Tag perseverance

Jigsaw: A Puzzle in the Post

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Jigsaw: A Puzzle in the Post
Bob Graham
Walker Books

Such is the excitement at the arrival of a parcel containing a jigsaw puzzle of a beautiful African sunrise that the entire Kelly family is eager to get started on it right away. Dad declares, “I’ve got time on my hands …” and setting his watch to Late Autumn, they begin sorting the pieces. Unbeknown to them however is the fact that in Dad’s haste to get out all the pieces, he’s sent one flying;. it’s landed on the dog’s back and … 

As Winter comes, with Kitty and Katie’s help (and perhaps a bit from Lucy the dog), they finished the edges. Through Spring and Summer Dad is the only person working on the jigsaw: the girls preferring to play outside, but come the approach of Autumn, Dad makes an announcement: “The hippo’s swim shorts …” Disaster that piece is missing.

A thorough search ensues and then Mum has an idea about what might have happened to the vital piece. Unwilling to give up, off they go to the rubbish tip … 

where a near exhaustive search yields all kinds of interesting items but not that which they seek and eventually they make a wish and sadly return home.

That though is not quite the end of this wonderful story, but story spoiler I won’t be; it’s well worth getting hold of a copy of any book that Bob Graham creates in his signature style and this one demonstrating the power of positive thinking is absolutely enchanting.

Octopants: The Missing Pirate Pants / Rita Wants a Ninja / Little Scoot

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Octopants: The Missing Pirate Pants
Suzy Senior and Claire Powell
Little Tiger

There’s definitely a plethora of pants in this new story about Octopants (narrator) and his ocean pals Turtle and Pufferfish. It’s the latter who has lost his favourite pirate pants and to make him feel less glum Octopants organises an undersea search. Having drawn a blank in the usual places in town, the friends brave the wreck and there they come upon a pirate crew with a pirate party in full swing with pants simply everywhere.

But then who should show up unexpectedly out of the blue sporting a funky hat and asking to join the pirate crew …
This is a jaunty rhyming text that flows well, and vibrant illustrations with plenty of humorous details to make little humans laugh, but Suzy Senior’s tale contains a serious message too: appearances can be deceptive so don’t be too hasty to make a judgement. With young children, you really can’t go wrong with a story about underpants.

Rita Wants a Ninja
Máire Zeph and Mr Ando (Andrew Whitson)
Graffeg

Is there no end to Rita’s demands? Seemingly not for now a game of hide-and-seek with her smaller sibling fuels a desire for her very own martial arts expert in the form of a ninja. How wonderful to have someone to instruct her in the art of stealth and invisibility. She’d learn how to control both mind and body as well as those shouts used when on the attack. However invincibility ninja style seemingly comes at a price –

a very big price and one she definitely isn’t prepared to pay after all. So it’s a resounding NO! for a ninja master …
Andrew Whitson’s expansive, action-packed scenes of Rita’s imaginings take readers along with the two children, into verdant Japanese bamboo forests and snowy landscapes wherein lurk fighting ninja clans.

Little Scoot
Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Edson Ikê
Boyds Mills Press

Perseverance no matter how difficult the situation, is key in this vibrantly illustrated American import.
I was itching to tweak the beginning part of the rhyming text but like its little tugboat protagonist, I kept going, and happily it improved. Keeping going and not giving up is the essence of the tale of Little Scoot. Suddenly she receives an alarm call: a large barge is aground on a sandbank and in need of her help. With a gathering storm the tiny tugboat has to force herself forward, pushing through her fears and the splashing, sploshing waves, as she tries her level best to be brave. Eventually, there before her is the stranded Big Barge.
Will the tiny craft succeed in her rescue mission? Even in the most difficult situations, she certainly isn’t a quitter …

Tilda Tries Again

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Tilda Tries Again
Tom Percival
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Tom Percival’s latest addition to the Big Bright Feelings series is yet again spot on: herein he uses his empathetic understanding of young children’s emotions to present Tilda.

We first meet this little girl as a bright happy child but then suddenly something happens to turn her world upside down, leaving her feeling utterly downcast. Now things that had once seemed easy, feel the absolute opposite: she doesn’t want to meet her friends; indeed everything feels a struggle.

What does she decide to do? Absolutely nothing at all.

One day she notices a tiny ladybird stuck on its back. Immediate recognition but there’s a difference: the ladybird is doing its upmost to put itself right whereas thus far Tilda has suffered complete inertia. Then suddenly the little creature flips itself over and flies away leaving Tilda alone with her thoughts.

Time for a change of perspective she decides, and calling forth that ‘can-do’ attitude, little by little she starts to persevere with things and the more she tries, the more she can do. But can she summon up the courage to join her friends in their play?

You bet!

An enormously uplifting story of patience, perseverance, resilience and self-belief that youngsters (and their adults – be they parents, teachers or carers) will relate to.

Tom’s change of palette from bright colours to predominantly grey shows the stark changes in Tilda’s emotional journey; and with everything that youngsters have been through during these last 18 months, this book could not be more apposite.

A must have for family bookshelves and classroom collections.

Ready to Ride

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Ready to Ride
Sébastien Pelon
Words & Pictures

What can you do on a dull, stay- indoors kind of a day that’s already become boring? You might perhaps, like the small child narrator of this story, venture outside and see what unfolds.

Into view comes a large furry shape riding a tiny bike and sporting a luminous pink hat. They make eye contact and the boy hops on his own bike and off they go.

It isn’t long before the human is wanting rid of his stabilisers, which his new friend helpfully consumes leaving the lad struggling to cope with trying to ride his ‘big boy’s’ bike.

The learning curve is steep with the usual frights, falls and rallying,

along with the odd spot of relaxation,

until finally come success, speed and some over-confidence.

All the while though, the silent, white lumpy creature is there ready to offer succour and the occasional bit of provocation: then suddenly he’s gone.

Perhaps he was never there at all except in the boy’s mind.

Back home goes one small child, proud of himself and eager to tell his mum and dad about his adventure but when a “What did you do?’ comes from Mum his answer is let’s say, understated.

You can succeed so long as you show resilience, is what comes through in Pelon’s picture book.

Its graphic format is such that it works best as a one-to-one share and with that blank ‘Super Cyclist’ certificate on the back endpapers, is certainly one to offer a child at that same stage of readiness to fly solo on two wheels. I love the colour palette and the plethora of humorous details.

Audrey the Amazing Inventor

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Audrey the Amazing Inventor
Rachel Valentine and Katie Weymouth
Words & Pictures

Hot on the heels of Ada Twist, Scientist and Rosie Revere, Engineer comes another young girl character with a passion.
Meet Audrey, inquisitive and an inveterate fiddler with things, who, having declared to her teacher, her intention to be an inventor, sets about achieving her ambition.

She starts with items to make life better for her dad and Happy Cat but after a very rocky start

and even more disastrous next efforts, Audrey miserably declares herself “the world’s worst inventor!”

Luckily for her, her dad, far from making disparaging remarks, encourages his daughter to learn from her mistakes and carry on trying. Wise advice.

It works too, for it isn’t long before Audrey is inventing again, but this time she’s extra careful at the planning stage, the constructing stage and the testing stage. Dad cannot wait to see the new invention.

Will it work to the satisfaction of all though? It’s certainly wildly inventive, and sophisticated; but will it deliver?
Crazy, but enormously enjoyable and an inspiration to young female would-be scientists, technologists and engineers: Audrey demonstrates just how much enjoyment the STEM curriculum offers and Rachel Valentine’s narrative reminds children of the importance of persevering, and of following your dreams.

There’s a slight touch of the Heath Robinsons about some of Katie Weymouth’s zany scenes of Audrey at work on her inventions, and she also adroitly captures the close and supportive relationship between father and daughter.

Try and Say Abracadabra! / How Billy Hippo Learned to Swim

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Try and Say Abracadabra!
Maria Loretta Giraldo and Nicoletta Bertelle
Ragged Bears

It’s spring; all the little birds are learning how to fly and having a great time so doing. All that is except Little Owl who, despite support from teacher Mrs Pigeon, is left standing on his branch terrified.
Tortoise comes along and encourages him suggesting he use the super magical word ‘Abracadabra’

but when Owl tries, the word comes out wrong and he crashes to the ground.
Two attempts under Mouse’s direction fail to achieve more than a little flutter and then along comes Hedgehog with his suggestion that owl shout the magic word as loud as he can and …

Success!
Now the grateful little creature is ready to pass on the secret of his success to a baby frog that’s afraid to jump …

The power of Giraldo’s never give up message is artfully portrayed in Bertelle’s mixed media, digitally worked illustrations of the endearing characters.

How Billy Hippo Learned to Swim
Vivian French and Hannah Foley
Little Door Books

“All hippos LOVE swimming!” So says Billy Hippo’s dad in response to his son’s declaration that he doesn’t like swimming. The water’s too cold and too wet; Billy is convinced of that.
Other members of his family try their hardest to encourage him to join them in the water but Billy stands firm on the river bank.

However Billy’s family aren’t the only ones aiming to get him swimming. Two frogs have, all the while, been watching the whole situation unfolding and scheming up their own plan. With the strategic placing of a well-chosen item or two, they cause Billy – as Hannah Foley shows in this splendid slapstick sequence –

to hurtle into the water and after a deal of glugging, not to mention swirling and wallowing, Billy announces, “I love swimming.”

Simply told in a direct manner that leaves Hannah Foley plenty of room to fill in the details in her fun-filled illustrations, this is a good bet for little ones who have a reluctance to take the plunge.
You can down load a free audiobook and songs from the publisher’s website.

I Don’t Like Reading

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I Don’t Like Reading
Lisabeth Emlyn Clark
Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Meet Harry: he likes lots of different things – drawing dinosaurs, playing football, climbing trees and playing with his friend, Tom; but if there’s one thing Harry doesn’t like, it’s reading. In fact he hates it. The words tend to make him feel dizzy; they might look so tiny he can barely see them, or huge and blurry.
Reading for Harry is total frustration and it’s worse because his little sister is always asking him to read to her.
Worst of all though, is having to read aloud at school. The mere thought of it gives him tummy ache so nervous is he.
One night though, he tells his mum how he feels.

She speaks to his teacher and from then on, with a team of helpers including the special needs coordinator and an educational psychologist, together with some aids such as coloured acetate, and Harry’s own willingness to try hard, he realises that he can read and keep on improving.
‘Harry is a very clever young boy with a dyslexic profile,’ explains the letter his mum receives a few weeks later.
And then, gradually, read he does, especially to his sister.
Written by someone who was diagnosed with dyslexia in her late teens, this illustrated story, with its strategic use of different fonts gives a taster of what reading is like for Harry and perhaps for others with dyslexia. Harry however was lucky in that his issues were dealt with relatively quickly: not everyone is that fortunate. Children who have reading problems, whether or not they have a dyslexia diagnosis shouldn’t beat themselves up about it; rather they need to treat themselves kindly and not be afraid of asking for help; this little book will, I hope, help them do just that.
All our brains are different: we all need to follow different paths to become readers.

Last Tree in the City / Madeline Finn and the Library Dog

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Last Tree in the City
Peter Carnavas
New Frontier Publishing

Edward lives in a city, one that appears totally devoid of beauty or colour. However, he knows of a tiny oasis in this concrete jungle.
At the end of his street stands one last tree and for the little boy (and his companion duck) it’s a place of joy; a place surrounded by nature where the two would spend many a happy time.

One day however disaster strikes: Edward’s tree has gone.

He’s devastated; but then he makes a discovery that brings hope to his heart, a tiny glimmer of hope that just might alter the city’s future in the very best way possible …

With minimal words and superbly eloquent watercolour and ink illustrations, Peter Carnavas has created a modern fable that has much to say to all of us; not only with its subtle ecological message but also with the empowering thought that one person really can make a difference.

Madeline Finn and the Library Dog
Lisa Papp
Old Barn Books

Madeline Finn, the story’s narrator, is a reluctant reader: she really does NOT like to read anything at all, not even the menu on the ice cream van. The trouble is that she finds the whole reading thing very hard work and sometimes her classmates make fun of her attempts at reading aloud. “Keep trying,” her teacher tells her giving her ‘Keep Trying’ hearts for her efforts.

Madeline though is desperate for a star sticker but those are only given to ‘good readers’: that teacher really needs to think about what she’s doing there.
On Saturday, Madeline’s mum takes her to the library where the girl reminds the librarian of her dislike of reading.

Miss Dimple however shows her a room where children are reading to dogs and offers her the opportunity to do likewise, introducing her to Bonnie, a large white dog.
Bonnie is a great listener; she ‘s non-judgemental, forgiving and patient; and week by week Madeline gains the confidence to make mistakes, to go at her own pace, and to take risks as she continues to read to the dog.

After many weeks, she is ready to read out loud at school. She starts out a bit wobbly but imagines herself reading to Bonnie and suddenly she’s done it.
Lisa Papp’s gentle watercolour illustrations capture the little girl’s feelings so beautifully in this encouraging story, which has a lovely surprise ending, both for the main protagonist and for readers.

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Izzy Gizmo

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Izzy Gizmo
Pip Jones and Sara Ogilvie
Simon & Schuster

Izzy Gizmo is full of go and seldom without her large bag of tools, after all one never knows when there might be an opportunity for mending, tweaking or inventing. She makes some pretty marvellous machines but the trouble is there do seem to be a fair few glitches along the way and often at the most inopportune moments.
It’s then that Izzy’s temper gets the better of her and she wants to give up.
Grandpa however, has other ideas: “Now, trust me, young lady. Sometimes you need to try again and again if you want to succeed,” he tells her.
After one such paddy, Izzy storms outside and all of a sudden a crow crash lands right in her path breaking his wings beyond repair.

Now the feisty young miss has a new challenge. First she tries to rehabilitate the crow but all the creature wants is to be able to soar with his feathered friends again. Despondent, she’s near to giving up but again Grandpa steps in with some timely moral support and that bag of gadgety things of Izzy’s.
Then it’s operation ‘new wings’ as books are consulted, components collected …

and assembled ready for the launch; but it’s a case of the best laid plans …
Can Izzy, not to mention her injured friend finally rise to the occasion or is the creature destined to stay forever grounded ?
Let’s put it like this: ‘where there’s a will, there has to be a way’

no matter the consequences …
I doubt many will fail to fall for Izzy and her mechanical mind.
Pip Jones’ rhyming narrative is a cracker to read aloud and Sara Ogilvie’s imagination must be almost as fertile as young Izzy’s. Her intricately detailed scenes of mechanical mayhem are simply magnificent.
A real riot.

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Boo Who?

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Boo Who?
Ben Clanton
Walker Books

The pals from Ben Clanton’s Rex Wrecks It! – dinosaur Rex, robot, Gizmo, Sprinkles the unicorn-rabbit, and furry monster, Wild return; but there’s a new kid on the block and he wants to play.

The others are accommodating and try their level best to include him in their games; but for a ghostly apparition, bounce-ball is a non starter (the ball bounces right through him); ditto ‘pick-up twigs’ (Boo has no hands); and his would-be friends can’t feel a thing when Boo tags them.

Enough is enough: the four run off to play another game leaving Boo all alone and sad – ‘Boo-hoo’. Would anyone even care if he just disappeared, Boo wonders.
Meanwhile a game of hide-and-seek has started. Now that’s surely THE perfect game for a little ghost.

Three cheers for the established group and their patience and perseverance. It pays off in the end: and what a great example to young audiences, especially those just starting nursery or school.
Clanton’s artfully drawn characters portray the sensitive and empathetic way the friends treat the newcomer. Their changes of expression speak volumes about their feelings, as do those of Boo and his uncertainty about being accepted by the others, about fitting in and discovering his own strength.
Share and discuss with early years listeners.

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The Nut Stayed Shut

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The Nut Stayed Shut
Mike Henson
Templar Publishing
Squirrel Rodney, the world’s best cracker of nuts, has a problem: a confounding nut-shaped one. He’s succeeded in cracking nut number 1 and nut number 2; but nut number 3 stays firmly and unequivocally shut. Brute force doesn’t do the trick, so maybe a spot of tickling, or perhaps whopping it with a fish, scaring it maybe? None of these have the slightest effect – on the nut at least: nor do chainsawing, door dropping or even this …

Clearly something larger is needed …

No? Then a big bang maybe?

No matter what Rodney does all through the day and all through the night, not a chink of an opening appears in that nut shell. Is it perhaps time to admit defeat and walk away: it certainly appears as though poor Rodney is cracking under all the strain. Or is there something else he can do? …
With its rhyming narrative and over-the-top notions, this superb piece of slapstick is satisfyingly silly. The staccato rhythm of Henson’s delivery is comic timing of the first order, and leaves just the right amount of space for his visuals to have maximum impact. Rodney’s side-kick, complete with camera to film the champ in action, further adds to the delights of this whole smashing experience.

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Big Hid

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Big Hid
Roisin Swales
Flying Eye Books
Do you have days when you feel unaccountably sad? I know I do from time to time. It’s the same for one of the characters in this, Roisin Swales’ sweetly beautiful debut picture book.
Little and Big together are a terrific team so what is Little to do when Big doesn’t want to do any of the usual friends-together things?  It’s no to climbing trees,

chewing stuff, dressing up, and having races.
In fact all Big wants to do is hide away: Little is at a loss to know how to help.
Perhaps a slice of Big’s favourite cake might do the trick: Little duly bakes and delivers a large piece but Big stays firmly tucked in.

He consults his other friends but to no avail: Big remains hidden no matter what; and Little misses his pal SO much.

Suddenly out go his arms and around Big they go (as far as possible) into a great big hug and guess what …
So simple yet so utterly affecting: everybody needs a Little on hand to work some hugging magic at those hide-away times. If you’re not fortunate enough to have one such, then try giving someone in need a hug and see what happens.
The mostly warm earthy tones of Roisin Swales visuals are just perfect for this revivifying story; and those Testudinean eyes have just a touch of Klassen about them.
Perfect for sharing; and equally perfect for beginning readers: it knocks the rubbish they dish out in the name of teaching children in the early stages right out of the water.

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Dixie O’Day On His Bike!

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Dixie O”Day On His Bike
Shirley Hughes & Clara Vulliamy
The Bodley Head
An ‘affable’ chat over coffee with a passing cyclist, Dean, met while Percy is busy polishing Dixie’s car,

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and an increase in the size of Dixie’s waistline, result in the latter deciding he needs more exercise and he tells Percy of his intention to take up cycling. Not only that, he wants to buy a tandem. However on account of their differing leg lengths, Dixie needs to call upon the services of another pal of his, Don Barrakan who agrees to design a specially adapted model  just for Dixie and Percy …

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When the machine is finally delivered, Percy is soon engulfed by Dixie’s enthusiasm and before long the two of them are heading off down the road, but very soon …

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Never mind, Percy, Dixie’s there to pick you up and encourage you to practise, practise, practise … and soon the pals are planning a cycling trip. Routes are considered, maps pored over (with a bit of input from Dean), destinations discussed and an expedition is finally decided upon. The plan is that Dean will take the lead on his bike and the other two will follow, which when put into operation, isn’t quite such a clever idea … as the two bikes hurtle downhill at an alarming speed towards a haystack resulting in …

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Extrication accomplished, the three part company and whom should they meet as they reach home but nosy neighbour Lou Ella. Inevitable comments are passed and smartly brushed aside with Dixie’s “Just a small mishap.”
Is that mishap the end of Dixie and Percy’s flirtation with cycling? Of course not – this is Dixie O’Day we’re talking about but if you want to discover how things develop and I’m certain you do, then grab yourself a copy of this latest delicious Dixie offering from the inimitable mother and daughter team Shirley and Clara.
Shirley’s faultless storytelling and Clara’s delectable illustrations together offer total delight for those ‘just independent’ readers and of course, it’s a cracker for reading aloud, one to one, or with a group.
I’ll just add that there are thrills aplenty and the odd spill (or ”error of judgement”) as Percy puts it,

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not to mention a long-distance race, the Didsworth Cycle Rally and the unmasking of a cheat. Oops! I‘m in danger of telling all in my enthusiasm for this wonderful book … Don’t get left behind; get hold of it rightaway. As well as the story, there’s the usual mix of maps, a quiz, a chat with the book’s creators …

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and more, to enjoy too.

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The Shrew That Flew/ The Dragon & the Nibblesome Knight

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The Dragon and the Nibblesome Knight
Elli Woollard and Benji Davies
Macmillan Children’s Books
Told through faultless rhyme – no easy matter despite Elli making it appear so – (with plenty of repetition, and sprinklings of onomatopoeia (FLASHes SPLASHes, FLAPs and CLAPs etc.) and awesome visuals – but one expects no less from Benji Davies – this is a stupendous offering. But, it’s the interaction of text and illustrations that makes the whole thing such a bobby dazzler of a book.
The tale revolves around Dram (love that name), an infant dragon, ejected from the Dragons of Dread family nest to search for ‘dribblesome, nibblesome, knobble-kneed knights.’

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In other words what he has to do is stand on his own feet, or rather fly with his own wings, and get his teeth and claws into a nibblesome knight. However that’s not quite what happens due to a prevailing wind – a looping, curling gale no less – that whisks young Dram ‘away to the End of the World’ depositing him unceremoniously into a lake beside which sits a diminutive knight. Said knight, James, takes the “duckie” under his wing …

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tending to his wounds and generally ministering to his injuries and sore parts,

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not to mention supplying nourishment for both Dram’s body and mind …

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The infant dragon however hasn’t forgotten his nibblesome knight procurement mission, so what will transpire when finally the dreadful realization dawns – that his new best friend is in fact, nothing less than a knight?

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Yes, there are faint echoes of Donaldson’s Zog here, but that is not to detract from its brilliance: if you want to do your bit to make children into life-long book lovers, there’s no doubt this is a MUST have book.

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Another Red Reading Hub favourite creative partnership is responsible for :

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The Shrew that Flew
Julia Copus and Eunyoung Seo
Faber & Faber
This is the third wonderful ‘Harry & Lil Story’ and they just seem to get better and better. In this adventure, Candy Stripe Lil and Harry the Hog (along with the other creatures on Piggyback Hill) having received this invitation …

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are busy preparing for Badger’s do. It’s already 2pm; Harry has donned his spotty, dotty, pointy, flat titfa’ and Lil’s is still drying out on the washing line. Until that is, along comes a sudden gust of wind that whisks the object right up onto the roof.

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Disaster! There follows an amazing sequence of hat-retrieving attempts involving a brolly,

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a portable fan and all manner of other discarded ephemera retrieved from the shed.

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But can they manage to get the thing down and onto Lil’s head in time for the party? It’s certainly not a simple task, but however formidable it might be, Lil is the eternal optimist (Oh Lil we need you NOW!). “NEVER SAY NEVER” is her maxim and with a bit of timely assistance from another of the party goers …

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it looks as though, they might, just might, be successful …

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Glorious, totally uplifting, a wonderful celebration of friendship and perseverance; Harry & Lil are eternally endearing. Eunyoung Seo’s delectable scenes, coupled with Julia Copus’ tongue-tingling rhyming text – here’s a sample
‘Lil gripped very tight; the umbrella bent
   and trembled,
         then tugged,
               then – whoosh! – up she went!
And floated off – past the sycamore stump …’
are guaranteed to bring joy to listeners and readers aloud, at every turn of the page. Spectacular!

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Copy Cat

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Copy Cat
Ali Pye
Nosy Crow
Meet two cats – Anna and Bella. Bella is totally besotted with Anna and tries to do everything she does, from hula-hooping to playing princesses and that is where the trouble begins; it’s all over a crown – the only crown. And, the result is this …

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which leaves Bella alone with no one to copy. There’s only one thing to do and Bella does it; she engages in some self-initiated solo play and discovers that practice makes perfect. She also discovers – eventually, but not straightaway because she’s so engrossed in improving her skipping skills – a watcher. Her name is Chloe and she too wants to be a skipper. Easily solved, Bella says, “Just copy me!” and soon both are happily engaged in their rope turning. 
Anna meanwhile has discovered it’s not a lot of fun being a princess all by herself …

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and decides to go and seek out her imitator.
Pretty soon, thanks to the accommodating nature of both expert skippers, not to mention the setting aside of her crown and a whole lot of hard work, Anna’s rope turning skills are up to the mark; and then Chloe has a brainwave …

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Seemingly, where this trio is concerned, threesomes can be harmonious: sometimes they are happy copying one another, other times they do their own thing entirely

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unless …
A-DOR-A-BLE pretty much sums up this, Ali Pye’s debut as author/illustrator. How well she knows young children (and cats!) is demonstrated brilliantly by the manner she portrays these ‘littles’ finding their own ways to manipulate and manoeuvre the world of the play space they find themselves in, or indeed, co-create in an early years setting. Her characterisation is spot on and I love her choice of colour palette, as well as the gentle humour of the whole thing.

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