reviews Under 5s Pre - School/Nursery/Infant contd.


book to play out entirely in dialogue, the conversational narrative is immediately endearing and pitched perfectly.


also a completely mesmerising visual   standout characters to the awesome climactic spreads in all their vivid brilliance. The story is so sweet, unique       and stunning illustration this book deserves to be a future picture book classic. Schwarz has touched upon genuine picture book genius.


KC Alan’s Big, Scary Teeth 


Jarvis, Walker Books, 32pp, 978 1 406370805, £6.99 pbk


Alan the Alligator is known throughout         because of his big, scary teeth. Each morning he spends ages cleaning his teeth and practising his scariest faces,   pads and tumble from the trees. No one knows Alan’s terrible secret – his terrifying teeth are false! But Barry the Beaver stumbles across the truth and the animals decide it’s time Alan put his skills for being scary to better use. A dark tropical palette and a variety of paint and pencil techniques make


It’s


this book busy, bold and beautiful. Children will howl (like monkeys) at the sight of poor, toothless Alan and the   giggles. Instantly appealing, undeniably hilarious and totally brilliant – there’s really nothing that children won’t love here. Bravo Jarvis!


KC Little Home Bird 


Jo Empson, Child’s Play, 40pp, 978 1 84643 890 5, £5.99 pbk


Little Bird loves everything his home. It’s full of his favourite things; the food,        So when his brother tells him they’re migrating for the summer Little Bird decides his favourite things will simply        is long and tough, and he loses his precious things along the way. But his new home has wonderful things of its   Lots of white space gives Jo


Empson’s painterly illustrations room to dazzle with their vibrant colours. A sweet message about learning to leave things behind might be useful for children who are moving home or schools. This gentle story might also be useful in the classroom


when discussing bird migration and landscapes – there is a lot of beautiful KC


Don’t Call Me Choochie Pooh! 


Sean Taylor illus Kate Hindley, Walker Books, 32pp, 978-1-4063-456-0, £11.99 hbk


Shamed by his mistress’s sugary nicknames, a humiliated pooch describes his belittling treatment while sharp, lined drawings show his over-decorated basket and perfumed visits to the pet parlour. Afraid that the other dogs will laugh at him (particularly Chief, who used to be a police dog) our hero is pleasantly        in their games. The irony is of course every dog, including the butch Chief get called the same kind of sick making names, by their owners so the only thing the dogs can do is to shrug, ‘What can you do?’ Easy-on-the-ear writing and amusing situations all show a doggy’s point of view with clear understanding and clever humour while wittily stylized illustrations show plenty of girlie patterns in pretty colours contrasted with earthy coloured splashes in the doggy scenes of mayhem. For any child who’s ever been embarrassed by an infantilizing, over demonstrative parent, this is the book.


JNH 5 – 8 Infant/Junior Quick Quack Quentin 


Kes Gray illustrated by Jim Field, Hodder Children’s Books, 32pp, 978 144 491 956 1, £11.99 hbk


Quentin the duck, a very dapper duck in a straw boater it should be mentioned, has lost his A. His quack is very quick, in fact it’s only a QUCK.          replacement A. The animals on the farm can’t help and the farmer won’t want to be a FRMER. Dog tries to help out, and lends Quentin his O, but they agree he doesn’t sound like a duck if he says QUOCK. A hen, a bull and a pig all try to help but it’s no good – he really needs an A. Maybe Quentin will have more luck at the zoo… Children will adore this fun play on letter swaps and spelling. The colours are bright and the characters  into a lovely book. Kes Gray and Jim Field are a picture book dream team at the moment and this sits beautifully besides the tremendous Oi Frog and the ridiculously brilliant How Many Legs? KC


Finding Winnie 


Lindsay Mattick, ill. Sophie Blackall, Orchard, 56pp, 978 1 40834-023 3, 11.99, hbk


This pleasant picture book brings together family history, the First World War and literary history. On his way to England with his regiment for training prior to going to the


front, the author’s veterinary great grandfather bought an orphaned bear cub on a railway station for $20 (as you might in Canada in the early twentieth century). Named Winnie, for Winnipeg, she became the regiment’s mascot in England and was donated to London Zoo when the regiment left for France in December 1916. It was there that an older Winnie met Christopher Robin who was looking for a good name for his own stuffed bear that he carried around by one arm. In those days of  Robin was even allowed in Winnie’s enclosure to


(honey?) on a spoon, as is revealed in one of the photographs that make up the second-half of the book. The tale is told as if by the author to her own son, named Cole after his grandfather. If this is, perhaps, a little cloying, then Sophie Blackall’s bold humorous illustrations offer a corrective, and, for adults and older children, the harsh reality of the       from their minds. Reassuring, then, to discover that Harry Colebourn survived; and the orphan Winnie the Bear was immortalised not only as Winnie the Pooh but in statues in London and Winnipeg, where she stands on her hind legs, forever being fed and supported by Captain Harry.


CB offer some food Do You Hear What I Hear? 


Helen Borten, Flying Eye Books, 48pp 978 -1-9092-6385-7, £12.99 hbk


First published in the 1950s, Do You Hear What I Hear? is beautifully reproduced for a new reading audience.      to hear the sounds around them, but to really listen and to think about how             and the retro illustrations, printed in layers using 4 spot colours, combine to create the perfect blend of words and image.


There is really only one response to this book and that’s to go for a sound walk. Listen to environmental sounds. Talk about them. Think of words to describe them and how they make you feel. Draw pictures of them. Then use the pictures as the score to compose your own music to tell a unique story of your walk in sound. Music for young children doesn’t get any better than this.


young readers, covering, as it does, all the basic elements of music (dynamic,      duration). All the foundations of music are here, presented through words and images in a way that even young children can access. My only reservation is that the difference between rhythm and beat        detract from seeing this book as a must for every KS1/lower KS2 classroom. It is, quite simply, an outstanding music lesson between the covers of a book. GR


This is an outstanding resource for Mr Horton’s Violin 


Wenhua Wang, illus Amann Wang, trans, Yu Yan Chen, Baleister Press, 64pp,978- 0-9932-1545-2, £8.99 pbk


A magical story of Mr Horton, a violin  leaves tinkle a melody in the breeze and whose trunk resonates when struck. Mr Horton makes from it the         play it. There are many candidates, a former child music prodigy now business man assumes the violin is rightfully his as does the richest man in town and a royal prince. But Mr Horton refuses to give the violin to any of them, none seeming to him to be the right person. Eventually, after being captured by thieves, Mr Horton meets a young boy who is able to play simple lullabies which speak to the heart sending the thieves scurrying home to be with their mothers. Mr       owner of his special violin. This is a well told story based on the


The Three Ninja Pigs 


David Bedford illus Becka Moor, Simon and Schuster, 32pp, 978-1-4711-2191-3, £6.99 pbk


In a hilarious take on the story of        tumble through the land of fairy tales with high kicking energy and bravado. Running errands for various characters from the fairy stories - their mother, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood etc. the energetic little porkers meet up with their nemesis the big bad wolf at every turn. But not for nothing are these gallant heroes  blighter only to be blamed for the mayhem he caused. Sent off with the repeated admonition ‘And no more trouble!’ the three are desperate to set matters straight. But it is not until the clever little pigs have a whispered  can be meted out on the big bad wolf. In Auntie Rapunzel’s hair salon, Mr Wolf’s hair is ‘styled and piled, and glued and glossed’ until it is the most ridiculous pile of wiggery ever seen, and he is sent to Rapunzel’s tower in humiliation. Fast paced, sometimes rhyming,


     the pages while edgy illustrations set the pace with their energetic compositions. This is sure to be a winner with kids and adults alike. JNH


clever idea of a music tree by Taiwanese writer Wenhua Wang. The illustrations  A fable set in an ‘olden time’ with a clear underlying theme; being wealthy and privileged does not always mean you get what you want.


SMc


Books for Keeps No.217 March 2016 23


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