Tag Walker Books

Golden Domes, Perfection and More

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Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns
Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Amini
Chronicle Books pbk
In this lovely book, a young Muslim girl narrator shares with readers the colours and objects that are a part of her everyday life. She starts with the red prayer mat her father uses five times a day when he faces towards Mecca to pray,

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then we see her mum’s blue hijab, the glowing gold of the mosque dome and minarets, the white kufi (the cap her Grandpa wears), the black ink she uses to write Allah in Arabic letters. The verses continue: “Brown is a date,/ plump and sweet/ During Ramadan,/it’s my favourite treat.” Orange is the colour of the henna designs made on the hands,

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purple an Eid gift, the zakat box filled with money given to charity during Eid is yellow, the Quran has a green cover, and finally, there is a shiny silver fanoos (lantern).
There is also a glossary which gives succinct explanations of the Islamic terms used and the end papers show beautiful Islamic patterns.
In addition to being a great introduction to the world of Islam, this is an important book now when there is so much misunderstanding and misconception about, and prejudice against, Muslims and their faith (which is essentially peaceful). Here a loving Muslim family is shown in a positive light going about their everyday activities in peace and harmony. Beautiful Islamic designs and patterns abound throughout – on clothes, buildings and other objects:

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these are universal and could as easily be found in the UK, India, the USA, the Middle East or any part of the world where there is a Muslim community.
This one should definitely be in every early years classroom or nursery to be shared, enjoyed and discussed.

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Nobody’s Perfect
David Elliott and Sam Zuppardi
Walker Books
As he sits on his bottom stair, a boy shares with readers, his thoughts about perfection – or rather imperfection. Gigi, his little sister is extremely noisy; his best friend, Jack is a bit of a show-off and his mum stubbornly refuses to listen when he explains that it’s his dog Ralphie that should be sitting on the “naughty step” for sleeping on our narrator’s bed, not he himself.
The narrator however, does put his hands up to his main imperfection – messiness

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and there’s certainly no getting away from that one. Messiness however, can lead to creativity and

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the  narrator definitely knows it.
Actually though, Jack’s showing off can sometimes be fun, as can Gigi’s cacophony

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and even Mum has times when she does listen and that’s pretty good. Seemingly near perfection will suffice after all.
I love Zuppardi’s exuberant, scribbly style illustrations with their bright acrylic backgrounds and the first person narration works well though there is a slight inconsistency in the pattern of telling.

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I Wish You More
Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
Chronicle Books
This little book is brimming over with good wishes – literally.

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Every single one of these wishes is one I’d want to give to a young child, indeed to anyone young or old. They are wishes for inner and outer happiness and peace: ‘more ups than downs’, ’ more give than take’,

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‘more we than me’ , ‘more hugs than ughs’, ‘more will than hill.’ I particularly like the reflective

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And …

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Small things? Yes, some perhaps, but profoundly big in impact.
Powerfully and playfully positive and full of love, with occasionally tricky, semantic wordplays that may well need explaining to the very young.
A little gem and one that could be given at birth, a naming, as a valentine’s gift or even perhaps, a wedding.

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Migloo’s Day

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Migloo’s Day
William Bee
Walker Books
Food, – lots of it, friends – lots of those too, and fun – certainly plenty of that, feature in William Bee’s latest story which visually documents (along with a verbal narrative and all manner of signs and labels) a day in the life of a dog. Migloo is the star of the show but there’s a whole host of other characters, both human and animal, who play greater or lesser parts herein. Oh! and all manner of vehicles play a fairly significant part too.
The whole thing starts when Farmer Tom offers a hungry Migloo a ride to market on board his tractor. There is a dizzying array of market stalls some of which do indeed sell food but Migloo’s nose is quickly alerted to his very favourite smell, Suki’s Super! Sizzling! Sausages! so he follows his nose towards her stall in the Town Square.

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Sausages safely secured, Migloo wants something sweet so it’s a Knickerbocker Glory for afters. That’s breakfast dealt with. This is followed by a ride to the factory in Sydney’s side car – arriving just in time for lunch. Daisy’s sandwiches are just the thing and then, sporting a hard hat Migloo jumps on the back of Francois’ motorbike and they head to the fire station where jammy doughnuts are the order of the day.
A police jeep ride, a school visit (via Mrs Luigi’s café for pizza) to assist with bike week, and an excursion with the pupils, follow. Then disaster strikes: the school bus breaks down.

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Now it’s Migloo’s turn to give something back; but for that he needs the help of all his friends and their destination is the park – just in time for the children’s concert and perhaps a helping of chips for one canine hero. PHEW!

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This reviewer is exhausted just thinking about all this activity; but of course, things are not quite done at such a breath-taking speed. William Bee has crammed every single double spread full of details making it a visual feast so that readers want to pause and spend ages seeking out the items referred to in the “Question Time’ posters, identifying the various characters – around seventy in all, reading the signs, notices and generally talking excitedly about the plethora of fascinating details. And just in case that’s not enough there’s a final William Bee’s Busy Page with things to do and find – so it’s back to the previous pages then…
I had to prise my copy out of the hands of the group of 4 to 9 year olds I introduced this engrossing book too. But I’m pretty sure Bee would have kept them busy for many more hours had we had the time. That fold-out spread in itself is good for at least an hour.

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Flight of the Honey Bee

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Flight of the Honey Bee
Raymond Huber and Brian Lovelock
Walker Books pbk
Did you know that ‘Bees can smell in “stereo,” each antenna smelling in a different direction.’ I certainly didn’t. Nor (despite having a partner who is a natural history fanatic) did I know that their eyeballs are furry; but these are just two of the fascinating details I learned from this absorbing book. Essentially it documents the story of a honeybee, ‘Scout’ from the time she leaves the safety of the hive and, as autumn approaches, flies out into the world in search of pollen and a nectar source.
One almost feels like a participant in Scout’s journey, such is the quality of the detail in Lovelock’s watercolour, pencil and acrylic ink illustrations

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and the descriptions of Huber’s (himself a beekeeper) writing: ‘ Scout flies swift and straight as an arrow. The wind buffets her, ruffling her fine hairs on her face … Eyes as black as polished stones are searching – seeking a splash of colour below.’
Each stage of the search is vividly described using that present tense narrative voice: the narrow escape from a hungry blackbird, the nectar locating and sipping, pollen collecting in the ‘sea of flowers’. Then comes Scout’s battering by the hailstorm,

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the encounter with a wasp and her re-entry to the hive where she communicates with her sister bees describing in her dance language the route to the meadow.

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Next she passes her nectar to the house bees, transmits the pollen from her body to the ‘babysitter’ bees that mix it with honey to feed the babies, before settling down for a recuperative rest. A rest that will enable her to join her fellow bees for the autumn harvest in that ‘blue meadow’ she has located.
Sadly, here in the UK, honey bees are declining in numbers: the author ends by giving readers some brief tips on how they can play their part in helping these vitally important insects survive and thrive. An excellent, exciting and educative book.

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Pat-a-Cake Baby

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Pat-a-Cake Baby
Joyce Dunbar and Polly Dunbar
Walker Books
Clad in onesie and chef’s hat, our baby narrator introduces itself thus:
“ I’m a cookie baby
a pat-a-cake baby
I want to bake
a very special cake”
and that is exactly what happens during the course of the night. The chubby infant, ably assisted by three lively chums, gets busy with the shiny yellow butter, ditsy glitzy glossy sugar,

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yolky, jokey slithery, slidy eggs, sulky milk and snowy blowy flour and they proceed to whisk, shake, pour, sieve, sprinkle, and liberally toss the ingredients every which way. At the same time these adorable babes are scraping, flicking, licking,

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and generally cavorting all over the kitchen.
Then, when the cake’s finally baked, there comes the pitting and patting, piping the icing, (with a whole lot of giggling and wriggling for good measure), followed by a generous scittering, scattering, sprinkling and spronkling of decorative bits and pieces.

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The result is so magnificently mouth-watering that the man in the moon himself drops by for a generous serving. Mmmm!

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The mother/daughter recipe here is equally delectable – a large sprinkling of delicious assorted wordplay in a satisfyingly bouncy, rhythmically rhyming, read-aloud text, a delectable cast of tiny characters, generous spreads and spatters of pastel colouring, sprinkled with sparkling stars.
Bring it on and serve it up in platefuls, say I. And then ask me back for more … I know infant listeners will want another serving; it’s truly irresistible.
The whole concoction is just so-o good I’d like to show every single spread but you’ll just have to get hold of a copy for yourself.

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Seeds of Friendship, Flowers of Love

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The Seeds of Friendship
Michael Foreman
Walker Books
Adam, new to high-rise city life, certainly does sow the seeds of friendship in more ways than one in this uplifting modern fable. Adam however, has come from a distant part of the world and his parents helped him keep his memories alive by sharing stories that he responded to by making pictures of the fauna and flora of his old home country.
Outside meanwhile, everything looks grey and cold and his shyness prevents him from leaving his tower block and making approaches to the children he sometimes sees below. But then one morning his view outside is completely blocked by frosty patterns on his window. He does what most children find irresistible– draws pictures on the windows, not only his own but every one available; pictures of animals that live in the frozen forest ‘canvas’ nature has already created for him.

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That night snow falls and next morning Adam ventures out into a wonderful world of white where other children are making a snowman. Brrr!

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But Adam builds something completely different and surprising to the others, who are soon drawn into a co-creative enterprise on a very large scale.

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A few days later when Adam starts his new school, he discovers some of his new-found friends and he finds something else equally important and exciting – a garden. Not a large one, but one from which his teacher gives Adam some seeds to take home: seeds that grow and multiply so that after a few months, Adam is able to invite his friends home where they all help him create a glorious roof garden. And we all know what seeds have a tendency to do – SPREAD – which is just what happens here. Thanks to teamwork, Adam and his friends transform the whole locality into a gloriously glowing city of gardens

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whose colours will be different every season –that and those seeds of hope and friendship which can go on for ever …
Just perfect – what more needs to be said.

For a younger audience is:

 

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Lulu Loves Flowers
Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw
Alanna Books
The adorable Lulu is back with a book-inspired activity: this time she wants to be like Mary Mary in her favourite poem from the garden poems anthology.

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So, armed with library books on gardening, and help from her Mummy with the buying and planting of seeds, her garden is under way. Though of course those flowers won’t grow up overnight, so in the meantime Lulu decides to make her own flower book, string some shells and beads and make a little Mary Mary character of her own. Then one warm, sunny day, joy of joys, her flowers have opened to greet the sun.

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Time to hang up those shiny bells, Lulu, before your friends come round to see that special garden and to share some of the produce.
Absolutely charming – both words and pictures are full of warmth; and as always Lulu is such a good advocate for books and libraries. Would that every young child had parents like her ready to encourage and support all those activities that are so important for young children – reading, writing, growing things and developing their creativity.

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Frida and Bear

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Frida and Bear
Anthony Browne and Hanne Bartholin
Walker Books
Frida loves drawing as does her pal, Bear but one day Bear, stuck for an idea asks Frida for a suggestion. Frida draws and passes her paper to Bear inviting him to turn it into something: Bear does so and thus begins a game of I start/you finish between the friends.

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The clever thing is, each of them is exercising his/her imagination, and becoming co-creator, every time they play a new round of the game.

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The two participants in this story, engage in an exchange game not dissimilar to one I used to play with a nursery class I taught, only there I provided a basket of paper/card offcuts and other possibly interesting bits and pieces for the children to help themselves to and sometimes even turn into a character of some kind which often (with the help of a digital camera and a computer) became a character for their own picture story books. I guess Bear and Frida or Browne and Hanne could do something akin to this with all the characters on the final spread of this inventive book.

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But that’s a whole other story and maybe one young readers might like to try – after they’ve played the exchange game like Bear and Frida, that is.
Indeed, the butterfly Frida makes

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is very similar to one a four year old in my group created and therein lies the beauty of this. Drawing skill is immaterial; it’s creativity and seeing possibilities that’s the essence here.
Super-dooper book – brimming over with creative possibilities for all ages.

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A Trio for Tots

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Gigantosaurus
Jonny Duddle
Templar Publishing
This is a board book edition of an already popular story and unlike many board books the text has not been cut down.
“His feet go STOMP!
His jaws go CRUNCH!
In the blink of an eye
You’d be his LUNCH!”
Shudder, shudder. The Gigantosaurus is about, warn the dinosaur mums as Bonehead, Tiny, Fin and Bill set off to play on the hill one day.
Bonehead posts himself to stand watch on the termite nest and before long he raises the “GIGANTOSAURUS! alarm …
THUD THUD THUD – a false alarm as it turns out. So too is the second cry and the third. Bonehead laughs at his pals, leaves them and goes off, supposedly to take a nap but “GIGANTOASARUS! Run as fast as you can!” he calls. Enough is enough the others decide and off to explore they go; but then …

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Duddle’s prehistoric take on The Boy Who Cried Wolf is enormous fun. The rhyming story rollicks along and with their filmic quality, the digitally created illustrations seem to leap off the page.
There’s also a fold out page and, to whet the appetites of knowledge seekers, there are snippets of information about the featured dinosaurs on the two final double spreads.
Dinosaur style, Duddle has definitely done himself proud.

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I’m Shy
David A. Carter
Walker Books
This has the subtitle ‘A Bashful Little Pop-Up Book’ and it’s a delight, as is the eight-limbed creature that after a little coercion, bit-by-bit reveals itself in its full glory:

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before scuttling back into its hidey-hole again.
‘Again’ is the response I’ve had from every small child I have shared this little book with; although there have also been many demands to ‘do that bit again’ at the very first appearance of the eye

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when the front cover is opened fully.
Short and sweet it surely is: I envisage this one being read to destruction by enthusiastic little hands.

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Cheep, Cheep!
Sue Downing
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Cockerel crows a good morning on a bright new day and this sets off a chain of greetings. ‘With something new to share and say/little chick goes on his way.’ “Cheep cheep!” says Chick to little calf.

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Little calf in turn moos to little lamb who baas to little foal and thus the four baby animals are off out to play.
Simple, charmingly effective and very ‘join-in with-able’. And surprisingly with such chunky, easy to turn pages, it’s also very light to hold.

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Animals – Shape and Form

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Wild About Shapes
Jérémie Fischer
Flying Eye Books
Clever design is at the heart of this intriguing book by an illustrator who is also a screen-printer and as such, is used to layering colour; and layering colour is the essence herein.
A running narrative leads and sometimes urges, readers through the playful book as they turn the alternating acetate and card pages to discover the nature of the animals whose shapes are artfully hidden thereon. ‘Quick! Look over there … ‘we are told and having turned the page, see a large butterfly resting on a flower.
On occasions it’s the animal on the receiving end of the exhortation as in …

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and …

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Sometimes we are given information snippets – ‘Some animals are afraid of nothing, ‘ or ‘Certain animals carry their homes on their backs’ for instance.
For sure, the final clever statement,

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holds true and even more so after reading and re-reading this one. It’s as well the book is sturdily constructed as I envisage it will get a great deal of handling and is likely to prompt children into experimenting with shapes and acetate overlays.

Shape is an important consideration in this book by The Very Hungry Caterpillar creator and other artists:

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What’s Your Favourite Animal?
Eric Carle and Friends
Walker Books pbk
We are introduced to a veritable menagerie in response to the title question of this anthology. Carle and thirteen other renowned picture book artists have contributed a double page spread rendition of his or her chosen member of the animal kingdom. Each person has added a short piece of prose or a poem about said animal and the variety of pictures and words adds up to a fascinating book and an excellent introduction perhaps, to the work of some of these illustrators of children’s books.
Each spread, in its unique way is both visually striking and verbally entertaining. I particularly like Chris Raschka’s snail, just because;

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Mo Willems’ droll humour shines through loud and clear in …

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Peter Sis’ Blue Carp for the dreamlike quality of his depiction and his seasonal piece about hope,

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and Nick Bruel really made the most of the space with his very amusing celebration of the Octopus.

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(What IS Bad Kitty doing intruding there and causing a fuss?)
The last few pages are devoted to thumbnail sketches of the contributors (those not previously mentioned are Tom Lichenheld, Peter McCarty, Rosemary Wells, Lane Smith, Jon Klassen, Susan Jeffers, Steven Kellog, Erin Stead and Lucy Cousins – only four women among them I notice, a spread about The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (the worthy recipient of the royalties from this book) and a final invitation to readers to respond to that title question: what are you waiting for?
Here are some children’s favourites …

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Daniel, 5 chose an elephant – ‘My Granny loves those best too.’

 

 

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Gracie 6, chose rabbits ‘Because they are cute and fluffier than any other animal.’

 

and

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James 7 says, ‘I’ve always liked giraffes since I was a baby and stroked one at the zoo when I was three.’

 

Me, I’m going to find out about the one or two illustrators whose work I am not familiar with.

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Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise

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Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise
Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien
Walker Books
Owl is a kind of superhero-cum comedian: he’s mega confident and one thing is for sure, that self-proclaimed ‘master of disguise’ is very, very hungry. He, the narrator of this tale in fact, also has a way with words. “The night has a thousand eyes, and two of them are mine. I swoop through the bleak blackness, like a wolf in the air.” he declares having failed in his first attempt to fill his tum. In that instance, with a tasty bunny, who sees through his first ‘delicious carrot’ disguise.

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Never mind, there’s a juicy lamb (love those specs) standing ‘helpless in the cool of the night’ our wordsmith informs us as he comes to land again

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and quickly dons his next disguise. Of course that lamb too (helped by those fetching specs I suspect) sees through the disguise and vanishes in a flash. No matter, our hungry hunter has another trick in his bag of disguises; off he goes again, still supremely confident as ‘The terrible silence of the night spreads everywhere.” A pigeon is next to face the ‘dangerous creature-of-the dark’ – he really talks himself up does Hoot Owl, but again the costume fails to fool.

 

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But, does he finally manage to achieve satisfaction? Well, you’ll just have to get hold of a copy of this hilarious book to find out. Till then, let’s just say that his next prey is an inert object (one this vegetarian review can almost but not quite, approve of) and his next disguise, something altogether easier to pull off – literally.
Beautifully written and with such great comic timing, Sean Taylor’s text is, and I make no apologies, a real HOOT. If Hoot Owl is master of disguise, then surely Taylor is master of suspense. My four to seven year old listeners loved the fact that although Owl constantly sounds impressively fierce, he doesn’t ever attack in the aggressive sense; his tactics are altogether more passive, if (albeit) inept. They also loved Jean Jullien’s bold illustrations and were inspired to try some of their own. Here’s one…

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Jullien’s matt colours work perfectly and he capture’s the author’s droll humour brilliantly. I love his almost child-like side views of the predator in flight.
Taylor and Jullien have an absolute winner here: there’s no disguising that.

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Dreams of Freedom and beyond

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Dreams of Freedom
Frances Lincoln
This powerfully moving, timely book is published in association with Amnesty International (who will receive all royalties).
Voices from the past and present day, from many different walks of life and from near and far – all of whom are champions of freedom, speak out on this topic that is of vital importance to each and every one of us.
It is imperative that their words are heeded so I make no apology for mentioning the freedoms the likes of Malala Yousafzai, Chief Standing Bear, Aung San Suu Kyi, Ali Ferzat and Nelson Mandela talk of:
Freedom to Dream, Freedom to be a Child, Freedom to Learn, Freedom from Fear, Freedom to be Yourself, Freedom of Expression, Freedom to enjoy life and liberty, Freedom not be unfairly imprisoned,

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Freedom from Slavery, Freedom through Equality, Freedom to Have Your Own Ideas, Freedom to Feel Safe, Freedom to have a Home, Freedom through Peace, Freedom to Take Responsibility, Freedom to Make a Difference.
Each of these freedoms and the final spread containing some words of Elsa Wiezell are visualized by famous artists from different parts of the world. Every one of them pulls you up short, making you focus not only on the stunning illustration but also on the words they portray. Some spreads are bright and joyful such as Sally Morgan’s glowing scene for the Dalai Lama’s words …
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others such as Mordicai Gerstein’s, dazzlingly transcendent.

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Antje von Stemm’s images for Clare Balding’s words are delightfully quirky and I found Chris Riddell’s beasts looming up from the black to accompany the Freedom to Make a Difference proverb, downright menacing.

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Add to all this, a cover illustration from Oliver Jeffers and a foreword from Michael Morpurgo and you have an inspirational and aspirational book that needs to be on the shelves in every primary classroom, several copies for every secondary school library, and one on every teacher’s bookshelf and among every family collection. Assuredly it’s one to talk about and to treasure.

Also reissued at the same time is

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We Are All Born Free
Frances Lincoln pbk
This is the first paperback edition although this wonderful book has seen two previous incarnations, first in hardcover and then in mini hardback format. I treasure them both.

Another moving and thought-provoking read for anyone over about eight who is interested in freedom and human rights is:

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Africa is My Home
Monica Edinger , illustrated by Robert Byrd
Walker Books pbk
I’d not heard of the practice of pawning children before reading this moving, beautifully illustrated, real-life story. But that was only the start of the terrible ordeals that its young narrator had to face. Far worse was to follow. Young Sarah Kinson, (along with many others) was taken on board a slave ship and far away from her African home. After a tortuous voyage on the Amistad, she arrived in Cuba and from there is sent to New Haven in the USA, along with two of her travelling companions, Kagne and Teme. Eventually their cause was taken up by Lewis Tappan, an abolitionist, and after two years of internment and several court cases, they received their freedom, an education and were ultimately returned to Sierra Leone. These events were to have far reaching consequences both in the USA and Sierra Leone.

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A Bus Ride and A Lullaby for a Little One

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The Bus Is For Us!
Michael Rosen and Gillian Tyler
Walker Books
‘But best is the bus.The bus is for us.’ is the oft-repeated refrain linking the various possibilities entertained by the narrator of this book. A small boy enjoys riding his bike; others like journeys by car or train, horse riding, floating in a little boat or a trip in a big ship,

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would love to ride a fish, sit on a cloud or dangle from a kite, play in a sleigh, perhaps try even more daring modes of transport

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but no matter what, the bus is best and by the end, readers are in no doubt about why.
The combination of Rosen’s shortish, playful rhyming text and Gillian Tyler’s delightful portrayal of the cast of a dozen young characters- not to mention the shaggy dog – who, as the story concludes at the end of the day,

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have all boarded the bus, is great fun.

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A Lullaby for Little One
Dawn Casey and Charles Fuge
Nosy Crow pbk
As the sun goes down the Little One of the title is in the woods with Big Daddy Rabbit but, he tells his offspring, there is still time for some fun and games before bedtime. So together the two of them race and chase and shout, “Woo-hoo!”, then other animals enthusiastically join them in a game of hide-and-seek, some splashing and sploshing

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and as the sun begins to set, they all dance and sing, whirl, twirl, and shout together before ending up in a great big heap. Whereupon a thoroughly exhausted Little One utters a “BOO-HOOOOOO!” and Big Rabbit knows just what to do next …

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And finally, father and baby rabbit snuggle together in the moonlight. Aaahh!
Dawn Casey’s rollicking rhyming text combined with Charles Fuge’s gorgeous georgic watercolour scenes make for a warm-hearted bedtime read for the very young.

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Silly Things – Frog and Toad Together & My Mum’s Sayings

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Frog and Toad Together
Arnold Lobel
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
Frog and Toad are two of my all time favourite characters; I’ve loved them for more years than I care to remember. In fact they featured in Learning to Read with Picture Books, a short book I wrote as a young teacher and what I said then still holds: Here it is – ‘This is a book no child learning to read should miss, and sets a standard by which we should judge all the books we offer to children at the crucial in-between stage (before completely assured, wide reading.) It contains five short stories about easy-going Frog, who is the ideal complement to the volatile Toad. The List (my favourite story) is a hilarious sequence in which Toad’s day is brought to a complete standstill when the wind whisks away his precious ‘list of things to do’. As always Frog is there to save the day.
The green and brown illustrations capture the humour of the text to perfection.
A book to read over and over again.’
In the other four short stories Toad discovers that growing seeds is much harder than he thought, the friends test their will power, discover they’re not as brave as they hoped and Toad has a scary dream. This new edition is picture book size in contrast to the original much smaller I Can Read format, which looked much more like a ‘grown up’ book. I hope this doesn’t mean it won’t reach its intended audience: it’s such a great book and so good to see it back in print.

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My Mum Says the Silliest Things
Katrina Germein and Tom Jellett
Walker Books pbk
This is another title in the same vein as My Dad Thinks He’s Funny and My Dad Still Thinks He’s Funny. Here the elder of two brothers shares with readers some of the oft-uttered comments his mum addresses to him (and countless other adults make to children) –

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things said in all seriousness often, though the response is likely to be giggles, eye-rolling or shrugs from the recipient, all of which we get from the narrator. Every spread (except the finale) presents seemingly daft pronouncements and the title of the book either concludes or opens the scenarios, “When I’m noisy Mum says she can’t hear herself think. When I’m grumpy, Mum says you could land an aeroplane on my bottom lip” each of which is illustrated in quirky mixed media style.

 

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Jellett wittily encapsulates the textual wordplay and the idiosyncrasies of the English language.

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All in all, a fun tribute to mums – it would make an amusing offering for Mother’s Day or a birthday provided the mum in question has a good sense of humour. Smiles to the ready …

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A Spot of Bother

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A Spot of Bother
Jonathan Emmett and Vanessa Cabban
Walker Books
The spot referred to in the title of this deliciously funny story is – at least in the first instance – a fairly small red one caused by a cherry squashed beneath the rear end of Pig (of normally pristine appearance) as he feasted on the juicy drupes one breakfast time.

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More than a little alarmed at the state of his rump after his meal, Pig attempts unsuccessfully to clean off the spot . Along comes Goat chewing what looks like a beetroot; his efforts to clean off the ‘MONSTROUS MISFORTUNE’ result in an all-over, rosy hued bum for Pig.
Cow is the next to happen along: she proceeds to rub at Pig’s ‘TERRIBLE TRAGEDY’ with a mucky-looking mop.

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Now there’s tractor oil spread on top of the beetroot juice but no matter, here’s Sheep to avert the ‘DREADFUL DISASTER’ with a spot of shampoo … Oops! That wasn’t shampoo, Sheep, but sheep dye.

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Our porcine pal is now a glorious shade of indigo all over; but, unlike his pals, Pig is not impressed at his new look. Off he goes to hide away only to emerge at nightfall; but that is not the end of Pig’s troubles. A muddy heap is what his friends come upon the following morning as they approach Pig’s shelter. But if you’ve ever tried a facial mud-pack, you’ll know of its cleansing powers.

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The effects of the hot sun on pig’s mud-covered body works wonders and what emerges from the mucky mess is, in our protagonist’s own words, a “PERFECTLY PRISTINE PIG!”.

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The action is beautifully portrayed in Vanessa Cabban’s wonderful watercolour illustrations. The expressions on the faces of the animals as they both contribute to and observe Pig’s plight, so perfectly capture their changing feelings, and Pig himself is priceless.
The tone of the telling is spot on too: a fantastic author/artist collaboration. (I was saddened to read of Vanessa’s tragic death in an accident at the end of last year so these pictures have a special poignancy for me).

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Oliver and Isabel: New Homes, New Friends

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Oliver & Patch
Claire Freedman and Kate Hindley
Simon & Schuster pbk
I’m no dog lover, but nevertheless quickly found myself falling for Patch – he’s a total charmer. So too is young Oliver – new to city life and feeling out of sorts – who comes across the soggy animal while out exploring his new surroundings in the rain. Oliver (who misses his country pals) and Patch are soon firm friends.

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Despite Oliver’s best efforts, for he picks up on Patch’s wistfulness, nobody comes forward as the owner of the small white dog described in his FOUND posters.

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Then one drizzly morning, Oliver and Patch’s explorations take them into what for the boy at least, is unknown territory. Hot on the heels of Patch who has suddenly broken free of his lead, Oliver finds himself in a tiny park confronting a girl all clad in red and he knows at once …

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All is not lost however, for although Ruby is indeed Patch’s owner, she is more than happy to embark on a new friendship.

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Each and every turn of the page elicited “aaahs” and not only from my audience (the butcher’s shop scene didn’t do it for my vegetarian self though); Kate Hindley’s illustrations exude playfulness and convey so beautifully, the characters’ feelings as well as extending what we hear in Claire Freedman’s well-crafted, touching text.

 

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The Girl with the Parrot on her Head
Daisy Hirst
Walker Books
Young Isabel, the girl with a parrot on her head seems perfectly happy spending her time with friend Simon;

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but then Simon moves away leaving poor Isobel with hate in her heart. Even the parrot moves off to perch elsewhere, until that is Isabel ‘felt quiet inside, and decided to like being on her own.’ Back comes the parrot and Isabel’s need for friends is replaced by a system. In no time at all she has (with a little help from her feathered companion) sorted all her belongings into boxes. The parrot however has nocturnal worries about those boxes, in particular the wolves’ one. Isabel too, despite her bravado, has concerns about the relative size of one of the wolves and the system.
Imagine her sense of satisfaction then when she comes across the perfect wolf box while out on her scooter. There’s a snag though: the box is already occupied.

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It’s occupant, Chester, is more than willing to discuss other possibilities than the use he’d had in mind but quickly rules it out as a wolf-container. Instead, the two tell the large lupine about the ideal place for him, whereupon he’s off right away leaving Isabel and her new friend to their own creative devices. Oh! And the parrot becomes an honorary astronaut too.

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Daisy Hirst presents a child’s loneliness as a consequence of her friend moving away in a straightforward text and allows her illustrations to do much of the talking and to reveal much of the emotional content in a gently humorous manner while still leaving gaps for readers themselves to fill. Her seemingly simple child-like images of the young characters at play rendered in bold blocks of paint, alongside outlined, uncoloured images that stand out starkly from the white page and occasional pages where somewhat muted shades of blue predominates,

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make for visual interest at every turn of the page.
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Books to Play With

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Bizzy Bear Dinosaur Safari
Benji Davies
Nosy Crow
Toddlers will enjoy accompanying Bizzy Bear on safari. Having parked his jeep, he’s ready for his dino day. Off he goes with friend rabbit to spot all manner of dinosaurs along the trail, some large, others hungry and one baby just hatching out. Then it’s time to head to the diner for a spot of refreshment: watch out though BB – what’s that with big sharp teeth behind the diner, ready to pop out? A sturdy board book with a brief rhyming text and sliders to pull, push or turn to reveal those prehistoric creatures in their brightly coloured jungly landscape.

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There’s an abundance of flora and fauna for young eyes to find in addition to the dinosaurs; and what can have made those enormous footprints?

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Snip-Snap
illustrated by Kasia Nowowiejska
Caterpillar Books
Five small animals in turn invite toddlers to guess the identity of five larger ones lurking in various places in the African landscape. The latter are revealed by lifting the flaps, thus allowing the animals to pop out from their respective hiding places.
Young listeners can absorb the simple concepts (‘high amongst the leaves’ or ‘beside the jungle path’ for instance)

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as they discover in turn, the roaring lion, chittering-chattering monkey, the elephant splashing,

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the giraffe stretching her neck and the snippy-snappy crocodile lurking in the swamp as they listen to the accompanying playful rhyming text.

A companion title with a farmyard setting is Cheep Cheep

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Doctor Molly’s Medicine Case
Miriam Moss and Deborah Allwright
Walker Books
Young Molly loves to dress up and has decided to be a doctor. She dons her doctor’s outfit (lifting the flap reveals the transformation) then finds her magical medicine case. Therein are all the things required to make her patients feel better. Molly is prepared

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and soon there’s a knock at her door. It’s Polar Bear with a bad case of the sneezles and shivers; seemingly he’s caught cold playing in the snow. A reassuring Dr Molly opens her case and takes out a thermometer and hot water bottle – just what’s needed to make Mr B. feel much better. (Children will love to open Molly’s bag, remove the items, tuck the hot water bottle into Polar Bear’s arms and take his temperature).
Dr Molly also successfully treats Crocodile (whose tail is injured as a result of a skateboarding accident) and Pelican (suffering from a sore throat caused by the consumption of too many bony fish)

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so why have all her patients returned? It’s a case of rumbly tums so it’s just as well that, in her magic case, Dr Molly has everything required for a cure. And a very tasty one it looks too.

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Picnic time everyone.
A fun, interactive treatment for the very young when they are suffering from a bout of ‘I- need-a-storyitis’.

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Love Always Everywhere …

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Love Always Everywhere
Sarah Massini
Nosy Crow pbk
In a follow up to her gorgeous Books Always Everywhere, Sarah Massini brings us another visual treat, with an amorous theme this time. Small children engage in all manner of loving activities including hugging pets, sharing a book,

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making music, dancing, playing together on the beach and in the park as they snuggle, dance, build sandcastles, eat ice-creams, bounce on space-hoppers and much more all to the accompaniment of a brief rhyming text.

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Totally lovable – what more can one say?

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Frog in Love
Max Velthuijs
Andersen Press pbk
Hurray! Andersen Press has reissued the very first of Max Velthuijs’ brilliant Frog titles just in time for Valentine’s Day. Herein Frog learns from Hare (courtesy of his large book) that the reason for his feeling out of sorts is that he’s in love. He sets about painting a picture of his beloved Duck and goes off to deliver it anonymously. The next day he leaves flowers. Duck is puzzled about the identity of the sender who meanwhile is getting desperate and has resolved to win Duck’s love by performing a reckless attempt at the world high jump record. During this feat however, disaster strikes and Frog crash lands right at the feet of the very one he wants to impress.
All ends happily despite the disaster

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and since then, (that’s about twenty five years in book time) the green frog and the white duck have loved each other dearly for as the author rightly says, ‘Love knows no boundaries.’

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If you didn’t get hold of a copy the first time around do so now, it’s just great.

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Guess How Much I Love You
Anita Jeram
Walker Books
It’s over twenty years since the first edition of this neo-classic picture book. Now, in time for that special day, Walker Books offer a lovely mini fold-out edition in a slip case. Perfect as a special gift for a special person.

I don’t often feature teen fiction but I couldn’t resist this one:

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Love Hurts
Malorie Blackman
Corgi pbk
Within the covers is a splendid collection of over twenty short stories and extracts from young adult writers, compiled by the wonderful Malorie Blackman. Young love in its many forms is contained herein and all are favourites of the compiler who has herself also written a new story for the book. As one would expect from Malorie, there’s not a dud among them: and the judiciously selected extracts offer great starting points for readers to meet authors they may not yet have tried.

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Family Matters

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15 Things NOT to do with a Baby
Margaret McAllister and Holly Sterling
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Sibling jealousy (mixed with anticipation, love, anxiety) is a familiar scenario when a new sister or brother arrives in the family, though the topic is anything but new when it comes to picture books. Three that immediately come to mind are The New Small Person by Lauren Child, There’s Going to be a Baby – a collaboration between Helen Oxenbury and John Burningham and the Anholt’s Sophie and the New Baby .
Margaret McAllister takes a humorous approach to what can often be a mixture of strong feelings, presenting – rule-book style – a selection of Don’ts – a delicious mix of flights of fancy

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and some plausible situations.

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These are followed by a series of ‘Do’s culminating in an adorable

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all so beautifully depicted by new picture book illustrator, Holly Sterling whose work I first came across in Over the Hills and Far Away. Her illustrations herein exude both joie de vivre and a strong sense of love and affection. Who can resist smiling at such scenes as the baby planting, for instance?

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This is one loving family realistically portrayed, at a time of big change and emotional upheaval, with an endearing naturalness and modernity.

There’s a broader look at families in:

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Who’s In My Family?
Robie H. Harris and Nadine Bernard Westcott
Walker Books pbk
This is essentially an exploration of all manner of families through the speech bubble conversations of brother and sister Gus and Nellie, and a straightforward narrative information text. We join the siblings as they and their parents leave home and visit the zoo where they encounter and discuss a variety of familiies.

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’Some have two mummies. Some have two daddies.’ … ‘Some children live with their mummy part of the time and with their daddy part of the time.’
The whole tone of the book is positive, “FAMILIES LOVE BEING TOGETHER” … ‘But sometimes families have angry times. And sometimes families have unhappy times.’
Illustrated in a suitably upbeat, digitally created style, this inclusive book is full of potential for discussion with under sevens,

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ROBOPOP
Alice Hemming and James Lent
Maverick Arts Publishing pbk
Subtitled ‘A Dad in a Box’, this is an offbeat look at one particular dad, Dylan and Daisy’s who, so they tell him is “not like normal dads,”. Their dad is an inventor and knows nothing about football (my kind of person perhaps?).
“Dads don’t come in a box,” he tells them and goes on to prove his point in no uncertain terms by creating a robotic super dad complete with packaging.

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This invention speaks in rhyme and is eager to demonstrate his soccer prowess in the big match

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as well as cooking up a special dinner for football players.
By the end of a very unsatisfactory and exhausting day, Dylan and Daisy have come to an all-important realization about their own father and are more than happy when he makes a timely reappearance.

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Quirky illustrations and opportunities for joining in with the ‘robot speak’ add to the fun.

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Creativity Unleashed

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The Extraordinary Mr Qwerty
Karla Strambini
Walker Books
Norman Qwerty is a real ideas man; he just loves to invent things – amazing things, Heath Robinson style. But so extraordinary are his inventions that he keeps them under his hat (a large bowler) – quite literally – for fear that others will think him strange. Consequently Mr Qwerty feels completely alone, for what he fails to see is that other people also wear hats, all manner of them.

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There are cloches, boaters, top hats and fedoras all with hinged lids that can be unlocked and lifted to reveal such passions as butterflies, mathematics, exploration, tea even.
Eventually Mr Q’s ideas grow so huge they can be contained no longer. His piece de resistance is an enormous bird-like contrivance that spews forth appropriately egg-shaped ideas to all and sundry.

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In this way creativity begets creativity we assume, thus fostering a community of diverse thinkers and creators. And Mr Qwerty himself? He’s is no longer alone, unless he chooses to be.
Karla Strambini’s detailed illustrations are rendered largely in black and white, abundantly hatched and with just the occasional dash of colour – Mr Q’s brownish red tie being the most notable coloured item. From the title page, the whole thing is littered with visual symbolism

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leaving readers free to let their own imaginations run riot.
This unusual, fascinating book could well be used with children in both primary and secondary school; there is so much to look at, think about and discuss.

Imagination also runs riot in:

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Battle Bunny
Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett and Matthew Myers
Walker Books
Either you will celebrate the creativity demonstrated herein or you’ll cringe in shock horror at the defacing, with black marker pen of the original saccharin sweet story.
(I have to admit when studying I have been guilty of writing my own comments all over textbooks, but I’ve never drawn in one). It’s something Matthew Myers does as he modifies the original pictures: He enhances, indeed completely revamps, the oil paintings with slightly smudgy black images of Alex’s anarchic making. It’s Alex too who renames the Birthday Bunny, Battle Bunny converting him from a cute character to a saw-wielding, helmeted and belted, eye-patch wearer bent on executing his ‘destructive Evil Plan’.

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(Little Rabbit Foo Foo you have a rival here.) He does have one more asset under his belt too – an extra fighting style bringing his number to 1104, one more than (Shaolin) Bear and (Ninja) Turtle his would-be eliminators.

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So is the world to be completely destroyed or can anybody stop Battle Bunny and his crazy plan? Thank goodness then for a boy who just happens to be called Alex and just happens to have a birthday too …
This hilarious book’s three co-creators/destructors are to be heartily congratulated: What a wonderful way to improve upon those cloying, sloppily written picture books out there – don’t try it with library or school books though. And, let’s hope that unlike our Birthday Bunny, readers will not be on the receiving end of a yucky offering inscribed on the flyleaf with such words as Happy Birthday Alexander. To my little birthday bunny on his special day. Love Gran Gran. After reading this, those who do will know just what action to take.
I’m off to get my hands on some of those terrible reading schemes to work on.

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Ralfy Rabbit & Construction: Libraries for All

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WANTED! Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar
Emily MacKenzie
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
Meet bibliophile Ralfy rabbit, maker of book lists– those he’s read (with carrot ratings ascribed), those he wants to read and those to recommend to friends and family. Ralfy would go to any lengths to get his paws on a good book. He’d even take them from people’s homes

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and large gaps began to appear on the shelves of one small boy Arthur. Arthur too was a book lover and when he discovers the absence of his favourite monster book he decides something has to be done to apprehend the thief. Time to put in a call to the local constabulary he decides, having been laughed at by his mum and chastised by his teacher. Even the police don’t take him seriously though, not until Ralfy tries stealing a book from PC Puddle that is.
Ralfy finds himself in a line-up but it’s pretty difficult to tell one bunny from another when they’re all wearing book lovers T-shirts; Arthur is certainly bemused. But then PC Puddle starts up a conveyor belt …

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That’s not quite the end of the tale though: Arthur knows just the place for someone with an insatiable appetite for books, a place where he must make sure to take the books back for others to enjoy.
This engaging book is an unashamed plug for libraries and an amusing read to boot. I love the alliterative list of Ralfy’s book-pilfering crimes and the book lists Ralfy himself makes (these will be appreciated by adults but most will go over the heads of young children; they will be amused by the carrot ratings).
The illustrations are great too – packed with humorous touches and of course, there are plenty of books in evidence. The conveyor belt scene is terrific, as is one of Arthur’s bookshelves complete with snails and slugs

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and I love the night spotlight of Ralfy returning home with his swag bag almost bursting at the seams with his latest haul.
If you share this with a class of KS1 children, make sure they see the poster on the book’s back cover. They could have fun making their own WANTED posters for Ralfy, or perhaps a poster promoting their local library (if they are lucky enough to have one still).

Building a new library, now that really is something to celebrate and it’s exactly what we see happening in

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Construction
Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock
Walker Books
Big machines move onto the site digging, filling, concreting, hoisting wood – Thonk! CLONK CLAP! Then sawing, measuring, hammering as the stairs, floors and walls are erected. Next come the roof, doors and windows with a Heave-ho! followed by pipes and power wires and finally a couple of coats of paint. At last it’s time to bring in the furniture and most important of all come the books – lots and lots of lovely books all waiting to be borrowed. Ready … STEADY… READ! Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Sally Sutton’s energetically rhythmic text simply throbs along in patterned form – action and then onomatopoeic words: ‘Fill the holes. Fill the holes. … Spread it fast before it sets. Sloosh! SLOSH! SLOP!’

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and ‘Build the frame. Build the frame. … Bing! BANG! BONG!

 

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(Great for audience participation this.)
It’s good to see both male and female workers on Lovelock’s construction site with some of the latter clearly directing the operation in places.

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His changing perspectives allow the audience a variety of views from beneath the action to looking down upon it, at some distance or right in close.

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The final page provides brief explanations of the machines usage and shows the safety gear of a site worker. What more can little builders as well as readers ask?

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Christmas Books for the very youngest

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Five Christmas Penguins
Steve Lenton
Little Tiger Press
There’s fun and frolics penguin style in this jolly rhyming counting book wherein the polar pals prepare for the big day, wrapping, decorating, singing, baking and finally wishing “Merry Christmas, everyone!”
A sturdy seasonal board book for the very youngest: with simple, gently humorous images, illustrated in bold, bright colours.
Buy from Amazon

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Santa’s Beard
Matilda Tristram, Tom Duxbury and Nick Sharratt
Walker Books
Santa complains that his fluffy beard is making him feel hot and bothered one summer’s day, so the offending article takes flight in search of a more congenial face.

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However, none of its temporary hosts is at all interested. What’s an unwanted beard to do far from home and with the snow starting to fall? Luckily, said beard decides to stop for a rest and finds himself hurtling straight towards a large red rear end protruding from the snow. A red rump that just happens to belong to none other than his original owner, Santa, who is more than happy to have his old chin warmer back, just in time for that chilly present delivery.
Sharratt’s characteristic brightly coloured, bold images thickly outlined in black are immediately attractive to young children who will enjoy moving the snow-white beard onto the various characters: I suspect it will quickly become a rather mucky beard.
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Jolly Snowmen
text by Annette Rusling
Caterpillar Books
Toddlers can enjoy joining in a chilly countdown as five little snowmen engage in a snowball fight, four go sledging, three try ice-skating – oops one falls through the ice, leaving two to go trekking till a polar bear scares off one, and the final one? He has to go searching for his friends for a Christmas ‘Snow Ball”. Anyone for a dance?
Tactile, rhyming fun, with cheery seasonal colours.
Buy from Amazon

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London Christmas, Country Christmas

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Katie’s London Christmas
James Mayhew
Orchard Books
Fast asleep on Christmas Eve, Katie and Jack are woken by a loud sneeze coming from downstairs: Grandma, they suppose, but when they creep down, whom do they discover busy with presents by the tree – not Grandma but Father Christmas himself. Not only does he have the snuffles, but he’s also behind with his parcel deliveries. Katie and Jack are more than ready to help and so ‘WHOOSH!’ off they all fly over the rooftops of London in the swirling snow. They see the lights of Regent Street, get a view of Covent Garden, then it’s on past that glorious Trafalgar Square Christmas tree

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to the Houses of Parliament and around Big Ben before starting the night’s work proper. And what a busy time they have delivering to all manner of houses; but there’s one very important delivery left to do involving a royal chimney, a very special family and some sleeping corgis.
With glorious paintings of some of the most famous sights of London coated in snow and bathed in starlight

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and glowing indoor scenes, this magical, charming story with touches of gentle humour, is truly wondrous.

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And Then Comes Christmas
Tom Brenner and Jana Christy
Walker Books
‘When the days barely start before they’re over again,
and red berries blaze against green shrubs.
And bare branches rake across the sky …
Then hang up boughs of fir or spruce or pine,
Dotted with cones and bits of holly, welcoming winter.’
So begins this heartwarming seasonal book wherein we share with a rural family, the time leading up to Christmas Day itself. First though there are decorations to hang up, a visit to Santa at the store, parcels to keep hidden and a tree to choose and to cover with baubles and lights. At school there is the inevitable concert, and presents to make for mum and dad. Come Christmas Eve the whole house is scented by delicious baking smells and neighbours come to visit. Then there are stockings to hang, presents to put under the tree, not forgetting a special offering to leave for Santa and his reindeer before snuggling up in bed for a favourite story. When … the whole world waits seemingly …

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Then next morning …

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Beautifully and poetically written, and portrayed in glowing scenes of seasonal wonders both inside and outdoors, this is a gorgeous book to share in the days before Christmas either at home or school. The patterned text uses the same When/Then structure right through with a general ‘When …’ statement

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followed by a ‘Then’ action for the featured family.

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Seasonal smells, sights and sounds are evoked on every spread so that each turn of the page brings sensory delight.
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No young child’s Christmas is complete without:

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Alfie’s Christmas
Shirley Hughes,
Red Fox pbk
Alfie’s Christmas
Shirley Hughes
Bodley Head
Making cards and decorations, counting down the days with an advent calendar featuring a nativity scene, Christmas cooking, buying and decorating a Christmas tree, choosing and wrapping presents, writing to Santa, carol singing, hanging up Christmas stockings and a family Christmas dinner with visiting relatives:
these are just some of the ingredients of four-year old Alfie’s Christmas so lovingly told and illustrated in Shirley Hughes incomparable style.
This is a traditional family Christmas full of warmth, friendship, love, bustle and excitement, and some secrets too. It’s Christmas as we would wish it to be for everyone, before Christmas started in October and consumerism took over.
Assuredly, a book to buy and cherish year after year.
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Demolition

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Demolition
Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock
Walker Books pbk
This wonderfully noisy book has energy and motion in abundance. We follow a gang of workers as they don their protective gear and set to work with their monstrous machines tearing down a derelict building so a playground can be erected in its place.
Writing largely in the imperative, Sally Sutton has created a glorious, must-join-in-with, onomatopoeic rhyming text that characterises the various machines and their roles to perfection:

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The excavator’s huge jaws work in dinosaur fashion to bite and tear and slash.
Then with its basket attached it must …

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Ram the walls. Ram the walls.
Bash and smash and slam.
First they wobble, then they fall.
Thud! CREAK!
WHAM!
Next comes the process of hosing and damping the dust and dirt done by the workers with hoses (I’ve never thought about this before); another spread shows stone crushing and grinding to make new concrete from the old; there is wood shredding

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and chipping to create mulch from the sawdust and metal sorting. Each process has an emphasis on reusing/recycling materials (a great message to give children).
Once all the rubble has been cleared and the play equipment put in place, we are issued an invitation on the final double spread to join the fun and ‘Run and climb and play.’

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Lovelock’s emphasis throughout is also on the monstrous machines, which he presents in acrylics, pencils and ink. The latter he uses to highlight details such as the rivets and other elements that contribute to the motion, and to make the various machines stand out from their spatter-wash and stipple backgrounds.
There’s a final Machine Facts page giving brief information about each of the performers and their add-ons; and the end papers are appropriately rubbly.
This book is the perfect thing for an active story session with a group of preschoolers. After an initial reading children themselves can use their bodies to become the machines, swinging those wrecking balls, thumping, smashing and whacking, then biting tearing and slashing (how will they create those jaws?) ramming, bashing and slamming; whishing, splishing and squirting those hoses and more.
Then there are the noises to create – what might they use to make the various sounds in addition to or instead of, their voices. In fact you might read the story and have the children add sound effects.
A must buy for any early years setting and for machine-loving individuals.
Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

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I Want: Bernard, Mine! & The Crocodile Under the Bed

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Bernard
Rob Jones
Beast in Show Books
What would you do if you heard of a large, red-eyed scary-looking dog whose teeth were huge and his paws the size of your head? Run a mile maybe: I’d definitely keep well away. That’s certainly the reaction wild hound Bernard receives from the local villagers who are convinced he has designs on one of them as his next meal. Not so however; all this sadly misunderstood canine is after is strawberry jam and lots of it. So, watch out for any you might have.

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The rhyming text and wacky illustrations are really part and parcel of an integrated, mock-scary whole, tasty, treat. Just the thing to share on a chilly wintry day, this is a small book but one that makes a big impression. A debut for author/illustrator, Rob Jones, and for Beast in Show Books, I look forward to what they have to offer in the future.

Buy from www.beastinshow.com/books

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Mine!
Sue Heap
Walker Books
This utterly charming book about possessiveness and sharing centres on a small girl, Amy who likes to keep her treasured possessions – her blankie, her bear, her bunny and her bird very close to her. So, when the twins want to join her play she immediately tries to assert her ownership of her favourite things. To no avail though; Zak and Jack are equally determined. Then along comes Baby Joe clutching the toy bird. Amy takes possession.

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Her cries of “MINE” result in a very sad looking Joe but it takes some wise words from the twins to trigger a minor crisis of conscience on Amy’s behalf and soon peace and harmony reigns – well harmony anyway, Amy fashion.

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I love the way Amy manages to come up with a compromise solution that suits all parties while still giving her the upper hand and the way the emotions of the children are beautifully portrayed and mirrored in the expressions on the faces of bird, bear and bunny.
A must have for all early years setting and families with very young children.
Buy from Amazon

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The Crocodile Under the Bed
Judith Kerr
Harper Collins Children’s Books
Young Matty desperately wants to go to the party but he’s poorly. Very disappointed, he’s left in Grandpa’s care with a party blower and the promise of some birthday cake. Suddenly he hears a voice but it isn’t Grandpa’s. No, it belongs to an enormous crocodile that emerges from under his bed offering to remedy the situation. So, with a toot from Matty’s party blower they take off to a very special destination – the King’s birthday party no less. This King isn’t the human kind though, he’s a handsome lion;

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and with Chimpy on hand to look after him, Matty is ready to try some of the rides on offer. There’s a ‘rip-roaring’ tiger ride, a bouncy chimp ride and an enormous slide

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with a surprise at the end. After all the excitement, there’s crocodile waiting to fly him home just in time before the rest of the family returns.

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We found our own crocodile to fly us to a storyland party too

Their party, he learns had been a washout but they have brought him some cake albeit rather soggy. “… you really didn’t miss anything,” dad tells Matty …
An enchanting story from the wonderful Judith Kerr who originally started this tale as a follow-up to her classic The Tiger Who Came to Tea – a superb stimulus for children’s imaginations: so too is this one.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Milo & Mucky: In Need of A Friend

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The Really Abominable Snowman
Valentina Mendicino
Walker Books
In a high Himalayan cave resides a smallish creature, with a terrible reputation. Milo, for that is the name his mother calls him, spends his time making things, cleaning, bathing and eating, not children but his favourite cherry cupcakes. Sad and lonely, he longs for a friend to share those cupcakes with. Time for a change, he decides. A makeover perhaps?

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Maybe not.
Social media? His tweets are a resounding failure and his foray into Facebook is sadly, a hilarious (for readers) case of misunderstanding.

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Undaunted Milo keeps trying until he comes across an announcement in the paper…
Surely that must be the answer but …
He’s even misunderstood by the Society of Misunderstood Creatures.

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Seemingly Milo is to remain friendless and lonely for ever? But wait; who is that bidding him ‘hello’?

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Could it be that longed for soul mate? Without wanting to spoil the ending, suffice it to say, it’s a victory for the power of cupcakes, and perseverance of course.
Valentina Mendicino’s 3D style, subtly coloured, digitally rendered illustrations convey Milo’s changing feeling and emotions (and those of the minor characters) humorously and touchingly. And there are plenty of amusing domestic details in this unusual story with misunderstandings aplenty, that has at its heart, a search for friendship and happiness. Delicious endpapers too. All in all, a tasty debut.
Buy from Amazon

Also on the theme of friendship is

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I Wish I’d Been Born a Unicorn
Rachel Lyon and Andrea Ringli
Maverick Arts Publishing
Mucky the horse has become somewhat malodorous on account of his dirty habits so the other animals avoid him. If only I’d been a unicorn, he wishes, then others might like me more. His wish is overheard by Owl who sagely tells him that true friends are concerned with feelings, not looks. He offers to help nonetheless and flies off to find the resources to make Mucky into a unicorn. The cows give him milk for the whiteness, which Frog obligingly churns, then he heads off to the beach in search of a pointy shell to serve as the horn. After a night’s work, Mucky has been transformed and is presented to his would-be friends.

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All appears to be going well until a big black cloud appears overhead. Oh-oh …
Will the other animals think less of him without his milky white coat or will Mucky realize that friendship awaits right under his brown nose?
Told in jaunty rhyme, the delightfully expressive, digitally rendered illustrations add much to this story. Those flies hovering around the whiffy Mucky are just one example of the visual humour

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and I love the idea of Frog churning the milk by swimming around in it.
Find and buy from your local bookshop: http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Buy from Amazon

A B C 1 2 3

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Robert Crowther’s Pop-Up Dinosaur Alphabet
Walker Books
I’ve tried on many occasions to compile a dinosaur alphabet book with young children but we’ve always got stuck with a few letters and ended up inventing. No so, Robert Crowther. He has created a lift-the flap/pull the tag book with a dinosaur for each and every letter, even x. This is represented by Xiantingia – a chicken-sized, bird-like dinosaur discovered in China in 2011. How tiny this looks in comparison with say, Janenschia (also new to me).

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This massive, tiny-brained dinosaur was as long as two buses and its enormously long neck enabled it to graze at the top of trees. Even this one though is small compared with the longest ever land animal, our old friend Diplodocus, the adult of which was as long as one and a half tennis courts. Information such as this (as well as in most instances, what it ate) is provided under the letter flap along with the helpful pronunciation of the creature’s name.
Children will delight in particular, to learn that the final dinosaur, Zuniceratops, was discovered by an eight-year-old boy.
On the back inside cover is a silhouette of each dinosaur so readers can compare their relative sizes and make a comparison with the central human figure.

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There are also some dinosaur-related terms and information on the three dinosaur eras showing whether each one lived in the Triassic, Jurassic or Cretaceous period.
Great paper engineering, exciting and fascinating facts and an ever-popular topic with children – it can’t fail to delight.

For slightly younger dino-addicts is:

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Ten Terrible Dinosaurs
Paul Stickland
Picture Corgi pbk
This is a welcome reissue of a counting down, rhyming dinosaur romp and a companion volume to Dinosaur Roar. The vividly coloured creatures get up to all manner of lively, child-like activities such as dancing, stuffing themselves, playing tricks and more, as one by one they exit or are eliminated from the line-up (Not too sure about one sent off for being ‘too spiky’ what’s wrong with being different?) until just one dozing dinosaur remains. But then …

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Great fun, with counting opportunities aplenty and perhaps even better, a chance to let rip with that grand finale.

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The Tobermory Cat 1 2 3
Debi Gliori
Birlinn pbk
That well known, endearing ginger cat, Tobermory Cat , resident of the Isle of Mull, returns in a second story, a narrative counting book this time. Our feline friend wakes up hungry and having been given his breakfast – 1 bowl of cat food and 2 saucers of milk, sets off in search of more to fill up his tummy. So what does he find? Plenty by all accounts. 3 crab claws on the pier, then it’s time for a nap.

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Lunch is next – actually 5 lunches and still that cat wants more. Off he goes once more and by the time night falls, that cat with a seemingly insatiable appetite has consumer has feasted on 7 salmon snacks, 8 birds (in his dreams this time), 9 midges – well almost

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and for dinner, 10 delicious fish courtesy of the local restaurant all of which makes him very thirsty. Time for a drink – puddle water is nearby but this is no ordinary puddle – a whole galaxy is reflected therein. Full at last, Tobermory settles down for the night.
Debi Gliori provides gorgeous illustrations of the items that go into Tobermory Cat’s tum and other things to count, which don’t, as well as some beautiful seascapes and a fold-out puddle reflecting Tobermory Cat and the night sky with its galaxy of stars. There is a gentle humour running through the story and I particularly like the way other mathematical ideas as well as simple counting are included.

Find and buy from your local bookshop: http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole

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Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
Walker Books
Sam and Dave, along with their dog ( watch that dog), are on a mission –a mission to find “something spectacular”. They start digging, just missing a largish gemstone,

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more digging… a larger one … oops missed that one too. They stop for a snack followed by a change of direction (the boys go their separate ways) …

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still nothing is found. Back to digging straight down again and even after the last of the chocolate milk and biscuits is gone they have discovered absolutely ZILCH. Moreover, the boys have dug themselves to exhaustion; time for a rest, a sleep in fact. Only the dog continues digging; he’s after a bone though. But then all of a sudden both boys and canine companion are cascading down, down …

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to a soft landing place.
“That was pretty spectacular” comments an impassive Sam as they come to earth. Everything looks pretty much the same.

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Or does it? Look again – at the weathervane, the plant in the pot, the fruit on the tree, the cat’s collar … another dimension? A dream world? Maybe – that’s your decision though. And that’s the thing about this very clever book where every small detail counts … it’s all in the interpretation. That, and the unspoken interplay of text and earthy coloured illustrations. Then there is the overall design of the book with the, oh so careful, positioning of the words on every spread.
All in all, pretty spectacular I’d say.
Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Buy from Amazon

The Big Princess & Princess Mirror-Belle

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The Big Princess
Taro Miura
Walker Books
This is a prequel to the Japanese author’s charming The Tiny King. One night in his dreams the king of a distant land is visited by a white dove telling him of a princess child he will find in the palace garden, a princess under a spell; a spell that must be broken for the princess to become his true daughter. Failure though will result in the ruination of his kingdom. When morning comes the king rushes to his garden and there discovers sitting upon a leaf, a tiny princess. Oh joy! Both king and queen puzzle over the nature of the spell and its possible consequences but meanwhile the little princess starts to grow and grow… and grow… until she is taller than the king and queen themselves. In seemingly no time she has almost outgrown the castle and that’s when the king remembers his dream. From then on he and his wife try desperately to break the spell but to no avail. With the tallest castle tower at breaking point, the king notices something through the tower window, something tiny, shiny and black

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that could just be the key to breaking the spell.
As with its predecessor, Miura has used precision, patterned cut-outs in bright, bold colours and white, to construct simple shaped collage scenes. In addition though herein he adds embellishments in the form of separate but linked smaller, mostly black and white objects – a chair,

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a toy trumpet, a spoon for example.
An unusual, quirky modern fairy tale with a longish text and glowing, sunflower- filled ending.

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Princess Mirror-Belle and the Dragon Pox
Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks
Macmillan Children’s Books
Ellen has chicken pox; she’s covered from head to toe in horribly itchy spots; and what does she want to do to those spots? Scratch them of course, especially the one right on the tip of her nose. As she gazes in the bathroom mirror, about to do the deed, she hears a voice – no, not mum’s but Princess Mirror-Belle’s. This little madam, for so she seems, leaps from the mirror, a mirror image of herself even down to the missing slipper which she claims was stolen by a goblin, and announces that it’s not chicken pox but Dragon Pox Ellen has – eeugh! She knows how to cure it too, clever clogs that she is. And the cure? It involves a bath full of water to which one must add pretty much anything and everything the grown-ups happen to have left visible in the bathroom – bubble bath (a whole bottle), toothpaste (an entire tube), dad’s shaving foam; you can see where this is going – not the loo paper bandaging perhaps …
As she concocts the cure, the princess tells Ellen all about her enchanted life beyond the mirror, a life with knights and dragons,

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fairies, magical spells and more. Ellen is then instructed to close her eyes and count to a hundred. At the final number the spell is broken: someone is beside her but now it’s her mum looking none too happy about the state of the bathroom. Over to you Ellen.

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There’s glitter galore in this funny story, delivered for a change in prose rather than Donaldson’s more usual rhyme. Lydia Monks’ sparkle-spangled, collage constructed illustrations offer readers an abundance of opportunities for visual and tactile exploration.

Find and buy these from your local bookshop http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Grissel Hunting, Unsuitable Pets and a Dragon Quest

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Daniel reading the story to his mum

Beetle and Bug and the Grissel Hunt
Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura
Andersen Press pbk
Some people go hunting for rarely seen animals: Beetle and Bug decide to hunt for the never before seen, Green-Spotted Grissel but then they do have a magic rug that can carry them through the air and sea. First stop is the ocean depths where they spy something red and promising looking. Up close however, despite bright green dots and ‘terribly Grisselly wiggles and loops’, the forked tail is a giveway – “IT’S A MAWK!” cries Bug.

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Off they go again, into space this time (having first donned suitable gear and taken on some air). Suddenly Beetle spies something on an asteroid, something prickly and spiny, something with peculiar curves and lines just like a Grissel. A close encounter reveals a distinct lack of green spots and the thing doesn’t seem at all friendly – time to beat a hasty retreat guys. Back home they go, more than ready for a bite to eat. But what should they find lurking in their fridge – oh no! the dreaded G-NUZZLER and what’s worse, the creature has demolished every single morsel therein.
Hungry and Grisselless the pair go off to bed. Tomorrow is another day and tomorrow’s hunt? ‘SOMETHING TO EAT’
Completely crazy, this wildly offbeat story is such fun to read aloud, provided you can keep up the breath-taking pace of Hiawyn Oram’s somewhat Lear-like rhyming saga. Don’t go too fast though; children will want plenty of time to explore Kitamura’s wacky, surreal collage illustrations.

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Melissa’s Octopus and other Unsuitable Pets
Charlotte Voake
Walker Books
Pets of all shapes and sizes inhabit Charlotte Voake’s latest offering. There is Betty’s disappearing chameleon, Arthur’s willful warthog,

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Simon’s well-behaved worm and Caroline’s gentle giraffe to name just a few;
but watch out for Kevin and Bertrand’s new pet with its long tail, huge jaws and ‘glittering teeth’. Despite his smile, he might just be the most unsuitable of all …

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A lovely playful book. Owners and pets alike are portrayed in lively, humorous pen and watercolour illustrations; and how refreshing to have the text printed in red on a grey background almost throughout.

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The Moon Dragons
Dyan Sheldon and Gary Blythe
Andersen Press
‘Long ago, when even trees had dreams, moon dragons flew through the night sky. Their scales shone silver as stars and they filled the dark with songs as old as time.’ This is the tale a traveller tells to a king, but he also tells him that a few such dragons still hide high up atop a distant mountain. The king offers a room full of gold to anyone who brings him one. From far and wide come all manner of men but none succeeds in the dragon quest. Then comes young Alina, a peasant girl from the foot of the mountain who had heard of said dragons from her grandmother and had them visit her dreams too. Despite the king’s scorn, she is determined to seek out the dragons and off she sets with her head full of long ago songs. Finally she discovers what she seeks

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but does she take the king his dragon? Read the ending yourself to discover the answer to this magical story.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

 

 

 

Strange Happenings: Seen and Not Heard & No Such Thing

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Seen and Not Heard
Katie May Green
Walker Books
Go through the gate into the grounds of Shiverhawk and you feel yourself inexplicably drawn towards the large house bathed in moonlight; follow that black cat up the stairs of the stately home and your spine begins to tingle. Enter the nursery and be gripped by further frissons of fear as you see on the wall, those portraits of ghostly children imprisoned within the frames thereon.

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Notice two in particular – identical twin girls staring impassively forwards while the others seemingly glance around. Look again at those twins’ eyes – are they moving as the black cat keeps watch? Now turn the page and see closer: there’s dainty Lily Pinksweet, the oh so polite Plumseys, clever Billy Fitzbillian, kind Percy and those De Villechild twins Lila and Vila … watch those eyes.
As the night whispers so do those eyes, seemingly saying, there’s nobody watching, time to escape from our daytime imprisonment. Those all pervasive nightmarish tones begin to fade slightly as the escapees run RIOT. All except the twins who look on from the rear as the rioters make their way down the stairs for a midnight feast..
Soon the scene resembles something from Sendak’s Night Kitchen

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but that is only the start of the fun. A climax builds; then the spookiness returns with ghostly feathers floating in the silence and it’s time to return before sunlight filters into the nursery, once more illuminating those angelic children – ‘Seen and not heard’. Watch out too for the three white mice that follow the children’s every move
A debut author/artist who manages to make a mini gothic horror movie with rhyming script within the covers of a picture book must surely be one to watch.
Ideal for an unusual hallowe’en story telling session but really for any time.

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No Such Thing
Ella Bailey
Flying Eye Books
When strange things start happening in Georgia’s home one October, she absolutely refuses to believe it’s the work of anything supernatural. She knows who has smashed that vase, pinched her socks, swiped her crayons,

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stolen the pumpkins and more besides. The evidence is right there before her eyes. Even those weird noises can be accounted for with the help of her trusty torch because well, without question, “we all know … there’s no such thing as ghosts!”
The great thing about this (or one of them) is that, unlike little Georgia, young audiences will spot the ghosty tricksters lurking at each and every turn of the page and relish so doing. That final spread is crammed full of the little spooksters having the time of their lives.

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Totally involving: Ella Bailey lets her gorgeous retro-style illustrations do most of the talking in this brilliant, tongue in cheek book.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Willy’s Stories

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Willy’s Stories
Anthony Browne
Walker Books
Every week Willy the chimp walks through a pair of completely normal-looking doors and into a new adventure. Wither will his adventure take him this time: perhaps to a desert island with a large footprint in the sand (it’s Friday of course);

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or perhaps into the countryside and an encounter with Friar Tuck. Or maybe to a lonely road to meet an old woman who wants him to go inside a dark tree to fetch something important to her; or there’s that fall down, down into a bookshelf-lined rabbit hole chock full of all manner of strange objects? No matter where he finds himself, Willy invites readers to participate in their own flights of fancy alongside him.
Truly a celebration of classic children’s literature,

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the imagination and, for readers, of the inimitable Anthony Browne and his amazing chimp. It’s also a celebration of books as objects for in every illustration there are books be they disguised as a tree trunk, buildings, rungs of a ladder, seagulls and sharks’ teeth

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or built into a castle wall. Look out for those drawing implements wielded by some unlikely characters in some scenes too.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Buy from Amazon

Daisy Saves the Day

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Daisy Saves the Day
Shirley Hughes
Walker Books
Young Daisy Dobbs is sent away from home to be a scullery maid for stern, elderly sisters, the Misses Simms. She greatly misses her family and housework is definitely not her forte.

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Then one day the Simms sisters have a visitor; their niece, Mabel from America and shortly after, things change for the better for Daisy. Miss Mabel persuades her aunts to allow Daisy to borrow books from the parlour bookcase.
The story is set in London against the background of preparations for the celebrations for the coronation of King George V. When the great day arrives Daisy wants to join the other members of the household watching the procession but is told she must stay indoors. However, a determined Daisy finds her own way to be a part of the celebrations.

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Her colourful contribution most definitely does not meet with the approval of her employers. Disgraced, she is given a very hard time but eventually manages to redeem herself and in so doing is given an exciting opportunity to escape the domestic drudgery and better herself.
As ever Shirley Hughes’ illustrations draw you in and make you want to linger over each one, in this instance to explore the wealth of period detail included. Children (I suggest from around six up) can learn so much about what life was like a century ago– the clothes worn and domestic detail, by looking carefully at each and every illustration; and of course about the characters themselves – their manner, feelings and lifestyle. (You can visit http://www.daisysavestheday.co.uk where there are some related activities and Shirley talks about writing the book.)
All in all, a thoroughly satisfying book for the family bookshelf and primary school library.
Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Buy from Amazon

Co-operation Rules OK

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Rex Wrecks It!
Ben Clanton
Walker Books
What are T.Rexs renowned for? – destruction and Rex, the small one in this funny fable is no exception. In fact you can probably find a human one of similar disposition in every single nursery or reception class the world over. In total contrast Gizmo (a robot), Sprinkles (a cute pink unicorn rabbit) and Wild (monster) love to build. Rex would probably be deemed to have ADHD were he human; he loves nothing better than wrecking every single thing they make so “RAWR!” smash – that’s Gizmo’s OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD rocket ruined, “RAWR! RAWR!” Bang goes Sprinkles’s MAGICAL heart; “RAWR! RAWR! RAWR!” – you’ve guessed it – Wild’s ‘wooden wonder of WOWDOM’ is no more.
Out come the drawing boards: the three decide to co-construct a block castle so big that even Rex cannot topple it.

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They build; Rex destroys. Three furious friends, one remorseful (“rawry”) Rex.
Then Gizmo has an inspiration and it’s back to the drawing board, this time with Rex’s involvement at the outset,

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to build something even bigger and better and…

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eminently more wreckable.
One cannot help but applaud Rex’s playful exuberance despite its sometimes catastrophic results. (Clearly he needs help to channel it rather than misuse it.) Clanton catpures that beautifully in his pen, ink and watercolour illustrations which positively fizz with energy.
Inclusion and accommodation are the main themes that emerge from this witty portrayal of small characters and their imaginative block play.
A must have for early years settings and families with young children.

Another story where co-operation is key is:

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Bubble Trouble
Tom Percival
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
A bubble blowing bonanza leads to a bust-up in more ways than one as erstwhile best friends Rueben and Felix build bigger and better machines in their endeavours to blow bigger and better bubbles than one another. When the day of the ultimate contest dawns, their complex constructions lead to catastrophe and it’s not just the bubbles, but the machines that burst well and truly.

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Back to the drawing board chaps: it’s not technology you need but teamwork – that plus a few preparatory yoga breathing exercises perhaps.
Best friends again? It all depends on Rueben’s response to Felix’s final comment.
It’s not so much bubble talk as bubble flaps in this funny cautionary tale. There is bubble talk too and lots of other environmental print that forms an integral part of the effervescent illustrations – an additional talking point.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Is there a dog in this book?

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Is there a dog in this book?
Viviane Schwarz
Walker Books
Actually this book is mainly about cats –three of them: Moonpie – the sleek one, Andre – the decidedly rotund one and Tiny – well that’s obvious. Yes, they are back in their third ‘Cats book. So, what’s all this about a dog then? Seemingly this particular book has a visitor or rather an intruder; consternation all round and a plea for help to us, the readers. Time to find a better hiding place moggies. But the piano’s not satisfactory (some idiot opened it), nor the wardrobe (ditto)

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so what about that suitcase? ‘Sniff sniff’ Looks like you’ve been discovered guys.
Then comes the revelation: rather than being snappy and scary, the canine intruder seems friendly, soft and oh so strokeable, certainly to those with a feline touch. Human hands? Well, that’s another story or rather – part of this one …
Absolutely irresistible! – the cover, the book and the characters both feline and canine (oh yes that one is purple and something of a visual thinker).

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Once again this is totally interactive and involving – flaps, moggy dialogue directed straight to the reader, (and even without that, those gestures and facial expressions speak volumes) surprises galore and abundant humour both verbal and visual.
This one will be read to death – literally.
Buy from Amazon

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

http://www.booksellers.org.uk/bookshopsearch

Hear it from the Animals

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Bruno and Titch
Sheena Dempsey
Walker Books
Titch waits anxiously in Mrs Pinkerley’s pet shop for a “Big Person” to come along and buy him; it’s been so long – almost a year in guinea pig time already. Now imagine his joy when in comes one small boy and out go one guinea pig and one small boy together. Life at Bruno’s home takes some getting used to however –their tastes are so very different.

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And all those games are positively hair-raising for a small furry rodent but then there are other things that compensate.
Just when the friendship seems to be flourishing though, Bruno starts behaving very strangely; surely it can’t be a getting rid of pet plan he’s hatching worries our small narrator. As a pair of hands reach out, panic seizes Titch but …

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WOW! Bruno’s creation is truly amazing, only serving to prove what a good friend he is; and definitely worth that wait.
So too was the wait for Sheena Dempsey’s latest offering. Her ink and watercolour illustrations are full of fun and feeling and could well prompt young listeners to set to work to create their own pet paradises.
Also with an animal narrator is:

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I’m My Own Dog
David Ezra Stein
Walker Books
‘I’m my own dog. Nobody owns me. I own myself’’ asserts the self-assured canine storyteller at the outset and goes on to demonstrate just how he answers to nobody and is totally happy with his lot. Life is just dandy until along comes a particularly annoying itch in an unreachable (for our narrator that is) place on his back. So bad does it become that for all his talk, the bulldog is forced to allow a human hand to come to his aid.

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Then one thing … leads to another … until despite the disadvantage of having to do the cleaning up, a firm friendship is forged.

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Amusing,watercolour and pen and ink pictures created with a mix of thick and thin strokes almost calligraphic style, cleverly add both definition and personality to the two main characters in particular.
Great fun even if, like me, you are not a dog-lover.

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Mad About Mega Beasts!
Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
Orchard Books
A dozen very large creatures introduce themselves in this latest offering from the duo who brought us Rumble in the Jungle, Commotion in the Ocean and Mad About Minibeasts. There are creatures of land and sea, hot places and cold, carnivores and vegetarians; a few are extinct, most very much alive. They might be feathered, furred, scaly or smooth, scary or more friendly, but the one thing they have in common is their sheer size. Thus we meet, among others, Argentinosaurus (currently claimed to be the largest dinosaur), the Siberian Tiger, Python and even a St. Bernard all rendered in glorious technicolour in Wojtowycz’s gleeful illustrations;

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he manages to make even that python look anything but scary. Superb use of the space on the page every time, and with its mix of colourful characters and jaunty rhymes I’m sure this will become as popular as its predecessors in primary classrooms everywhere. Individual readers will delight in spotting those other – tiny – creatures that seem to have managed to find their way into every scene.

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Dance with Frances, Play with Bing

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Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance
Birgitta Sif
Walker Books
Frances Dean just adores dancing: even when sitting in school she finds ways to dance with her feet or fingers. Best though she loves to dance outdoors, where she feels the wind and hears the singing of the birds, so long as nobody is watching that is. The thought of people’s eyes on her make her freeze up. Then one day the birds (fans of her dancing) lead her to a smaller girl with a wonderful voice

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and that night Frances Dean lies awake thinking of how the girl was able to share her beautiful song. Next morning when she wakes to bird song she is reminded of her own love of dancing. Off she goes into the great outdoors to practise while no one is around. Gradually as she spins and leaps she begins to lose her inhibitions and shows, first the birds, then other animals and finally, other people, her moves. Before long – oh joy – not only the singing girl, but also an old lady and many others have joined her in a celebration of dance.

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A book to bring music to your heart and movement to your body, I found it hard not to throw aside my laptop and leap around in sheer delight along with Frances Dean et al. at the sight of that final spread.
Wonderful, dreamy landscapes, quirky, sparky individuals – human and animal – and a powerful message to be yourself are some of the joys contained herein.
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Bing Make Music
Ted Dewan
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
BINGO! BONGO! BANGO!
Round the corner,
Not far away,
Bing’s been bongo-ing all day.
Get out your saucepans, spoons, tubes and keys, even your rice tub and bell, oh and Bing and Flop have a music box thing too. Then get ready to join in the glorious cacophony with the friends as that rice goes shaka shaka, keys go jingle jing, a tube goes woona woona, a bell goes dingle ding.
But oh-oh! Bing is getting just a trifle over excited with that spoon. We need to warn him, “Don’t go bongo, Bing.” Too late! BASH! – one broken music box.
A quick mend and then, it’s time for a song. Hurrah!
Who can resist Bing’s exuberance and Flop’s readiness to forgive his friend? Equally irresistible is this opportunity to join in and shake, rattle and bang along with the friends (once you’ve shared the story without additional noises perhaps).
Great for developing sound awareness too.
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Vanilla Ice Cream

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Vanilla Ice Cream
Bob Graham
Walker Books
A truck has stopped at a dhaba (tea stall) for the driver to partake of some refreshments.

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Overhead flies a curious young cock sparrow – bold and free. Down he comes to join the feast but the trucker is having none of it. Off flies our young sparrow across to his truck, a truck that happens to be carrying a cargo of rice to the port. What a feast.

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So of course, that ‘truck-stop’ sparrow stows himself safely inside one of the rice sacks, following, or rather, accompanying the food over land and then sea until finally, he finds himself in a park in a vast city where there just happens to be a small girl with her grandparents who just happen to be heading to the café for some refreshment. And that’s where our erstwhile traveller alights to partake of the crumbs on the table. In so doing he agitates the dog,

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which jerks Grandpa’s arm sending his ice-cream cone flying, thus, changing the life of little Edie in an unexpected, and, as she discovers the taste of vanilla ice-cream, a delicious, way.

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Through a spare text of carefully chosen words, the author’s small sparrow subtly demonstrates how we are all inextricably linked and how small incidents and moments can yield much pleasure if we are open to the possibilities therein: just look at those gorgeous watercolours and you will see.
This lovely, gently humorous book is endorsed by Amnesty International UK because, as it says, ‘ it reminds us that we should all enjoy life, freedom and safety. These are some of our human rights.’ If only …

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Quest

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Quest
Aaron Becker
Walker Books
At the end of Journey, Becker left his two child protagonists pedalling their tandem towards as we now see, their next adventure. Also wordless, Quest begins with the pair having left  the bike leaning against a wall, sheltering under a bridge from heavy rain.

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In the wall is a door through which a distraught-looking king bursts. He thrusts a strange map into their hands, one showing the hiding places of six magical crayons that the two children must find and so bring about the defeat of the enemies of his kingdom.

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Thus charged, the boy and girl (the latter wearing a bandolier from the king in which to store the crayons) set forth on their mission. Like Antony Brown’s Bear and Harold (of purple crayon fame) the children use their trusty red and purple crayons to draw themselves means of escape from danger. They travel to the depths of the sea

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and over land (I love that it is a rhino with a howdah and not an elephant that they draw to carry them overland) and water to a climatic rainbow-hued defeat of the evil forces of darkness

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culminating in a glowing, multi-coloured victory for the monarch and his kingdom.
All manner of architectural marvels are depicted in glorious watercolour and ink spreads that are packed with a multitude of amazing details. With a broader, richer colour-palette and greater emphasis on dramatic action and high adventure than its predecessor, this is again a stunning testament to the power of the imagination, art and pictorial story telling. Awesome.

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Toddler Time

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A Recipe for Bedtime
Peter Bently and Sarah Massini
Hodder Children’s Books
Baby, baby soft and sweet,
Almost good enough to eat!
It’s night-night time so come with me,
And hear my bedtime recipe.
We are invited to share a bedtime ritual along with teddy (who has the perfect recipe book), and other assorted toys who help put the human infant to bed. After a snack, there’s a cuddle, clothes off, into the bath with lots of warm water and bubbles, then a rub-a-dub with a huge towel – perfect for a quick game of Peek-a-Boo,

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a tummy softening squirt– thank you elephant, into those jimjams and a drink of milk. Now put said infant into a warm place with a sprinkling of kisses and a cosy cover, not forgetting a sleep-inducing ‘Hush-a-bye’ song; now climb in everyone. Night-night.
With its tender, gently soporific rhyming text and pictures so beautifully in tune, I can imagine this becoming a bedtime favourite with many a toddler.

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Are You My Mummy?
Mary Murphy
Walker Books
In this enchanting board book we join a little pup as it travels around the farm asking the various animal inhabitants, “Are you my mummy?” After encounters with a sheep, a cow, a horse, a cat, a pig

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and a duck, our persistent pup finally finds a large dog and joy of joys, her response is “Yes … and you’re my lovely puppy!”
Cute animals, a simple patterned text and flaps to open revealing each mother’s little one are the key ingredients of this new addition to the Baby Walker series. It’s just the thing to share with the very youngest child… again and again I suspect; and slightly older, beginner reader siblings might well enjoy reading it to a baby brother or sister.

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Where Do You Live Snail?
Petr Horacek
Walker Books
Snail sets out visiting mouse, the busy bees, a fluffy bird, a shiny fish and hoppy frog asking them in turn, “Where do you live?” Each time he receives the answer, “I (or we) live in … ” The frog then asks snail about his home and discovers that snail has a mobile home on its back.

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The predictable question and answer format together with Petr Horacek’s gorgeous mixed media illustrations make for a thoroughly enjoyable addition to the Baby Walker series. This one has a wheel that when turned, makes the stars shine on snail.
Another beautifully illustrated title in the same series is:
A Surprise for Tiny Mouse
Petr Horacek
Walker Books
As we accompany Tiny Mouse through the seasons we share her enjoyment of nibbling the corn in the sunshine, moving in the crackly leaves on a windy day, feeling the crunchy night-time frost

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and the snow tickling her nose. What she doesn’t like though is splashy rain so off she scampers to hide until out comes the sun once more, and if the wheel is turned …
Cutaway pages and peep-holes further add to the enjoyment of this one.
In my experience beginning readers also get great pleasure from these books if left in early years book baskets for individuals to try reading for themselves.

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Two Parties, Two Birthdays

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The Dinosaurs are Having a Party!
Gareth P. Jones and Garry Parsons
Andersen Press
It’s party time at the dinosaurs’ residence and someone has a special guest invitation.

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On his arrival our young narrator finds the party in full swing with games galore and a scrumptious spread on the table. Outside is a barbeque, but where is the meat?

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And the large bouncy castle is lots of fun – at least till stegosaurus comes along.
Oh, who is taking SO long in the loo?

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O-OH! Time to grab a party bag and leave the fun behind it seems …

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But the host doesn’t want to lose sight of that special fea.. – oops I mean guest, just yet; indeed he’s hot on the (w)heels of that escapee vehicle most of the way … home. Phew! Lucky escape. Just what is in your party bag then, little boy?
A madcap rhyming story where young audiences will delight in spotting the visual warning signs from the time the narrator leaves home until his hasty departure from the party. They will also relish the twist – or rather snap – at the end of the tale.

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There’s more partying in:

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We’re Going to a Party!
Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Andersen Press pbk
“We’re going to a party,
disguised in fancy dress.
But which of us is What or Who?
It’s up to you to guess!”
Each of the animals has donned a disguise and asks readers to decide who is really the banana, pirate, princess, tiger
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and so on. Who is that in a ‘rubbish’ monster costume they wonder. Somebody none to happy about to give them a surprise …
Rhyming fun, flaps, a pop-out finale and delicious Ross illustrations: what’s not to like?

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I Feel Five!
Bethanie Deeney Murguia
Walker Books
‘How does it feel to be five?’ or six or whatever is a question often asked of children. It always seems a bit daft to me – why would anyone suddenly feel different overnight just because of a birthday. This is certainly something young Fritz ponders as he wakes up on his fifth birthday leaping joyfully out of bed

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and rushing to the mirror only to be confronted by a reflection that looks exactly like the day before’s; and he still can’t tie the laces on his new shoes. Maybe school will help him to feel five he decides. But, when his teacher asks him that inevitable question and his friends sing his birthday song, Fritz still feels just the same.
It’s a rather disillusioned Fritz –still unable to whistle, snap his fingers or do the monkey bars two at a time and still needing just one hand to count his years – who suddenly hears a voice as he sits sadly under an apple tree on his way home from school.

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The voice belongs to a little girl and she’s asking him if he can reach the apples.
One flying leap later… two rosy apples, two bite into same and could it just be one very slight wiggle from one of Fritz’s teeth; now there’s a feeling that is just a little different.

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And, he has made a new friend; things are definitely looking up.
Full of charm and gentle humour, this is a good story to have to hand in an infant classroom when children turn four, five or six.
Soft watercolours portray so clearly the ups and down of Fritz’s birthday; I love his light-surrounded leap out of bed and the contrasting, all pervading grey gloom as he sits under that apple tree, oh and those two pairs of shoe-clad feet on opposite sides of a spread –

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so beautifully expressive.

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The Dinosaur That Pooped the Past!
Tom Flethcher & Dougie Poynter illustrated by Garry Parsons
Red Fox pbk
The pooping dinosaur is back once again. Danny’s Gran is celebrating her one thousand and eighth birthday and she’s served up masses of disgusting green, wind-creating stuff. Guess who gobbles Dan’s share before Gran notices so that the pair can go out and play. Once outside they head for a creaky old swing, one that turns out to be super powered. Dizzily they loop back through time

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before finally crash landing in the Jurassic era. There they meet a trio of baby dinos, Dino Dudes A, B and C. who like nothing better than clambering on top of each other. As Danny’s dinosaur sits back to watch their games, he feels a rumble in his tum, a rumble that makes the ground crumble , a crumble that signifies VOLCANO SEASON! No time to lose; the swing must be repaired; but that alone is not strong enough to carry extra passengers out of danger. There is only one thing to do …

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Three cheers for the power of broccoli and another three for the trio of new dino pals. They all arrive just in time a hefty chunk of Gran’s broccoli birthday cake.

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Scatological, or rather poopological, humour courtesy of that huge-bellied dinosaur delivered in rip-roaring rhyme and suitably exuberant illustrations; just the thing to send young children into fits of giggles, not to mention many of the adults who share it with them.

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Holidays Far and Near

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Wanda and the Alien Go Camping
Sue Hendra
Red Fox pbk
Wanda and her alien pal embark on their fourth adventure – camping. Their camp site however, is not the original earthly one planned; that’s far too wet and rainy. Instead the alien takes Wanda in his space rocket to his planet and it’s there they set out to find a suitable place to pitch their tent. Even that however, doesn’t match up to expectations, certainly not Wanda’s anyhow. She finds fault with all the possible spots they visit –

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too noisy, too quiet, too wild. Oh dear, can it be that the alien’s planet is entirely unsuitable too. But what about those clouds up above; could they possibly fit the bill?
Seemingly so.

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Cloud camping is just perfect; they can invite their other friends and the rain will not interfere at all.
One cannot help admiring the alien’s perseverance and Wanda’s endeavours not to hurt her best friend’s feelings. Indeed the sight of Wanda and her alien friend always brings a smile to my face, as in my experience, it does to many a preschooler. Here, I am sure the multitudes of aliens in alien city with their Day-Glo striped apparel and varying number of eyes, and the cloud camping possibilities will particularly appeal.
Sue Heap’s delightful images are just the thing to stimulate some modeling activities with coloured soft dough, ‘Fimo’ or similar; don’t forget the googly eyes though.
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I Heart Holidays
Clara Vulliamy
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
‘ This is a happy book all about MARTHA – that’s me! Come and see my BRILLIANT new suitcase!’

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Who can resist these opening lines of the third story featuring Martha and her bunny brothers. Young Martha is busy packing all manner of items into her case in preparation for her seaside holiday and finally the entire family is ready.

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Off they go in Bluebell, their camper van and after a long tedious journey it’s on with those swimming togs and a mad dash for the sea. Brrr! Not for long though; Pip objects strongly so Martha devises another activity and then it’s time for a picnic lunch – with the obligatory sandy sandwiches. Time to go in the sea now? More objections from Pip so …
After lunch there’s burying Dad in the sand,

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ice-creams, the starry sunglasses rescue operation and a sandcastle building competition with the inevitable trashing and then finally … our young narrator has had enough. She heads seawards – alone. Not for long though for pretty soon (despite the downpour) those pesky bunny brothers have joined her for a glorious romp and guess what:
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I love the retro VW camper van, the shell face (so typical of young children),

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the portrayal of Dad being covered in sand, the exuberance of Martha and her brothers when the sun finally shines … pretty much everything that Clara Vulliamy has included in this seaside romp.
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Catch That Plane!
Sally Sutton and Sylvie Currin Korankova
Walker Books
We join a family in holiday frenzy as they rush to the airport, chase to check-in, dash to departures,

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scoot through security, trot down the travelator, jog down the aerobridge and finally, board their plane.

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Then it’s a peep through the window, buckle up that seat belt, engines roaring, racing down the runway and they’re off up … up… away! The holiday has well and truly started.
There are echoes of Walking in the Jungle, albeit at a faster pace, in this first person account by a boy setting off on his holiday with his Mum, Dad and younger sister. It’s probably more narrative information that a real story but there’s plenty to interest here with the sights and sounds of the airport and the playful, jaunty rhyme, plentiful alliteration and more. And, just in case it isn’t obvious from the context, there is a final ‘Facts’ spread explaining the terms used in the text.
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Unlikely Friendships

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Cat & Dog
Michael Foreman
Andersen Press
We had an unlikely friendship between a cat and a fish in Michael Foreman’s Friends: unlikely friendship is again at the heart of his latest offering
When Cat leaves her kittens to go in search of their breakfast, little does she suspect that she’ll be carried off far away from her offspring.

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Along comes a scruffy dog as the kittens huddle together to await the return of the fish van and with it, their mother. His first thought is “breakfast, lunch and dinner”; his second is that like him, the kittens are all alone in the world, so he beds down to sleep close by and before long, he and the kittens are snuggled up together. Morning comes and with it the van’s return and joy of joys, there is Cat in the driver’s arms. There’s a happy reunion but then Cat notices the old dog and turns on him.

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The kittens tell her how he has befriended them and they settle down together to hear of Cat’s seaside adventure. Next time that van heads off to the sea, the fish man has some additional passengers aboard and their arrival is just in time to see a beautiful sunset which is followed by supper

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and some fishy moonlit thoughts on the pier.
As ever, Foreman’s lyrical watercolours have that wonderful quality of luminosity; those seascapes are just glorious. I particularly like too, the scenes from below the city bridge with graffiti and the multitude of greetings in a whole gamut of languages from Hindi to Swahili and Hebrew.
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Andersen Press have also reissued an old Foreman classic from the 70s

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Moose
Michael Foreman
Andersen Press pbk
Herein we meet the horned animal of the title who is disturbed by the shouting match between Bear and Eagle. Moose fails in his efforts to resolve the conflict but ends up constructing – with the help of others who had got drawn into the combat – a wonderful place where all can meet harmoniously. But what of Bear and Eagle? Well seemingly they never learn but perhaps one day …
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Bluebird
Bob Staake
Andersen Press pbk
With its New York City setting, this wordless picture book is a portrayal of a friendship that develops between a boy and the Bluebird of the title. Said bird watches the boy through his schoolroom window as he is taunted and shunned by his classmates, then follows him homewards.

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They share a cookie, visit the park and sail a boat.

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The boy is set on by a gang of bullies who attempt to snatch the boat, hurl a stick at the boy and kill(?)

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the bird. Then a veritable host of birds of different colours fly down, lift the boy, who is still clutching his friend, bearing him skywards towards the clouds,

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where we watch him release his blue friend to fly heavenwards, up, up, up …
It’s the feeling of hope that transcends all the other powerful emotions – loneliness, bullying, guilt, grief – embraced in this eloquent story told through moving, multi-framed pictorial sequences rendered in blues, greys, white and black. The total absence of words (other than streetscape signs) allows space for readers to bring their own interpretations to the nuances of the story.
Not a book for everyone; rather it’s one for individuals to peruse and ponder over, with new meanings and possibilities emerging with each reading.
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The Zebra Who Ran Too fast
Jenni Desmond
Walker Books
Triangular friendships are often tricky to sustain though Zebra, Elephant and Bird have done pretty well. Elephant would entertain Bird and Zebra with his curious facts; Bird made Zebra and Elephant laugh with his jokes and Zebra, the fastest runner, knew the best games. Then one windy day Zebra’s zest for life makes the others feel dizzy but he ignores their requests to stop.

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Next day he is shunned. Zebra spends a hot, lonely time pondering on his pals and their pastimes and his behaviour until, along comes wise, kindly Giraffe. The two bond and by nightfall, Zebra is feeling better. His erstwhile pals meanwhile are frightened by the storm that has blown up and are missing their friend. Off they go in search of him and before long it’s a case of “Four best friends together.”

 

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This beautifully portrayed story about the real meaning of friendship set in the African savannahs is a visual delight, particularly the range of expressions on the animals’ faces. The vastness of the African plain and sky with the gathering storm are so powerfully evoked one can almost feel the wind and hear the thunder.

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Trips to Town with Ellie and Owl

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What Happens Next?
Tull Suwannakit
Walker Books
Little Ellie and her Granny, are on their way into town together; Little Ellie demands a story. “Deep in the woods, not far from here, lives Grandma Bear. Whenever Little Bear visits her, they go on an exciting trip together,” begins Granny… But these are not ordinary bears that eat berries and spend their days sleeping. Oh no. These bears wear red wellies and hats and go on adventures together…

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“So what happens next?” Little Ellie demands to know… Have you looked behind you Ellie?
Children delight in watching the double storyline unfold as Ellie and her gran take the bus, visit the funfair, go to a shop filled with treats

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and play hide-and-seek, while joining in with the repeat refrain, “So what happens next?” at almost every turn of the page. Storyteller Granny becomes listener, as Ellie who has clearly been stimulated by many stories before, takes up this particular tale and lets her imagination run wild.

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Indeed she only runs out of steam at bedtime when Granny tucks her into bed.
Suwannakit uses muted colours on cream paper for the illustrations of his cleverly constructed story with its wonderfully whimsical cast of characters. I particularly like the contrast between the enormously chunky, oh so endearing, Grandma bear and Ellie’s own fragile-looking, almost spindly Granny.
Just the thing to promote children’s own storying and imaginative play either at home or in early years settings. And of course, it’s a superb bedtime story.
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Owl Goes to Town
Valerie Valennza (illustrator)
Templar Publishing
Owl lives in Peek Street. On this particular day she has risen early because she has a plan – a secret one so she says. Her first stop is the bakery where she orders a cake from Bear, then stops off at various other establishments to make purchases. At each one however, Owl cannot help but divulge something of her plan to the vendor. Having organized balloons, invitations, food and entertainment she hurries home to arrange everything in her treetop home. At midnight, she is finally ready to receive her guests. “Owl, you really have gone to town!” they tell her as the not-so-secret party swings into action.
There are all manner of flaps to manipulate, some revealing surprises or pictorial jokes.

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These and the questions in the text, the multitude of labelled items and the on-going joke readers/listeners share with the author could well keep a young child absorbed for a long time. With lots of opportunities for language development, this interactive book is a good one to share one to one with a very young child. Slightly older children might be inspired to create their own surprise flap books.
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Animals and a Vegetable

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Dolci and her mum enjoy the story together

Fiddlesticks!
Sean Taylor and Sally Anne Garland
Simon and Schuster pbk
Mouse’s house is perfect – well almost. There’s just a slight slope to one of the windows. Easily fixed, thinks Mouse but not so; he can’t reach up far enough. “FIDDLESTICKS!” Surely big, strong Bear can help though – oops!

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One broken window… “FIDDLESTICKS and RATS!” But Squirrel is an ace climber and woodworker … Oh no! …With flood water to contend with, filthy footprints all over the kitchen wall (courtesy of Otter), a gaping hole in the roof – Moose’s offering, Mouse’s house is pretty near wrecked.

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Time to bale out; off goes a distraught Mouse.
Meanwhile as the day progresses those destroyers have become creators and by sundown, when our little friend decides to return to his wreck of a home, he’s in for a big surprise.

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Those pals of yours have done an amazing job, just keep your paws off that door, little Mouse,
The author says he was inspired to write this amusing story when listening to Flanders and Swann’s The Gas Man Cometh. The slightly understated telling certainly works well and the built-in repetition and cumulative nature of Mouse’s expletives delight young listeners. So too do Sally Anne Garland’s cute illustrations executed in muted shades of blues, greens, browns, pinks and greys; and the whole thing is printed on high quality paper – an added bonus.
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A Day with the Animal Mechanics
Sharon Rentta
Alison Green Books pbk
Young Dylan Basset’s big day has arrived. He’s off to help his Dad at the garage he owns. When he arrives he sees the mechanics already hard at work; there’s so much to learn,

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things like how to use the car wash. So why is it that the hot afternoon is so quiet – not a single customer. Then… time to get moving Animal mechanics; grab the spare tyres, spanners, a snack and off you go. What a jam they discover on the coast road, all because a huge lorry up front has shed its load of boxes. It’s not only the cars that are overheating the mechanics find, so it’s fortunate that young Dylan decides to investigate the contents of the spilt cargo …

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Guess who gets the vote for best mechanic that day. Now you’ve all earned a refreshing seaside dip too…
Rich in detail, with plenty to amuse, explore and absorb, this latest episode with the Animal work force is sure to please young audiences and those who share the book with them.
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Cheese Belongs To You
Alexis Deacon and Viviane Schwarz
Walker Books pbk
Starting once again with a simple scenario, the creator of the brilliant There are Cats in this Book and There are No Cats in this Book has co-created a hilarious, totally brilliant, crazy story concerning the ownership of cheese, or rather, one particular, holey chunk of the stuff. Rat Law has it that, if any rat has the cheese, that rat is the owner of same –

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unless that is, a bigger, quicker, stronger, scarier, hairier or even a dirty rat (especially a gang boss), wants it. Which rodent eventually gets to partake of that cheese though?

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All manner of rats, and potentially extremely dodgy situations have been entertained with verve and vigour in reds and greys (the cheese though is a glowing yellowy orange) and through co-creator Alexis Deacon’s wonderfully clever, cumulative text.
There is so much to explore and discuss herein that I guarantee sharing it with a class of 4s to 7s will keep everyone engaged for ages; begin with the cover and cheesy endpapers and just FOLLOW THAT CHEESE! With its cleverly inbuilt repetition, this book is perfect for learner readers too.
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Catch that Crocodile!
Anushka Ravishankar and Pulak Biswas
Tara Books pbk
Herein, it takes a young fish-seller, Meena to solve the problem of how to deal with the jaw-snapping reptile that Falguni Fruit-seller discovers in a ditch. And, what’s more she does so in an entirely non-violent manner

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(luring it back to the river with a trail of her wares). That of course is after the likes of Probin Policeman, Doctor Dutta and wrestler Bhayanak Singh have all attempted to do their worst to the croc and definitely come off second best.

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With its clever, eye-catching typography, folk-style illustrations that look almost like woodcuts and catchy rhyme, this is good fun to read aloud with small groups of children who will need to be able to look closely at the pictures to get the most from the story.
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Supertato
Sue Hendra
Simon and Schuster pbk
Whoever heard of a superhero spud? I certainly hadn’t prior to seeing Sue Hendra’s latest offering. Said superspud is hot on the trail of one dastardly pea that has got loose from the freezer and caused all kinds of suffering among the inhabitants of the vegetable section of the supermarket.

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Supertato’s search sends him creeping through the cakes, the cheese and the cans but just as he’s about to grab his prey, he finds himself plunging into the icy depths of the freezer above which the pea lurks wielding a spud masher.

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Is our superhero destined to become mere mash? Not quite but it’s a pretty close call.
Hmm! What’s that green spherical object in the jelly?
Totally crazy but there’s something rather appealing about a spud with superpowers careering around a supermarket at night.
The bright, almost brash colours of the produce and their surroundings make for suitably eye-catching scenes and the playful language adds spice to this tongue-in-cheek drama.
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Nocturnal Tales

jillrbennett 1 Comment

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The Almost Fearless Hamilton Squidlegger
Timothy Basil Ering
Walker Books
By day, young Hamilton (with his trusty wooden sword) can take on all the threatening -so he imagines- creatures in the swamp be they fire-breathing frackensnapper, clawed skelecragon or twining bracklesneed. Come nightfall though, all his bravado vanishes and Hamilton gives full rein to that fertile imagination of his and flees from his own muddy space and those same, now shadowy monsters, to take refuge in his secret hideaway. Each morning however, a newly fearless Hamilton awakes ready for more sneaking, wrestling and sword fighting. His long-suffering father on the other hand has tired of his son’s nocturnal habits and bakes him a super-dooper ‘double-decker grasshopper worm-cake,’ to be consumed at breakfast, in return for remaining a night in his own mud. Hamilton agrees to the deal, but then as dark rain clouds loom overhead and thunder booms, he begins to fret about the coming night.
Dad offers good advice – use the power of your mind positively, he tells Hamilton.
There follows a sequence of amazing happenings: a sea of pink lemonade gushes forth from a discarded TV,

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and upon that sea is a boat complete with striped sea bass chef. Hamilton scrambles aboard, said chef offers good advice, cooks pancakes

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and the ship takes to the air, powered by – can you believe – the frackensnapper’s breath. Yes he’s aboard too as are the bracklesneed and skelecragon, though now the monsters are friendly.

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During a breathtaking flight, son and father are reunited and there are individual cabins in which everyone beds down for the night including a now ‘totally’ fearless Hamilton Squidlegger.
Ering’s creatures are wonderful. With their googly eyes and spindly legs, Hamilton and his dad are frog-like in appearance; indeed the former positively leaps from the pages of the book. The contrast between the glowing colours of the splodgy, spattery backdrops and the scratchy etched lines of the characters is superb. Guess what happens on the final page …

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What a totally satisfying scene and fitting ending to a totally satisfying, empowering story.
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Florentine and Pig and the Spooky Forest Adventure
Eva Katzler and Jess Mikhail
Bloomsbury Children’s Books pbk
“Wooooooooooooooooooooo!” Can that awful sound Florence and Pig hear as they lie in their beds one night be the Growling Prowling Bogmog, they wonder; the same creature that dwells in the deepest, darkest forest.

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A plan is needed, a plan to discovers its whereabouts, so the friends pack their rucksacks (Pig’s with camping gear, Florentine’s with tasty treats) and march out into the forest. After trudging, tramping, hopping, hurdling, splishing and splashing, they suddenly hear alarming sounds – oh no. Don’t panic it’s only Pig’s rumbly tum.

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Supper and a singsong follow and then they bed down for the night. But what is that familiar sounding “Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!” and that enormous shadow, looming ever larger? Just an owl; back to sleep guys – that’s all it was, or …

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Although new to me, this is the third adventure of Florentine and her porcine pal, two healthy food promoters who love to eat tasty treats and whose stories come complete with tempting-looking, healthy recipes and some craft ideas for young listeners to share with adults – after they’ve hunted for that Bogmog of course.
This combination of a fun story and cooking – two things young children love – is a winning formula: the recipes are clearly presented and look truly mouthwatering, the narrative contains some lovely, playful language and the mixed media illustrations are full of amusing details to discover.
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Bedtime for Tiny Mouse
Chae Strathie and Sebastien Braun
Scholastic pbk
Tiny Mouse cannot sleep: his head’s full of fuzz, his feet of fireworks, his knees are misbehaving, his tail twitchy and his ears excited so none of the suggestions his mum,

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dad and big brother offer are at all helpful. Tiny Mouse turns to Grandma and at last, thanks to the soft moonlight and her soporific lullaby under the stars, Grandma Mouse is able to tuck up her sleeping grandson tenderly in his bed. Sweet dreams, little one.
A gentle, bedtime tale for the very young illustrated with appropriately playful scenes and sequences.

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Conflict and Resolution

jillrbennett 2 Comments

 

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Nina loves the idea of odd socks

Two Giants
Michael Foreman
Walker Books
How wonderful to see that Walker Books have brought back a Foreman story first published in the 1960s – one of his very early titles.
We meet two giants, great friends who live in a beautiful country where they make the birds sing and some even nest in their beards. Friends, that is, until one day they discover a pink shell and then oh dear, both want it for personal decoration. There follows a huge falling out,

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stones are thrown, a flood comes and the giants find themselves on opposite sides of a cold sea. In a continuous winter, the fight carries on; rocks are hurled, each giant scoring multiple hits and all the while their anger is growing. The thrown rocks become stepping stones for Sam, armed with huge club, to visit a sleeping Boris. Boris however wakes and a world shaking, club-waving charge takes place.
Just in time though the two notice their footwear (muddled in the scramble to escape the flood) and standing stock still, remember the old days of friendship but not what the fight was about.

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Time for a reconciliation … clubs tossed aside, the giants return to their islands, the sea recedes, wild life returns and before long all that separates the two mountains is a beautiful tree-filled valley where the seasons come and go once more and peace and harmony reigns. Guess what the friends now do as a reminder, no matter what …

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It’s interesting to see how Foreman’s style has evolved over the years. For this gently humorous fable he has used paint and torn or cut paper collage to build up the scenes.
A book that is likely to appeal to children’s sense of the ridiculous, particularly those, and I do know some, who like to wear odd socks.
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There is arguing too in this Hueys story newly out in paperback:

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The Hueys in It Wasn’t Me
Oliver Jeffers
Harper Collins Children’s Books pbk
The usually peaceable Hueys are having an argument; what is it all about? One of their number, Gillespie wants to know but his question merely provokes further squabbling among the others. He asks again, “What ARE you fighting about?” Hmm – good question but can they come up with an answer?

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Maybe distraction is a better form of conflict resolution in this situation …

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oh have we come full circle here? Bzzz…
You need to start reading this hilarious book before the title page where the cause of the argument is visible; thereafter it becomes transformed into a bird, a flying teacup, a winged horse, even a flying elephant as the squabble escalates until Gillespie steps in and points out something that is lying lifeless on the floor.
Simple but certainly not simplistic is the manner in which Jeffers has depicted the Hueys and their trouble. The course of the argument is presented in speech bubbles and shown contained within a cloud above the Hueys’ heads

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– very clever and a highly effective means of representation.
Assuredly one to have on the family or classroom bookshelf for those inevitable times of conflict, although once read it will quickly become an oft requested,
any time story.
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Cantankerous King Colin
Phil Allcock and Steve Stone
Maverick arts publishing
When King Colin wakes up feeling cantankerous he finds himself getting into all manner of minor conflicts with his wife Queen Christine.

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Rosa and Nina sharing in King Colin’s cantankerous behaviour

She tries ruling against eating a ‘yucky and mucky’ breakfast, his refusal to wash his hands after using the loo, and his wearing of a shirt stinking of the previous night’s dinner.
Every time Queen Caroline said, “You can’t …”, King Colin’s response was the same: “I can,” and of course, because he was king, he could and he did. Hmm…silly, dirty, smelly King Colin. A sulky Colin decides to go for a horse ride. Imagine his displeasure then when he discovers his favourite horse, Pink Nose unsaddled.
More conflicts ensue during the ride and a furious Colin returns to the palace where, you’ve guessed it, he causes more upsets

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until his roars of “I can!” are overheard by somebody who has the power to overrule our grumpy, crazy, lazy naughty monarch; it’s none other than Great Queen Connie. Guess where she sends her badly behaved son.
A humorous story illustrated in cartoon style with appropriately garish colours to match Colin’s over-the-top character and told through a patterned text; children will relish Colin’s somewhat disgusting habits and enjoy joining in with the Queen’s ‘ You can’ts ’ and the oft repeated, ‘ “I can,” said King Colin … because he was king.’ They could also offer suggestions as to how the king could mend his undesirable ways and present them in poster form perhaps.
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Animal Antics

jillrbennett 3 Comments
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Little E engrossed in Teddy’s bedtime tale

Teddy Bedtime
Georgie Birkett
Andersen Press
In this board book we have some sixty words and seven spreads through which toddlers can enjoy sharing in the bedtime rituals of a trio of teddies plus other toys. Said teds play together then go upstairs for some fun in the bath.

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After that , it’s pyjamas on, teeth brushed, storytime and lights out.
A jolly rhymimg text and cute pictures with lots of patterns and items of interest for the very youngest; for bedtimes and other times too.
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The Short Giraffe
Neil Flory and Mark Cleary
Allen & Unwin (Murdoch Books) pbk
When photographer Boba the baboon arrives to take a photo of the tallest animals in the world, he is confronted with a poser of a problem. The desired perfect photograph can easily fit in five giraffe faces but what about Geri? The shortest ever giraffe offers to step aside but the others are having none of it; all credit to them. Various ideas are proffered – stilts, stacking,

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inverting, inflating and winging him; but none is successful and eventually the giraffes’ ideas are exhausted. Along comes a caterpillar with a seemingly simple solution (children of course, will already have got there).

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Then it’s just a case of a bit of repositioning and neck arching and with Geri in the centre front … click! Perfection at last.

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There are laughs aplenty in this neatly simple story of inclusion, embracing differences and exploring things from different perspectives.
With touches of slapstick, Cleary’s digitally manipulated images set for the most part, against manila coloured paper which has the effect of making the candy-coloured animals stand out, (and up) are bound to make you smile.
Share with individuals and small groups.
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The Mouse Who Ate the Moon
Petr Horacek
Walker Books
Little Mouse adores the moon, so much so that she longs to have a piece of her very own. One morning when she wakes up, there, just outside her hole is a slice of her heart’s desire – so she thinks. It smells so wonderful that she takes a tiny nibble, and another and …

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Oh no! No round moon now. But when she tells Rabbit and Mole her sad news, they say that nobody can eat the moon. A distraught Little Mouse returns to her hole until dark begins to fall when she hears a noise outside. It’s her friends Mole and Rabbit and they have something to show her, something large and shiny and ROUND in the starry sky. Time for a celebratory sharing of the rest of Little Mouse’s portion of moon, they decide. Mmm – delicious!
This cleverly designed book, with its peepholes and cutaway pages build up the scenes and extend the action as the story progresses. Horacek’s striking illustrations are created with a variety of media including wax resist and strong watercolours; the various techniques serve to add depth and texture.

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After sharing the story adults may well take the opportunity to examine more closely with their young audiences, how the scenes have been created and this could well inspire children to try out the techniques for their own artistic creations. Not only a charming and amusing story, but a great art lesson in looking.
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Nina orchestrating the story for her sister

The Farmer’s Away! BAA! NEIGH!
Anne Vittur Kennedy
Walker Books
When the farmer’s away, the animals play. What a din they make too as they tell the story in their very own words: a story of their day of boating,

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picnicking, switch-back riding, waterskiing, taking a trip in an air balloon and dancing. All that, until ‘ARF, arf, ARF’… dog gives the warning of the farmer’s return.Then it’s a mad dash, a CHARGE and a leap over the fence

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and shh shh shhhhhhhh. Phew!

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With its only words being those neighs, baas, quacks, arfs, oinks, rees, clucks cheeps, ribbets, quacks, moos and more uttered by the farm animals as they enjoy their anarchic day while the farmer – with the odd hmm hmm or oh dee doh – toils away on his tractor in the fields –, this delightfully silly story will appeal to children’s sense of the ridiculous. They will love joining in to create that animal cacophony (what better way to sharpen up those sound/symbol associations than this?) as well as relishing the shared joke between them and the author.
The watercolour illustrations of the rural scenes are an absolute hoot too.
Leave this one around in your infant classroom and you’ll hear those sounds echoing all over as children have a go at reading the story themselves.
(You might even create and laminate those animal sounds and leave them for the children to orchestrate their own versions of the book. Then what about some masks? small world play maybe … endless possibilities here.)
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Incredible Journeys

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Nina engrossed in the story

Pigsticks and Harold and The Incredible Journey
Alex Milway
Walker Books pbk
Pigsticks, last of a noble line of explorers is certain he too is an explorer and what’s more he’s decided that The Ends of the Earth is his destination. However, he cannot travel alone: an assistant is required so out goes an advertisement. By happy accident, he comes upon Harold hamster,

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a kindly but not altogether willing travelling companion until that is, a promise of Battenburg cake seals the deal. Off the two go on their eventful trek, a trek that includes encounters with a snake, crocodiles

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and many other hazards.

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The relationship between the contrasting characters  is highly humorous: Pigsticks totally confident and Harold the complete opposite, constantly asking questions of his fearless friend but it is he whose final question ultimately makes the whole enterprise happen.

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This highly entertaining story – saga almost – is just the kind of thing to keep readers turning the pages to see what is coming next. The illustrations too are splendid: ranging from some taking almost an entire double spread to others that are vignettes;most show so much more than we are told in the words.
It’s a wonderful mix of subtle humour and near slapstick; pretty near perfect for that in-between stage of reading. More please.
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Another book that is ideal for the same stage is just out in paperback:

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James loved this story when it first came out in hardback

Dixie O’Day in the Fast Lane
Shirley Hughes & Clara Vulliamy
Red Fox pbk
You can find a full review of this wonderful book about a very eventful car race for duo Dixie and Percy, also ideal for that in-between stage of reading under Car Capers.
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Numbers, Counting and Dragons

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The Hueys in None the Number
Oliver Jeffers
Harper Collins Children’s Books
Those ovoid characters, the Hueys are back and this time they have a mathematical poser. The problem essentially is this: “Is none a number?”

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So begins a numerical discourse wherein one is added to none and so on until the two conversing reach double figures.

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Spectacular, when they’re all together, remarks one of the pair and goes on to say, ”But when you take them all away … you get NONE.” No prizes for guessing what the other one says in response… (there are four words in the sentence and it’s a question.)

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Here we go again!

Each counting number is illustrated in Jeffers’ own wonderfully quirky style and an explanatory sentence, seemingly spoken by the Huey who has adopted the teaching role, is written beneath, above or alongside the picture as a caption, together with the corresponding number printed large. Wait a minute though, there’s more to it than that: every illustration is a small story in itself with lots to explore and discuss: take number 5 for instance where readers can help Rupert choose himself a hat,

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or number 8 where a party gift is the object of a guessing game.
This hilarious book is simply brimming over with potential – mathematical, story-telling, artistic and more.
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Have You Seen My Dragon?
Steve Light
Walker Books
Starting from a hotel entrance, a small boy searches high and low for his lost dragon – all over the city in fact. As he moves around he ponders on the possibility of discovering said dragon in a variety of unlikely places such as on the bus,

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quenching his thirst up on the water towers,

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at the book stall,

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on the underground even. Having made a thorough (so he thinks) search, the dragon’s owner comes back to the place where he’d supposedly left him and lo and behold, what is that sitting up on a roof in lantern bedecked China Town?

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In fact what really seems to be happening is that the dragon is leading the boy on a journey of exploration around the city.
Steve Light has used a minimal text to narrate the story told mostly through his finely detailed, mainly black and white illustrations.
This fascinating book is also of course, rich with opportunities for counting, not only the particular items in the captions but also the people, cars, buildings, architectural features and much more besides.
Children will love spotting where the dragon has hidden himself on each spread and I envisage many being inspired to make maps and their own detailed drawings of particular features or indeed a whole city – real or imagined.
A group might even try using the map as a starting point and collaborating to build a three dimensional model.
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Once Tashi Met a Dragon
Anna Fienberg and Barbara Fienberg illustrated by Kim Gamble
Allen & Unwin Murdoch Books
There’s a dragon that is responsible for bringing the rains; that’s what the inhabitants of Tashi’s village all believe even though they don’t agree on where he lives; and, as his grandma tells him, that dragon is busy, “Cooking up rain, big lashing whooping roaring rains that wash away all the dirt and dullness of the year, and make the air sparkle like a million diamonds.”
One year though, the dragon does not appear – there’s a terrible drought and outbreak of fires. Tashi determines to find out what has become of this ancient dragon.
Thus begins his adventure involving a white tiger, a visit to a golden palace and a story

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and singing session with a sad little dragon whose mother is in a deep, demon-induced sleep.
As a result, the rain-bringing dragon is awoken, Tashi is granted a wish for his troubles, the dragon opens her mouth, blows wispy dragon words and down comes the rain at last.

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Thereafter, the young hero is flown back to his awaiting Grandmother in his newly greened village home.
If you haven’t come across Tashi before then this book is a good introduction to the bold, fearless little fellow who is always ready to take on new challenges. His adventures are recounted with lashings of figurative language and atmospheric watercolour pictures and make for interesting story sessions.
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Meet Stanley

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I have to own up to being a big fan of William Bee already so I came to this new series with eager anticipation. I was not disappointed.

Stanley the Farmer
William Bee
Jonathan Cape
Meet Stanley, a pretty versatile rodent who seems to be able to turn his hand to all manner of tasks. In this story said hamster sets out in his tractor to plant some wheat seeds. First though he needs to plough the field, then, with Shamus’ help, spread the muck – POOH! Next Shamus pours the seeds into the hopper to be distributed in the furrows.

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More help is enlisted, this time from Little Woo; he wields the hoses.
Of course, once the wheat starts to grow, there are marauding birds to fend off with the help of a scarecrow. When the wheat is grown fully, it is harvest time. Out comes Stanley’s combine harvester, then his baling machine and after all that work, it’s time to head home.

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Great teamwork Stanley, Shamus and Little Woo.
Lots of fun, an appealing character and learning opportunities aplenty are packed into this sturdy little book. I predict Stanley and his friends will soon become firm favourites with young children at home and in early years settings.
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Stanley’s Garage
Herein Stanley is a garage owner at the ready to provide petrol for friend Hattie’s sports car,

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a tyre change for Shamus’ ‘jeep’, cold water for Charlie’s vintage vehicle. Then he heads off to rescue another friend whose car needs a tow and a fix. All in a day’s work Stanley. Time to head off home for a long soak in the tub.
A delight from cover to cover.
Bee’s bold, bright illustrations are immediately attractive to young children and the storylines sufficiently interesting to engage and hold their interest throughout, and beyond: Did I see a tool box there?

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A children’s TV series in the making maybe?
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Also newly published in paperback is William Bee’s hilarious, very noisy story about the sheep that cause a major traffic jam:
and the cars go…
Walker Books

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Previously reviewed on this website in the section The Ones That Got Away https://jillrbennett.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/the-ones-that-got-away/

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Football Fantasies

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Wonder Goal!
Michael Foreman
Andersen Press pbk
All the boys in newcomer to the team’s story, dream that impossible dream of becoming famous footballers, but none more so he who has just had his shoelaces tied together, the teasing all those new to the squad are subjected to.
The tale begins one Sunday with a Lowry-like portrayal of this particular boy’s debut game on a chilly-looking pitch – one of many – in an urban neighbourhood behind which chimneys belch out filthy smoke.

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The narrative structure – both visual and verbal – is somewhat complex for, as the match starts, the story takes on a timeless ‘out of body’ dimension as it moves between the real and imagined and back and forth in time:
‘It was perfect.”
“Head over the ball, ”
“balance, power, timing . . .”

 

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“As soon as he kicked it, ”
“he knew it was going to be a goal.
It was a screamer.’
So, one minute we are there at that first match, the next in his dad ‘s boyhood bedroom with its wall-to-wall soccer heroes, then fast forward to another wonder goal some time in the future.
The personal and impersonal sit side by side in this story. The sound of the quietly understated text has an impersonal tone whereas visually, the paintings are rich with passion and vibrancy. And, the back endpapers are frames from the author’s own sketchbooks of soccer scenes from troubled regions as far afield as the Berlin Wall

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and the Golan Heights from 1970 to the foot of Mt. Fuji in 1997 and Marseille in 1999.
With the football fascination set to be on the rise with the World Cup looming large, this is one for fans of all ages from about six upwards.
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Football Star
Mina Javaherbin and Renato Alarcao
Walker Books pbk
Set in Brazil, the story centres around a group of young children living in poverty. Their days are full of work, their heads, of dreams. These dreams, in particular those of  narrator Paulo Marcelo Feliciano who says he will lead his team to the top, bring a special energy and light to the hardships of everyday life

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and the daily evening soccer game is a treasured, shared time. Paulo Marcelo Feliciano has a younger sister Maria and they have a reciprocal arrangement: she teaches him the maths she’s learned in school, he teaches her football moves. There is one problem though; the football teams are girls only. But then comes the day when one of Paolo’s team is injured during a game: time to rethink the boys only stipulation …

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The final spread, like the story, is alight with hope, strength and the affirming lights of the hillside homes.

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Believe in yourself, listen to your heart, follow your dreams are the themes that shine forth from this empowering story.
Great World Cup reading – before and beyond.
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