reviews 5 – 8 Infant/Junior


Hubert Horatio. How to Raise Your Parents


HHHHH


Lauren Child, HarperCollins, 208pp, 9780008264086, £12.99 hbk


First created by Lauren Child in 2004, that ever-competent child character Hubert


Horatio now reappears in


the latest instalment of events in the life of the rich but chronically disorganised Bobton-Trent family. Its various doings are lavishly illustrated in scratchy black and white drawings within which different font sizes come and go against collage backgrounds some of which that seem to have been taken from old wall-papers. Lauren Child writes at the end about the enormous pleasure creating this book has given her, the results of which are evident on every page. A


meandering, chapter often drawings that are both apparently


pointless story comes alive thanks to innumerable droll asides, mock- serious


headings and witty and


engaging. The whole effect is as if one of Ivy Compton-Burnett’s now largely forgotten novels about upper class family members consistently failing to communicate with each other have been re-animated by an author as gifted with story-telling as she is clever with the pencil. With further adventures still to come, there is much to look forward to for young readers and for parents also drawn into this happy melange of picture and story. Staying Children’s Laureate until June next year, Lauren Child somehow manages to keep all the activities associated with this arduous role going while still creating new, delightful books like this one. Hubert Horatio himself could do no better. NT


for an author to recognise for many people fear is normal and an ever- present facet of the self. It can, in fact, seem quite beneficial. Here Francesca


such a fear might look like, a small slightly shapeless


Sanna imagines what character


who


helps keep you safe – fear does help one avoid danger. What happens when a situation arrives that is just too overwhelming? Fear responds, growing until it becomes a suffocating ever-present monster


that


takes over every aspect of life. Sanna’s bold make


retro illustrations cuddly


literally style


this complex


situation into something that can be understood by her young audience. Her personification of fear makes it seem a small


creature,


something familiar and manageable. But something small and cuddly can become an almost shapeless monster. She identifies the most frightening aspect of fear – a sense of loneliness. Fear stifles. There way Sanna’s creature


dominates


the pages effectively portray this. However, this is not the end. The realisation that you are not the only one who experiences fear, that others have this little companion, brings the possibility of control. The unfussy


design of this


picture book allows the author to convey her message with a real immediacy. Strong simple colours and bold shapes illustrate a very straightforward text that is beautifully placed on each page presented in a clear sans serif font. The result is far from bland, rather it is a powerful depiction of a feeling that many will recognise. This is a picture book to encourage youngest,


discussion among the fostering empathy and


sympathy. FH Armadillo and Hare HHHH


Jeremy Strong, illus. Rebecca Bagley, David Fickling Books, 160pp, 978-1788450287, £9.99 hbk


These stories and are


perfect to share with young children beginning to read


a delight and for


or as bedtime stories! Best friends Armadillo


Hare


themselves live in the


Me and my Fear HHHHH


Francesca Sanna, Flying Eye, 40pp, 9781911171539, £12.99 hbk


Fear is something we all feel, and


children in particular can be affected, often hiding what they feel through shame or a feeling of


the situation which


But how can one address this? Often an author will tackle taking a particular


isolation. subject


may be overcome. It is less usual


Big Forest with an assortment of intriguing neighbours –among them an invisible stick insect, an acrobatic wombat and a know-it-all lobster. Hare loves to play the tuba and Armadillo has a passion for cheese sandwiches and they get along just fine – most of the time. In these ten


stories


carried away. One of the best stories is when hare tries to teach Armadillo to dance to no avail and then loyally stays by Armadillo’s side at a party even though he is longing to dance. But on their way home they pass a meadow full of flowers where hare plays his tuba and Armadillo begins to dance. There is such tenderness and generosity of friendship in this tale. The collection is a wonderful celebration


of differences


and friendship and finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. They way Armadillo and Hare look out for one another and help each other overcome their


fears is beautifully


portrayed along with the message that not everything has an answer or a ready solution. Expressive


illustrations by


newcomer Rebecca Bagley add to the package - hare’s ears are particularly eloquent. JC


buried page. The more Arlo reads, the bigger the plant grows, until it becomes a tree with books as fruit, and more people started to become book gardeners. A ripe book falls on the Mayor‘s head, and he kicks the tree from which it fell, threatening to cut down all the trees, but Arlo says he can’t – they are now a town of stories. The Mayor has a good meal in a restaurant, watches a show in the park and loses himself in a book – and realises that books are the seeds of all these good things in life. Paul Czajak is the author of a series


about Monster and what he thinks he needs, but he has also written Seaver the weaver, about a spider who is not afraid to stand out, and perhaps this is in a similar vein. Not only is this a lovely and positive story by, but the illustrations by Rashin Kheiriyeh are very imaginative, using a mixture of paint in varying textures, and collage. The dandelion


clocks are in thick


yellow oil paint; the Mayor’s collar is indicated as fur by two wispy spotted feathers, and the books are made out of pieces of pages in many different languages. It is very effective, and there are lots of details to look at and talk about when sharing this book. Even the end papers are covered in open books – this is definitely a book to treasure. DB


Sing to the Moon HHHH


Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl and Sandra van Doorn, Lantana 32pp, 9781911373391, £11.99 hbk


The Book Tree HHHHH


Paul Czajak, ill. Rashin Kheiriyeh, Barefoot Books, 32pp, 9781782854050


Armadillo


and Hare variously deal with a non- working fridge light; a slightly scary jaguar with big teeth looking for a meal (ingeniously provided with a cheese sandwich); a blustery storm in which Hare is terrified and elephant gets his head stuck in the window frame and a flood where their log cabin is


Anyone who loves books will love this picturebook! Arlo is nestled in the branches of a tree, and opens a book, breathing it in, savouring the anticipation of a beginning where anything is possible. Unfortunately, he drops his book on the Mayor’s head. The Mayor is furious, and says books are dangerous, as they act like seeds, which grow into ideas and then into questions, so he will tell Arlo all he needs to know without the use of books. He destroys all the books in the library and all over the town. Arlo chases one page, but it is swallowed in the muddy earth letter by letter. Without books, storytime in school becomes nap time, the restaurants, without cookbooks, can only serve dry cereal, and no-one can act out plays in the theatre. Arlo sadly scratches ‘The End’ (which he thinks is the worst part of a book) in the dirt- and then has an idea. He starts writing a book, and reading to people passing by, then hears the familiar creak of a spine: a book is sprouting from the


What would you wish for? And if you did have a wish, could it come true? ‘Sing to the moon’, says


Jjajja –


Grandad – and maybe it will happen. This is the invitation to think up all the wishes that one might want – perhaps sailing to Zanzibar or flying up into the sky. But reality is a wet gloomy day. Nothing exciting or colourful can happen. Or can it? This is a lovely picture book at whose


heart is a very particular relationship, that between a grandparent (here the grandfather) and grandchild. It is also about the imagination. It is so easy to allow boredom to take over – but within the home there is the potential for adventure especially when you have the stories that Grandad can tell about his childhood. The text weaves its way across the page – just as thoughts would weave through the mind – and bringing the words to life are the illustrations from Sandra van Doorn. Her gentle colours and expansive designs filling each double spread emphasise the relationship between the


two characters. The


setting is Uganda and both author and illustrator take us there. There is never any doubt – and yet there is nothing unfamiliar, just different. A picture book can really take its young audience anywhere, and this


Books for Keeps No.233 November 2018 23


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