Tag Picture Squirrels

The Covers of My Book Are Too Far Apart / Harvey the Hero

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The Covers of My Book Are Too Far Apart
Vivian French and Nigel Baines
Picture Squirrels
“Huh! Reading’s rubbish!” So says the angry-looking boy on the first page of this lively, enormously engaging, cartoon-style book. It tackles the ‘reluctant reader’ issues precisely and wittily; and the anti-reading comments will most likely be familiar to those of us who are teachers, as well as a fair number of parents.
Each ‘grumble’ is allocated a spread with a host of pro-reading people countering the moan with their own positive idea. Thus, the ”I don’t have time to read. I’m too busy!” guy is offered: on the bus, just before sleep, in the bath, instead of tidying a room, as an accompaniment to doing something boring such as shopping, and while the dinner’s cooking as possibilities.
The most important thing that Vivian French and Nigel Baines do is to make this a truly inclusive book with an extremely wide range of characters being featured: there are those who want to read but don’t find it at all easy …

but possibly my favourite spread starts with the opener “Pictures are for little kids” …

It’s great too that reading is interpreted broadly to include comics (love the superhero advocate who puts in an appearance at every possible opportunity); audio books, eBooks, picture books (at any age or stage) but most important of all is – and it’s the reason that every primary classroom should have at least one copy of this –

‘Reading isn’t a competition! It’s FUN!’

that and another fact many teachers tend to forget – that reading, at any stage, is a highly personal process: one size DOES NOT fit all. Inspired and inspiring both.

Harvey the Hero
Hrefna Bragadottir
Nosy Crow
Would-be superhero, Harvey is thrilled to be attending a book signing of Superhero Steve. But after the event, Steve drives off leaving his cape behind: Harvey resolves to follow him to the Big City and return the cape.
The Big City though is a bustling place and Harvey needs help – a map perhaps …
Seemingly he’s inadvertently helped in the apprehending of a thief …

In fact, during his search for Steve’s house, Harvey is responsible, unwittingly, for extinguishing a fire; and rescuing a little bunny.

Then, having returned the cape to his hero, Harvey returns home and gets the surprise of his life: could his dream of superherodom really be coming true?
Young superheroes and would-be superheroes of the human variety will delight in this tale of misadventure and applaud Harvey’s final rise to hero fame. Like Baxter’s Book, Hrefna Bragadottir populates her second story with a host of whimsical animal characters whose activities make both children and adults chuckle.

I’ve signed the charter  

Feline Encounters Featuring Gracie Grabbit & Gawain Greytail

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Gracie Grabbit and the Tiger
Helen Stephens
Alison Green Books
Young Gracie Grabbit is the daughter of Bobby Grabbit a robber (who reminds me somewhat of Ahlberg’s Burglar Bill).
One day father and daughter visit the zoo, Bobby with swag bag at the ready. Gracie threatens to tell the zookeeper to set the tiger on him if he gets up to any of his nefarious activities but no sooner has she taken her eyes off him than he sets to work stealing from both animals and humans.

 

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When she discovers what her light-fingered father is up to, she goes to tell the zoo-keeper but he’s otherwise engaged and doesn’t respond. Not so the sleepy-looking character nearby though. He sees all that’s going on – once he’s got both eyes open that is.

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And one of the things he sees is Gracie retrieving the stolen articles from her dad’s swag bag and returning them to their owners; or rather, that’s her intention. She gets things a bit muddled …

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and has no idea who should have the key she’s left with.

 

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Her decision about said key however proves a turning point, not only for its recipient but also for Gracie’s dad who is in for a shock and a surprise when he’s unceremoniously seized by the seat of his pants.

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That’s not quite the end of the story however; let’s just say Bobby Grabbit becomes a reformed character and a whole new career opens up for him.
The illustrations are full of warmth and humour: like the author’s How to Hide a Lion series, this book has a lovely retro feel and look to it.

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Gawain Greytail and the Terrible Tab
Cornelia Funke and Mónica Armiño
Picture Squirrels
Sir Tristan of Twitstream, lord of Raven Castle has, with the help of Tab and her knife-sharp claws, put paid to almost all the castle’s mouse population within a month. Three mice, Shuffle, Snuffle and Scuffle remain but are in danger of death by starvation if not by feline claws.
Enter one Gawain Greytail, famous mouse knight, and feared by all cats, come to the aid of those last surviving castle mice.

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Before long, thanks to some heating and hammering, there’s not one but four knightly mice, armed and ready to do battle with the ferocious feline adversary. “Cower and shiver, terrible tab! … clear off before we cut your mangy coat to pieces!” challenges Gawain as the poking, stabbing and chopping commences.

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Do the brave foursome manage to see off the best mouser in the land? Let’s just say that this is the sight at Sir Tristan’s breakfast table the following morning …

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And this is what they found in the only remaining mouse controllers thereafter …

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This is the very first Picture Squirrel hardcover and like all other Picture Squirrels has a Dyslexia-friendly font and tinted background for ease of reading. Here, the text is displayed on what could be parchment handbills spread out opposite, above or below the dramatic, action-packed illustrations which bring to mind stills from an animated film.

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Crazy Car Rides

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Mad in the Back
Michael Rosen and Richard Watson
Picture Squirrels
I first encountered a previous incarnation of this (called The Car Trip) in Michael Rosen’s book of poems The Hypnotiser when it was a much requested read aloud with a class of infants I was teaching in the late 1980s. Sadly the book it’s from is now out of print but I still have my rather battered André Deutsch copy on a shelf.
So, it’s great to have this slightly reworked version now available as a Picture Squirrel with Richard Watson’s riotous pictorial rendering of the journey.
Essentially what we have is an account of a long-suffering mother driving a small car and being driven to distraction by the on-going bantering and demands of the two small children in the back seat, aptly called ‘The Moaning’.

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It begins thus: “Can I have a drink?” “I want some crisps.” “Can I open my window?’ “He’s got my book.” and switches to “Get off me.” “Ow that’s my ear.”
I suspect by now many adults will find themselves reminded of similar scenarios with their own offspring although I’m sure they’d no longer resort to such ‘exciting’ comments as “Look out the window – there’s a lamp-post.” Or “Look -… there’s a tree.” as distractions from the back seat bickering.
The whole thing works really well as a picture book. I envisage much giggling when this is read aloud…

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and scenes similar to those depicted therein are likely to ensue as to whose turn it is to read it. I can just hear them now…
(If you haven’t come across Barrington Stoke’s Picture Squirrels before then essentially the philosophy is an all inclusive one: the font used is a ‘dyslexia-friendly’ one and the tinted background aims to ‘reduce visual stress’.)

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Peg + Cat The Race Car  Problem
Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson
Walker Books
Peg and Cat are stars of an award winning TV series and now they roar into their very own picture book to participate in the Tallapegga Twenty race. First though, they have to construct their vehicle from bits and pieces they find at the scrap yard. And a great job they make of it, as soon as they’ve sorted out the right shaped wheels, that is. Once at the race track their supreme confidence dips drastically when they see the opposition. Should they give up before the race begins? Of course not, says organizer Ramone, so the race is on… and it’s fortunate that Peg is able to keep count of the laps completed and work out who’s in the lead:

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anything can happen in the course of 20 circuits. She does however need a bit of a reminder from Cat to stay calm and count backwards when she’s “totally freaking out!” over the broken side pipe.

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But who will be the first to cross the finish line and win that golden cup? Could it possibly be our problem-solving crew Peg and Cat in Hot-Buttered Lightning? One thing is certain; the victory won’t be an easy one whoever wins.
With its in-built maths challenges and lots going on in the bright pictures, this book is likely to appeal particularly to those young readers and listeners who are somewhat mathematically inclined.

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Don’t miss the Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition in Piccadilly if you’re in London between 23rd and  29th   October              C090B987-9FD4-47C9-A6E5-CEEE0DD83F4E[6]