reviews Under 5s/PreSchool/Infant/Nursery continued


added touches outside the story, like the endpaper showing Harry choosing a new pair of running shoes. This will be good to share with under fives and nursery children. DB


for it- Tim- but it doesn’t matter: they suit each other anway. The dogs, and their respective and sometimes eccentric great


owners, are characters in Simon James’


illustrations. He is well known now for critically acclaimed books like Leon and Bob, Dear Greenpeace, The Wild Woods and the Baby Brains series, all very different, but in his own scratchy style, and this cheerful


story of


friendship will be good to read aloud and share. DB


The Pigeon HAS to go to School HHHHH


Mo Willems, Walker, 40pp, 978 1 4063 8901 2, £6.99, pbk


Marcel’s Parcels HHHH


Kate Hindley, Simon and Schuster, 12pp, 978-1471173318, £6.99 board book


There’s a real feel of Richard Scarry’s Busy Town to this sturdy board book, though it’s totally contemporary, and packs in a satisfying little story too. It’s a bright, sunny morning on Treacle Street and Marcel is busy delivering the post. His bright, red trolley is full of parcels – lift a flap and peep inside to see them – and over the next pages we find out who they’re for. There are leg warmers for the dance school, eggs and flour for the pie shop, and new wheels for the garage. On each page there’s a friendly new character to meet, a flap to lift, and lots and lots of things to spot and count, all illustrated in Kate Hindley’s bright, vibrant illustrations. AR


Mr Scruff HHHH


Simon James (author and illustrator), Walker Books, 32pp., 9781406383850, £12.99, hbk


Full pages of illustration have very few words as Simon James introduces us to a few dogs. ‘This is Polly’, then we turn the page to discover that she belongs to Molly. So it goes, with Martha belonging to Arthur, and more dogs belonging to rhyming owners and even looking rather like them: Martha is an Old English Sheepdog, and her owner is an equally shaggy saxophonist, busking to the delight of some dancing children. Mr Scruff, a dog in the rescue centre, has no one. We meet some more dogs and their owners, and go back to Mr Scruff, who is looking sad, until a boy turns up- it’s Jim (who is mixed race). They get on well, and Jim persuades his parents that no, he doesn’t want a little puppy, and a big, older dog, is the right dog for him. We go through all the rhyming dogs again, and “Mr Scruff belongs to Jim. And though it doesn’t rhyme, it’s all worked out just fine.” But then we meet Mr Gruff, who comes to the rescue centre, and chooses a small puppy called – wait


So the time has come. And pigeon is anxious. She would rather you didn’t read out the title. She doesn’t want to be reminded. Anyway, there’s no need for school, she already knows everything. Well, almost everything. There is so much to worry about, including, for those of us who already know her, the difficulty of learning to read when you have only one very big eye. Mo Willems’ familiar character blusters, moans, puzzles and protests her way through the book. She shrinks dramatically when she acknowledges how scared she is but mostly she dominates the otherwise blank pages with the force of her personality and the cleverness of Willems’ characterisation. How she is eventually convinced that school really might be the place for her is ingeniously achieved; and Willems provides an early clue to the one element of the school experience that pigeon can really look forward to. CB


Pick a Pumpkin HHH


Patricia Toht, illus Jarvis, Walker, 40pp 9781406360615 £12.99 hbk


It is almost Halloween; time to create a pumpkin lantern. Choose a nice big one, hollow out its middle, carve out the eyes, nose and mouth – you can decide on the expression – then add the candle. Place your lantern outside the door, light the candle and watch its face come to life in the dark. Yes, it is time to Trick or Treat. It is Halloween This sumptuous


picture book


with its gentle rhyming text will be welcomed by librarians and parents looking for a Halloween themed read that does not dwell on the scary side of the season. Rather here we have a celebration around the creation of the Jack o’ Lantern which is presented very much as a family activity with an emphasis on fun. The setting is definitely American – though even in the States one suspects the pumpkin will arrive from the supermarket rather than the back garden or even a farm. Creating the atmosphere are the illustrations by Jarvis. From the lovely endpapers setting the scene, each double page spread bursts with smoky autumnal colours – a rich palette of blues, greens, oranges


Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue HHHH


Paula Harrison illus Jenny Løvlie, Oxford, 128pp, 978-0192771650, £5.99 pbk


Paula Harrison’s thoroughly new series charming. Little is Kitty’s


mum is a superhero, a proper cat woman who goes out at night to help people. Kitty has feline superpowers too but


she’s only little and not


confident enough yet to use them; and she’s a bit afraid of the dark too. But an emergency call for help when her mum is away means that Kitty has to put on her superhero cloak for real. It’s then that she discovers she’s braver than she thinks she is, and that with the help of her new friends – a trio of characterful cats – there’s not much she can’t do. Kitty and her friends are hugely appealing characters and this little story is full of useful, lessons


about friendship,


important bravery,


and finding courage within yourself. It is a perfect book for little girls and


and red – a feast for the eyes to bring the words to life. There are no surprises here; just a picture book to be enjoyed. FH


The Rabbit Listened HHHH


Cori Doerrfeld, Scallywag Press, 34pp, 9781912650095, £12.99, hdbk


Taylor is so proud. He has built a wonderful


construction out of his


bricks. Then disaster – it collapses. Well meaning animals rush around offering solutions but Taylor does not want advice. He wants to make up his own mind; he just wants someone to listen while he works through his angry, unhappy, disappointed feelings for himself. Then he can start again. Soft colour wash combines with a


soft textured wax crayon effect created by digital ink effectively emphasising the emotional content of the minimal text. Indeed the illustrations are also


minimalist – we see Taylor himself set against a white ground;


our


attention is focussed on him, the other characters are all It is only the


rabbit, who unlike


them, does not remain separate but cuddles up close, contact bringing wordless comfort. This careful design allows the drama of the double page spread


intruders. across which black birds


swirl against a purple background to have its full impact. There are only five words in the text “But then, out of nowhere...”. The image says it all. This is a picture book that without moralising or underlining its message with words, allows a young reader not only to enjoy a familiar situation but to both empathise and, as important, to sympathise with Taylor. And at the end, a disaster is not the end. It is time to move on to create something “amazing”. To be recommended for classrooms and libraries. FH


5 – 8 Infant/Junior


boys confidently reading on their own. Jenny Løvlie’s illustrations in black and orange make for some lovely, atmospheric moonlight scenes and Kitty’s cat friends and kitten Pumpkin are super-cute. There are more books to come about Kitty and this series is going to be very popular with its readers, and deservedly so. LS


Quill Soup HHHHH


Alan Durant, ill. Dale Blankenaar, Tiny Owl, 30pp, 9 781910 328408, £12.99, hbk


Noko is a tired, hungry porcupine who seeks food from the inhabitants of a small village. However, the villagers seeing him approach are wary - he is a stranger. When Noko knocks on doors, he receives excuse after excuse from the suspicious and unwelcoming villagers. Noko is not fooled by their lies and devises a cunning


plan


involving making soup from his quills, a dish which he alleges is loved by the king. The villagers, intrigued and very impressed that Noko not only knows the king but also cooks for him, are keen to help and hurry to add the ‘extra’ ingredients he requests. In no time at all there is a satisfying (and edible!) soup for everyone to share. The pattern of the story with the of Noko’s


repetition


unsuccessful


visits to the villagers and the gradually revealed trick he plays on them would make this a very enjoyable story to read aloud to children. Young readers are likely to be fascinated by the array of exotic animals including aardvarks, pangolins and meerkats and also by the illustrations which are intricate and fascinating. Look closely and you can spot clues to the villagers lies in the images; the monkeys hiding a box of spare food and the rabbits with carrots aplenty inside their warren. The use of colour, with the porcupine


Books for Keeps No.238 September 2019 21


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