The Shy Book
Howard Pearlstein and James Munro
Graffeg

This interactive picture book is a novel way of introducing young children, particularly those about to start nursery or school, to a way of coping with their fears about meeting new people and coping with new situations. Its narrator is the titular book and it really does want to be read despite its extreme nervousness. It’s worried, sometimes to the point of dizziness, in case a reader finds it laughable, silly or much worse, boring …

‘go ahead … pick a different book’ it suggests. But what if instead a reader keeps turning the pages? Could they come upon the narrator’s suggestion and gently discover a non-threatening way to feel brave, despite feeling shy as the book does, especially at the outset?

Howard Pearlstein’s clever idea is simply presented, and brought to life by James Munro’s droll illustrations. Empowering and amusing.

One Up
Ben Sanders
Little Tiger

Blue and Green are tortoises and they’re best friends. But which is the bestest? That is a cause for competitiveness as each tortoise adds to his shell, making it bigger and bigger, until things get more than a bit out of hand, not to mention out of shell. Both Blue and green are way, way up in the sky

whereas their places of residence remain on the ground and the who is best issue is still unresolved.
For a reason unknown to both characters, Blue and Green start craving gelato. But they might have to wait a long while before that desire is satisfied. What in sky’s name can they do? And will they remain best friends?

With inventive, increasingly detailed illustrations of the competitive craziness resorted to by Green and Blue, plus the fun final twist, this is an amusing read aloud that shows the inventiveness of the characters (and the book’s author/artist). With an abundance of visual humour, both children and adult sharers will find themselves laughing as things get progressively precarious.