Tag Walker Books

Tricky Times with Albert and Whiffy Wilson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Whiffs, Pongs and A Foiled Robbery

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

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

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

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after the immediate re-read they all demanded.

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

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

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

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

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

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Double? More? Too Much?

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Amazing Information Books

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Nina (who does like snakes) enjoying the book.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Quests of Wonder

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

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Emmanuelle was enchanted by the two cats and their story

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Journeys with Elephants

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Gracie captivated by Raju’s journey with his mother

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If elephants are your thing then you will also like:

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

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

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Be the Change/Watch the Change

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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A Groovy World and A Fishy One

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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Families, Families, Families

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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Mermaid Messages and a Mix-Up

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

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

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and the pages sparkle with gently glowing marine objects

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and bubble with small blessings.

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

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

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

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

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

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Footpath Flowers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Monstrous Reads

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Magical Moggie Moments

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

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

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

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

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

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earthworms, butterflies …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Rosie’s Chick & a Missing Monster

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

 

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

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through the straw (likewise)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.
Buy from Amazon
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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.
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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.

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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

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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

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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:

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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

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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

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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:

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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.

Find and buy from your local bookshop:

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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.
Buy from Amazon

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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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