BfK Under 5s Pre - School/Nursery/Infant contd. The Storm Whale in Winter HHHHH


Benji Davies, Simon and Schuster, 32pp, 978-1-4711-1995-9, £6.99 pbk


Noi and his whale return for another gentle adventure in the sequel to the stunning The Storm Whale. Noi is waiting for his dad to return from the last fishing trip before the sea turns to ice, but as it gets later and later he begins to worry. Then he spots something out on the water and rushes down to the shore. The snow is falling hard and soon Noi is lost. He discovers his dad’s boat but it has run aground on the ice, then a giant bump starts pushing the boat to safety. The storm whale has returned with his family, and together they’ll reunite Noi with his dad. Benji Davies’ painterly illustrations


are startlingly beautiful. The night- time scene of the whales pushing the boat to safety is a particularly stunning spread. Noi is such a cute little character and the scenery of his sea-side home feels fairly unique in picture book world. Fans of The Storm Whale will rejoice


reunion of Noi and his whale, and The Storm Whale in Winter will inspire new readers to seek out the first book. This series continues to be lush and lovely.


Odd Dog Out HHHH


Rob Biddulph, HarperCollins, 36pp, 978-0-0075-9415-3, £12.99, hbk


Daschunds feature in this story about self-expression: dogs that are, for me at least, somehow inherently odd and humorous. It begins with some stunningly designed pages of dogs acting mostly uniformly. And then introduces a dog who’s ‘dancing to a different beat’. She feels so out of place in her home town that she heads for ‘fabulous DOGGYWOOD’ where, ironically, there’s a ‘hundred others, just like me.’ But there she finds wisdom in the long bodied, short-legged shape of a doggy non- conformist who is proud of standing out from the crowd. Convinced now that ‘there is nothing wrong with being me’, she returns home and begins a new era of proud individuality: ‘Each one a doggy superstar’. If the message is a familiar one (Elmer the Patchwork Elephant), and the simple text with its insistent metre


absolutely appropriate, it is Biddulph’s sense of fun, his use of colour, his flair for design, and the detailed precision of the execution of the illustrations that makes the book itself stand out. The play between pattern and variation is cleverly maintained, even in those early pages where at first sight everything looks the same and nothing looks out of place.


CB Hello, Mr Dodo Recipient HHHH


Nicholas John Frith, Alison Green Books, 32pp, 978 140 714 643 0, £6.99 pbk


Flugge Prize for Illustration, Nicholas John Frith


of the inaugural Klaus goes from strength


to and rhyme is in the KC


strength on his second picture book, Hello, Mr Dodo! A delicious tropical palette


Hawaiian blues and jungle


around the sketchy black drawings work to beautiful effect; it’s at once retro and totally fresh. It tells the sweet story of Martha, a little girl who is cuckoo about birds, who makes a surprising discovery in the woods behind her house when she finds a bird she believed to be extinct! The Dodo can’t fly, or play cards but Martha and the Dodo are soon the best of friends, but when she accidentally lets her secret slip she has to find a way to make her Dodo disappear. Beautiful


design make this a picture book an absolute joy. Genuinely delightful. KC


Four Silly Skeletons HHH


Mark Sperring, illus Sue Hendra, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 32pp, 978-1-4088-6714-3, £6.99 pbk


A cautionary tale of silly skeletons who go dancing under the full moon despite their sensible auntie’s offer of torches and lanterns. Enthused by the music, the daft dancers rush headlong to the Big Drop, where they tumble and topple down breaking into bits. Oh what a pile of bones and grinning faces stare out at us then! Fortunately the ever-resourceful Auntie June is on hand to glue them (somewhat haphazardly) back together for more of their addled adventures. And they’re so screwball they don’t mind having two left feet or arms sprouting from their skulls because these are skeletons raring to go. Full of clanging sounds and


artwork and stunning


featuring banana yellows, greens


fairy who shouts ‘No’ and sends him back to his cave.


isn’t ready to stop his rampaging yet, and when he comes out, he’s after the farmyard animals. When he starts on people, the little fairy has had quite enough and pushes a stone in front of his cave so he can’t get out. Of course, he repents, and as he is a lovely, cuddly monster, all is forgiven. Umansky’s wonderful rhymes and the huggable pictures by first-time children’s illustrator Abbot are a joy, and younger children will respond to the repetition and the fact that the monster is such a lovable beasty. Wonderful, un-scary fun!


ES Meltdown HHHH


Jill Murphy, Walker Books, 32pp, 978-1406327915, £11.99 hbk


Ruby and Mummy set off to the supermarket with Ruby’s promise of


cannot resist throwing the bread in the air, rolling the tins, scrunching the


favourite Piggy Cake – in a desperate demonstration of a child’s need for tactile exploration. Ruby’s glee and enthusiasm in helping Mummy is so buoyant it’s hardly surprising that it spills over into blinding rage when she’s denied the Piggy Cake; love of that intensity is overwhelming. A somewhat scary bunny, erupting


crisps, and squashing her help. But she is a child who


But the monster


dog discover Alien stuck in a tree that help is at hand. Together, Alien and George find the magic varnish, but in the process they become friends, and Alien discovers the joys of play. More importantly, it is their growing friendship that turns the stars back on, and as long as they remain friends, the stars will shine. Shapes are important


The human figure of George is round and square with stick-like arms and legs, and Alien is very round; the path Alien takes from outer space to earth is full of round shapes, and the earth houses are entirely symmetrical and basic house-shaped.


completely black pages with only a few words, and in one case, a bright yellow page with five large words inscribed. All this adds up to a unique product, but I did wonder why the dog suddenly developed a strange furry bonnet and, more importantly, just why Alien’s happiness is what made the stars shine again. Surely they had shone before when he had spent so much time working on them. And why did the Helpline recommend varnish when that wasn’t the answer at all? Perhaps this is an adult


and not a child’s, so my response is a quibble on what is certainly an interesting and unusual book.


ES Boing Boing


from a zigzagging starburst, glares out at you from the cover of this book. But, though intimidating, my four-year-old nephew, adored it and chose it as his favourite. It’s largely to do with the identification a child feels when they need something so badly they’re


clattering mishaps, the comic book style ensures that no one is ever really hurt, while the humorous and inventive text keeps the reader firmly on the path to fun. Fresh and funny, the rhyming story fairly skips along. It’s a great pairing of writer and illustrator, because


background the white skeletons are as sharp and witty as the language. The images are graphic and sophisticated, with bold patterns and shapes while the fast moving compositions remain controlled, like every aspect of this tight, and energetic book. I loved this message of family


against dark or black


and not only that, how they love to see others playing up. Indeed, the empathy with both characters in the toddler tantrum scenes has the devilish ring of truth. Jill Murphy has been there, and she has the unerring ability to stay child centred, while still addressing a harassed mother’s reactions. Cleverly, even though it’s Ruby who has the tantrum, stiffening herself backwards over the shopping kart and screaming her head off, it is MUM who makes ‘THE BIG MISTAKE’ by giving her offspring the Piggy Cake. Just right. Great


settings


support, especially as I was reading this to a small family member having just done a similar patching up to his family, and was rewarded by him saying, ‘She’s just like you, Auntie’. (Though it might have been the gaudy jewellery that Auntie June sports). JNH


Naughty, Naughty Monster HHHHH


Kaye Umansky, ill. Greg Abbott, Templar, 32pp, 978-1-7837-0574-0, £6.99 pbk


‘I’m a naughty, naughty monster! Are you ready? Here I come! I am hungry for my dinner and I want you in my tum!’ Thus starts the moral tale of the naughty monster and his down-fall. He begins by chasing little animals through


confronted by a small but determined 20 Books for Keeps No.221 November 2016 the woods until …he is


backgrounds in muted yet colourful watercolours, telling the story with wit and understanding. Like all Jill Murphy books, a delight.


JNH


The Night the Stars Went Out HHH


Suz Hughes, Curious Fox, 32pp, 978-1-7820-2515-3, £6.99 pbk


In this quirky picture book, full of embedded text and original drawings, we meet


polishing the stars. He’s very good at his job and takes it seriously, not even making time to play. But one day the stars suddenly go out, and all is darkness. Alien is appalled. What to do? He calls the Star Helpline, who has the answer: a magic varnish, but it can only be found on earth. Off goes Alien, to discover that on earth Aliens float! This causes immense problems, and it is only when George and his


Alien, whose only job is


characters in authentic are


set against light forced to misbehave, HHHH


Alexander McCall Smith, illus Zoe Persico, Barrington Stoke Ltd, 32pp, 978-1781125144, £6.99 pbk


Here’s a tale about a girl who is different yet cheery, for rather than focus


distinguishing feature, she embraces its virtues. Jane does not walk, but bounces. This is due to the springs in her knees that take the place of regular joints - an extraordinary addition to any child. She becomes known as Springy Jane,


demonstrates her ability to win at sports, get things from the top shelf, boing boinging down the stairs, and simply bouncing over the people who stare. Everything is going in a lively fashion, until the day an enormous storm floods Jane’s town, leaving an old lady trapped on her rooftop. Not to worry – Jane is at hand with her springy knees, and the resourceful girl simply bounces over


and rescues the stranded lady (to resounding cheers of admiration). Such a positive girl is Jane that when


rooftops


the rain rusts her springs, and she is ‘cured’ by surgery, she simply makes the most of her new way of getting about by enjoying the walking. And that’s not all. At Jane’s next birthday, the grateful old lady, rescued in the flood, bakes a cake decorated with springs and gives her the best present of all – a pogo stick. So from now on Jane can choose to walk or bounce her jolly way through life. Vibrant and energetic pictures, with


zany characters rendered in a comic book style, bound across the pages with vivacity and wit. A real ‘Pollyanna’ story appealing to all, especially those wheelchair-bound kids, who are faster on wheels than their pedestrian peers. And of course, a story that features kindness, support and acceptance is a welcome addition to any library or school bookshelf. JNH


and on the limitations of her problem There are to the


illustrations.


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