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reviews 5 – 8 Infant/Junior continued


the person who is gone ‘lives on in our memories of them’.


ending to the book: lots of children and adults are


physical activities and young readers are invited to answer the question: ‘What are YOU like?’ MM


The Hackney Martian HHHH


Paul Brown, illus Rowena Blyth, Fourth Wall publishing, 32pp, 978-1-910851-01-2, 32pp, pbk


Penguin’s self-Sam had been feeling publicity people are


before unexpectedly meeting Max, a Martian whose spaceship has crash- landed on Hackney Marshes. Max has lost his ‘fuel jewel’ and needs urgent help to find a diamond to replace it. Fortunately Max has a diamond detector and tracks down the


Unfortunately the diamond he has located is heavily guarded at the Tower of London. Sam and Max set out together on an exciting and risky adventure which takes them through a secret network of underground tunnels to the heart of the Tower of London. Here they find clever ways to negotiate various problems including distracting the ravens, getting past the guards and getting into the vault while avoiding laser beams. Although they decide to abandon their mission, in the end Max’s problem is solved and he is able to return to his family. This is an entertaining adventure


story about an unusual friendship and working together to solve a problem. Children


Marshes or the Tower of London will find it of particular interest. The illustrations


successful, amusing and detailed with lots to spot, for example the underground


clues to London’s past.


design is clever too with lots of variety in the double page spreads and a very inviting cover which positively sparkles with a shiny spaceship, stars and diamonds. Nice title too with the witty play on ‘Hackney marshes’. SMc


Grandpa was an astronaut HHHHH


Jonathan Meres, ill. Hannah Coulson, Barrington Stoke Little Gems, 96pp, 978-1-7811-2534-2, £6.99, pbk


Sherman lived with his mum by the sea. One of the things he loves most is looking at the moon and one of the main reasons for this is because his Grandpa used to be an astronaut. When Grandpa calls to invite them round Sherman is very excited. Always curious to find out what it is like on the moon, Sherman is delighted when Grandpa suggests making a spaceship and actually flying to the moon. Fortunately this is, apparently, not


plenty of cardboard boxes to build with. Forgetting to pack drinks is no problem too as mum follows behind in her ‘spacey snack shuttle’ with refreshments for Sherman, his dog Luna and Grandpa. This is a simple and appealing


rocket science (!) as there are


tunnels which show The book


are familiar with Hackney very diamond he needs nearby. bored a pictured


I like the upbeat enjoying


story about the close relationship of grandparent and grandchild and the power of imaginative play. Snippets of information about the moon and space travel will whet the appetite of


would be explorers. Grandpa makes comparisons to Sherman and himself when explaining the moon ‘waxing’ and ‘waning’, hinting there may not be many more visits to Grandpa’s house.


when Grandpa gives Sherman two special mementoes from his life as an astronaut; a photo of him on the moon and a piece of moon rock. Alongside this sense of poignancy there is also humour (which might need explaining to younger readers) for example, ‘one small step for dog one giant leap for dogkind.’


another delightful Little Gem from Barrington Stoke


readable’ range. The story is well written and the book is beautifully designed and illustrated with the extra activities revealed when the dust jacket opens an added bonus. SMc


Ada Twist, Scientist HHHH


Andrea Beaty, ill. David Roberts, Abrams, 32pp, 978-1-4197-2137-3, £10.99 hbk


In a follow up to the highly successful Rosie Revere, Engineer, and Iggy Peck, Architect, meet Ada Twist, Scientist, bringing welcome diversity to picture books about girls in science. Ada baffled her parents by not speaking a word until she turned three, but then there came an outpouring of questions… ‘Why are there pointy things stuck to a rose? Why are there hairs up inside of your nose?’ The WHY then becomes WHAT? HOW? and WHEN? ‘Her parents kept up with their high flying kid/whose questions and chaos both grew as she did.’ Ada finds everything in the world around her a challenge, and she is passionate in wanting to understand the being of all things. Her


and frazzled by the mess she makes, and the streams of questions she continues to fire at the family, until enough is enough, and with the house turned upside down, Ada is sent to the thinking chair to consider. Alone in the hall she sits, deep in thought; her latest quest is to solve the problem of who, or what is creating a terrific stink. Up she jumps and begins scribbling her thoughts on the walls, until when her parents come to find her, the hall is covered with her scribblings, Ada asking herself questions which beget more questions. A quirky book, told in rhyme and innovative pictures, which will fascinate many young readers. GB


First Day at Bug School HHHHH


Sam Lloyd, Bloomsbury, 32pp, 978-1-4088-6880-5, £6-99, pbk


multitude of attentive bugs seated for registration before the teacher, Miss Bumblebee, in red stilettoes, a


The covers delight, with a parents just cope, frustrated


Grandpa was an Astronaut is in their ‘super


This is further suggested young space enthusiasts and


flower upon her head. There are so many different bugs, each portraying bucket loads of character, two pairs of bugs already besotted with each other! ‘At the bottom of the garden/ where no-one really sees,/a secret school is hidden amongst the grass and weeds.’ Listen… can you hear it? A tiny school bell rings…


a greeting they receive from Miss Bumblebee, who tells them they need not be scared or shy, for they will have the best time ever! Off they go to different classes, the spiders being taught to creep about, and beware of water spouts, the ladybirds counting spots, the grasshoppers creating music. Every spread is packed with details, and after lunch all the bugs go out to play. There’s a buddy bench and things to climb and slide on, and Miss Bumblebee watches them all, noting on her clipboard that William Wasp is to lose his golden time for throwing sand, whilst Lucy Ladybird gains it by being kind. Freddie Flea loves P.E. in the gymnasium, the perfect class for him. Turn the penultimate page to story time, read all the notices around the room, including one for healthy snacks and naughty snacks, then it’s time to say bye-bye. ‘Can we come again tomorrow?’ shouts everyone. This book will enchant any small reader who has just started school, as they recognise so many features of their new environment, as well as intriguing children who have been in school for some time. The amount of humour and detail in the illustrations throughout will delight all. GB


Pattan’s Pumpkin: An Indian Flood story


HHHHH


Chitra Soundar, illus Frané Lessac, Otter Barry books, 32pp, 978-1-9109-5944-2 £12.99, hbk


Pattan and his wife Kanni are farmers living on the banks of a mighty river in India. One day Pattan finds an ‘ailing’ plant, brings it back to his hut and tends it carefully. The plant thrives in its new home and produces not only beautiful flowers but a pumpkin, which grows and grows and GROWS! When the rains come, flooding the land,


evacuate, but how can they Pattan decides they


hollowing it out so there is room for Pattan himself, his wife, their animals and plenty of food too. While the rains come the pumpkin saves them from the flood until eventually the rain


into his gigantic pumpkin, What


stops and they reach dry land again. Based on a traditional tale from India, Pattan’s Pumpkin


Sothern


is an enjoyable and well told flood story with a pumpkin becoming the Ark which rescues a farmer, his wife and animals from a probable watery fate. The idea of escape inside a giant pumpkin is reminiscent of other Indian folk tales such as The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin. This picture book is a visual delight with vibrant


appealingly childlike painterly illustrations and richly coloured and full of detail. SMc style,


Molly Maybe and the Monster Mission


HHHH


Kristina Stephenson, Simon & Schuster, 978 1 4711 6054 7, £6.99, pbk


In the best kept secret in the ordinary town of Smallsbury, we meet Molly Maybe


whiskered Waggy. They are observing happenings in their next door neighbours’ garden from Molly’s very special treehouse. Huge mole hills have appeared all over the lawn… time to investigate, by entering the magical monster underworld via her marvellous Mundervator. Down, down they zoom, and end up surrounded by monsters of all shapes, sizes and hues. Molly and Waggy Burns think they have solved the problem, having tracked down the perpetrator of that damaged lawn, a certain Dappity- Doofer. All three scheme to find a solution to the problem, having to side track the Vector Spector Mole Detector. The outcome is hilarious. Dappity-Doofer comes to the rescue ‘with a wibble and wobble and a WHOOAAHH!’


accomplished declares Molly whilst Waggy wiggles his whiskers. The use of


greatly raises the text to something quite hilarious, children loving all the names of characters in the story, and the illustrations of all the monsters are packed with humour. GB


The Dragon’s Hoard HHHH


the animals with them? He has a brainwave. Pattan cuts an enormous hole


must take


Lari Don, ill. Cate James, Frances Lincoln , 64pp, 978 1 8478-0681-9, £14.99 hbk


This


wonderful introduction to Viking sagas for children. Lari Don’s retellings strike just the right note for her young audience. It is the anecdotes and wry observations that bring these stories to life. They demand to be read aloud. There is everything here from fearsome warriors and feisty women to dragons, monsters and even zombies together with all the excitement, danger and cunning you could want plus a good deal of mischief and humour thrown in. These tales also show us another more caring and softer side to the Vikings.


collection of eleven stories is a alliteration and bouncy rhymes Monster mission and her side-kick, wiry- an


especially like The Beserker’s Baby where a fearsome warrior who just can’t help himself beserking finds an abandoned baby to care for which changes his life forever. And there’s Magnus of Orkney in Hunting Magnus who comes to the realisation that he does not want to fight men for no good reason and cleverly works out a way to escape home. The stories don’t always have happy endings as in The Swan Warrior and Tusker Versus the Earl but they


Books for Keeps No.221 November 2016 23


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