Tag Perry Emerson

The Marvellous Mend-it Shop

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The Marvellous Mend-it Shop
Perry Emerson and Laura Borio
Little Tiger Books

A magical tale about the power of story-telling and how a mother and her child, Max, discover a very special shop.
When Max accidentally breaks his mum’s special charm bracelet he is distraught. He knows it’s her favourite possession (other than him) but Mum doesn’t get cross; instead she tells him the story of what happened when she herself was small and broke it.
Off she went in search of help and was surprised to come across a strange-looking shop she’d never seen before: it’s called The Marvellous Mend-it Shop and it’s absolutely crammed with treasured trinkets of all kinds.

Suddenly there comes a loud voice calling “Next!” It’s a talking mole who takes the bracelet, decides it’s a complicated case but can be fixed and sends her to a lift up to the Department of Treasures. Therein she’s greeted by a smartly clad tiger who tells her that anything can be mended. Out steps the narrator (Mum as a child) and she hears first a whisper and then singing. Thereupon she opens her palm to reveal the broken bracelet and one at a time the charms are re-fixed onto the chain.
That though is only a small part of the tale for there follows an encounter with a bear

talking about how to make the charms sparkle and thus bring the bracelet back to life.

The book ends with Mum’s wise words about stories and what the right one at the right time can do.

Bursting with magic and with a wealth of wonderful tiny details in Laura Borio’s whimsical scenes, this is a smashing book to share with a reception/ KS1 class: it will, one hopes, spark the imaginations of listeners who will go on to create their own magical stories.

Just One More Story

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Just One More Story
Perry Emerson and Sean Julian
Little Tiger

Pip and Bun are bunnies with very different predilections. Pip loves to read; Bun considers books boring and enjoys lively play. So when Pip invites Bun to read with her, he flatly refuses causing Pip to close her book with the comment, “You wouldn’t like this book anyway. It’s not for little bunnies.” Cross at being called ‘little’, Bun decides to read Pip’s book for himself so he takes it from the shelf and looks inside.

He’s astonished to discover the main character is a penguin that rides a motorbike. “Penelope Penguin, super spy!” Pip informs him. With Bun’s interest sparked, Pip starts reading more with the listener very actively engaged. After the story, Bun selects a book about a pirate princess and with Pip reading the words, Bun becomes a swashbuckling freebooter.

They spend the entire day reading stories together until there are no more books on the shelf. Pip suggests they make up their own story; this leads to a squabble with Pip remarking angrily, “Books aren’t for little bunnies.” Bun is left alone feeling very, very small, but Pip too feels. Soon they realise there’s only one way to get themselves out of this impasse: reading books together the way they were, is too good to stop because of a silly squabble.

The characters are endearingly portrayed in Sean Julian’s scenes of the furry, floral frolics. It’s good to see an acknowledgement that there are different ways to enjoy sharing a book, some of which involve being physically actively: so it was for the young bunnies, so it is for their human counterparts.

Imperfectly Perfect

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Imperfectly Perfect
Perry Emerson and Hoang Giang
Little Tiger

Maria’s day starts badly; she accidentally damages her brother’s favourite book as she’s turning the pages a tad too fast. Robbie is far from pleased, accusing his little sister of ruining the book and stomping off. Needless to say, Maria is upset and in comes a family friend, Bea, with a timely hug. This she follows with a story about the day a bowl she’d given to Maria’s mum broke and was repaired with love and golden glue, making it imperfectly perfect.
Maria remains upset so Bea suggests a cheering up walk. During their saunter Maria looks for other imperfectly perfect things around and about,

and by the time a thunder storm breaks, she’s starting to feel better. As well as seeing beauty in the stormy sky, she has an idea about her brother’s book.

Back at home, Maria and Bea then work together carefully making repairs to Robbie’s precious book.

How do you think he will react when Maria goes to his room with an apology and the book?

A sweet and important story about accepting and embracing imperfections, and making amends, engagingly told and illustrated. Hoang Giang’s illustrations underscore the author’s empowering message about discovering beauty in all manner of unexpected places.