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. 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. Laura Fraine is a freelance journalist based in the North East. Hazel Holmes is a Children’s Book Buyer for a leading library supplier and runs children’s book clubs. Ferelith Hordon is a former children’s librarian and Chair Elect of the Youth Libraries Group, and editor of Books for Keeps Hannah Love works in children’s publishing. 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. Lucy Russell is a primary school teacher. Imogen Russell Williams is a journalist and editorial consultant, specialising in children’s literature and YA. Caroline Sanderson is a freelance writer, reviewer and editor. Elizabeth Schlenther is the compiler of www.healthybooks.org.uk. Lucy Staines is a primary school teacher. 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.


BfK Under 5s Pre – School/Nursery/Infant


Take a Line 978-1-91027-706-5 Take a Square 978-1-91027-707-2 Take a Triangle 978-1-91027-708-9


Britta Techentrup, Words and Pictures (Quarto), 32pp, £9.99 each hbk


Books for the under fives about every day experiences and concepts are available in many formats and styles. The traditional kind, for example Shirley Hughes’ All Shapes and Sizes and Allan and Janet Ahlberg’s The Baby’s Catalogue, are loved for their distinctive art work and will always deserve a place in the nursery school and home collection. But these four books, in the new Take a Shape series, are typical of the trend towards using graphic images. The pictures, on well designed pages using bold colours, are stylised but this author illustrator knows how to appeal to young learners. All four books are designed to draw attention to the shapes children see every day and help them think about them in new ways: Take a Line shows a dog lead, a skipping rope and an aeroplane’s vapour trail; Take a Square includes building bricks, paving stones and boxes; Take a Triangle pictures kites, ship sails and tents and Take a Circle – plates, balls and bubbles.


pictures and a written text peppered with questions make the books hugely interactive and the playful kitten and inquisitive Dachshund puppy add an endearing dollop of humour.


Outdoor Opposites HHHHH


Brenda Williams illus Rachel Oldfield, music The Flannery Brothers, Barefoot Books 32pp, 978 1 78285 095 3 £6.60 pbk


Outdoor Opposites is an amazing concept-cum-story-cum-poetry book that functions at a range of levels. Enjoy the narrative as you join a group of multi-ethnic children on a camping trip in the great outdoors. Share a picnic, jump in a pond and fly a kite. Relish the poem – its bipartite structure


rhymes is carefully concealed but nevertheless gives an underlying rhythm to the whole.


Lively MM


pages speed you up and actions across a page turn slow you down.


Take a Circle 978-1-91027-705-8 HHH


Even the opposites are far from simple. There are action opposites (stop/go, run/walk), emotion opposites (happy/ sad) and concept opposites (in/out, good/bad). And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the whole book comes to life with the accompanying CD with which you can sing and dance along.


This is a book to share, enjoy and return to time after time. The bright, cheerful colours reflect the joy of the book and you never know – you might even be able to start young readers off on an early creative career by encouraging them to think of indoor opposites, playtime opposites, garden opposites or family opposites. I can’t recommend this book highly enough


GR Help! The Wolf is Coming! HHHHH


Cedric Ramadier illus Vincent Bourgeau, Barefoot Books, 32pp, 978 1 927271 84 1, £6.99 hbk


This hilarious colourful board book will thrill toddlers. The plot is simple – a wolf is coming. He might well be hungry and he might well want to eat you. Your task is not as simple as it seems – you have to escape. And that is where the author is very clever as he reclaims the world of the mobile device in a print book. You’re encouraged to tilt, shake, invert and flip the book to get yourself out of trouble. And when you get to the end, just go back to the beginning and start all over again. There aren’t too many books that you can actually play with and become an integral part of the action.


Black Cat, White Cat HHHHH


Silvia Borando, Walker Books, 32pp, 978 1 4063 6316 6, £ 9.99 hbk


Simple and super-stylish this ingenious book uses a black and white page to maximum effect as a black cat and white one find each other. Black cat only goes out in the day, he loves the beautiful birds. White cat only goes out at night, she loves the twinkling stars. Curious about the other side, each cat sets off to find out what happens when they’re usually asleep – and that’s how they meet. Showing each other the wonders of their world the cats become inseparable, and a litter of kittens is not far behind. But can you guess what colour they are?


A sheer delight, clever design and a sweet story will make this a real family favourite. The inspiring illustrations could encourage everyone to get the crayons out and the cheeky ending will put smiles on faces of all ages. The


Walker books will be ones to watch. This is picture book perfection! KC


Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion


HHHHH


Alex T. Smith, Scholastic, 32pp, 978 1 407143 90 3, £ 6.99 hbk


of couplet-couplet-triplet


The use of space within the book controls the pace of the story; just as you think you have settled into the rhythm of double page spreads, single


This is also a concept book, teaching children to follow instructions and allowing for older children to predict consequences and think of other creative ways of dealing with the wolf. Read it together or leave your toddler to play with the book alone – either way, its sure to entertain.


I can also see a further use for this book – when teaching instructional text and imperative verbs in lower key stage 2. Use it as a model for writing a board book for a toddler – the results, I suspect, will be just as hilarious as the original.


GR 20 Books for Keeps No.213 July 2015


Alex T. Smith’s name is becoming synonymous with perfect picture books, and this may be his best yet. A Safari setting adds a colourful twist to this Little Red Riding Hood tale. Little Red is off to visit her Auntie Rosie, who has woken up covered in spots. The journey is long and she encounters lots of lazy jungle animals as she goes. But when she takes a rest under a shady tree, a very hungry lion arrives with a very naughty plan to eat her up. Luckily, Little Red doesn’t miss a trick and when she realises what’s going on she decides to teach that very naughty lion a valuable lesson.


Genuinely hilarious drawings (the lion’s expressions are priceless) and a sumptuous palette of tropical cerise and orange make this a rather stunning package. The text is fabulous, Smith brings an effortless charm to his writing that is matched perfectly by his ever-stylish illustrations. Ideal, really. Here’s hoping Smith twists some more fairy tales in the future.


KC Minibombo Book titles from


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