to fend off the fiery onslaught until disaster strikes in the form of hot molten cheese.

Is there anyone that could help rescue Supermouse and in so doing save the city? You never know: assistance sometimes comes from an unlikely source.

With its plethora of flaps to explore, speech bubbles, peep-through pages aplenty, wealth of wordplay and rodents of several kinds, this madcap superhero romp will go down well with young would-be superhero humans. They’ll absolutely relish Mark Chambers’ zany action-packed illustrations, that’s for sure.

Ebb and Flo and the Baby Seal
Jane Simmons
Graffeg

As Ebb sits listening to the pitter patter of the rain she hears a ‘Wah! Wah!’ coming from the direction of the beach. Off she dashes and there she discovers a baby seal – a playmate at last.After a day romping on the beach and in the waves, a hungry Ebb decides to head home; the little seal tries to follow. Ebb realises that it needs help, seeks the assistance of Mum and Flo

and eventually together they find a way to reunite the baby with its mother.

Jane Simmons’ misty watercolour illustrations evoke the seaside setting beautifully in this third reissue in a wonderful series that, with themes of kindness and teamwork, is as relevant now as twenty years back when the book was originally published.

Supermouse and the Big Cheese Robbery

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Supermouse and the Big Cheese Robbery
M.N. Tahl and Mark Chambers
Little Tiger

If you want a book whiffing over with exceedingly cheesily pungent puns and other word plays, not to mention a number of wheyward characters, gratinate or otherwise, then this will certainly be to your taste.

Without further odour let’s head over to Mouseopolis where everyone is eagerly anticipating the grand unveiling of the city’s ‘most magnificent morsel’, the Big Cheese.

Disaster is revealed as soon as the mayor pulls back the curtain. All that’s on view is a holey communication from the dastardly thief.

News of the robbery has everyone puzzling and a list of suspects is published in the Daily Mouse, along with an article on the possible cheese saviour.

Before you can say Stilton, Supermouse aka Peter Parmesan, is on the trail searching out every suspicious pong be it high or low.

Little does he know however, that a trap has been set by the roguish robbing rodents. Perhaps all is not lost though for the ground whereon their cutter stands, starts to shake.

Here’s what then ensues …

but can Supermouse manage to caerphilly secure that scrumptious delicacy he seeks, enable justice to be served and return a hero?

Despite the occasional challenge to my vegan sensibilities, this reviewer positively relished this morsel of literary madness cooked up by cheese-loving author M.N. Tahl and scrumptiously layered with Mark Chambers’ tongue-tingling illustrative treats, liberally peppered with speech bubbles, logos and signs. With its flaps, peep-through and sometimes unfolding, pages, not to mention the action-packed plot, adventure-loving audiences will devour this and demand seconds.

Baking Bonanza: Dough Knights and Dragons / Jake Bakes a Monster Cake

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Dough Knights and Dragons
Dee Leone and George Ermos
Sterling

Here’s a ‘Great British Bake Off’ tale set in the days of yore when dragons roamed and knights fought them.
A young knight comes upon a cave filled with novel ingredients and cannot resist cooking up a huge pot of savoury stew.
So delicious is its aroma that it arouses the resident dragon and before long the two have formed a forbidden friendship because it’s deemed in this land that every knight must slay a dragon and every dragon must eat a knight.
As their friendship flourishes so do their culinary skills but as the day of impending contest draws ever nearer, the two realise that they must cook up a clever solution by means of the thing that has bound them together in friendship.

And what a tasty solution that turns out to be with its mix of semantic niceties and unusual shaped doughnuts;

and the outcome changes the nature of competitions between knights and dragons for ever more,
This is a recipe for a lip-smacking storytime: there’s adventure, friendship, edibles, suspense, chivalry and a sweet ending, all delivered through a rhyming narrative readers aloud will enjoy sharing, and vibrant, playful digital illustrations.
Take a look at the end papers too.

More cooking in:

Jake Bakes a Monster Cake
Lucy Rowland and Mark Chambers
Macmillan Children’s Books

Jake is busy in the kitchen; he’s called in his pals to help him bake an extra delicious cake for sweet-loving Sam’s birthday tea.
His fellow monsters scoff at Jake’s cook book deeming instructions a waste of time …

and instead invent their own recipe, a concoction of altogether unsavoury items. Surprisingly, the mixture tastes pretty good to Jake though.

When it’s baked to perfection, off go Jake and his fellow cooks to deliver the enormous confection; but suddenly disaster strikes …
Is that the end of a wonderful birthday treat for Sam?
Lucy Rowland and Mark Chambers have together rustled up a deliciously disgusting tale. Lucy’s the rhymer and Mark the picture maker and their latest offering is sure to illicit plenty of EEUUGHs from young audiences.
There’s an added treat in the form of a pack of scratch ‘n’ sniff stickers: clothes pegs at the ready!

Family Friendly Books

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Freddy and the Pig
Charlie Higson and Mark Chambers
Red Squirrel Books
School is anything but Freddy’s favourite place; he’d far rather be at home playing games on his Xbox. So he devises a clever plan, one involving a porcine substitute. This allows young Fred to stay lounging at home, racking up his levels on Total Death War, all the while growing more and more rotund. Pig meantime grows to love school and is even sticking up his trotter in class;

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he’s helpful around the house too. Soon it is hard for Mum to distinguish boy from pig so massive is Freddy

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and so grunt-like his utterances. Eventually she sells her son to a local farm and sends the pig to university though that’s not quite the end of the story.
This amusing cautionary tale is one of the latest additions to the Red Squirrel dyslexia-friendly books, the hallmarks of which are good stories, well illustrated and presented in a clear type face set against a plain, uncluttered background so that all parents can share them with their children.
Buy from Amazon
In the same series is:

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Wolf Man
Michael Rosen and Chris Mould
Red Squirrel Books
Just what or who are all the terrified local residents running from? It’s Wolfman and he’s escaped from his cage and is rampaging through the town, tearing up paving stones and consuming lamp-posts.

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Even the army is too terrified to do anything: but where is Wolfman heading to? It’s certainly not the park, nor the swimming pool. Wait a minute, that’s the house of the Chief of Police our hairy horror is making for, where, behind firmly closed doors cowers the jittering policeman.
So exactly what has compelled Wolfman to come here leaving a trail of havoc in his wake?

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Suffice it to say it is connected to a weak bladder and an urgent need.
Typical Michael Rosen madness – slightly over the top and deliciously subversive; just the thing to make less than confident readers want to keep turning the pages, especially when his well chosen words are combined with Chris Mould’s wickedly wacky images.
Assuredly one to help families ‘Grow a Love of Reading’ which is what this series aims to do.
Buy from Amazon

Where better place to start growing that love than:

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Zeki Loves Baby Club
Anna McQuinn and Ruth Hearson
Alanna Books pbk
We join Zeki and his mum at home before they set off for their regular Wednesday Baby Club session at the local library. There they meet lots of other babies and parents, and the club leader who has brought all manner of exciting instruments, some props and her repertoire of suitable toddler songs and rhymes. This week, after greeting one another,

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they sing the happy song with actions, play peek-a-boo (with translucent scarves to peep through) and join in the ‘stretchy’ and ‘rolly’ songs. Then it’s time for some noisy  fun with cuddly animals,

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more action rhymes and a final cuddle-up story before bidding farewell and ‘see you next time’ to all those friends.
At the end of the narrative, are the words of all the songs and rhymes mentioned plus some useful presentation tips and other information for adults.
All in all, this charmingly illustrated, sturdy book is a lovely opportunity to enjoy a simple story with the very youngest and to have a wonderful sing-along session too.
A great choice to give to new parents.
Buy from Amazon
Buy from your local bookshop:

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