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reviews 5 – 8 Infant/Junior continued The Lumberjack’s Beard HHHHH


Duncan Beadle, Templar Publishing, 32pp, 978-1-78370-688-4, £6.99 pbk.


Big Jim Hickory is a lumberjack with a very impressive beard. He spends his days cutting down trees and his spare time limbering up for lumbering and eating piles of pancakes with maple syrup. One evening Jim is disturbed by a


Ivan can almost touch the MOON. Adventure


knock on the door; it is a very irate bird complaining that the lumberjack has destroyed her home. Jim comes up with an unusual solution, the homeless bird can move into his beard! The bird is soon followed by a porcupine and a beaver both also made homeless because of Jim’s labours. With all of these residents in his bushy beard life quickly becomes complicated for Jim. He can no longer sleep at night, do his limbering up or even eat his breakfast in


enough and takes drastic action. Jim shaves off his beard to create a cosy den for the refugee animals and plants more trees to replace the ones he had cut down.


peace. He decides enough is


Moji paints the word HOME across the sky. This brings Ivan back with a jolt as he says, “THIS IS NOT MY HOME.” Moji to the rescue, as he then paints pictures of Ivan in his new house, happy pictures. An understanding is reached, as Ivan realises the new house may not feel like home at the moment, but soon it will. This warm, comforting story is perfect for young children experiencing a house move. The pictorial end papers show the phases of the moon, introducing correct


waxing quarter, waning gibbous. Tom Percival may well be known for his memorably striking


Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant series. This picture book will delight for its sensitivity, covering a situation that often causes upset. GB


illustrations for


I don’t know what to call my Cat


HHHHH


Simon Philip, illus Ella Bailey, Simon and Schuster, 32pp, 978-1-4711-2413-6, £6-99 pbk


This is a very enjoyable story with a pleasingly patterned structure and rhythmic language making it a great book to read aloud to young children. It is full of warmth and humour in the


habitats, the effects of de forestation and the importance of sustainability are touched on providing lots for young readers to think about. Another great picturebook from the creator of The Bear Who Stared. SMc


By the Light of the Moon HHHH


Tom Percival, Bloomsbury, 32pp, 978-1-4088-5211-8, £6-99 pbk


“Moving house is a BIG thing for most people. Ivan’s old house has always been so warm and friendly. This one is NOT.” This is a book to explore and reassure small people moving house, when all seems so new and uncertain. Ivan finds getting to sleep in strange, unfamiliar surroundings difficult. When a shimmering light showers across the sky and bounces down into the new garden, Ivan leaps out of bed and dashes outside to join it. And so begins a night adventure led by the pink, stripey creature


who holds aloft a magic paintbrush. Together they FLY across the night sky; high, higher than the stars, until


called Moji, appealing illustrations. Animal


What a purrrrrfect story to share with young readers! The author’s dedication sets the scene for all that follows; “For CAT owners who think they’re in charge, and the CATS that know otherwise.” We quickly get the idea that choosing just the right name for a kitten joining a family is no easy matter. The front cover suggests a few names…. Ziggy, William, Turtle, Ralph, Einstein, Peanut …and 14 more are named and illustrated, along with a further 25 feline friends on the back cover. The child telling us of the dilemma of name-choosing tries out a dozen lovely names, all great until the vet informs her that Kitty is in fact a boy cat! Butch, Rambo, Arnie, Rocky? When the new cat in question disappears, (for adventures galore,)


posters but has to confess the cat has …..no name. TRICKY situation. Then comes an unexpected twist, resulting in the B.N.A. van claiming a new visitor/intruder to the family. Off goes the gorilla with the Bureau for Naughty Animals. There’s a wonderful resolution which will capture the imagination of many readers, making a book which should be read again and again. The super talented young illustrator, Ella Bailey, will surely be sort after for various commissions in the future. Her cats here are full of fun and deserve repeated exploration, adding much to the quite sparse text, eg Mr Maestro cat, playing Pur Elise, has lively musical notation where each crochet and quaver is a cat’s face. This purrrrfect book deserves to be in every KS1 classroom and cat lovers’ library. GB


Du Iz Tak? HHHHH


Carson Ellis, Walker Books, 40pp, 978 1 4063 6841 3, £11.99 hbk


Anybody out there speak insect?


No; well you may well find yourself and your audience so doing after a


the owner creates LOST terminology; new moon, follows adventure until


sharing of this deliciously outside the box picturebook. The cast of characters, with two


notable exceptions, consists entirely of insects and begins with two damselflies discovering a tiny shoot unfurling. “Du is tak?’ says one. “Ma nazoot” comes the response. Thanks to the visual context, we can already begin to decode this exchange in a manner similar to someone learning English as an additional language. The plant grows more leaves; three small beetles arrive to ponder and discuss the strange object. There’s further growth and the insects decide something is needed. “Ru badda unk ribble” one announces and they go and call on Icky who conveniently resides in a large log nearby. Icky duly supplies the desired object – a ladder - and sits back to watch the action. Night comes and there’s some moonlight serenading by a nocturnal insect, and next morning work begins in earnest. The insects construct a splendid tree house in the plant but then disaster strikes in the form of a spider that encases the whole thing in a web. Timely intervention by a bird puts paid to this and a whole host of insects congregate to watch and celebrate the spectacular flower as it bursts into bloom. Eventually the inevitable happens; this is nature after all; and in essence the whole story is one encouraging curiosity, a celebration of the natural world, of its seasons and cycles, and of life itself. In many ways this is a ground- breaking book and a somewhat risky publishing venture but it’s one that surely has paid off. It has something to offer all ages from the very young to adults, teachers in particular. Every time I revisit it, I discover something I’d missed on previous readings. Carson Ellis’ creatures have a deliciously quirky, slightly Baroque look to them, in stark contrast to the modern feel of each enchanting composition in its entirety. JB


A Bottle of Happiness HHHH


Pippa Goodhart, ill. Ehsan Abdollahi, Tiny Owl Publishing, 32pp, 978-1-9103-2820-0, £12.99 hbk


What is more important, material wealth and abundance or happiness? Can you put happiness in a bottle? What happens when we share what we have? These are some of the questions this stylish picture book poses.


This is a simple fable which celebrates


friendship,


storytelling. The particularly


decorative with rich patterning inspired by Middle Eastern fabrics and a patchwork design with echoes of cubism. Colour is used effectively to contrast the warmth of the happiness on the poor side of the mountain with the drab greyness of the richer peoples on the other side. A Bottle of Happiness is part of a planned series of collaborations between


understanding. SMc Three Little Monkeys


from Iran and the UK from Tiny Owl; a project which aims to create new books which reflect different cultural perspectives and encourage an intercultural


writers and illustrators dialogue and HHHHH


Quentin Blake, ill. Emma Chichester Clark, HarperCollins, 32pp, 978-0-0081-6447-8, £12.99 hbk


Here we have collaboration between two expert picture book creators from different


Emma Chichester


student of Quentin Blake at the Royal College of Art. It’s Emma who is the illustrator of Blake’s words here in this story of Hilda Snibbs and her trio of bothersome pets. Now these three are not your average cats, dogs or fish: Tim, Sam and Lulu are little monkeys, very lively little monkeys with big wide eyes that make them instantly endearing. Every time Hilda goes out, leaving


generations; indeed Clark was a


striking and


happiness and sharing stories


illustrations highly


about and


are


the three to their own devices, they create havoc of one kind or another. This long-suffering lady is always very forgiving but their creative use of her soap and water, not to mention the loo paper is the last straw. “Oh, for a peaceful like without these wicked little monkeys!” she cries. The next day after a visit her ailing mother, Hilda returns to a very tidy and seemingly empty home. The poor woman just cannot hold back her tears; but where can those three monkeys have gone? Both children


find much that resonates in this wonderfully Blake’s


where people are poor but happy. They enjoy spending time together sharing stories, dancing and laughing. On the other side of the mountain people are much richer but are they happy? One day Pim goes over the mountain in search of new stories, amazed at the plenty there he longs to taste the fruits in the market. The stall holder wants something in exchange, what can Pim offer? The only thing he can offer is happiness. He goes back over the mountain and attempts to fill a bottle with laughter, music and love. Will it work? At first it doesn’t appear to do so but gradually the mood changes and everyone is laughing and dancing.


Pim lives on one side of a mountain


with Chichester Clark’s illustrations, which are a mix of full-page scenes and action-packed vignettes of the mischief-makers at work. Sheer delight at every turn of the page. JB


Magnificent Creatures: Animals on the Move!


HHHHH


Anna Wright (author and illustrator), Faber & Faber, 978 0 571 33068 3, £12.99, hbk


Artist Anna Wright has combined a love of nature with an interest in textile design to create an informative and


book. Each double page spread depicts a different wild creature on the move and contains a paragraph of fascinating facts. Turtles, jellyfish, zebra, herring, fireflies and many more run, swim, and fly across the pages in eye-catching illustrations


Books for Keeps No.222 January 2017 23 stunningly beautiful picture words


mischievous meld


and adults will seamlessly tale.


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