reviews 5 – 8 Infant/Junior continued


stories should be. I am less certain about Emily Sutton’s illustrations. These take their cue from the old Christmas decorations and place the story in a retro 1950s with Theo in striped pyjamas and a toyshop with bears and dolls on shelves and no Lego in sight. It’s a lovingly created homage to an idea of Christmas but jars with the modern references to the babysitter’s phone and parents so driven that neither can come home  in the kitchen here). The ending, too, raises questions which readers may puzzle over. There is such a contrast between the Christmas Eve dearth and cold and the Christmas morning warmth and cornucopia. Can Theo’s parents have been so neglectful to have given him no hope on Christmas Eve, only to shower him with presents  the joy of the morning down to the decorations’ restorative magic and          Is the story not for children after all, but a warning to modern parents who might have forgotten what Christmas CB


The Knight Who Took All Day 


James Mayhew, Graffeg, 32pp, 978 1 9120 5045 1, £6.99 pbk


The knight in this neo fairy tale is more than a little self-obsessed. His efforts to impress the uninterested princess with his daring send him searching the countryside, far and         utterly incompetent as we’re shown when he rides through ‘thick tangled forests and looks into gloomy caves’       he even stands on a dragon’s nose (‘peered down a raging volcano’, we’re told).


Then one day when a large dragon


      rampaging and generally wreaking havoc, the delighted knight has his devoted squire running up and down the hundred and one steps to the armoury for the right gear: shining armour, a helmet with visor and       his trusty sword and best shield. Finally the knight is ready and looking       princess herself has coolly and calmly taken command and tamed the dragon herself. Needless to say, the knight is far from pleased but what happens next – and yes, there is a happily ever after ending - will surely make him rue his procrastinatory vanity all the more.


There’s visual humour aplenty in


Mayhew’s wonderful crayon outlined illustrations: the sight of that poor squire dashing up and down those stairs for instance and that of the rather portly, over-dressed knight heading out to meet his adversary. Not so much a tale of derring do as one of derring didn’t do. JB


Come all you little persons 


John Agard, ill. Jessica Courtney- Tickle, Faber 32pp


978-0-571-32416-3 £6.99 pbk


John Agard’s work is well-known, appreciated and deservedly award- winning, and this picture book, with wonderful illustrations by


Jessica


Courtney-Tickle, will delight his current fans and may create new ones. He dedicates the book to the Mi’Kmaq, (First Nation in Nova Scotia), for whom there is a gateway between this world and the spirit world, and that is the idea behind this book, The ‘little persons’ are representative of various aspects of Nature: bird-person in feathered cape,  on, all beautifully illustrated as friendly beings with important jobs to do, and they are called and collected one by one as the book progresses. They all join in the dance of Earth’s guests at the end of the book. ‘Just follow your heart-song when next it calls. Planet earth has room for the footsteps of all’. DB


Pirate Baby 


Mary Hoffman, ill. Ros Asquith, Otter-Barry Books, 978 1 91095 995 4, £11.99 hbk


             themselves rescuing a baby, and a girl baby at that, and having to learn how to look after her. The resourceful pirates discover unknown skills as they squirt condensed milk from a syringe into the baby’s howling mouth, sew nappies from the skull and crossbones and even make a toy squid from a pair of old gloves.


The pirates become


baby Isla’s new family and refuse to      women pirates they attempt to plunder and not to the terrifying sea monster that rises from the deep. Isla herself, a true pirate baby, saves them all from the sea monster by giving away her beloved toy squid. This is a humorous pirate story which manages to convey some subtle messages about gender and role reversal with its fearless pirate girl, a dauntless, and daunting, band of women pirates and the caring, ingenious crew of the ‘Ramshackle’. Ros Asquith’s lively, colourful comic- style illustrations enhance the text of a picture book that is full of fun and energy and should appeal to all pirate adventure loving young readers. SR


A Werewolf Named Oliver James





Nicholas John Frith, Alison Green Books, 32pp, 978-1-4071-7198-2, £6.99 pbk


      brilliant: Nicholas John Frith just keeps on getting better and better. First


there’s the absolutely luscious colour       and the illustrations awesome. Let’s meet the star of the show,


 lad, rule-abiding and keen on music.       practice as he waits for the bus, something strange happens. All his friends disappear suddenly and then the bus sails past without stopping,          show up, he merely shouts, ‘HELP! A   discovers that he’s the werewolf.      his metamorphosis brings with it super-fast speed, super strength and the power to leap effortlessly over buildings. All this is howlingly exciting  friends of his new super-powers. But      


       (think Margaret Bloy Graham) with some wonderful visual puns – don’t miss the road signs at the junction  supremely satisfying, double helix of JB


La La La 


Kate DiCamillo, ill. Jaime Kim, Walker Books, 64pp, 9781 4063 7800 9, £9.99 hbk.


The only word in this glorious book is ‘La’, which is sung, shouted, hollered, joyously crooned, imploringly called  protagonist of the otherwise wordless narrative. It begins with the spotlighted child standing alone and singing a single ‘La”, which she then follows with several more. There’s no response so she stomps off outside and addressing the falling leaves, sings to those too, and in fact to the whole tree, rather more forcibly. Silence. She then directs lots more ‘La’s to the pond and surrounding foliage: still she receives nothing in return. Sadly she walks back indoors,


sits down and thinks. Later she sets out once more beneath a gorgeous purple, starry sky and begins sending a volley of ‘La’s towards the moon. A deadly hush prevails. Back goes the girl, returning with a ladder up which she begins to climb. So eager is she for a response from the moon that she keeps on climbing until she reaches the top and then ‘La La La La La’, she sings. Seemingly the moon hasn’t heard her song, so she returns home and, worn out by her efforts, drops        she’s woken by a sound coming from outside. Could it be the moon    where a dazzling duet takes place beneath the stars.


This superb dramatic sequence unfolds as a slowly building ode to


hope, determination and friendship, thanks to a duet between author and illustrator that is as felicitous as that between the girl and the moon. JB


This Zoo Is Not For You 


Ross Collins, Nosy Crow, 32pp, 978 0 85763 895 3, £11.99 hbk


 in the platybus, a mistake is made, and the animals think he has come for an interview to be accepted into the zoo. Each of the interviews is conducted by animals: a panda,    and an elephant. They are terribly unkind about the Platypus and rather  he doesn’t eat bamboo, and certainly  tricks nor change colours, and the elephant thinks he’s ‘weird’. The little Platypus is rather taken aback about all this as all he wanted to do was to deliver an invitation to a platypus    they realise what they have done and  go to apologise and to be accepted as friends into a bus load of partying platypuses. This is an excellent story about accepting people as they are, their differences and their strengths and not making instant assumptions. The platypus comes out best because he is willing to forgive the unkindness of the too-sure-of-themselves animals. The animals’ expressions say it all, as does the platypus’s face when being bombarded with poo by the monkeys! There is lots of space in the illustrations, and the animals are very much centre stage while the pastel backgrounds add to the colourfulness of the whole. An excellent story full of rhyme sets the scene perfectly for the big party at the end: ‘The platybus is for all of us!’ ES


The Great Gran Plan 


Elli Woollard, ill. Steven Lenton, Macmillan, 32pp, 978 1 4472 5479 9, £6.99 pbk


A funny little tale with lots of characters and twists and jokes involving fairy tales. You need to know a few to get the most out of this book. A little pig gets wind of the wolf’s dastardly plan to capture Gran after he made it very clear to said wolf that he won’t be       house down. So he is a brave little chap who has some brains and wants to protect Gran. You might recognise  He goes through town trying to


purchase various items he feels would be best to repel the wolf. The illustrations give the readers lots to look at-especially some of the shop names, it will make grown-ups laugh too. There is a bit of a problem as when he amasses these items he actually begins to look very much like....well I’ll leave it to you to guess. 


Books for Keeps No.227 November 2017 25


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