reviews 8 – 10 Junior/Middle continued


  the monkey enclosure. The crocodile is revealed undressing and approaching       we discover his job is to swim in the pool and entertain the zoo’s visitors. Truly a professional crocodile. This is an engaging narrative with a clever ending effectively told through a very well-designed sequence of detailed watercolour images. Movement is effectively conveyed through a series of images as the crocodile descends in the lift and with a blur of speed as he rushes through the city streets.  discovered, readers will want to go back again and spot all the other animals on their way to work too, and wonder if they are also heading for the zoo. The image of the monkey enclosure also requires a closer examination, with one reading a book, one looking at his watch and another on a mobile… is the suggestion that the life of a zoo animal     lots to think and talk about in this excellent picturebook. SMc


Pop up Shakespeare 


Ill. Jenny Maizels, Reed Martin, Austin Tichenor, Walker Books, 10pp, 978-1-4063-7107-9, £16.00 hbk


Pop up Shakespeare is an exciting book with spectacular paper  to lift. This is a book you can read from all angles which would look wonderful displayed open in a classroom, a library or child’s bedroom.


An exciting double page spread is devoted to each category of drama: the comedies, romances, histories and tragedies. Plot summaries are provided. The very brief moral in a nutshell ‘long story short’ is a nice touch (e.g. re      hear!). Shakespeare’s inventiveness with language is highlighted and there plenty of memorable quotes. The purpose and poetic construction of 


Although written in a light heated style, there is lots of information here.       Shakespeare’s life at the beginning of the book including an insight into  disappearance for several years, whether or not he wrote all the plays ascribed to him (whether indeed as a glove maker’s son he could write at all) and what happened to his ‘missing’ play entitled Cardenio. For young readers who like facts and       only how many plays and sonnets he wrote but also how many shipwrecks and stabbings are included. There are astute insights, for example into contemporary relevance of his implicit criticism of anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice. Some comments  for example referring to The Plague as


a ‘fun old fashioned disease’. Pop up Shakespeare is a collaboration between Martin and Tichenor of the Reduced Theatre Company and the brilliant illustrator Jenny Maizels who created Pop up London and Pop up New York. This is a book which may interest fans of the Horrible Histories series, young readers interested in Shakespeare and collectors of paper engineered books. It appropriately ends with a suggestion to go and see a Shakespeare play live on stage. This engaging book may well tempt young readers to do so. SMc


Foxcraft: the Mage 


Inbali Iserles, Scholastic, 303pp, 9781407147161, £5.99 pbk


        the series Foxcraft which follows the journey of a young vixen called Isla as  In this book she has to cross into the       Mage’. He and his followers have the powers of Foxcraft but use them in order to control others, not for good.  Farraclaw she had rescued in an        leader and is able to help her on her way. She also rescues an elderly fox  had inadvertently created some of the problems that face them all. How they face their challenges makes for an exciting and action packed adventure.


This is essentially a quest story with the action moving us towards the             read the preceding books it is not vital and I was able to understand the plot without having done so. The author has kept the characters very much as animals, she has not tried to humanize them and they have to deal with their natural instincts. This balance of animal behaviours linked with a magical and mystical belief system makes for a complex yet believable world. It is fascinating to see the difference between wolf and fox societies, with the wolves having a hierarchical structure based around a clan (or pack), whilst foxes are more independent and do not have the same framework at all. Despite all        rapport with the characters and the author hooks us in to the story until the  those who love reading about nature and especially that which has a sense of magic woven through it. MP


Hopscotch in the Sky 


Lucinda Jacob, ill. Lauren O’Neill, Little Island Books, 64pp, 978-1-910 4-1193-3, hbk, £10.99


      from Lucinda Jacob might be said to be understated. Their words are


carefully chosen and precise. They don’t jostle for attention but speak quietly and wait to be heard. Their       sometimes mysterious. Have you ever wondered how many times you have been featured in the background of someone else’s holiday photo       Even the surreal moments like the       grannies are gentled into view and made perplexingly everyday. These are poems that invite the reader in, assuming shared experiences and memories, like walking in the wet tar of a hot concrete road in bare feet in summer or rescuing a doll’s picnic from the rain. This is poetry of observation and carefully modulated emotion, perhaps most eloquently expressed in the sentiment of the poem The Mountains and the Sea. Exciting things may be happening  between the mountains and the sea.’ This is a sensitively illustrated and     disappointingly slim but it offers a range of poetic forms to satisfy the national curriculum and some memorable moments. I like ‘the twig that remembers a storm’ in the poem Nature Table    ‘fall silent at our shadows edge’ in I’ll Take You There    that escapes packing up in There’s Always One, ‘Maybe to tell us/that Christmas/is not just for Christmas.’ Hopefully, there are more poems and collections to come. CB


How to write Poems 


Joseph Coelho, ill. Matt Robertson, Bloomsbury, 144pp, 978-1-4088-8949-7, £9.99,pbk


    Joseph Coelho, and drawing on his experience of working with schools over 15 years, this is an activity book packed with ideas and information for aspiring young poets. It is designed      


inspiration and writing poetry, and sets out to motivate children to have 


There are practical tips for building a poetry tool kit including creating word banks, playing with rhyme, using the            Easy to follow information on different poetic devices such as onomatopoeia, metaphor and alliteration is provided. There is an emphasis on a playful approach: put a tomato into the      Silly similes, included throughout, add to the fun.


There is an introduction to different forms of poetry and how they are constructed including sonnet, haiku and mesostic (a variation of acrostic) with an invitation and guidance on how to have a go and lots of space to try things out within the activity book itself. Many inventive ways into creating poems are introduced, including ‘blackout poetry’ working from a discarded text, nonsense poetry, writing poems for special people or at special times of the year. Particularly lovely is the idea of creating a nature poem by writing words or ideas on leaves.


Activity ideas are interspersed with historical facts and insights such as the longest poem, the trickiest tongue twister, the origin of the acronym RAP (rhythm and poetry in case you were wondering!). There is awareness - raising of poetry all around us for example in the names of paint colours such as ‘mole’s breath’ grey. Although mostly geared at the individual, fun with friends is also suggested with call and response playground games and how to set up different kinds of poetry clubs.


This is a really useful and accessible book which is packed with ideas and information. It would be suitable for independent exploration at home or activities in the primary classroom. SMc


10 – 14 Middle/Secondary Worry Angels





Sita Brahmachari, Jane Ray, Barrington Stoke, 96pp, 978-1-7811-2695-0, £5.99 pbk


Amy-May is aged eleven. Her parents have just conducted an angry divorce.  has given Amy-May a severe condition. She is unable to attend the mainstream secondary school for which she was intended and instead has to attend the Sandcastle Support Centre, a centre for pupils who are unable to attend mainstream school. Throughout the book the centre is referred to as Grace’s Art House, after the name of the woman who manages it.


Amy-May meets a Syrian refugee girl


named Rima, who is there with her family. Brahmachari’s book describes the developing relationship between the two girls and their individual attempts to combat anxiety.


The book deals with two important subjects, one of which this reviewer has not seen handled with such compassion for young readers, namely school refusal. The second subject, which is increasingly visible in children’s literature, is the daunting reality that confronts refugees from war zones such as Syria. This book dismantles some of the prejudices that surround both these subjects in a gentle and non-confrontational manner. Jane Ray’s monochrome illustrations complement the text in a pleasantly unobtrusive manner. RB


Books for Keeps No.227 November 2017 27


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