BfK


reviews REVIEWERS IN THIS ISSUE


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. Jill Bennett is the author of Learning to Read with Picture Books and heads up a nursery unit. Rebecca Butler writes and lectures on children’s literature. Jane Churchill is a literary consultant and fiction advisor for Gallimard Jeunesse. Katie Clapham runs specialist children’s bookshop Storytellers, Inc. in Lancaster. Caroline Downie has been a Children’s Librarian for over 20 years, working in a variety of settings. 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. Jake Hope is a reading development and children’s book consultant. Ferelith Hordon is a former children’s librarian and Chair Elect of the Youth Libraries Group, and editor of Books for Keeps Margaret Mallett is a team editor for the English Association’s journal English 4-11 and author of What Shall We Do Next?: A Creative Play and Story Guide Matthew Martin is a primary school teacher.


Sue McGonigle is a Lecturer in Primary Education. Jana Novotny Hunter is an author and editor. 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 Rayner is an editor and has an MA in children’s literature. Andrea Reece is a marketing consultant and Managing Editor of Books for Keeps Gill Robins is a Junior School Deputy Head and Editorial Chair of the English Association publication English 4-11. Sue Roe has been working as a Children’s Librarian in various public libraries for a number of years. Imogen Russell Williams is a journalist and editorial consultant, specialising in children’s literature and YA. Elizabeth Schlenther is the compiler of www.healthybooks.org.uk Lynne Taylor works on The Reading Agency’s children’s programmes, the Summer Reading Challenge and Chatterbooks Nicholas Tucker is honorary senior lecturer in Cultural and Community Studies at Sussex University. Sue Unstead is a writer and publishing consultant Ruth Williams is a children’s book editor and publishing consultant.


Under 5s Pre – School/Nursery/Infant


Walter’s Wonderful Web: a book about shapes


HHHHH


Tim Hopgood, Macmillan Children’s Books, 24 pp, 978-1-4472-7710-1, £5.99 board book


Here is a lively book about the concept of ‘shape’ which is set within an engaging story. We know from the success of ‘WOW! Said The Owl’ that this author illustrator understands how to create animal characters with a strong appeal for young children. In this book we meet Walter who had a dilemma – he lacked web-spinning skills and this was rather serious for a spider! His webs were ‘wibbly-wobbly’ and inclined to blow away in the wind in contrast to his friends’ perfect creations.


making webs in triangular, square and diamond shapes but found that these, and even his ‘almost perfect’ round one, were easily blown away in the wind. It is only when he worked through the night and combined all the shapes he had been making that he achieved a wonderful web that was not only perfect but which ‘shone in the moonlight’. With a conversational written text and sharply drawn, intensely coloured illustrations this is a book likely to become a favourite with many young children. Not only does it teach about shapes, it also shows that you have to persevere to solve problems in life.


My Hand HHHH


Satoshi Kitamura, Andersen Press, 24 pp, 978-1-7834-4288-1, £10 hbk


The little cat, familiar from Satoshi Kitamura’s other books, accompanies a disembodied hand as it does the things a hand can do: push, pull, tickle, stroke, draw, finger walk, point, wave and perform a ‘high five for hands!’ Some things like pulling, pointing and pushing are potentially unkind, while drawing, waving and performing ‘high five for hands’ (where the owner of the hand is shown) are life enhancing. The pictures are distinctive and striking with Kitamura’s familiar strong line showing, entertainingly, the changing reactions of the cat. The idea is simple, but each spread will encourage young children to supply plenty of anecdotes. Ask them if they have ever been pushed or pulled and they will not hold back!


MM Say it! HHHHH


Charlotte Zolotow, illus Charlotte Voake, Walker Books, 32pp, 978-1-4063-5211-5, £11.99 hbk


Perhaps Charlotte Zolotow will be most familiar to readers as the author of Mr Rabbit and the Lovely Present, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Now a new generation will be introduced to this American author’s gentle and poetical texts that explore childhood from the inside. Here a little girl and her mother - there are no names - walk down the road. It is autumn, the leaves are bright reds and golds,


Walter experimented by


there is an autumn storm brewing and grey purple clouds gather, the wind whisks the leaves, ripples the water on the pond. As the little girl explores the world around her - the day and countryside, she asks her mother over and over “What is it? Say it” The mother’s replies are teasing- “a wild wonderous dazzling day” “a golden shining, splendiferous day”... but what is it? In the end we find out – the answer that every child wants from the parent. Illustrating such a text is difficult.


It would be so easy to be softly sentimental. The original published in 1980 was illustrated by the great James


edition, it is Charlotte Voake who takes up the challenge. And what a perfect choice. Voake noted for her lively pastel


and Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep (Farjeon), here takes a bolder view. Her lines are as lively as ever - watch the little girl skip, the leaves dance in the wind - the colour palette is a symphony of golds, soft blues and greens – vibrant without being over- dramatic. The illustrations fill the pages, spilling across


spread. The reader is drawn into the warm relationship between mother and child. This is a book to share - an intimate


MM the illustrations for Ginger Stephenson. In this new double


Elephant is kind enough to warn Boy that he is very good and he isn’t joking. He doesn’t so much hide as blend into the background of each room, becoming in turn an armchair, a bedspread, a TV stand, a lamp stand, a garden shed and a tree trunk. Boy is unable to find the Elephant in any room. Dog, however, is not so easily fooled! This is definitely a book for sharing


book – that would be a pleasure to read not just for the emotional content, the visual appeal but also the design with a lovely bold font that that requires no effort. An inspired pairing.


The Red Prince HHHHH


Charlie Roscoe, illus Tom Clohosy Cole, Templar, 32pp, 978 1 78370 220 6, £12.99 hbk


The King and Queen of Avala are beloved by their people, their son the Prince is friend to every child in the kingdom. So when he is kidnapped by strangers in the night, the people work together


return. Outwitting their invaders with a display of solidarity and strength in the face of bullies, this is a story that has layers of meaning that offer different readings to children of all ages. However, it is Clohosy Cole’s artwork that steals the show. The clever illustration moves like an animator’s camera, each scene is so beautifully lit and directed it is like looking at Disney conceptual art. The frames propel the readers through the story and the climactic scene is a joy to behold. The story is simple but feels historical and traditional in its set-up and the whole experience is grand and cinematic. This is a brilliant picture book.


KC Have you seen Elephant? HHHH


David Barrow, Gecko Press, 32pp, 978-1-7765-7008-9, £10.99hbk


In this delightful and humorous picture book, Boy and Elephant agree to play hide and seek, with puzzling consequences.


Before they begin, to ensure his safe


– adults will love the book’s absurdity, while children will love searching for Elephant on each new double page spread. It’s a theme that could be carried on beyond the book as you plan other absurd hiding places for an elephant around your own home. And there’s a delightful cliff hanger


FH


ending – just before the story finishes, Tortoise plods into the picture and wants to play tag. He is, he warns Boy as he models his sports headband and go-zoom stripe, very good. Then it’s over to the reader to create their own theatre of the absurd!


GR Go Home, Little One HHH


Cate James, Words & Pictures, 56pp, 978-1-9102-7712-6, £11.99 hbk


Florence


summer, she loves the spring and the autumn too. She doesn’t know about the winter because she’s never seen it. On the night before she’s meant to go to bed for her long winter sleep, she decides to wants to play out with the squirrels just a little bit longer. They go deep into the forest and ignore the other animals’ warnings. But when she’s faced with danger itself, Florence decides that home is where she wants to be. A sweet and gentle story about the dangers of not doing as you are told and how running off can get you into all sorts of trouble. The illustrations are cute and the text is straightforward. Nothing new here but anxious children will appreciate the happy ending.


KC The Queen’s Handbag HHHHH


Steve Antony, Hodder Children’s Books, 32pp, 978-1-4449-2552-4 £11.99 hbk


Setting off on her tour of Great Britain, things don’t go according to plan for


Books for Keeps No.216 January 2016 21 the hedgehog loves the


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