Ten of the Best Two Sides


Polly Ho-Yen, Stripes Publishing, illustrated by Binny Talib, 978-1788950626, £7.99 pbk


Lula and Lenka have been best friends forever. They are so different - Lula is messy, Lenka is tidy. Lenka is organised, Lula is always late. One likes cats, the other prefers dogs. None of this matters, until one day Lula’s forgetfulness triggers a terrible argument. Can the girls work it out, or are they too different after all? This book is written with a warm understanding of the importance of


friendship, and the beautiful, light-filled illustrations lend a sunny atmosphere to this celebration of loving someone who is not like you. MW-J


Little Wolf’s Book of


Badness Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Tony Ross, HarperCollins Children’s Books, 978-0007458547, £5.99 pbk


When we first meet Little Wolf he has just started out on a long and perilous journey to Cunning College, deep in the woods, where he will learn how to be a big bad wolf. The trouble is he doesn’t really want to be big and bad, such is his disposition, as he gets along with the hoomins and likes the little creechurs of the Forest. His letters home imploring his parents to let him


return reveal as much about himself as with his escapades and the friends he makes along the way. He is not unlike Nigel Molesworth but with 9 extra rules of badness. TW .


The Man Who Wore All His Clothes


Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Katherine McEwan, Walker Books, 978-1406381641, £5.99 pbk


This is the first of four stories about the Gaskitt family liberally sprinkled with Ahlberg touches that make it extra quirky. We meet each of the happy- families-style Gaskitts plus their cat and their communicative fridge and a bank robber which in Ahlberg world means car chases and prison will be involved but why would someone go to


work wearing all their clothes? It’s not very English, surely? Lovely colourful illustrations on every page by McEwan at her best. TW


Mac B Kid Spy


Undercover Mac Barnett, illustrated by Mike Lowery, Scholastic, 978- 1407196343, £6.99pbk


When Mac Barnett was a child in the 80s he was recruited by the Queen no less on a top secret mission to find the Crown Jewels. For one so young this was an awesome responsibility which, in this faithful retelling of the facts (she was only missing a spoon it quickly becomes apparent) brings this little understood historical period to life. How fortunate that Mike Lowery was on hand to capture this


young sleuth’s globetrotting adventure. TW


The Legend of Kevin Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre, Oxford, 978-0192766090, £6.99pbk


Any of the books by Reeve and McIntyre are worthy of inclusion on this list but I particularly like the roly- poly flying pony for its perfectly cute but wildly imaginative scenario. After a storm blows him into town from the Outermost West Kevin alights on the building where Max lives. There are some mermaids and sea monkeys, a roof-top rescue and some meditations on biscuits, but not in that order. The pictures enhance the words and every turn of the page


McIntyre’s humorous illustrations lead the reader on. TW


Frog and Toad series Arnold Lobel, HarperCollins Children’s Books, 978-0007512928, £7.99pbk


These are not found as readily as they were in the eighties and nineties (we import ours from America) and though these are an easier level of reading than other titles reviewed here I believe they are the most perfect books for a child to discover deeper meanings in the pages of a book. Wise Frog and his bewildered


and naive friend Toad teach us nuggets of zen wisdom in each of the four* books – memorable for me are The List, The Lost Button, The Letter – I could go on. Every story is a gem. Full of kindness and unwavering friendship these are the books I wish I had written so my debt to humanity is paid. Grasshopper on the Road is as deft a portrait of a freethinker in a world of headless numpties and narrow-minded zealotry as you could hope to find. TW *with five stories each


Five years ago, Tony West (TW) and Margaret Wallace-Jones (MW-J)ppened The Alligator’s Mouth Children’s Bookshop in Richmond – a bookshop at the heart of the community. Tony has a background in teaching and over 20 years in the book trade. Margaret studied children’s literature at Roehampton University and bookselling is the best job she has ever had.


Books for Keeps No.239 November 2019 7


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