Tag Walker Books

Shapes, Reshape! Shapes at Play

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Shapes Reshape!
Shapes at Play
Silvia Borando
Walker Books
If you’ve watched young children get creative when given lots of 2D shapes, then you’ll be aware of some of the possibilities and hours of fun messing around with shapes offers. Here Silvia Borando has taken that idea a stage further in two wonderfully imaginative new Minibombos.
In Shapes Reshape they do just that: the shapes being rectangles and squares (mostly the former) with just the odd few very small circles used as dots for eyes.
It begins with 60 rectangles arranged thus …

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which rearrange, no, ‘reshape’ themselves into ten BUZZY things …

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So brilliantly playful; but there’s a whole lot more to come – 99 shapes become 9 Jumpy, slurpers … so cool aren’t they?

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Introduce another colour and the possibilities increase: look at these sneaky slitherers

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fashioned from …

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I could easily go on showing each and every wonderful ‘reshaping’ but suffice it to say there are eight further rearrangements from serried rows to creatures large and small from sniggly snuffling hedgehogs and nip-your-nose crabs to ferocious hungry lions, snappy alligators and the final piece-de-resistance –

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which flees, having been frightened by something reshaped from these …

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Now what could that be, I wonder. Hint: count the number of small rectangles …
Shapes at Play begins with a ‘Let’s play!’ invitation from a red equilateral triangle, a yellow square and a blue circle. Then the participants and others like them do so, starting with the triangles, followed by the squares and then the circles, each of which is given a double spread to do their stuff. Then follows a bit of bouncing, bumping and toppling … but undaunted, that’s followed by hasty re-creation …

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after re-creation, (oh! and there’s a spot of multiplication along the way too) first of the architectural kind …

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and then, of the vehicular variety …

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and culminating in a terrific BLAST OFF, flight and a landing where our three friends are greeted by some new shapes …

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Once many, many years back as a fledgling teacher, I read a book by Glenda Bissex called GNYS at WRK. Here’s genius at play, courtesy of Silvia Borando.
This, or a slightly less sophisticated form of same, is what children in their early years at school would and perhaps should be doing, were they not being required all too often, to jump through various mathematical hoops to satisfy the tick-box mentality requirements of the curriculum that prevails.

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The Greedy Goat

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The Greedy Goat
Petr Horáček
Walker Books
What a tremendous treat of an extended joke of a book this is. I thought at first that the particular Goat in question must have an extraordinarily strong constitution as she gobbles up dog’s food for her breakfast, washed down with slurps of the cat’s milk; this is followed by a veritable 3-course lunch: pig’s potato peelings for starters, the farmer’s wife’s plant as entrée and his daughter’s shoe for dessert. And her supper – can you believe it- is this …

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It should come as no surprise then that after a whole day’s experimental gormandising our heroine starts to feel its effects.

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Moreover, the farmer’s family too have noticed the absence of their things and the guzzler seems to have absented herself too. Come Sunday, she looks thus:

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It takes a whole week for our experimental eater to get back to her usual self: but that still leaves one small girl in need of new footwear and the farmer short of his boxers. They never do turn up – well maybe they do but let’s not go there! And the goat? Is she now a reformed vegetarian, never to stray from her herbivorous diet again? Umm … who wants to ruin your dessert? The proof of the pudding is in the reading …
Petr Horáček has served up a truly flavoursome cautionary tale with spicy ingredients: a piquant main player, supported by a copacetic cast and – as ever – delectable mixed media illustrations that will be relished by children (who may well try their hand at some of his techniques) and the adults who serve up this treat to them.

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The White Cat and the Monk

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The White Cat and the Monk
Jo Ellen Bogart and Sydney Smith
Walker Books
Having been totally bowled over by Sydney Smith’s Footpath Flowers, I knew I wanted to review this book despite not being familiar with any of its author’s work. (In her note at the back she tells us ‘In Irish, the word bán means white. Pangur has been said to refer to the word fuller, a person who fluffed and whitened cloth. We might think, then, that Pangur Bán was a cat with brilliantly white fur. Perhaps she even glowed in the candlelight.’) In Sidney Smith’s spread here, she surely does so …

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In fact in all his glorious illustrations herein, I detect the portrayal of a similar reverence for life and learning shown by the two characters , the monk and the cat, as those of the adult and child in Footpath Flowers.
Essentially, this is an interpretation of a medieval Irish poem penned by a Benedictine monk and it’s through the monk’s lenses that we view his solitary world. The scholarly monk shares his cell with the white cat of the title and with readers, his meditation on life with Pangur and with his ‘peaceful pursuit of knowledge’ through his books. While he does this the cat in its turn is busy with his own pursuits in the spartan abode: he stalks a mouse …

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Each is content with his lot and both are completely absorbed in what they do.

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There is actually within this story, another story for one of the monk’s manuscripts shows this –

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an even more ancient portrayal of another monk and cat. And we’re treated to a marvellous illuminated manuscript spread which in itself opens up a wonderful opportunity to discuss the art created by medieval monks.

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My first encounter with the poem was through the W.H. Auden adaption wherein the monk addresses the cat and begins:
Pangur, white Pangur,
How happy we are
Alone together, Scholar and cat.
Each has his own work to do daily;
For you it is hunting, for me, study.
This second, thanks to Bogart and Smith is for me, more beautiful, more wondrous. Towards the end, Smith’s ink and watercolour frames take us towards the window …

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and the monk’s final words

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” … and I find light in the darkness.” Pangur seemingly, is the light in more than one sense. Both monk and cat can delight in and celebrate each other’s good fortune : so too can we if only we choose to view the world through similar lenses.
Like the partnership between monk and cat, that between author, Jo Ellen Bogart and artist Sydney Smith is totally in harmony; and the outcome of their collaboration is so much more than the sum of its parts.

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Small and Perfectly Formed

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Open Up, Please!
Silvia Borando and Lorenzo Clerici
Walker Books
I strongly recommend you read the blurb of the latest, Minibombo book very carefully before you start: it contains a warning …
On the first page we are presented with six different colour keys, nothing else just white space. Turn over and there’s a cage with a locked door just waiting to be opened …

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and of course, we decide upon a key and do the necessary whereupon the grateful animal within speaks …

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The next five spreads allow readers to release five more small creatures from captivity and then comes this …

 

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so I hope you did as I suggested before embarking on the story. There’s no key here, of course so best to leave it closed or …
Now of course, nobody really expects you to follow my instructions, nor those on the back cover, or the whole thing wouldn’t be the playfully satisfying delight that it is.
This is a brilliant example of small and simple equating to perfection where books for the very young, and beginning readers, are concerned.

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A Cat Called Panda
Melanie Arora and Charlie Brandon-King
Button Books
This is the kind of small, unassuming book that could easily be overlooked which would be a shame; it’s well worth seeking out. The text takes the form of a rhyming dialogue between a little girl, Amanda – an inquisitive young miss, and Panda; no not the conventional kind of panda. This one is a cat, albeit a black and white one and he does have a particular penchant for bamboo. He has something of a superior attitude too, as he proceeds to prove himself worthy of his Panda name; “My eyes are bright green, / I can see in the dark. /My whiskers are long, / and I make dogs BARK! … “
Eventually the two do come to an understanding of one another – yes truly …

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and this provides a satisfying conclusion for both protagonists, and young listeners who will all the while, have been delighting in the minutiae of detail in the charming illustrations and the quirky rhythmic conversation.
And, for those teachers of young children working on philosophy with their classes, there’s potential for a community of enquiry type discussion with this book as a starting point.

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The Food of Love

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Playing From the Heart
Peter H. Reynolds
Walker Books
There’s a whole lot of heart in this, the latest Peter H. Reynolds story. Herein we meet young Raj who, as a small child, starts as a piano plunker, delighting in every sound …

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and without lessons develops into a creative player making up his own music. Impressed, his father hires a piano teacher who teaches him the skills and techniques …

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but despite his accomplishments, there’s no joy and eventually Raj stops playing altogether.

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Raj grows up, leaves home and goes to work in the city. His father grows older and notices the silence left by the absence of his son. Time passes and then Raj hears that his father is not well. He hurries home and his father has a special request: he asks his son to play him a song, not one he’d been taught but that one of his own making – the one that flows straight from his heart.

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Like his protagonist’s playing, Reynolds surely creates this from the heart. It’s a plea to nurture, rather than stifle children’s natural creativity: to let imagination and enjoyment thereof, not precision and preoccupation with the ‘perfect form’ to lead the way.
Everything about this book is a delight: the hand-lettered text which somehow serves to heighten the intensity of the telling, the mixed media (pen and ink, watercolour, gouache and tea) illustrations. Reynolds’ use of colour too speaks volumes: his palette is limited to browns, greys and blues with a touch of gold and purple except where Raj is in creative mode; then the notes flowing from the piano are brightly coloured ‘whispery and sweet’.
A beautiful and timeless tale, (for parents, almost a cautionary one) that will resonate long after the covers have been closed and the book set aside.

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Jack’s Worry
Sam Zuppardi
Walker Books
Jack loves to play his trumpet and eagerly anticipates his ‘first-ever concert’ with his mum in the audience. On the big day however, the lad awakes with ‘a Worry’. And no matter what he does and where he goes, the Worry is right there with him.

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So overwhelming is the wretched Worry that Jack finds even playing his trumpet doesn’t shift the thing: seemingly it’s there to stay. Then comes the time to leave for the concert and that’s when the poor boy feels completely overwhelmed …

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Eventually he confronts the THING and explains to his mum: “I don’t want to play in the concert … I’m worried I’ll make a mistake and you won’t love me anymore!”
Fortunately he has an understanding mum whose reassuring words Jack takes on board and later, even passes on to his classmates: “The concert isn’t about playing perfectly. It’s about having fun and sharing something you love with people who love you.”
By the time Jack gets to school, the Worry has shrunk to tiny proportions and he and his friends  all enjoy their performance tremendously.

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Brilliantly empowering: a cracking book to share with children faced with any potentially tricky situation; and in particular one to help youngsters understand and deal with their anxieties. It’s sympathetic without being sentimental and Zuppardi’s whimsical style illustrations really do capture the intensity of Jack’s emotions superbly well.

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Circle and Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

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Circle
Jeannie Baker
Walker Books
This moving story begins even before the title page with its narrator lying on his bed wishing, “Ahhhh – I wish I could fly!” When next we meet him he’s on the edge of the beach of a nature reserve watching the ascent of a flock of birds …

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They’re shorebirds – godwits embarking on their long journey north. (In an author’s note at the end of the book we are told this species makes the longest unbroken journey of any animal in the world migrating 11,000 kilometres from Alaska to their southern home in Australia – where Jeannie Baker has lived for many years and where this book begins – and New Zealand.)
It’s a journey that will continue for six days and nights ‘until they know they need to stop,’ with each bird taking a turn as leader of the flock. Increasingly their familiar safe resting places have been replaced with high rise buildings …

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so their search for food has become more and more difficult but eventually they find a place to stop and refuel, eating as much as possible from the rich mud at low tide. The focus is on the godwit with white patches on its wings and finally he flies solo on to the place he remembers. There he makes a nest, attracts a mate and a brood of four chicks duly hatch …

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of which only one survives the ravages of a fox.
After many weeks, the chick is fully grown and again it’s time to move on, feed themselves up in preparation for when an icy wind heralds departure time for the godwit family and a returning flock, that now undertake the awesome nine day flight which takes them full circle back south ‘Following an ancient invisible pathway high above the clouds’ … to the other side of the world where a welcome awaits …

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I learned a great deal from this beautiful book. Its lyrical text and stunning collage illustrations make for a memorable account of godwit migration and thought-provoking glimpses of the child narrator whose personal ‘flight’ is left to readers to interpret: seemingly he too has undergone a transformation.

There’s an altogether different journey in:

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Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Dr Seuss
Harper Collins Children’s Books
From starting at playgroup or in a nursery class, this book, with its weird and wonderful landscapes

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and some strange and on occasion alarming encounters …

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can accompany you or your child through life’s journey with all its highs and lows, uncertainties and unpredictability. It’ll help you take risks, persevere against the odds, take adversity in your stride – (‘I’m sorry to say so/ but, sadly, it’s true/ that Bang-ups/ and Hang-ups/ can happen to you.’); because as Seuss, the rhymer extraordinaire asserts:
‘So be sure when you step,/ Step with care and great tact/ and remember that Life’s/ a Great Balancing Act. … And will you succeed?/ Yes! You will, indeed!/ (98 and 3/4 per cent guaranteed.) KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!’
Empowering? Yes. Thought provoking? Ditto!

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Celebrating Friendship: Albert’s Tree & Dear Bunny

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Albert’s Tree
Jenni Desmond
Walker Books
Even before I started reading this I knew I was in for a treat – the endpapers are beautiful. Essentially it’s a tale of friendship – an unusual friendship between a bear and his beloved tree. A tree that’s ‘Not too hard, or too soft, or too slippery, or too prickly.’ Oh! And there’s a spot of mistaken identity involved too.
When Albert bear wakes from his long sleep to a forest world of thawing snow and trickling water, he straightway heads for his tree – his favourite thing in the world. But something isn’t quite right; it’s not the perfect peaceful place of before: Albert’s tree is crying. Unable to stop it himself, a bemused Albert seeks the assistance of fellow woodland animals, first Rabbit and then Caribou. Both offer personal suggestions but what makes a rabbit or a caribou happy …

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doesn’t seem to work for the tree.

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Finally, alone again – the others have left on account of the continual wailing – Albert has one more try; he talks to the tree, gently asking what is wrong. What happens next gives him something of a surprise. But ultimately it’s a surprise that will make his tree doubly perfect and the friendship twice as special …

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This is a funny, wonderfully warm tale with a huggable main character, gorgeous, richly coloured mixed media illustrations; and a text that cries out for audience participation of the “WAA WAAAA” kind and with some delicious dialogue, is a delight to read aloud. It’s perfect for sharing either one to one or with a large group.

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Dear Bunny
Katie Cotton and Blanca Gómez
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
A little girl writes a ‘Dear Bunny’ letter in response to the question her toy rabbit has asked her: “What’s your favourite thing in the world?” She tells him of all the things that make him so special; things like finding her favourite socks and cooling her porridge.
Whatever the weather, child and Bunny play together and share happy times …

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sometimes just sitting and being together is all that’s needed.

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There are places they visit together and sometimes Bunny helps his friend feel brave like him but sometimes instead of laughing together, they share moments of sadness.
The little girl loves to look at the stars: “Someday we will count them all!” she tells Bunny – maybe that’s her favourite thing or perhaps it’s story time (Bunny’s stories bring good dreams).

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Really though, there’s no doubt “my favourite thing in the world is YOU!” she concludes.
A gentle celebration of the way young children delight being in the moment, enjoying the everyday things of the world, and even more so when you have a special friend to share in them. The beautifully patterned, collage style illustrations have a simple charm to them too and I love the subtle colour palette. A lovely book to share with one child or a small group who might be moved to write their own ‘Dear Bunny’ style letters.

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Environmental Concerns

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The Tree
Neal Layton
Walker Books
There stands a tree – tall and proud – a conifer that’s home to fledglings in a nest, a squirrel family, an owl one and amidst its roots, a family of rabbits. Beside the tree stands a FOR SALE board.
Then come a man and woman, also intent on making a home. The work begins …

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and halts suddenly –

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Tears are shed. Then, it’s back to the drawing board …

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and after a whole lot of measuring, hefting, hammering and painting, the result is …

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Like the humans in this seemingly simple book, Neal Layton’s fable wields a lot of power. In just fifty words and a sequence of gently humorous illustrations, he delivers a vital message about the importance of humans and animals living together and sharing.
This one delivers on so many levels: In addition to sharing it with young (and not so young listeners), I suggest giving a copy to those developers who pay scant regard to the destruction of natural habitats when drawing up and executing their plans.
In addition, it’s a perfect learning to read book that blows mindlessly boring reading schemes right out of the water.

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Where’s the Starfish?
Barroux
Egmont
See the whale – an enormous one and the brightly coloured fish – a whole multitude of them; then there’s the Starfish, the Jellyfish and the Clownfish.

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Can you spot them? Keep turning the pages and you’ll notice something else starting to appear, something undesirable and alien to the ocean. The fish appear somewhat puzzled but turn over again; the rubbish pile has grown and Starfish, Jellyfish and Clownfish are slightly easier to spy.
On the next few spreads larger rubbish items appear – car parts, washing machines, a fridge, TVs, microwaves– all evidence of our thoughtless, throwaway society; but the fish numbers have declined significantly and it’s easier still to spot our three friends.

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Finally whale cannot take it any longer and taking matters into his own hands – or rather – snout – he takes revenge in an altogether satisfying manner.

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Work out for your self – or better, get the book and see for yourself – what happens hereafter …
This, like Where’s the Elephant? is a an enormously effective and affecting lesson on how we harm our precious natural environment: the conservation message is the same though the setting of the story is entirely different.

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A Brave Bear

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A Brave Bear
Sean Taylor and Emily Hughes
Walker Books
From the instant I set eyes on the cover of this one I knew I was going to love it: those two bears are adorable; and then to see that Sean Taylor has dedicated the book to Tove Jansson (writer of the Moomins stories) was indicative of a possible influence. So I came to this with high hopes and I was beyond enchanted.
“I think a pair of hot bears is probably the hottest thing in the world,” says dad bear as father and son are attempting to shade themselves beneath a tree on a scorcher of a day. The cub (who acts as narrator) suggests going to the river for a splashy cool down; Dad agrees and off they go. The journey is quite a long one and little bear, determined to impress his Dad, goes for being “the jumpiest thing in all the world!” as they cross the rocks, ignoring the paternal advice to “Be careful. Just do small jumps.” Inevitably, this is what happens …

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but Dad is there to attend to the hurt knee, the wounded pride and the reluctance to complete the journey, even offering to carry the cub.

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Anxious to prove himself, Little Bear however is having none of it – “… I decided to go on my own.” he informs readers and resolutely, he does, all the way there …

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The concise narration concludes thus: ‘On the way home, the sun was glowing. The air was glowing … Even tomorrow was glowing.’ I’m pretty certain both father and cub were glowing too – glowing with pride: the narrator at his achievements, and Dad bear at his offspring for overcoming his trepidations and seeing things through to the end and one suspects, learning from his own mistakes.
This is one of those books that leaves you with a warm inner glow. The parent-child relation (attentive adult allowing the offspring to be a risk-taker) is beautifully portrayed both verbally and in Emily Hughes glowing, superbly textured scenes into which she places the shaggy-coated characters.

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A truly felicitous author/illustrator partnership if ever there was one and a picture book to be read over and over and …

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Puzzling Pictures, Puzzling Words

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Now You See Me, Now You Don’t
Near, Far
Silvia Borando
Walker Books
Two more brilliantly playful titles in the minibombo series:
In the first we start with a line up of animals, large and small –

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after which two at a time they disappear into the coloured background leaving just their eyes and a tiny clue visible. Then comes the fun of trying to work out which ones are the ‘vanishers’ each time. The good news is, the animals don’t swap places so if you’ve a good visual memory, you’re pretty much ahead of the game until the final …

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no cheating now!
Near, Far is all about zooming in and zooming out. Seven animals are featured and each has three double spreads, the final one revealing the whole creature and I have to admit I only got two right the first time around. What would you say, this is?

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Or this?

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The amount of language these two unassuming little gems can generate is amazing; they’re ideal for sharing in early years settings or one to one with a child, especially those who need a bit of encouragement to talk.

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Guess Who, Haiku
Deanna Caswell and Bob Shea
Abrams Appleseed
An outdoor setting with a concatenation of riddles for young readers/listeners to solve is offered in this lovely, cleverly constructed introduction to haiku beginning with :
   new day on the farm
muffled mooing announces
   a fresh pail of milk.
Can you guess who from this haiku?
This question then recurs throughout the book for the other nine animal portraits …

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each animal posing another haiku …

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thus continuing the chain: riddling haiku, guess who? and turn the page discovery.
Bob Shea offers visual clues too – one for each riddle, and these as much as the verbal posers are likely to have youngsters delightedly calling out their guesses ahead of the vibrant pictorial revelations on the following page.
A final page gives a brief introduction to the haiku form – its structure and intentions.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile addition to the poetry bookshelf.

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Isaac and his Amazing Asperger Superpowers!

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Isaac and his Amazing Asperger Superpowers!
Melanie Walsh
Walker Books
Isaac is one cool character – a superhero no less. However, on account of his superpowers he’s not quite like his brother or fellow pupils, some of whom call him names from time to time. Isaac has ASD sometimes called Asperger’s Syndrome. Isaac’s brain is truly awesome – it’s able to remember fascinating facts and he loves to share these with others though not everyone is eager to hear them.

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He’s full of energy but prefers solo indoor activities rather than outdoor, muddy ones. Social interaction isn’t one of Isaac’s strongest points though he loves to spend time with his pets.

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In class, Isaac has his special toy to help him stay calm and focused. He takes what people say literally; he just doesn’t get figurative language but his ears are hypersensitive and this can upset him.

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So can looking into people’s eyes but his dad has taught him a special coping strategy for face to face encounters.
Isaac’s straightforward first person narrative allows him to tell young readers just how it is for him in a way that is accessible to young children, many of whom are likely to encounter someone with an ASD in their own school. His upbeat voice keeps the tone light and the focus is on the positive aspects of his condition though it doesn’t avoid its challenges. Melanie Walsh beautifully portrays the various aspects of Asperger’s that Isaac talks about in her bold, uncluttered illustrations.
This book is a must for all early years settings and younger primary classes and all power to Walker Books for publishing it on their picture book list.

Girls with Asperger’s Syndrome tend to present the condition very differently from boys and can often slip through the net when it comes to an ASD diagnosis. However, they too have unique strengths and their differences should also be discussed and celebrated. Here’s a very useful little book that does just that:

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I am an Aspie Girl
Danuta Bulhak-Paterson and Teresa Ferguson
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Here we meet Lizzie. In a first person narrative, she explains ASD from her own perspective and talks about how Aspie girls are different from boys with AS and are good at blending in with other girls though this is tiring to keep up all day at school. “It’s like being an actress, I guess where school is the stage,” she says.
Lizzie also discusses her special creative interests, her worries about making mistakes, her acute sensitivity to her own feelings. Sensory sensitivities are another challenge be they to tastes, sounds, things that touch such as particular scratchy clothes or as in Lizzie’s case, smells.

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Lizzie has a special animal friend, her dog, with whom she finds sharing her feelings easy. (This is something she has in common with many boy Aspies, as are reading people’s facial expressions and playing in a group and encountering changes.)
In addition to Lizzie’s straightforward account, sympathetically illustrated by Teresa Ferguson,  there are several very helpful pages aimed at adults who might be sharing the book with an Aspie girl. Let’s end with Lizzie’s own very positive parting words though: ‘My teacher tells me that I have a great future ahead of me, with many wonderful talents to show the world!’

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Potties and Pyjamas

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Skip to the Loo, My Darling!
Sally Lloyd-Jones and Anita Jeram
Walker Books
If you’re looking for a ‘potty’ book then look no further; this one’s a cracker.
I have to admit though, I thought the agitated-looking bunny pressing his paws down hard on the balloon on that first spread was attempting to change its shape so he could wee into it. But how wrong was I; he just picks up the string and leads the line of small – and not so small – animals skipping to the loo.

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Close behind come drumming pup, bouncy Kangaroo (he’s hitching a lift in mum’s pouch), a dodo – yes really, a friendly frog,

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piglets, an elephant, and a whole host of others …
And seemingly the whole lot of them are in urgent need by the time they reach the venue

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but it looks like they’ve all made it – just in time, PHEW! Now there’s just one guest missing at that potty party …

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An inset mirror invites readers – the toddler variety I hasten to add – to participate and do as the text suggests, ‘Come on, /come, my darling!/ You come, too! ‘
Anita Jeram’s delectably exuberant watercolour illustrations perfectly capture the upbeat mood of the rhyming text making the whole potty experience something everyone wants a part of.

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Elephant’s Pyjamas
Michelle Robinson and Emily Fox
Harper Collins Children’s Books
When Elephant receives an email inviting him to a pyjama party he’s delighted but then he discovers that his pals all have seemingly perfect pjs,

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whereas his night attire looks decidedly past its best. Taking Llama’s “Just go shopping!” advice, Elephant heads into town but no matter how hard he tries, it seems nothing is quite right for such a large animal.
There’s only one thing for it, our pachyderm must turn down the invitation after all – and, he does.
His friends however, won’t take no for an answer and straightaway operation pyjamas is put into action and come Saturday night when Elephant sits sadly at home,

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there’s a ring on his doorbell …
With Elephant and his friends communicating on line via ZOOGLE, this amusing book is definitely a 21st century story. I love the way Elephant becomes a divergent thinker when he ‘shops around’ for suitable party wear.

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That spread in particular appealed to this reviewer and the audience I shared it with.

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Take Off with Mango & Bambang and Claude

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Mango & Bambang: Tapir All at Sea
Polly Faber and Clara Vulliamy
Walker Books
Calamitous at cake making and disastrous at dancing – ballet and free dance certainly,

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it seems Bambang is never going to find the right hobby to occupy him while Mango concentrates on her chess moves. But who is this and what can he possibly want?

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Seemingly there’s a lack of male partners in Sênor Churro’s Flamenco class and Bambang’s stomping, thumping trotters are just the thing when it comes to that particular Spanish dance. All that in the first story but there are three more in this cracking sequel to Mango & Bambang The Not-a-Pig.
There follows a crazy tale of misadventures that include Bambang crash landing onto a romantic picnic and accidentally becoming entangled in a marriage proposal

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resulting in an accusation of causing ‘Havoc and being a Public Nuisance’ and his removal to the local dog pound. All ends magnificently though with Mango being granted this:

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and Bambang making a new friend of the canine kind.
An old enemy making a reappearance in the third tale which sees Bambang beguiled into becoming the chief exhibit in her new venture …

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with astounding consequences; and in the final adventure, as a result of his actions in the museum, Bambang is now headline news and something of a celebrity dancer of the flamenco. The trouble is he lets fame got to his head and finds himself setting sail on board a luxury liner leaving Mango and all things familiar far behind. Will they ever be reunited?

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I won’t be a story spoiler but suffice it to say, Bambang’s new doggy friend Rocket reappears and Bambang is no mean swimmer.
If you know any youngsters just taking off as confident solo readers, then this is the book: funny – indeed wonderfully eccentric with a superb narrative full of delicious dialogue – ‘Mango stopped long enough to say, “He has the beautiful feet of a tapir, NOT a mammoth, and they’re not stampeding. It’s your silly dance that’s all wrong!”, then she ran after Bambang.’; a perfect balance between text and pictures with Clara’s distinctive retro style illustrations bringing delight at every turn of the page. She’s brilliant at capturing ‘the moment’ and every single picture, large or small, oozes charm and vitality.

Another corker of a book for that taking off stage is

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Claude Going for Gold
Alex T.Smith
Hodder Children’s Books
Our beret-wearing pooch is back for yet another adventure along with best friend Sir Bobbysock of course. On this particular day Claude has woken up full of joie de vivre and having created havoc with the breakfast cereal, heads off with his pal to the great outdoors. Before long though they conclude that there’s a decided lack of adventure around; then all of a sudden Claude trips over his own shoelaces and cascades into a marching band that is accompanying these characters

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on their way to participate in the STONKING BIG SPORTS DAY at the local stadium. Finally, something to get excited about and all the more so when Claude himself is given a pair of sports knickers …

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and invited to participate. His shot put skills however leave more than a little to be desired, his sprinting ends in disaster, he misses the swimming competition altogether and his efforts at gymnastics are catastrophic. But then the trophy is seized by a pair of dastardly crooks and there’s only one person – or rather animal – that can possibly save the day …

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Glorious!

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SWAP! or Shop?

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SWAP!
Steve Light
Walker Books
An encounter between a tiny pirate and an impoverished sea captain with a dilapidated ship is the starting point for this wonderful tale. The small swashbuckler is quick thinking and doesn’t miss an opportunity, so when he rescues a button that pops off the captain’s coat, it leads to an amazing chain of bartering as one button becomes two teacups,

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which become three coils of rope, two of which become half a dozen oars. Then, through a whole lot more mathematical manoeuvring, swapping and trading, our young hero manages to obtain flags,

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anchors, sails …

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a ship’s wheel and a figurehead. All this and not a single coin has changed hands; but what’s even more important, the whole ship is now absolutely ship-shape and the diminutive pirate has made himself a new friend for life.
Genius storytelling. Steve Light’s signature style intricately detailed black and white pictures with just a splash of colour here and there, and a brief text of judiciously chosen words combine to make a fun-filled book for sharing and for early reading, with ‘SWAP! ‘providing the opportunity for audience participation at every transaction and helping to build tension towards the entirely satisfying finale …

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It’s buying not bartering in:

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I Went to the Supermarket
Paul Howard
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Most parents and teachers of young children will be familiar with the memory game on which this book is based. However, the two small players of the game herein have boundless imaginations and so their ‘purchases’ range from …

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and a cute baby elephant, through to …

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And then of course, there are more mundane items such as jelly – oh – make that a mountain of the stuff, not your average small packet. Remember that one though: it proves to be somebody’s undoing so to speak. Whoops! Nearly forgot those bubbles – they’re quite important too.
A totally ridiculous flight of fancy that’s sure to be lapped up by young audiences who will delight in the craziness of the whole thing so wonderfully visualised by Paul Howard, particularly I suspect, those super hero pants; they end up in the most unlikely of places. And, then there’s the fun of trying to recall all those purchases – no peeping allowed. For sheer ebullience, this one takes some beating.

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Artists At Work and Play

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Alphonse, That is Not OK to Do!
Daisy Hurst
Walker Books
Natalie and Alphonse are sibling monsters, Natalie being the elder. Big sis. is generally very tolerant and accommodating and the two have a lot in common …

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Sometimes though Alphonse would cross the line, such as when he adds his own marks to his sister’s creations or worse …

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Then one day, he does something much, much worse: he starts consuming Natalie’s very favourite book (perhaps it was the uninspiring lunch that prompted it) and you can imagine her response is far from favourable, resulting in the title exposition, an artistic outpouring…

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and a retreat to the bathroom.
Eager to make amends Alphonse suggests a spot of nifty repair work, which is ignored by Natalie and so replaced by more drastic action that sounds like …

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and looks like ..

 

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An Alphonse style explanation follows along with apologies for his book eating and the revealing of some finishing touches that he’s added to big sis’s picture.
Daisy Hirst’s narrative voice is spot on, her monsters are adorable and I love the chucklesome humour in her illustrations, which are a perfect complement to that deliciously droll text of hers. Alphonse and Natalie could run and run …

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Lion & Tiger & Bear
Ethan Long
Abrams Books for Young Readers
We meet the trio of friends one sunny morning in Green Hills Hollow. There’s Lion doing a spot of painting in his ‘Alone Spot’ when he’s suddenly tagged by Bear, who is eager for a game. Lion however is having none of it and so off goes Bear to try his luck with Tiger. No prizes for guessing who she in turn tags; but still Lion is determined to continue working on his picture and to that end he’s willing to go to a great deal of trouble to ward off would-be taggers.

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Meanwhile the game has become anything but exciting and so the taggers decide to hot up the action somewhat. But even this doesn’t deter our artist and so he moves again … and again until finally he finds the perfect hiding place.

 

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Not quite though. Things finally come to a head, followed by a deal being struck which leaves Lion free to complete his masterpiece and an impressive one it is too –

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though that’s not quite the end of the story …
This is I think, the start of a series featuring the three pals and as such it does the job well; we get an impression of the different personalities of the characters as well as being shown the importance of negotiation and of having some ‘me’ time.
Long’s digital cartoon style illustrations tell most of the story with the action being helped along by speech bubbles and a minimal narrative that holds the whole thing together, making it a good bet for early readers as well as for sharing with young listeners.

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What Do I Do? What Am I For?

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Blackbird, Blackbird, What Do You Do?
Kate McLelland
Hodder Children’s Books
Young blackbird Pip is yet to identify what makes him special, so off he flies into the big wide world on a mission to find out. It certainly isn’t standing in the river waiting for fish like Heron; Pip’s legs are way too short.

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Nor is it staying up all night looking for mice like Owl, so what about nest building in the sand? Definitely not that with such a tiny beak as Pip has. And seed pecking Pigeon style in a crowded place is a definite ‘No’ too.
Pip’s efforts to be like sand-digging Puffin, seed-pecking Pigeon, the swooping falcons, chattering parrots and waddling ducks are all disastrous

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and it’s a very downcast blackbird that flies back to the nest on the branch.
As he sits despairing of ever finding something at which he can excel, Pip sings to himself – so he thinks. But his song attracts the attention of all the other birds and it’s then that he discovers he had a special talent all along; it was just a matter of finding it.

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New kid on the block, Kate McLelland’s tale of self-discovery is one that needs to be shared and discussed with all young (and perhaps not so young) children). Her beautiful prints make every turn of the page a delight for audiences and adult readers aloud alike.

Finding out about yourself is also part and parcel of this story:

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A Big Surprise for Little Card
Charise Mericle Harper and Anna Raff
Walker Books
Little Card is the unlikely chief protagonist of this picture book and when we first encounter him he’s living with all kinds of other cards: there’s Wide Card – a postcard, price tag Round Card, Tiny Card a ticket for a shiny toy, Giant Card, a folder for important office work, Long Card –yet to be assigned a role, and Little Card, ditto. Then a letter arrives summoning Little Card to birthday card training. At last he’s to ‘be’ something and next day off he goes to learn how.

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One day on his return from school, Long Card greets him with the news that due to a mix up he isn’t to be a birthday card after all and the following morning off goes our Little Card to an imposing building to discover his new identity. He’s to be a library card, something he finds very exciting especially when he meets young Alice, his new owner.

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Thus begins a journey of discovery wherein the two new friends explore the many fascinating activities that the library has to offer – games, story time and snacks as well as all those amazing books-

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and Little Card breaks into song – albeit in his quietest voice – before the two of them head home together. And the best thing of all is that unlike once a year Happy Birthdays, ‘Happy Library Day’ is every day but Sunday.
The mixed media collage scenes capture the exuberance of Little Card and his justifiable excitement about the whole library experience.
A fun introduction to the wonderful possibilities on offer behind the doors of our libraries, those of us who are still fortunate enough to have one that is.

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I Am Bear

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I Am Bear
Ben Bailey Smith and Sav Akyüz
Walker Books
Our initial introduction to the ursine narrator of this wonderfully anarchic offering from the pen of actor and rapper Doc Brown (aka Ben Bailey Smith) shows him as a bare pink-skinned character who, having turned his bum on squirrel,

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lumbers off to don a purple onesie and adopt a confrontational stance.
We next see Bear in the process of consuming his favourite nosh while continuing with his narration thus …

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After which he discards his protective gear before going on to play a knock! knock! joke on a red squirrel, though only one animal finds that at all funny.
Next comes a spot of magic: first off fishing with a wand, followed by a vanishing act and further fun and games, Bear’s favourite being “Cops and robbers.”

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Seems he’s managed to set up another squirrel here.
It looks like this Bear is a dab hand when it comes to wielding a paintbrush too, and who can blame him for beating a rather hasty retreat …

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Delivered as it is with a superb verbal economy, this riotous rapping rhyme of a picture book is perfect for beginning readers as well as for reading aloud.
Storyboard artist Sav Akyüz’s rendering of Bear and the other characters is suitably upbeat and perfectly in-keeping with the playful text and almost gives the impression the visuals have been created with spray cans or daubed with house painting brushes.
Published under the Walker Entertainment imprint, there’s assuredly plenty to entertain herein but equally there are a whole lot of inbuilt literacy lessons too.

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Jungle Jaunts

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Alan’s Big Scary Teeth
Jarvis
Walker Books
Alan is one big scary creature or so he’d have us believe. It’s certainly true that he’s descended from a long line of scary alligators and his reputation for scariness is legendary. His daily routine involved a whole lot of polishing (his scales), sharpening (his nails) and brushing – those huge gnashers – followed by a spot of frightening-face practice.

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Then ready to scare the world, off he’d saunter jaws a-snapping, teeth g-nashing and the result was, as you might expect, fear and terror all around .

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That’s how things went day in day out and then Alan would head home to the swamp for an evening of crossword completion and relaxation. And that’s when we’re let into a secret –perhaps young listeners have already an inkling of what’s about to be revealed …

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although I’m pretty sure they’ll have no idea of Alan’s pre-stashing “Good night teeth. Thweet dweams my theary thnappers,” nightly bidding.
Then one morning as he’s out doing a spot of wood collecting, Barry beaver spies a dozing Alan and seeking safety behind the nearest bush, is surprised by something looking decidedly familiar.

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Oh-Oh! – looks like you might have been rumbled Alan. Maybe there’s a deal to be struck though …

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Good thinking guys: Alan now has not just one, but three thoroughly reputable daytime occupations – gardener, hairdresser and dentist; and a very important nocturnal one too.

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A jungly jaunt that’s sure to bring Alan-sized smiles to the faces of listeners (not to mention the occasional adult reader aloud) and I love those vibrant, energetic scenes and some of the small details are real giggle-inducers.

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Giraffe on a Bicycle
Julia Woolf
Macmillan Children’s Books
Monkey is a complete novice when it comes to bike riding so it’s fortunate that when he discovers a bicycle one day, his friend giraffe is on hand to demonstrate his cycling skills. Pedalling straight takes a bit of getting used to though, even with an ‘expert’ in the saddle

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but as we all know …

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And off go the cyclists on a jaunt deeper into the jungle, collecting a whole host of additional ‘passengers’ or rather hangers on, as they go

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… gradually gathering speed till they’re literally ‘Whooshing’ along until

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Seems that monkey’s warning cry came too late to avert disaster; and now the bike’s in urgent need of repair. No! Make that reconstruction guys. And reconstruction is exactly what those animals embark on but pretty soon the job’s done. Ta dah! Good as new? …

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A wonderfully exuberant debut picture book from Julia Woolf: both words and pictures are full of fun. With a smattering of alliteration, the tension-building text keeps listeners on the edge of their saddles as they anticipate the inevitable outcome of the overload.
Make sure you take a close look at the end papers; there’s a whole other story going on there.

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Don’t Call Me Choochie Pooh!

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Don’t Call Me Choochie Pooh!
Sean Taylor and Kate Hindley
Walker Books
No self-respecting dog, even a little one, wants to be fed heart-shaped Mini Puppy treats or addressed thus, “Ickle Pickle Woof Woof”, “Incy Wincy Cupcake!” or “Choochie Pooh!”. And as for being kissed and then unceremoniously deposited in a handbag along with a packet of those Puppy Treats …

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well that just about tops the list in the embarrassment stakes for a little dog. It’s even worse when one’s owner stops in the park on the way home from the supermarket and there are other dogs dashing around doing ‘proper dog things.’

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However, things suddenly take a turn for the better when one of their number, Chief, instigates a spot of rebellion on the part of the pampered pooch; and it’s not long before he’s playing all kinds of games, the best of which appears to be this …

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All too soon though it’s time to go and what our canine narrator hears is the totally cringe inducing “Off we go OOPSIE BOOPSIE CHOOCHIE POOH!”; but home time for the other dogs is signalled by equally awful calls.

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Seems they too have to put up with similarly embarrassing owners although whether those owners feed their pooches Mini Puppy treats is something readers and listeners will have to decide for themselves.
Those I’ve shared this with delighted in Sean Taylor’s narrator and fully endorsed his sentiments over his owner’s humiliating behaviour.
Kate Hindley gives the whole canine crew real personalities in her hilarious portrayals and I love the way she shows everything from their ground-level perspective.

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Some portraits of the canine narrator

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How to Find Gold

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How to Find Gold
Viviane Schwarz
Walker Books
Viviane Schwarz has definitely struck gold with her latest offering. It stars a pair of adorable characters, Anna, a small girl with a wonderfully fertile imagination, and her pal Crocodile – an all round down-to-earth good guy – who acts as a kind of steadying influence in the relationship, proffering such wise words as “That would be dangerous and difficult,” to Anna’s opening suggestion, “LET’S FIND GOLD,”. Indeed it’s the quality of the deadpan exchanges between the two, as much as the quest itself that make this book such a winner.
Once the plans have been made, maps duly drawn …

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and location possibilities weighed up …

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the next consideration is transport: that one is easily dealt with …

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and the adventure is then truly under way
There follows another priceless exchange: “Where are the ship-sinking mountains?” Anna asked. “Where are the monsters?”
“Underwater, “ said Crocodile.
“How about holes?”
“They are sunk with the ship,” said Crocodile.
“Ah,” said Anna. “Finding gold is difficult.”
“Very,” said Crocodile.
“Not dangerous though,” said Anna.
“Ha!” said Crocodile. “How about over there, where the sea is boiling and the clouds are like a tower and the fish are in the air?”
“A great storm!” said Anna. “There will be gold!”
“Hold on tight,” said Crocodile.
Anna is duly rewarded for her confidence. They do find gold, at the bottom of the deepest, darkest ocean imaginable …

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and what do they do with the spoils? Telling would ruin the wonderful finale which rounds this off in stupendous style, in a superb demonstration of what early years educators, parents of many young children (and this book’s creator) know: it’s the process, not the product that is most important in an undertaking such as this.
Like all good picture books, this one leaves readers with possibilities to entertain: “Is Crocodile ‘real’ or an imaginary friend?” being one. Your young audiences will doubtless come up with others.
The author provided further episodes to her wonderful There Are Cats In This Book. If anything calls for a follow up (or two), this brilliant book assuredly does.

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Faces, Faces, Faces /The Princess and the Pony

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Faces, Faces, Faces
Jacqueline & Jeremy Sinclair
Doubleday
Underlying this wonderfully playful book is a message about treating objects respectfully. Its creators have chosen to personify all manner of objects and present the book from the viewpoint of those ‘Faces’. There are kitchen things aplenty How many faces can you find?

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There are bathroom objects: and the good thing is they are always smiling unless we humans mistreat them …

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Because every single item has its own special purpose …

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and wants nothing other than to do its own thing (lateral thinkers like me – don’t go there!!)
And probably best of all are your very own personal things. Well maybe not quite, because out there is a big wide wonderful world full of … FACES …

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Now here’s a challenge: get a copy of this super book and see how many you and your children can count. Happy face counting …

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Inspired by the plethora of faces, some children produced their own ‘faces’ pictures.

And now for something completely different:

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The Princess and the Pony
Katy Beaton
Walker Books
A wicked sense of humour lies at the heart of this debut picture book. It features petite Princess Pinecone who, when the story opens, is eagerly anticipating the ‘real warrior’s horse’ she’s told everyone she wants this year. (Previous birthdays have yielded cosy sweaters.) Somehow though, even after trying their very best, this is what our young warrior receives from her parents …

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Too small, too round, there’s something not quite right about its eyes, it eats all the wrong things and inevitably … farts.

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The question is though, can young Pinecone train said creature into suitably bellicose material in time for the forthcoming ‘great battle’.

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Just doing his best is all our heroine asks of her pony when the battle day arrives and she must face Otto the Awful, meanest warrior of all. What ensues however, is truly surprising, leaving Princess Pinecone ‘flabbergasted, flummoxed, floored!’; the rest of the large cast of characters warmly cuddlesome,

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and the pony with the last word or rather, err …
I suspect this one will become a much-requested book in early years settings and infant classrooms: certainly children will love the comic style art work and the determined little warrior princess; but it’s most likely to be the pony that steals the show.

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The Christmas Eve Tree

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The Christmas Eve Tree
Delia Huddy and Emily Sutton
Walker Books
The author, of this book, Delia Huddy, who I knew as an editor at Julia McRae Books, was working on the story at the end of her life and it’s wonderful to see it in print as a beautiful, moving picture book illustrated by Emily Sutton.
The story begins with a ‘carelessly planted’ little fir tree growing yes, but crookedly, so that when finally the trees are cut years later, it is stunted and tangled with its neighbour. Nonetheless it’s taken along with all the others to be sold, this ‘bottom of the pile’ tree. As the rest are sold one by one, the little tree fears for its fate until on Christmas Eve, a boy comes into the shop and the shopkeeper gives him the sad-looking object. A better fate than the black rubbish sack assuredly.
Indeed once outside the shop, the boy heads for the river,

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plants the tree in a box he discovers at the waterside and heads off back to his own, larger box shelter.
The Christmas spirit begins to descend upon both boy and the tree, that now feels a sense of belonging.

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Soon others join them and before long the traffic’s at a standstill as everyone gathers to listen to the Christmas song. And suddenly …

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Eventually, as rough sleepers do, the boy moves on. And the tree? It’s put into a road sweeper’s barrow and taken off to the park, planted in a corner and now against all the odds there it still stands ‘cheerfully stout’

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and giving pleasure to so many all year round.
Giving pleasure to many is assuredly what this wonderful story will do to what I hope will be its many readers and listeners, all year round too.

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Nina engrossed in the wonderful story

Emily Sutton’s retro-modern scenes portray an almost fairytale atmosphere of a wintry London.

Previously reviewed in hardback, but now out in paperback is a totally contrasting presentation of Christmas:

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A Stork in a Baobab Tree
Catherine House and Polly Alakija
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Subtitled ‘An African Twelve Days of Christmas’, this book is far more than just a reworking of the traditional English version of the song. Readers are treated to a superb experience of African village traditions and customs, animals, food and clothing, and much else. Christmas in southern Africa, we are told, comes during the rainy season. …

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when the grey branches of the Baobab are covered in leaves and white flowers.
Each of the twelve days, portrays a different African country and is given a double page spread where,

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in addition to the main text, there is a paragraph in smaller print explaining the particular scene. There are many allusions to the biblical story of the nativity woven into Polly Alakija’s fine illustrations;

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in fact the more you look the more you see. Indeed the whole book is one to be revisited over and over allowing considerable time to be spent exploring each setting.

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Puttapipat’s Christmas Classics

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The Nutcracker
illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat
Walker Books
I’ve received not one, but two gorgeous versions of this ‘cracking’ story in the past few weeks, which only goes to show how much a part and parcel of family seasonal celebrations it is becoming.
This one by Niroot Puttapipat uses stunningly beautiful silhouettes set against gloriously coloured background scenes so that every turn of the page is sheer visual delight. I’d like to show you every single spread but you will have to get your own copy to see them all; here’s just a taster of first an interior: it’s Clara who, just before midnight, has crept downstairs to check whether her damaged princely wooden ‘nutcracker’ has been fixed, and over-sized mice cascading down behind her …

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The second shows her and the prince seated upon a flying swan travelling ‘over gold-flecked oceans and silver-edged cities.’

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Doesn’t that sound magical?
And if those aren’t enough – take a look at the out-of-this world finale:

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If that isn’t a magnificent production, then nothing is.
The sets from Marius Pepita’s original production of the ballet first performed in St Petersburg in 1892 were Puttapipat’s inspiration for the this elegant drama. He’s surely done them proud.
It’s a book I shall be buying to give this Christmas and one that will give pleasure all year round.
From the same artist comes:

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Jingle Bells
illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat
Walker Books
This is another truly beautiful, silhouette style production – of the enduring favourite song this time.
It’s presented in mini format with wonderful alternating cut-away pages …

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and again, a splendid pop-up finale …

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Such wonderful design is likely to inspire children to try their hands at creating their own seasonal stories in similar vein.

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Toddler Christmas Books

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Santa’s Reindeer
Tom Duxbury, Matilda Tristram and Nick Sharratt
Walker Books
Over-peppering of his pre-delivery supper soup by Santa causes extreme nasal irritation of Reindeer and …

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ATCHOOO!

But can they retrieve it in time to deliver the presents when Polar Bear wants it to button up his his onesie, Robin thinks it might be a tree decoration, Seal needs it to practice tricks for the Christmas show, sending it flying into Arctic Fox’s stocking

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and when he empties it out, the nose vanishes. Hold on though, what’s that in Penguin’s fruit salad?

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Could it possibly be …
A fun idea, hilariously captured in Nick Sharratt’s suitably silly seasonal scenes, complete with a squeaky nose. What better novelty for a Christmas Eve romp?

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Is It Christmas Yet?
Jane Chapman
Little Tiger Press
This is a lovely, squashy-covered board book version of Jane Chapman’s jolly tale.
Young Ted is beside himself with excitement charging round the house yelling.
“Is it Christmas yet?” he repeatedly asks Big Bear who is getting to the end of his tether at the frequent question.

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However, the preparations continue at a pace – a slow one – as they work together wrapping presents, search for a suitable tree – easier said than done resulting in a very tearful Ted.

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But happily, team work fixes the problem and finally Big Bear carries his exhausted little one up to bed as it is at last very, very nearly CHRISTMAS!
With a decidedly upbeat text full of delicious words (HEAVED, HUFFED, PULLED, PUFFED and “TOO SPIKY…” “TOO THIN…“)

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and sounds (zzzzzzzzzzzzpft! SNAP!, NOOOOOOO!) to join in and perhaps act out), this is perfect for sharing with over-excited toddlers, (especially those who keep asking the same question as Ted) as Christmas draws ever closer. Adults will surely recognize the feelings portrayed by Big Bear in the deliciously humorous illustrations; and it’s good to see a single Dad coping so well with the high spirits of Ted.

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Bizzy Bear Christmas Helper
Benji Davies
Nosy Crow
A seasonal board book offering featuring the popular Bizzy Bear who herein, has been enlisted to aid and abet Father Christmas, First he has to help in the workshop, then there’s the sleigh to be packed, after which it’s ‘up and away!’ delivering toys to all the sleeping animals.

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With the usual ingredients: brief rhyming text, jolly pictures and sliders to push and pull plus the added festive fun, this is just the thing to share with the very youngest during the run up to Christmas.

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Jingle Bells
James Lord Pierpont and Pauline Seiwert
Walker Books
This is a sturdily built rendition of the seasonal favourite song with teddies riding the sleigh pulled by a pony, with rabbits bounding along beside, badgers greeting them as they slow down; and a whole host of other woodland creatures joining them as they sing and sleigh slowly towards the candle-lit Christmas tree where they look skywards and see another sleigh pulled by reindeers …

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If that’s not enough to captivate the very young, then there’s a button to press and they can sing along with the music.

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This Little Piggy Went Singing
Margaret Wild and Deborah Niland
Allen & Unwin
In their follow-up to the delightful This Little Piggy Went Dancing, the highly regarded Australian picture book creators Wild and Niland come up with a Christmas sequel. Herein, the super-cute five little piggies are busy with their seasonal preparations. They sing and make music, shop, create …

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and post cards and party.
There are candy canes …

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and cakes (of the fishy variety), baubles and bedtime stories, not to mention plum pudding, and pineapple, gingerbread and more …
In ten verses Margaret Wild offers musical alternatives to the ‘wee-wee-wee’ with more upbeat ‘vroom vrooms’, ‘plink, plonk, plunks, ratta-tat-tats, jingle-jingle-jingles’ … and a final

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… all the way home.
Do join those porcine frolics so cleverly rotated so that a different piggy has none each time, in Deborah Niland’s lively, playful , action-packed pictures. And look out for that mouse friend who makes his presence well and truly felt in every spread.
Seasonal enchantment for the very young (and those who read or sing it aloud to them).

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Purple Passions

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Dixie O’Day and the Haunted House
Shirley Hughes & Clara Vulliamy
The Bodley Head
I missed this as a Hallowe’en read due to re-organisation at RH but no matter, it’s an all year round read anyway. Here in the fourth Dixie and Percy adventure, the pals plan a camping trip, “somewhere where there are no other people and we can be alone with nature!” Dixie suggests and despite slight reservations from Percy off they set, with nosy neighbor Lou Ella’s warnings of rain being forecast on the radio ringing in their ears.
They end up in a decidedly dark, scary seeming place having missed this …

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before pitching the tent. (I have to say their efforts at same remind me all too much of my own teenage attempts at same at a location I remember not, but somewhere near Bath.)

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But the watchful cows know better – much better.

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Indeed, after a series of mishaps, or rather disasters – gales, torrents and empty petrol tanks – the friends end up seeking refuge herein …

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All manner of spine-tingling horrors manifest themselves in the darkness; the sights and sounds are pretty alarming but needless to say and Shirley does ‘thoughts of that old dark house and the terrors of the night seemed to fade rapidly.’ as Dixie and Percy head home already planning for a barbecue the following weekend.
Shirley is on top form with her humour herein: those bovine characters Mabel and Margery are a hoot as they pass judgement (and more) on Dixie and Percy’s camp site; and as ever Clara’s two-tone illustrations are wonderful, every single one of them.

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As usual in the series, the book ends not with the story’s conclusion but with maps, a meet the creators chat, some fun activites and a first chaper taster of the next Dixie story Dixie O’Day On His Bike! Like a good many newly independent readers I know, I just can’t wait.
And I’m ashamed to say I’ve only just discovered the delights of the first of another series in the making wherein Clara ‘s wonderful illustrations are an integral part. Again it’s a perfect taking off book:

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Mango & Bambang The Not-a-Pig
Polly Faber and Clara Vulliamy
Walker Books
Bambang is an Asian tapir (from the jungles of Malaysia) befriended by Mango Allsorts when he is lost and frightened in the big city where she lives. Young Mango is certainly a very busy young miss with her karate, pancake making, chess and attempts at clarinet playing.
The first story tells of the meeting of the two with that wonderful traffic-stopping announcement of Mango’s.

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The second sees the friends visiting the swimming pool (Bambang doesn’t quite fit into the bath

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and he misses his muddy jungly pool) and Bambang discovering the delights of toffees.
The third tells how the tapir becomes a connoisseur of hats – yes hats! –

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and an encounter with the dreadful Dr Cynthia Prickle-Posset, newly returned from an overseas visit and none too pleased to discover a tapir disturbing her peace.
In the final episode, Bambang and Mango join forces to create some highly unusual music.

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Everything about this book is enchanting: the characters – meet the whole cast:

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the sweetly funny stories they inhabit, the delicious purple-tinged illustrations, the inviting striped cover, the purple edged pages – hmm, joy.

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Blue Penguin

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Blue Penguin
Petr Horáček
Walker Books
There’s a magical and luminous quality to the icy landscapes dazzlingly rendered by Petr Horáček in this sublime story on the theme of insiders and outsiders.
Into a penguin colony, in the far south, is born a new baby – a blue penguin. His fellow penguins are amazed. ”Are you a real penguin?” they ask and indeed Blue Penguin does all the penguiny things like diving and jumping (although he doesn’t excel); but he is ace at fishing.

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Bemused though, they begin to shun him leaving a very sad, empty-feeling Blue Penguin with no company save his night-time dreams.
Into one, repeatedly, comes a beautiful white whale that transports him far from his lonely place every night; and every morning Blue Penguin sings the whale a song sending it out across the ocean.

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This song catches the ear of another penguin drawing her closer day by day until finally, “Teach me your song,” she asks.

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Thus the two forge a friendship as Little Penguin learns to sing Blue Penguin’s song and they play and sing together.
Then comes a night when Blue Penguin decides they should sing a new song. Such is its magic that it draws in the other penguins, who, enchanted by its beauty, also want to learn the song. But his teaching is halted in its tracks by the arrival of a huge white whale that has heard the song and responded to its call.

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Now Blue Penguin has a decision to make: old song or new? Go with his dreamtime friend or remain with his new friend Little Penguin: maybe the other penguins will have some influence on his decision …
Sometimes a book comes along that sends shivers of delight right through you. Such a one is this. If only Blue Penguin’s song could be taught to everyone, the world over; maybe a copy of this beautiful, big-hearted tale should be given to each and every child, educational establishment, organisation and every nation’s leader.

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Gracie and Leo enchanted by Blue Penguin and the beauty of the book

Imagine …

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Once Upon a Northern Night

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Once Upon a Northern Night
Jean E. Pendziwol and Isabelle Arsenault
Walker Books
‘Once upon a northern night/ while you lay sleeping, / wrapped in a downy blanket. /I painted you a picture.’ (The opening line of this lyrical prose poem directed towards a sleeping child one dark, soon to be snowy, night is repeated at the beginning each subsequent verse.)
As more and more snowflakes fall, the earth is ‘wrapped in a downy blanket’, the night sky alive with ‘sparkling specks of white, /crowding/ and floating.’

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Gradually the whole landscape is transformed as the writer word paints a picture taking readers for a walk beneath the trees, under one of which a mother deer and her fawn stand before moving on to taste (as on the cover) a frozen apple still clinging to the tree. I was reminded here of Robert Frost’s Two Look at Two
while the whole thing has a feeling of his ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening’ about it.

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Who one wonders, is the speaker of this lullaby– a loving parent, nature itself perhaps? Some enchantress?
Wonderfully evocative and breathtakingly and starkly beautiful are the hushed scenes painted by Isabelle Arsenault using an effective limited colour palette predominantly black and white, grey and blue,

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but with yellow for the owl’s eyes and beak, touches of green foliage, those red apples and ‘auburn’ for the fox’s tail.

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I love everything about this book: the circularity of the whole thing, the almost ethereal nature of the illustrations with their shadowy effects, and the reverence of the words themselves – ‘pine trees held out prickly hands/ to catch the falling flakes.’
Truly it sends shudders down the spine, such is it’s magic, both verbal and visual.
If you want something to generate awe and wonder in listeners and readers this book will surely do so.

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Showing and Sharing Love

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Say It!
Charlotte Zolotow and Charlotte Voake
Walker Books
A small girl and her mother walk together enjoying ’a golden windy autumn day.’ “Say it,” urges the child as she clutches a leaf.
“It’s a wild, wondrous, dazzling day,” comes the response and they move on encountering a little black cat

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and then pausing beside a pond: ‘and the trees in the pond shivered into a million zigzagging streaks of colour.’ – What wonderful images Zolotow conjures. The mother describes it as …”a golden, shining, splendiferous day!” But that’s not what the little girl wants to hear either.
Neither the amber-eyed, leaping dog nor the fluffy floating seeds …

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can illicit the longed-for words – what a tease that mother is – and eventually after an affecting walk they approach home once more and the little girl is finally rewarded for her persistence …

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Zolotow’s uplifting poetic text (originally written well over thirty years ago) has the perfect complement in Charlotte Voake’s warm pen-and-ink and watercolour illustrations. The scenes are alive with autumn colours and the tenderness that so evidently exists between mother and daughter.
An appealing and engaging autumnal book for sure, but equally one that might be shared around Mother’s Day or to illicit discussion about showing rather than telling (in this instance in relation to parental love).

The special love shared between grandparents and grandchildren is simply and beautifully explored in:

 

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I Love My Granny
Giles Andrea and Emma Dodd
Orchard Books
The toddler narrator shares the delights of a day spent with granny – ‘She’s like a mum, but unlike mine, she seems to have just loads of time.’ It’s a day that can be spent close to home or going out for special treats …

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It might hold exciting adventures or baking yummy things …

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but no matter what, a day spent in the company of a granny is sure to be full of fun and warmth. Both of which are captured delightfully in Giles Andrea’s rhyming text and Emma Dodd’s affectionate scenes.

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Fabulous Frogs, Elephants and other creatures

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Fabulous Frogs
Martin Jenkins and Tim Hopgood
Walker Books
I’ll never forget an experience I had in Udaipur, Rajasthan a few years back: during the monsoon time I was caught in a downpour and suddenly hundreds of tiny frogs about the size of a finger nail (and those tiny New Guineas frogs depicted herein) came raining (seemingly) down from the sky. I never knew from where they had really originated – drainpipes and gullies perhaps – but it sparked an interest in these fascinating creatures. I’ve since seen many different kinds in other parts of India, especially the Kerala coast where I had a resident frog that performed acrobatics on my washing line; and every evening also in the monsoon we would be serenaded by a mesmerising frogs’ chorus from the trees and bushes …

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Then there were the tree frogs whose foam nests we saw on branches overhanging the pond very similar to these African ones …

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None of the frog species featured in this lovely picture book is Indian but each one the conservation biologist Martin Jenkins has selected is strange and wonderful in its own way, not least being the Darwin’s Frog. The male puts the soon-to-be hatched eggs in its throat, keeping them and later, the tadpoles, safe therein.
Then there’s the world’s largest, enormous (for a frog) Goliath Frog from West Africa that eats other frogs on occasion.
Illustrator, Tim Hopgood has done these and the other frogs proud in his cracking pictures. A frogilicious book!

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Would an Elephant Enjoy the Seaside?
Camilla de la Bédoyère and Aleksei Bitskoff
QED Publishing
The title of the book is just one of the amusing scenarios explored in this attractive book. Others include
‘Could an elephant join an art class?’ …

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and “How would an elephant say “hello”? Certainly the library would be an ideal place – elephants raise their trunks and trumpet … They also talk quietly … ‘by making low rumbling sounds that pass down their legs

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and into the ground.’ This is picked up by the feet of elephants far away.
Fascinating information such as this is conveyed in a manner that is likely to stay with the reader who is one hopes, then motivated to go on to find out more. Equally importantly this book and others in the series will foster that crucial ‘What if …’ notion in young children.
Also in the series and equally entertaining and informative is:

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Could a Crocodile Play Basketball?
Camilla de la Bédoyère and Aleksei Bitskoff
QED Publishing

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Just imagine one of those jaw snappers in your early years classroom …

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Children’s Animal Atlas
Barbara Tylor, Katrin Wiehle and Martin Sanders
QED
More than a mere atlas, this book has a pocket inside the front cover containing a fold-out poster map, half a dozen postcards to write from various animal locations, a spotter’s guide with facts and a quiz and pages of stickers, that can be used as the reader chooses.

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Find and Colour
illustrated by Joel Dreidemy
QED
For those youngsters around 5ish who like colouring with a few facts thrown in, is this pack of eight books (almost all with an animal theme) complete with pens. As it says on every cover: ‘things to colour and facts to discover’. Just the thing for rainy days and long journeys.

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Fairytales for Mr Barker

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Fairytales for Mr Barker
Jessica Ahlberg
Walker Books
I’m a real sucker for books that play around with fairy tales and Jessica Ahlberg has done it superbly here in her new book. From the die-cut hole through which peeps a  lovable-looking pup to the woeful looking troll creeping across the back cover, this book is an absolute delight.
It begins with young Lucy attempting to maintain the interest of her playful canine companion, Mr Barker, in the troll story she’s reading to him, to no avail however. Mr B. leaps through the window and off to …

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Lucy is hot on his tail and quickly realises into whose house they’ve barged but rather than accepting her host’s invitation to partake of some breakfast, she invites said golden haired girl to join them on their adventure, the next stop being another place Lucy recognizes once they are within.
There’s to be no hanging around there for sure, not for the residents nor their visitors. So it’s off again and you can see where they land up next …

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With another character joining them, it’s on to a castle wherein slumbers a small princess. But having woken said sleeper, Lucy and the others hear a resounding CRASH! And what, or rather, who they see in hot pursuit makes them flee for their lives out into a darkening forest …

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There’s no time to stop though, not until everyone is safely back in familiar and safe surroundings without giants, wolves, angry bears or even fairies. But there might just be the odd troll lurking within a story book somewhere around …

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An immediate repeat reading was demanded by my young audience who absolutely loved spotting the fairy tale characters in each of the places visited and spent ages looking at all the wonderful details in each spread. “Can you bring it again tomorrow,” really says it all.
A sure fire winner if ever there was one.

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Children’s Book Illustration Autumn Exhibition Piccadilly Waterstones 23rd to 29th October – don’t miss it!

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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]

A Great Big Cuddle

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A Great Big Cuddle
Michael Rosen and Chris Riddell
Walker Books
Thirty five super-silly new poems from the Rosen pen each one stupendously illustrated by Riddell simply sizzle with the joys of early childhood and a few of the pains too.
I love his playful take on beginning reading – Reading Lesson:
This is how you read:/Can you see?/ This says “you”/ This says “me”./ /
When you see “me”/ You say “me”/ When you see “you”/ Say “you” – do you see?//
Altogether now:/ Can you see?/ You, you, you/ Me, me, me.??
Well done all./ That’s it for today. You can all read./ You can go and play.
But in reality every single one of these delicious offerings is a better in-built reading lesson than any of the contrived phonics or word recognition sessions that children in their early years are all too often subjected to.
What Rosen is doing in this book is enhancing children’s metalinguistic awareness and what comes across here loud and clear is that language is fun and playing around with it even more so…

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As one would expect, rhyme, rhythm and repetition are key ingredients and there’s a fair amount of nonsense with occasional echoes of Lear and Milligan alongside some more serious poems such as Lost wherein a small being sits contemplating being left all alone. There are rhymes that make you want to sit still and savour the words and others such as TIPPY-TAPPY and BOING! BOING! that make you and certainly tinies want to get up and move: Boing! Boing!/ Bounce bounce/ I’m a ball/ Bounce bounce./ Jump jump/ Pounce pounce/ I’m a tiger/ Pounce pounce/ ROARRRRRR!

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Riddell’s visual interpretations in pencil and watercolour are often gloriously inventive …

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and at appropriate times, quietly reflective renderings of moments of tenderness …

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His menagerie of larger than life animals, imaginary creatures and monsters provide talking points aplenty and a visual treat to match Rosen’s verbal ones on every spread.
A two-laureate treat and a must have book for anyone who has dealings with the very young. Buy it for the words, buy it for the pictures, buy it because in tandem the whole experience is a joy.

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Aspects of Love

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Evermore Dragon
Barbara Joosse and Randy Cecil
Walker Books
The friendship forged in Lovabye Dragon between Girl and Dragon grows deeper here as the two decide upon the game for the day. Hide-and-Seek it will be and off goes Dragon to hide – supposedly.

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Like the good friend that she is though, Girl plays along searching diligently high and low although she can surely see that Drag-enormo self until …

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Then it’s Girl’s turn to hide and off she runs and runs … to a faraway hidey-hole where she waits … and waits and yawns and …
Dragon meanwhile continues to search but where oh where can Girl be?

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Girl awakes in the ‘Deep, deep, dark night.’ Dragonless and entirely alone and,
‘she cried silver tears/ worry worry tears/ and her heart thumped a sound/ a trem-below sound/ that only Dragon friends,/ very very special friends, can hear.’
And Dragon hears the summoning cry and, lighting up the sky with his dragon breath he flies to her rescue, enveloping her in his wings.

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“I am here,” to which she responds “You’re a dear,”.
With its sprinklings of innovative language, and just the right frisson of fear, the beautifully constructed lyrical text combined with the dream-like scenes in muted greens, greys and blues into which are dropped Girl and her glowing yellow gown, is perfect for story time sharing, especially at the end of the day, be it at home or school. It certainly went down a treat with my audience of fives and sixes.

An altogether different celebration of love comes in:

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Big Book of Love
Catherine and Laurence Anholt
Orchard Books
Bursting with joie de vivre is this small child’s rhyming recitation of everything he (I think, but could equally be, she) loves. There’s the playful pup that leads child and reader across fields to meet friends, frolic in the waves, run in the rain, ride on a train to the colourful bustling city

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full of all manner of people and places of visit not least the library…

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And that can, in turn lead to exciting adventures with animals large and small and sometimes even a bit scary. But then there’s always the safety of home and a house full of love to come back to. …

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If only every child could be so lucky …
There’s so much to explore in Catherine’s child-centric scenes: every spread is brimming over with things to talk about, count or simply enjoy.

A look at love from a canine viewpoint in
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Love is My Favourite Thing
Emma Chichester Clark
Jonathan Cape
This book is based on the author’s own dog, a character that became the star of Plumdog Blog. Here, Plum is that narrator of her own story, a story wherein readers learn just how much love there is in her life. She loves among other things, wind, snow, sun, treats and sticks; she loves the children next door and of course, her ‘mummy and daddy’ aka Emma and Rupert and the things they do together. Equally they love her too.
Occasionally though, Plum’s zest for life and love gets her into trouble and once she’s got into a little bit of trouble …

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things seem to escalate till she’s in a whole lot of trouble …

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Even that’s not the worst part of the whole sorry chain of events – there’s the ice-cream episode too, after which poor Plum is banished to bed. Has love finally run out where this particular dog is concerned? Of course not but she definitely does need to rein in some of that canine enthusiasm especially where ice-cream and water are concerned.
A charming celebration of unconditional love, pooch style. I’m no lover of dogs but Plum as portrayed by Emma Chichester Clark, certainly won my heart.

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Board Book Beauties

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What Does Doggy Want?
David Wojtowycz
Walker Books
Clever design, bright visuals, an endearing character and a simple repeating patterned text combine to make a delightfully playful, interactive book for babies. By placing a finger in the hole and moving it up and down, small hands can make the Doggy shake his head to say “NO”

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to various items offered until at last, he gets exactly what he’s been waiting for;

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and then he nods his head affirmatively.
The same formula works for a companion volume

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What Does Monkey Want?
David Wojtowycz
Walker Books
In this instance a series of actions is suggested all of which receives a “No”

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(A side-to-side movement is needed this time) because, as we eventually discover, Monkey just wants to …

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In addition to enjoying a simple story, these two books offer the very young opportunities for the development of manipulative skills.

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All Shook Up!
Alain Crozon
Chronicle Books
Manipulative opportunities abound in this playful board book that features animals of all shapes and sizes. You can make the chick flutter its feathers, the butterfly flap its wings up and down,

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the elephant swing its trunk and shake its ears, or the hippo poke out its tongue, for instance.
Primary colours (and black and white) are used to great effect in this rapping, rhyming flap book.

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Chooky-doodle-doo
Jan Whiten and Sinéad Hanley
Walker Books
‘One Little chooky chick/pulling at a worm. /Clucky cluck, worm’s stuck./What should chooky do?’
Thus begins an enormously appealing board book that combines counting fun, rhyme and a delicious final twist. Oh! and there’s teamwork too.

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I love the slightly acid tones and the textural effects of Sinéad Hanley’s amusing illustrations.
Just the thing to share with the youngest listeners.

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Where the Bugaboo Lives

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Where the BUGABOO Lives
Sean Taylor and Neal Layton
Walker Books
How many ways are there to read a story? In this instance, I’m still trying to discover the answer. It assuredly puts the reader very much in control; you can if you wish stop reading at page 7 for instance; or …
I took the scary option and went with Ruby and her brother Floyd (who is desperate to retrieve his ball that’s rolled down into the valley wherein the scariest of all creatures THE BUGABOO resides). Eventually I found myself here

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but you can of course guess what I did then …
You might be pierced by a prickle-beast, eviscerated by a hungry Old English Spook, tossed terrifyingly by a troll, stunk out by a scuttling spider, drooled upon by a demon, battered by a bony hobgoblin

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or worse. It all depends whether you go uphill or down; follow the spring path or the autumn one; wander on a winter way

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or take a summer stroll, head for the smoke or the coloured lights.
This one comes with a parental warning as it’s overflowing with the kind of terrifying creatures that will make adults run for cover. The whole thing is crammed with crocs, bedevilled with blood-sucking mosquitoes,

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inhabited by giant infants, a-fire with fearsome fiends, sweetly scented by snooze-inducing sniffers – daisies actually but pretty powerful ones. And that’s not all.
Oh! And if kisses aren’t your thing, be alert and join Floyd and Ruby in their mad homeward dash. PHEW!
I foresee family fights ensuing over this book and one copy in a classroom will definitely not be enough to cope with the demand.
Gloriously ghoulish, amazingly awesome and eminently re-readable; it’s brimming over with visual and verbal delights.
Miss this one at your peril. Or perhaps that should be, get hold of it at your peril.

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Tricky Times with Albert and Whiffy Wilson

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Albert and Little Henry
Jez Alborough
Walker Books
There’s a touch of the Not Now Bernards about the latest Jez Alborough offering. It features young Albert who has a particular prowess for storytelling, regaling his parents with his flights of fancy.

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Until, one day there’s a new arrival in the family. “I can’t listen to a story now, … Little Henry needs his bath.” and “Not now, Albie, I’m trying to get Little Henry off to sleep,” is what he hears or “Why don’t you tell us a story later?” from his weary Dad and Mum.
When Albert does as he’s bid and goes to his room to wait for ‘later,’ a strange feeling comes upon him …

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Nobody notices his sudden lack of stature and at Little Henry’s celebration party it’s the same story.

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An angry Albert heads for his bedroom leaving others firmly on the opposite side of the door. Then Mum leaves a special present for him bearing three important words and after that things begin to change – for the better this time. Albert is restored to his former size and those creative juices start flowing once more…
Albert clearly shows how the arrival of a new brother or sister can make a child feel small and insecure. His woeful expressions and temper tantrum are beautifully visualized in Alborough’s adorable scenes or sibling jealousy.
For me, it doesn’t quite have the allure of Where’s My Teddy? and sequels but Albert is sure to find a place in the hearts of any family facing the potential emotional upheavals of a new baby.

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Whiffy Wilson The Wolf Who Wouldn’t Go To School
Caryl Hart and Leonie Lord
Orchard Books pbk
Whiffy Wilson is introduced to the delights of school when he reluctantly allows his friend and playmate, Dotty, to lead him by the paw to the door. From there though she has to use a little bit of force to get him into the reception class. Before long however, she has initiated him into the delights of painting, playdough, and mathematical activities; and then it’s time for lunch and a game of soccer. At this, Whiffy proves something of a star and makes some new friends too.

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The afternoon is spent in some co-operative model making – hard work despite Wilson’s comment, “All we’ve done so far is play!”

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followed by storytime.
It’s a contented Wilson who accompanies Dotty home and next morning he’s up and ready for some more school delights but there’s a shock in store …
This hilarious rhyming story (it’s great to read aloud) went down really well with my audience of young children who have already discovered the delights of school. These ‘old-hands’ loved the visuals and immediately recognized the young wolf’s initial fears and laughed delightedly at the comic ending.

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Whiffs, Pongs and A Foiled Robbery

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Poo in the Zoo
Steve Smallman and Ada Grey
Little Tiger Press pbk
Young children simply revel in all things slightly whiffy; I know one two year old girl who became fascinated by the various poos she saw in the countryside even saying ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ to the sheep droppings in a particular spot.
This poo-centred picture book is an absolute hoot – or rather, toot, if you like that kind of thing and I’ve yet to find a four or five year old who doesn’t. (So long as it isn’t their own of course). Herein we meet Zookeeper Bob who is finding his muck-shovelling duties rather too much as he goes around collecting all the dollops, drippy droppings, plummeting splats, steamy pongy pats and ducking from Monkey’s speedily tossed poops.
When he goes to clear Iguana’s mess, the creature gives him the slip, escaping to create havoc around the café as it gobbles everything in sight including some sparkly fireflies (‘he fancied something light’ you see.)

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Imagine the surprise when next the creature plops a poop: a glowing extra-terrestrial poo, thinks Bob. News quickly spreads, and the zookeeper receives a visit from a fellow poo collector who simply has to have the Iguana’s illuminated wonder. Will Bob part with it though? Well, let’s just say that he no longer has to do that poo-picking up for himself thanks to …

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This rhyming super-stinker just cries out to be read aloud; indeed it only really works if you do. Ada Grey’s scatological scenes induced howls of delighted laughter from my audience of 5s to 10s, several of whom wanted to paw over the pages for themselves

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after the immediate re-read they all demanded.

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Rex and the Crown Jewels Robbery
Kate Sheppard (illustrator)
Walker Books pbk
This amusing canine caper is loosely based on a real historical event that happened in 1671, during the reign of King Charles ll. It tells how scruffy mongrel, Rex, excavates a litter bin chock full of deliciously stinky rubbish and finds himself somewhere totally unexpected…

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… where his nose detects a wonderfully meaty aroma, which of course, he must follow. It takes him to an old tower wherein he spies some shiny objects closely guarded by …

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But there’s a dastardly plan afoot to steal those shiny objects aka The Crown Jewels. Can the two dogs foil the plotters and save that priceless crown, orb and sceptre?
There follows a frantic dash and much more until eventually Rex finds himself back more or less where he’d started on Tower Green.
Funny, fast and full of comical scenes that are sure to appeal to young time travelling enthusiasts especially.

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Sir Scallywag and the Battle of Stinky Bottom
Giles Andreae and Korky Paul
Puffin Books
King Colin has another mission for six-year old Sir Scallywag – to locate the giant Golden Sausage – an object that could confer immortality on the king so he’s heard. The probability is that said sausage is located in the centre of Lake Stinkybottom, a truly malodorous place. Off rides bold Sir Scallywag on his trusty steed, deep into the woods and beyond, to the troll-infested swamp where, in the gloaming he locates the sought article. Outnumbered one hundred to one though, can the young knight outwit the troll king and his army? Yes; and he does duly deliver the glowing object to the royal kitchen but that’s not quite the end of this madcap rhyming romp of derring-do …

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It’s great fun to read aloud;Korky Paul’s hilarious action-packed scenes are an absolute riot and brim over with witty details.

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Double? More? Too Much?

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Double Trouble for Anna Hibiscus!
Atinuke and Lauren Tobia
Walker Books
When Anna Hibiscus discovers that the ‘big bump’ is twin brothers, she knows that she’s in for some “Big Trouble” as her cousin Chocolate puts it. What it means immediately though is that none of the family seems to have time for her any more; they’re all far too busy with extra work that’s a result of the two newcomers. Uncle Sam is busy making food for Anna’s mum; her Grandmother has been up all night and now needs to sleep and her aunties are baby minding.

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Poor Anna Hibiscus finally loses her temper and shouts, which sets the babies off bawling and she herself dissolves into tears. Oh Dear! It’s then that Papa finally takes notice of her and explains the implications of Double Trouble: sharing is now the order of the day.
Eventually though, people do pay her attention  and then it’s the turn of that big sister to become a comforter.

 

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It will take time for young Anna Hibiscus to learn how to accommodate those newcomers, and she has to learn to take turns for her mother’s hugs and sometimes even share them with others…

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I’ve loved all the Anna Hibiscus stories: this one too is a real delight and it’s absolutely perfect for those with a new baby in the family or anyone anticipating a new arrival. Those gorgeously warm-hearted illustrations are just the business.

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More!
Tracey Corderoy and Tim Warnes
Little Tiger Press pbk
In most very young infants, the acquisition of a new word is a cause for celebration. However when young Alfie rhino adds “More!” to his vocabulary the result is destruction,

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and all manner of excesses, some dietary, others very noisy or messy or, on occasion, something rather more desirable.
So when he is invited to a fancy dress party he gets more than a little carried away with the design of his costume

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and despite its amazingness, it has distinct disadvantages when it comes to joining in the party fun especially at cake-sharing time …
Fortunately though having more than just a few friends is one thing that does work in his favour, and all ends happily.
The young charmer is sure to win further friends with his latest romp: as always it is delivered with appropriate verve and exuberance in both words and pictures. Share with Alfies and other littles of the human variety and I suspect they’ll straightway ask for MORE!

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No More Cuddles!
Jane Chapman
Little Tiger Press
Despite living alone in the forest, Barry suffers from a surfeit of cuddles: he’s literally smothered by them and it’s all a bit too much.
A disguise might do the trick, he thinks to himself; but it just isn’t scary enough.

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Angry growls and scowls don’t work either; something more drastic is required seemingly. So Barry advertises for a relief cuddler and finally along comes one that meets the job description perfectly. Even then though, the animals continue to hurl themselves at Barry and he finds himself hurtling into a mucky swamp and it’s there that he gains a bit of well-earned respite.
Exuberant scenes and a decidedly cuddle-able main character, not to mention a host of delightful bit part players, are the chief ingredients of this warm-hearted story.

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Hubert Horatio
Lauren Child
Puffin pbk
Child prodigy, Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent, (referred to as H by his ultra-rich, but forgetful parents) starts to call the tune right from his early infancy. He cannot however do anything about the fact that the nightly cup of cocoa he and his parents share is always cold by the time the lad has climbed the numerous flights of stairs to the parental bedroom. Despite this, life jogs along happily for Horatio until one day his parents throw a party and the jelly runs out halfway through. Very odd, thinks Horatio but that is only the start of the family’s woes and before long he realizes that his parents are financially embarrassed, to say the least.
The young lad takes the initiative and money-making plans intended to refill the family coffers are soon put into action. But Mr and Mrs Bobton-Trent continue to party and live the high life

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until a frustrated HH decides downsizing is their only option. The family moves to a new home – 17b Plankton Heights – and there surprisingly, Horatio’s mum and dad settle quickly and woopy-do – because of the short distance to walk, everyone’s cocoa is still warm by the time it arrives at the parental bedroom.
Highly entertaining with wonderfully whimsical, richly patterned collage-style illustrations, Hubert Horatio is truly a force to be reckoned with.

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Amazing Information Books

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Nina (who does like snakes) enjoying the book.

I Don’t Like Snakes
Nicola Davies and Luciano Lozano
Walker Books
On a visit to Kerala (India) a couple of years back I was beguiled by the resident naturalist into showing the local housekeeping staff that there was nothing to fear from the snakes that were found in the grounds and occasionally found their way into the guest cottages. There I was inwardly quaking and having what looked to me a huge snake dangled about my person.

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So, the girl narrator of this wonderful orphidiological extravaganza has my sympathies when she declares, “I really, really, REALLY don’t like snakes!” to her incredulous family members who immediately counter her statement with “WHY?”
Every reason she proffers is met with an informative rejoinder that serves to weaken her case; and it isn’t long before her protestations about slithering, icky, slimy skin or flicky tongue have fueled her interest in their sidewinding, twining or flying methods of locomotion, their wonderful mosaic patterned, renewable skins

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and the scent-smelling organ used in locating their prey. Oh and those staring eyes are so informative about their hunting habits too.

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We really know she’s been won over however, when having turned to a large book, our narrator informs her brother about the reproductive habits of snakes

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and finally says – well what do you think?
My subsequent real-life experiences with snakes certainly haven’t won me round but I have to admit that the book has gone some way towards so doing. Davies’ chatty, gently humorous narrative style and Luciano Lozano’s superb illustrations of both human and reptilian characters work so well together. The combination of almost cartoon-like humans and zoologically accurate snake drawings together with the differing type-faces used for the text is enormously effective.A must buy for budding zoologists and for the primary school library.

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Surprising Sharks
Nicola Davies and James Croft
Walker Books pbk
Sharks come in all shapes and sizes, the smallest being not much larger than a bar of chocolate and comparatively few of them have attacked humans. And, did you know that ‘Sand tiger sharks give birth to just two live young— which is all that’s left after those two have eaten the other six babies in their mother’s belly.’
These are just a few of the interesting facts youngsters can discover between the covers of this highly readable, gently humorous re-issue.

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Dino-Dinners
Mick Manning and Brita Granström
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books pbk
This inviting book, published in association with the Natural History Museum, features ten dinosaurs, each having a double spread within which the creature – illustrated in watercolour- introduces itself with a rhyme telling of its dietary habits alongside which is an inset of additional information including name pronunciation, size and geological dating. One of the Brachiosaurus spreads (it has two because it’s so long) includes details about its poo too;

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I didn’t know that fossil poos are called coprolites before I read it here. The book also includes a time line and glossary. A fascinating book for young addicts and one that will likely kindle an interest in those new to the subject.
Equally fascinating and informative and from the same team is

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Woolly Mammoth
In this one, mammoth narrator, gentle giant and ‘veggie warrior with bull-neck power’ takes readers back to the ice-age when these huge shaggy beasts roamed free, sometimes hunted by hungry wolves, bears or hyenas and sometimes by humans.
Both titles would make excellent additions to a family or primary school collection.

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Quests of Wonder

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DSCN4633 (800x600) (2) Little Bell and the Moon
Giles Paley-Phillips and Iris Deppe
Fat Fox Books
Every night at bedtime,Little Bell watches the Moon and hears its tales of whales, boats and treasure: DSCN4632 (800x600) (2) each loves the other and all is well. One night Bell asks her friend to show her that magical-sounding world and together they fly far across mountains, seas and forests. DSCN4631 (800x600) Each night thereafter, they journey and at dawn Bell is safely back home. For sixty years they explore the galaxy until Bell begins to fade, growing more and more frail DSCN4630 (800x600) (2) till it is time for one final farewell tale from a mournful moon before Bell’s soul takes flight on its last journey. A journey that takes it far, far out into space wherein it comes to a special resting place – a ball of light among the stars. ‘ The darkness soon began to clear,/Then the moon did reappear./Upon the light its eyes did dwell,/Within it, it saw Little Bell. /And as the Moon shone back at Bell/They both felt all was well.’ A deeply affecting and tender story of life’s journey, ageing and death. The latter can be a tricky topic for young children. Here though, with poetic text and powerful atmospheric scenes, author and artist have created a safe place from which to explore the inherent themes. Definitely one for the spirituality bookshelf at home or school: a book that resonates long after its reading.   DSCN4655 (800x600) The Most Wonderful Thing in the World
Vivian French and Angela Barrett
Walker Books
A king and queen ponder the future of their kingdom and decide a husband must be found for their daughter, Princess Lucia. Having consulted Wise Old Angelo, they promise their daughter’s hand in marriage to the young man who can show them the most wonderful thing in the world. Lucia meanwhile has made the acquaintance of one, Salvatore, DSCN4653 (800x600) and at the princess’s request, the two explore the city together. At the palace however, her parents are inundated with suitors, each one showing something wonderful. No matter how amazing the items proffered by the endless stream of prospective bridegrooms, DSCN4651 (800x600) nothing seems quite right to the by now, completely overwhelmed, king and queen who then decide to call off the search. First though they must locate their daughter to tell her of their decision and it is only when they locate her and find themselves face to face with a young man claiming to have found what they are seeking,   DSCN4654 (800x600) that things feel right. For what he tells them is absolutely so. It’s then that the eyes of the king and queen are finally opened and all ends, in true fairytale fashion, with a happily married couple adored by all in their kingdom. Angela Barrett’s exquisitely detailed, mannered illustrations grace the pages of Vivian French’s enchanting and admirably crafted telling of this wondrous fairy tale, seemingly given an Italian setting here. For romantics and lovers of fairy tales especially, no matter what their age.
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Black Cat, White Cat & The White Book

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Emmanuelle was enchanted by the two cats and their story

Black Cat, White Cat
Silvia Borando
Walker Books
This is one of two Minibombo titles originally published in Italy and now released by Walker Books in the UK. They are the creation of a highly innovative visual designer and have a great deal to offer to the young and not so young.
Black Cat is just that – entirely black ‘from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tale.’ He is diurnal by nature.
White Cat in contrast is white all over from nose to tail; she is nocturnal.
Both however are curious creatures and decide to find out about the unknown. That is how they encounter one another and each agrees to act as guide facilitating the other on a journey of discovery. Thus Black Cat delights in the wonders of night such as the “glittery, fluttery fireflies’”

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and samples the tasty snakes, bats and mice of the night.

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White Cat is surprised by the day-flying “busy, buzzy bumblebees” and sees the beautiful daisies, doves and butterflies.
Ultimately, the two become inseparable

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and two become …
A wonderful surprise ending ensues but I don’t want to spoil that.
Juxtaposition is key throughout this seemingly simple, visually striking book.
By using only black and white the focus is always on the visual play between the characters, their backgrounds, the placing of the images on the spreads and the contrasting space around them. Genius!

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The White Book
Silvia Borando, Lorenzo Clerici & Elisabetta Pica
Walker Books
An endearing small boy stands before a white wall, large paint roller in hand. He then proceeds to paint the wall all over, first with magenta, then blue, green, grey, yellow ochre, purple and finally, orange. Each time the lad puts paint to wall he creates and gives life to, a series of animals.

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These appear to leap from the background at first as white outlines and then take solid form as creatures that move away. In this way the protagonist emulates Crockett Johnson’s Harold (of Purple Crayon fame.) Thus the birds take flight, the fish swim off, a stegosaurus roars alarmingly, a large elephant lumbers back squashing the boy against the wall, one of the giraffes lifts him skywards,

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almost by the scruff of his neck and a purple aardvark seemingly attempts to swallow the paint-roller.
After all this, the boy’s persistence and determination is rewarded when a sausage shaped-pup appears from the orange wall and

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yippee! it wants to play.
It’s assuredly a case of ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again’ and so cleverly rendered in this wordless story.
The book is a wonderful starting point for encouraging children to use their imaginations to create visual narratives of their own. Its inventive ideas and ingenious use of white and single colours is sure to make a powerful impact.
I look forward eagerly to more Minibombo titles.

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Journeys with Elephants

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Gracie captivated by Raju’s journey with his mother

Soon
Timothy Knapman and Patrick Benson
Walker Books
A mummy elephant opens the eyes of her little one, Raju to the wonders of the world around when she takes him on a long walk. They travel to the river where crocodiles snap, the shadowy forest where snakes slither,

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the tall grass wherein a tiger prowls and climb to the top of a mountain from where Raju sees his whole world before him and the two agree that it’s beautiful. Even then though, Raju’s only question like always, is, “When can we go home again?” But when she has tenderly led him back home, past the tiger, the snake and the crocodiles, her weary offspring wants to know, “When can we do it all again?” As always, this beautiful book’s title is her response.
Patrick Benson’s use of light and shade magically evokes passage of the day and the journey of the elephants through the changing Indian landscapes – landscapes that are aglow with sunlight and finally, moonlight.

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I know not whether he has actually seen such scenes: I have and they definitely are, spot on. Make sure you don’t miss those gorgeous endpapers.
Knapman’s use of repetition serves to add weight to the words of warning and reassuring actions of Mummy elephant who keeps a steadfast vigilance and knows exactly what to do to keep her young one safe at every potentially dangerous encounter.

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A book to visit over and over, as I imagine that mountain-top will be by the elephant characters therein.

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Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency
Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton
Hodder Children’s Books pbk
Emily, Stanley and elephant pal, Matilda are whitewater rafting on the Zambezi river in order to investigate some mysterious footprints they hope will lead to the discovery of a new dinosaur species. In case of emergencies, they have a telephone but the trouble is Matilda’s extremely anxious mother insists on ringing to check that her offspring is wearing her wellies (I ask you), keeping warm and not ending up as some creature’s next meal. Moreover, she insists on calling at the most inopportune, moments for ridiculous, non-emergency reasons just when the intrepid explorers are for example, scaling the heights of Mount Everest.
Indeed it’s pretty clear that the only real problem is these constant check-up calls: the phone itself has become a tyrannical nuisance.

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Then Matilda decides to sit out of the diamond search; could she possibly have become ensnared by her own worst fears, or rather her mum’s? …

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And is there another explanation for the sudden absence of that Ri-i-i-ing! Ri-i-i-i-ng sound that has seemed so all- pervasive?
Wonderfully witty and at times, woeful illustrations of the friends, show the energetic characters delighting in their freedom to explore, while the pesky phone is never far from the view. And, I just love that throwaway ending.
Over-anxious parents take note…

If elephants are your thing then you will also like:

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Elephant
Suzi Eszterhas
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books pbk
This is one of the excellent Eye on the Wild series by an award-winning wildlife photographer. Herein we follow a new born African bull elephant as he slowly grows and develops into a full-grown adult some fifteen years later.
The many aspects of family life are shown, the herd being a matriarchal society wherein all the females work together sharing the care of the young elephants. The photographs – small and full page or double spread – beautifully portray life in the herd. There are in addition some close ups such as one of the tough wrinkled skin, which helps protect the elephant from the baking sun and the playful water-hole scenes are a delight.

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In addition to the straightforward narrative text, there is a final page giving additional facts opposite which is a powerful image of the bull elephant going off alone through the grassy savannah.
Simple but very effective and ideal for helping to instill a love and understanding of the natural world in the young, be they at home or in an early years/younger primary classroom.

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Be the Change/Watch the Change

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Bogtrotter
Margaret Wild and Judith Rossell
Walker Books
‘What is this life, if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare’ said the poet W.H.Davies.
Pretty awful and extremely hectic, and that’s certainly so for the hero of this fantastic philosophical tale.
Bogtrotter lives his life in a gloomy cave in a mushy bog by night, and by day he dashes madly up, down and around the bog. He never questions this monotonous existence although on occasion and without knowing why, he feels bored, lonely and in need of a change.
The catalyst for that change comes in the form of a more radical frog who stops to question Bogtrotter’s unrelentingly dull existence then hops off with an “Ah,” leaving a Bogtrotter in whom a seed of change has already started to take root. Indeed he notices something small and yellow at his feet and …

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That night the flower is clutched tight to Bogtrotter when he goes to sleep and the following day he’s quickly up and off for his morning run but with a friendship forging stop en route. And so it goes on morning after morning, Bogtrotter embracing new experiences but all the while continuing with his same bog-bound running regime.

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Yet something still seems to be missing from this changed existence; what or who might it be?
There follows a timely reappearance of frog. “Do you ever run outside the bog?” he asks and leaves Bogtrotter pondering. Then, responding to the Frog’s question Bogtrotter is off on his run… over, up and over again DSCN4672 (800x600)
and … DSCN4673 (800x600)
I love the author’s contrasting characters – unimaginative, blinkered Bogtrotter and the more divergent thinking frog who does nothing much but pose two questions and respond entirely appropriately “Ah.” to what Bogtrotter replies.(He’d make a good early years teacher, that frog.)
I also love Judith Rossell’s watercolour renditions of those characters in the swampy scenes and the way she has made both Bogtrotter (despite his limited world view)

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and frog so endearing. I just wanted to hug that Bogtrotter tight and give him a few gentle shakes to get him out of his rut.
So much to think about, so much to talk about in this book; but first, share it and enjoy the journey, for that’s really what it is and it’s one I’d wholeheartedly recommend is undertaken by anyone from around four years old onwards.

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Hedgehugs Horace and Hattiepillar
Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson
Marverick Arts Publising pbk
Handstanding Hattie and tree-climbing Horace hedgehogs are almost inseparable friends. One day they discover a tiny, smooth shiny object beneath a leaf; something that turns out to be a stripy and extremely hungry caterpillar. In no time at all it has devoured the leaf and Horace and Hattie have to go in search of fresh food supplies for the constantly growing creature. Until that is, it’s had it’s fill and is ready to pupate.
Then it’s a waiting time for the friends; but eventually they are rewarded with …

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If you want to know what happens when Hattie and Horace follow suit, you might try emulating the caterpillar

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in this sequel from the partnership that gave us the delightful Hedgehugs, find your own copy of this book. And, it would be wonderful to let children bury themselves in a fluffy bed of flowers (unpicked of course) – so long as they don’t get hay fever, that is.

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As in the first story, the richly patterned artwork is charming and may well encourage children to create their own Hattie and Horace collage pictures and perhaps, stories.

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A Groovy World and A Fishy One

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It’s A Groovy World, Alfredo!
Sean Taylor and Chris Garbutt
Walker Books
Alfredo (frog) is not into groovy dancing so when he receives an invitation to Rick’s birthday party where such dancing is scheduled under disco lights, he is less than enthusiastic. Marty promises to teach him all the moves and arrives at Alfredo’s house ready to demonstrate COOL BOOGIE STYLE. Alfredo’s efforts are far from the knees bend, shimmy-shammy shuffle demonstrated by his winged friend; indeed they are a total flop.

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So too is his rendering of the SPEEDY HEEBIE-JEEBIES which is totally unlike Marty’s …

 

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But worst of all is the SILKY-SMOOTH MOVING AND GROOVING as done by our pal Alfredo. It’s his jump, jump, jumping that wrecks it every time. Nonetheless, Marty is eager to take his friend along to that party so off they go …

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where assuredly, rhythm does take control of Marty but our jumping Alfredo? That’s altogether a different story; and procrastination not withstanding …

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Could it now be that a fourth way of grooving has been added to the approved party dance agenda?
Prolific author Sean Taylor has joined forces with animation artist, Garbutt and it’s an entirely appropriate collaboration for this exuberant and funky foray into disco dancing fly- and frog-style. Upbeat, outgoing Marty is the ideal foil to self-conscious, floppy-footed, Alfredo.

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Children’s mixed media responses to Fish’s world view of what Frog saw.

 

Fish is Fish
Leo Lionni
Andersen Press pbk
Another classic Leo Lionni story is reissued and it’s still as powerful as ever with today’s children (and adults who may well have heard it the first time around). At the heart of this multi-layered tale is the notion that we all look at the world through different lenses: our world-view depends on our life experience and that limits the way in which we think about and understand others and their cultures.
In the story we watch what happens when close friends, a minnow and a tadpole, having begun to talk philosophically, start to grow apart as they develop; and in particular tadpole, changes. As frog, he climbs out of the pond and goes off to explore the wider world returning weeks later full of excited accounts of what he has seen.
His friend imagines the birds, cows and humans he hears of with fishy characteristics

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and as the days pass, the curious minnow resolves to see such amazing creatures for himself. His foray onto land however is a near disaster and it’s only thanks to his amphibious friend, that the fish is safely returned to his watery home – ‘the most beautiful of all worlds’ – for fish anyhow.
A wonderfully dramatic story and a thoughtful look at what constitutes truth and how we construct reality: postmodernism for primary children. It’s a great jumping off point too for further philosophical discussion and exploration of ideas relating to being true to oneself, enduring friendship and much more, depending on the age and stage of the audience.
Unmissable.

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Families, Families, Families

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Families, Families, Families!
Suzanne Lang and Max Lang
Picture Corgi pbk
Family units come in many kinds and all are celebrated in a series of portraits each one aptly framed to give it a real photograph feel. Each one is displayed – in a fitting manner, either hanging against a  themed background, or in a couple of instances standing on a shelf alongside ornaments of the same kind.

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This truly is a reassuring and realistic look at families in all their diversity: parents may or may not be married, children may be adopted, a family might include stepbrothers and sisters, children may live with a single parent – mother or father,

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some have two mums or dads, sometimes grandparents or an aunt provide the family home, there may be a plethora of pets, siblings might be many or none.
Warm, funny, accepting and all embracing, the love shines through from every entry in the portrait gallery The rhythmic rhyming text bounces merrily along culminating in the all important

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A great way to introduce a discussion about diversity at school or at home.
The gentle humour of the photographic animal illustrations gives a fresh lively look to this important topic while also offering a distancing device for the human children who share this book with a supportive adult.

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Aren’t You Lucky!
Catherine and Laurence Anholt
Red Fox
Just the thing if there’s a new baby imminent or just arrived in a family,is a new edition of a “New baby Story’ first published over 20 years ago. Not my favourite Anholts’ new baby book – that’s Sophie and the New Baby – but a delightful and equally reassuring one nonetheless. It’s a sensitively done, first person narrative told by an older sibling. Used to being an only child, the little girl eagerly anticipates the arrival of a new brother or sister but once her new brother arrives, she soon discovers he is going to take a lot of getting used to. Happily though her understanding mum voices a wish for someone who could help her with the baby and before long our narrator discovers a whole new big sister role for herself.

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“Isn’t he lucky!” are the words uttered by family friends and the book’s final ones; so too are the young children given this charming Anholt classic at just the right time.

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Action Movie Kid
Daniel Hashimoto, Mandy Richardville and Valerio Faberge
Keywords Press
I know one person who has one of these –endlessly energetic, bright, fearless and imaginative – actually she has two, but only one called James.
Kept busy by his numerous adventures,

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Action Movie Kid somehow manages to find the time to help his family – he’s a well-meaning boy is James …
And his mum is frequently known to utter such things as …

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One evening AMK hears strange sounds emanating from the basement and when he bravely investigates, discovers inside the washing machine, a portal to another dimension. From the gooey depths emerges an alien slime monster – an extremely slippery customer with a seemingly insatiable appetite.
When things get too much, assistance is called for

 

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and that is exactly what they do – having hastily transformed themselves that is.

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Then mopping up missions complete and enemy sent back where he belongs, it’s time for … bed!
Great literature this certainly isn’t: great fun it assuredly is, particularly if you are an AMK with a big imagination and love comics, and I know a whole lot of those.

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Zoom!
Trish Cooke and Alex Ayliffe
Harper Colliins Children’s Books
Watch young children – they rarely walk , rather they run, skip, jump, whizz and generally dash madly around.
This is an exuberant and charming book about a brother and sister and the joys of general charging around – a favourite activity–

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and about finding some more peaceful, but equally enjoyable things to do when the dashing about has to be curtailed temporarily as it does when Hurricane Kieron falls and hurts his leg. It’s then that he discovers that he can make his paintbrush zzzzooooommm around on paper instead. And what wonderfully whooshing, creative fun he and later Ria, have too:

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not to mention the odd hurricane.
Share this one with those around the age of Kieron and Rush Around Ria – if you can manage to catch them and sit them down for long enough that is. With those bright, jolly action-packed illustrations and a whole host of deliciously noisy action words and other exuberant sounds to join in with, you should manage to have more than a few peaceful minutes of reading pleasure.

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Emu
Claire Saxby and Graham Byrne
Walker Books
Did you know that it’s the emu dad that takes the role of carer for his young? I didn’t. Once his female mate has laid her final egg in the nest the pair built together, she leaves the male to hatch and rear the fledglings. How he does so and much more about that and other animals of the Australian landscape emus inhabit, is related in this absorbing narrative information book.

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The descriptive language Claire Saxby uses is exciting and superbly crafted: ‘gangly, with stippled heads and ribbon stripes, the chick surveys the forest.’ And Graham Byrne provides gloriously textured, scratchy/splodgy storytelling illustrations that truly convey the eucalyptus forest setting of the narrative.

 

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This book is a celebration of a particular aspect of the natural world and a wonderful way of conveying information about it.

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Mermaid Messages and a Mix-Up

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Dear Mermaid
Alan Durant and Vanessa Cabban
Walker Books pbk
If, like young Holly in this story, you discovered a mermaid’s purse on the beach what would you do? Give it back to the mermaid perhaps? That is what Holly decides is right and she writes a message in the sand.

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So begins a pen friend correspondence (using the mermaid’s purse as a dead letter box) and in the first letter the mermaid, Princess Kora, (daughter of the Mer King and Queen) mentions a missing key. Holly in return determines to find it and the hunt – as well as the pen-pal exchange – continues. Holly provides Kora with updates on her attempts to locate the key, asks questions about Kora’s undersea life and leaves her small gifts. Kora in return responds to the questions and provides details about her mer-life, the creatures around her and the forthcoming Mer Festival.
Can Holly locate the golden key (a key that the Mer Queen needs to open her jewellery box) in time to save her friend having to face her mother’s anger?
This magical story will appeal most strongly to those who enjoy the excitement of the letter exchange, relish small treasures and like dressing up. Vanessa Cabban’s colours are gorgeously dream-like

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and the pages sparkle with gently glowing marine objects

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and bubble with small blessings.

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The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Little Mermaid
Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard
Picture Corgi
In addition to the customers who visit Kittie Lacey’s salon, she also does home visits on occasion. One of her regular clients is Coral, the little singing mermaid who tells Kittie of a special human she’d like to meet – Prince Marino – royal diving instructor. Enchanted by her wonderful singing voice, the prince is equally eager to find its owner; but will the two ever get together? Happily yes, for Kittie is on hand to help. To do so however involves getting the better of the wicked sea witch and her evil enchantment.

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This is the sixth in the Fairytale Hairdresser series and as always, there’s a happily ever after ending and it’s packed with fairy tale characters to join in the celebrations. Doubtless Kittie’s fans (and she has many )will lap this one up too.

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Under a Pig Tree
Margie Palatini and Chuck Groenink
Abrams Books
When is a fig not a fig? Why, when it’s a pig of course. At least that is what seems to be the crux of the matter in this enigmatic picture book subtitled ‘A History of the Noble Fruit. (A Mixed-Up Book) and a mixed up book, it certainly is and a funny one. First of all we are told that ‘Pigs were presented as “medals” to the winners of the first Olympics in 776BC.’  I googled this putting in pigs and figs and the only thing I could turn up was that sometimes figs (dried ones) were recommended as a dietary tip for Ancient Olympian athletes prior to competing. Pigs however were used as a sacrifice, each athlete going to the sanctuary of Zeus and sacrificing one to the god.
I decided not to bother with Google any longer but just to enjoy the on-going battle between the book’s author and her editor in this post-modern foray; not forgetting of course, the wonderfully quirky illustrations provided by Groenink who has clearly had enormous fun creating all manner of porcine characters including celebrities,

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in his mixed media illustrations that also include parodies of ancient Greek vases, those of the Chinese Ming Dynasty and the medieval Book of Hours.

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This is certainly NOT a book for everyone but I can see it appealing to those readers who enjoy something different from a straightforward narrative: something that tickles and teases the taste buds perhaps.

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Footpath Flowers

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Footpath Flowers
JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith
Walker Books
To me this is a poem in pictures – poetry in motion only without the words and a pretty near perfect one too; an ode to young children, to the small wonders of nature, to joy in fact. The whole book is a small treasure.
Hand-in-hand, a child (I think a girl) and a man walk, through an urban landscape seemingly without speaking to one another. He is preoccupied with his mobile, the shopping and getting home. The child however, keeps stopping to pick the wild flowers that grow out – as wild flowers do – from all manner of cracks and corners;

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she smells each one lovingly and soon collects a small bunch. But then, still paying attention to the small things around, she notices a dead bird on the path and with due reverence, leaves her first bouquet on the bird.

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Next to receive her attention is a man (homeless?) snoozing on a park bench: he too receives a floral gift, as does a dog

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and once home she bestows floral offerings on her mum and her siblings. That leaves her just one flower:

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and she’s still walking. Whither next we wonder?

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Those of us who work with young children know that they often exhibit – like the child here – a sense of awe and wonder, a connectedness with nature and with their fellow beings and given opportunities for living in the moment, they demonstrate that felt sense, or sometimes even flow state, that young children can inhabit. To me this book is a demonstration of that and it’s achieved by its creators really getting down to the child’s eye level and showing us things from that perspective. I cannot praise too much the Canadian poet author’s storyline and the way in which he has left Sydney Smith to translate that into visual poetry with just the right amount of sentiment and judicious use of colour.

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His perspective in both full-page scenes and smaller strip-frames, is always that of the child; and this is key. So too is the fact that at no time does the adult become impatient or harass the child; rather he walks on but waits with outstretched hand at appropriate moments. (Would that every child had such an adult who showed that depth of understanding.)
Full of poignancy, this is a book to revisit and to cherish.

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Monstrous Reads

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The Big Monster Snoreybook
Leigh Hodgkinson
Nosy Crow
I’ve loved all Leigh Hodgkinson’s wonderfully playful books: this monster metafiction is no exception. It introduces, readers, courtesy of a supposedly unseen mini-monster, to all manner of large monsters that are all supposedly, fast asleep. This is called a ‘`Snoreybook’ after all.
First off there’s knobbly-kneed Norris with the chitter-chattering teeth. Our next encounter is with Jemima and Barbara: sleeptalking is their claim to fame.

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Then comes Tony with his tippy tappy toes, followed by fidgety Fiona, she of the five feet.

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Big-burbling-bellied Brian dreams of cream cakes so sweet readers need to take care – if he wakes up.
DINGA LINGA LING – that’s the alarm clock rousing those monsters from their slumbers, and snoozing has stoked their appetites. It’s a good thing little children are NOT to their taste; rather they have a penchant for little monsters but of course, we’ve not seen one of those anywhere recently have we? But what is that din? It couldn’t be a BIGGER monster – could it? Time for those BIG monsters to beat a hasty retreat seemingly.
Plan accomplished –

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Enormous fun; Leigh Hodgkinson immediately creates a bond with readers and maintains that magical connection throughout.

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One group of 4/5 year olds I shared this with were riveted and some immediately responded with their own monsters.

 

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Marilyn’s Monster
Michelle Knudson and Matt Phelan
Walker Books
Marilyn waits … and waits for a monster of her own, Her classmates all seem to have acquired in one way or another a monster which has become their very own as playmate, protector

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or constant companion. Eventually however, with everyone else paired up, Marilyn tires of just waiting and decides to take those monster matters into her own hands. Off she sets on a monster finding mission. Her success is far from immediate but when she and ‘her monster’ finally do come face to face, they know it was meant to be.

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This is a lovely, longish fantasy story that works on many levels: it concerns wanting to fit in – to have what others have; it’s also about being true to yourself, about sticking to your goal, about companionship, perhaps about journeying, going after your dreams and discovering your own particular place in the world. It all depends what you are bringing to the story as much as anything else. For me there are shades of Philip Pullman’s dæmons too.
Adorable rather than scary monsters, abound in this beautifully told tale. Phelan’s pencil and watercolour illustrations splendidly capture the changing emotions throughout

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as well as delightfully depicting those larger than life creatures with a gentle, mock-scary humour.

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And I just love all the different ways the various monsters came into those children’s lives …

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Knudson’s knitting together of this tender tale is absolutely spot on.

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Magical Moggie Moments

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How to Catch a Mouse
Philippa Leathers
Walker Books
Clemmie kitten maintains a mouse-free home – or so she thinks. One would expect no less from a brave, fearsome mouse-catcher especially one that is a brilliant stalker and chaser as well as being patient and alert. And she knows – thanks to her book – all about mouse catching and mice.

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Hold on though; we are now told that our heroic mouse catcher has never actually seen a mouse. Is that because they fear her so much or …  (“Look behind you,” demands one of my listeners)
No matter; our little ginger moggie knows just what to look for: a long pink tail, round ears, a whiskery, pointy nose …

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But nothing of that description comes within her view, does it?
By this stage in the book my young listeners were so involved in and delighted by what they could see, that they were almost climbing into the book themselves,
A wonderfully controlled, small comedy with a big impact. “Again!” was the immediate demand of another group I shared this with who equally enjoyed watching Clemmie and her mousing antics unfolding in the watercolour illustrations and loved it when she donned her disguise

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after the light-bulb moment that comes once she’s disrobed her prey.
With its short, memorable text one five year old was delighted to discover she could read this “super story” herself after hearing it read aloud.

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Where Does Kitty Go in the Rain?
Harriet Ziefert and Brigette Barrager
Blue Apple
This enchanting book is a mix of story and facts relating to rain.
Readers and listeners are invited via Harriet Ziefert’s rhyming couplets to join in the search for a little girl’s Kitty. In so doing they will find out what rain is, and how cats and other animals – ducks, squirrels, beetles,

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earthworms, butterflies …

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and birds – react to a shower of rain. There is also information about how ducks make themselves waterproof, squirrel’s own personal, always ready brolly, butterflies’ anti-rain roosts and more.
With those harmonious, mannered illustrations of Brigette Barrager to make you smile on every spread; and a trail to follow (with a happy ending) …

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this is just the thing to spark curiosity in the very young and get them further fascinated by the minutiae of life in the natural world.

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Miss Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats
Alicia Potter and Birgitta Sif
Walker Books
Miss Hazeltine, a big-hearted young woman opens her home to ‘Shy and Fearful Cats’ and before long she has a whole host of new inmates; some are strays, others have been made homeless but all are welcome. Lessons commence for her beloved moggies – Bird Basics in the morning, Climbing Up and Climbing Down in the afternoon and on the evening curriculum is Scary Noises. Other lessons are tailored to making new friends, pouncing, not being scared of the ‘Broom’ and some yoga style arching and thinking;

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and Miss H. shows great understanding of reluctant joiners-in. She even goes so far as to tell them of her own fears and soon there develops a special understanding between her and Crumb, one of the least confident kitties.
Numbers continue to increase until one evening Miss Hazeltine is forced to go out for more milk. When she fails to return after dark having taken a tumble,

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it’s down to Crumb to head a rescue mission; a rescue mission that means leading the others out into the scary pitch-black darkness to find the one they’ve come to love.

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Despite being allergic to cats and near phobic if one comes near, I was utterly enchanted by this book with its wonderful cast of characters. Birgitta Sif’s slightly off-beat illustrations with their muted colours and the forest setting of the tale combine to give the whole thing the feeling of a fairy story; so too does the underdog – or rather cat- becoming the hero by overcoming great odds to rescue the one he loves. A quirky charm exudes from every spread: the sight of Miss H as yoga teacher is priceless and the forest scenes (with and without cats) have a real magical feel about them.

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They beautifully complement Alicia Potter’s carefully chosen words for her well-crafted text, underlying which are ideas about self-belief, overcoming your fears, kindness and compassion.

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Some children I shared this with were inspired to create their own inmates for Miss H’s Home.

 

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Rosie’s Chick & a Missing Monster

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Where, Oh Where, is Rosie’s Chick?
Pat Hutchins
Hodder Children’s Books
This is most assuredly a long-awaited, much anticipated sequel to the classic Rosie’s Walk – one of my all time favourite picture books – and its story is told in many more than its progenitor’s thirty-two words, (though with a patterned text it’s ideal, like Rosie’s Walk, for beginner readers).
Forty-seven years later, Rosie’s egg has well and truly hatched but the baby chick seems to have gone missing. Off goes Rosie to search … under the hen house,

 

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in the basket, behind the wheelbarrow, across the fields (some pretty precarious balancing involved here),

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through the straw (likewise)

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but no sign of her little one – to Rosie that is. Of course, following close behind her all the while is her baby chick, but it takes her farmyard companions to make her see this.
Then it’s off for a walk together, Rosie and chick side by side. Ahhh! (Great to see those beehives again.)

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Using the same colour palette as for Rosie’s Walk, Pat Hutchins has created another set of gorgeous scenes, more richly and densely patterned than before, full of that sparkling humour and with some old friends still lurking in the background. What more can one ask?
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful: And certainly worth the incubation period.

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Have You Seen My Monster?
Steve Light
Walker Books
Geometric shapes abound in this follow up to Have You Seen My Dragon? This time we join a little girl as she searches the fairground, (a map is provided in the end papers), for her missing monster – a furry, friendly looking creature. It’s a search that encompasses amazing rides,

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all manner of stalls, exhibits, competitions, a hall of mirrors, animals, musicians

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and more – pretty much all the fun of the fair.
Each spread introduces a shape; and what amazing variety – not only do we have the common or garden rectangle, hexagon,

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oval, square, kite, triangle, circle and crescent that many a young child is familiar with, but also octagon, rhombus, quatrefoil, trapezium, parallelogram, curvilinear triangle,

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heptagon, trapezoid, pentagon, nonagon, ellipse, decagon – exciting words that can be painlessly absorbed in the context of a fun story.
Light’s illustrations, executed in pen and ink are full of interesting details and despite being coloured on the cover, the chief characters are also depicted in black and white throughout the story, with just a splash of colour used for the specific shape featured on each spread. This serves to highlight the shape, making it the eye’s first focus. So, a double delight: A search for the (supposed) missing monster (and that’s of course part of the shared joke between author and audience) and a mathematical exploration for other shapes like the named shape, (or previously named shapes) in the details of each illustration.

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