REVIEWERS IN THIS ISSUE BfK
Brian Alderson is founder of the Children’s Books History Society and a former Children’s Books Editor for The Times. Gwynneth Bailey is a freelance education and children’s book consultant. Clive Barnes, formerly Principal Children’s Librarian, Southampton City is a freelance researcher and writer. Diane Barnes, was a librarian for 20 years, mostly as a children’s specialist, working in Kent, Herts, Portsmouth and Hampshire, and Lusaka (Zambia) with the British Council. Jill Bennett is the author of Learning to Read with Picture Books and heads up a nursery unit. Jon Biddle is English Coordinator/Reading Champion at Moorlands Primary Academy in Norfolk, and co-founder of the Patron of Reading scheme. Rebecca Butler writes and lectures on children’s literature. Jane Churchill is a children’s book consultant. Stuart Dyer is an Assistant Head Teacher in a Bristol primary school. Anne Faundez is a freelance education and children’s book consultant. Janet Fisher is a children’s literature consultant. Geoff Fox is former Co-Editor (UK) of Children’s Literature in Education, but continues to work on the board and as an occasional teller of traditional tales. Sarah Gallagher is a headteacher and director of
Storyshack.org www.storyshack.org Ferelith Hordon is a former children’s librarian and editor of Books for Keeps Carey Fluker Hunt is a writer and children’s book consultant. Matthew Martin is a primary school teacher. Sue McGonigle is a Lecturer in Primary Education and Co-Creator of
www.lovemybooks.co.uk Margaret Pemberton is a school library consultant and blogs at
margaretpemberton.edublogs.org. Val Randall is Head of English and Literacy Co-ordinator at a Pupil Referral Unit. Andrea Reece is Managing Editor of Books for Keeps. Sue Roe is a children’s librarian. Elizabeth Schlenther is the compiler of
www.healthybooks.org.uk Lucy Staines is a primary school teacher Nicholas Tucker is honorary senior lecturer in Cultural and Community Studies at Sussex University.
Books About Children’s Books
The King of the Golden River HHHH
John Ruskin, illus Quentin Blake, Thames and Hudson, 64pp, 978-0500651858, £14.95
I wrote about this classic tale a couple of years ago (BfK 225), praising it as an early example of an English fantasy story, good for reading aloud. I didn’t mention
a number of illustrative
treatments that it had received after the notable ones in the first edition by Dicky Doyle but the only one that measured up to the demands of the story was a classy set of drawings by Charles Stewart, published as long ago as 1958. Now it has attracted the attention of Sir Quentin Blake who has illuminated the text with some thirty-two colour drawings, including
a stunning extra on the front cover. He notes in a Foreword his admiration for Doyle (whose line drawings were variably successful in the 1851 edition) but offers instead glowing colour throughout.
The pictures are
shaped to knit into the drama of the story, displaying anything from a tiny vignette of the King on his first appearance to mountainscapes crossing the gutter between pages and full-page dramas of weather as the heavens display their anger at Gluck’s two errant brothers. Scenes, characters, gesture all match the pace of events and the eucatastrophe of the restoration of prosperity to the Golden Valley is matched by one of those joyous scenes of happiness of which Blake is a master. BA
Ed’s Choice Tad HHHH
Benji Davies, HarperCollins, 32pp, 9780008212797, £12.99 hbk
Tad is the smallest tadpole in the pond and struggles to keep up with her many siblings who taunt her with the threat of Big Blub. Then Tad notices her brothers and sisters are disappearing – where have they gone? What will happen to her – she has caught the attention of Big Blub. Tad needs to do something she has never done before. Benji Davies’ art work is vibrant, saturated colours capturing Tad’s watery world. The tadpoles wriggle across the pages, their movement conveyed through strong expressive lines. Every page is used to the full. Some take up a double spread emphasising Tad’s size in relation to the pond; while vignettes pick up details from the text. This is presented in a clear font that is
Circle HHHHH
Mac Barnett, illus. Jon Klassen, Walker Books, 48pp, 9781406384222, £12.99, hbk
This is the sixth collaboration between this well-matched author and illustrator, and the third of their shape trilogy: Square, Triangle, and, now, Circle. In this wry fable, Circle goes in search of Triangle, who, against express instruction, has gone into the dark behind the waterfall. Circle’s initial exasperation and anxiety is tempered by an acknowledgement of the love s/
20 Books for Keeps No.236 May 2019
Under 5s Pre – School/Nursery/Infant The Flute
HHHH
Ken Wilson-Max, ill. Catell Ronca, Tiny Owl, 978 1910 328 354, £9.99, board
‘This is the flute. It sounds like yellow. Easy and mellow.’ This book is a celebration of blowing… all over the world. The second in the series from Tiny Owl’s Children, Music, Life, it follows The Drum,
nominated for
both accessible and attractive to read. There are words to play with – swoosh, wiggle, even the name Big Blub and a bit of counting. The storyline is fun including as it does a sense of jeopardy; what does happen to all those tadpoles. Ah, that is the surprise. This is picture book to enjoy from an author-artist who is making a name as one of the most consistent creators of the genre. Recommended for parents, librarians and teachers to share. FH
he feels for the errant shape. But, once they find one another, the two shapes realise that theirs are not the only pairs of eyes scanning the dark. Barnett asks a simple but searching question about how our preconceptions may determine and restrict our experience of the world. Once more, Klassen displays his mastery of the minimal, as, in the darkness behind the waterfall, his smudgily substantial characters with their stumpy legs are reduced to the almond whites and ball black pupils of their improbable, but oh-so expressive, eyes. CB
the Kate Greenaway Medal 2019. With its vibrant, glowing colours and bouncy, rhythmic text, it is just right for sharing with very small people. The youngest of children respond to music, and this book will encourage adults to read and explore different instruments with the very small. The brilliant colours depicting such a wide variety of plants and small beasts will intrigue and delight. A flute of some description appears on every page, blown by multi-cultural children, ‘… bright like the sun, it whispers sweet secrets. Floating like a butterfly…’ The penultimate page reads ‘The flute is poetry,’ and is covered in brilliantly coloured
creatures and plants to
hunt and name. Then comes the final page; Play your flute! Inspiration can start with the very young. GB
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