reviews 5 – 8 Infant/Junior continued Ed’s Choice A Village Is a Busy Place HHHHH


V. Geetha (text), illus Rohima Chitrakar, Tara Books, 978-9- 3831-4543-0, £14.99hbk


This village is a very busy place as it prepares to celebrate a wedding. However, everyday life must also go on; there is grain to be cleaned, bread baked, rice planted or perhaps a train to catch. The place is a hive of activity even as night falls. Can you see everything that is going on? The concept of the wimmelbook


is becoming more familiar; the busy book in which the illustrations team with life and readers are invited - often explicitly - to explore what is happening in each spread and across each page. Here is one with a difference. We are to


community be


transported a Santhal in


eastern India to


drawn


into its bustling daily life. But rather than the expected linear progression,


the


artist adopts the tradition of the scroll and


When I Coloured in the World HHH


Ahmadreza Ahmadi, illustrated by Ehsan Abdollahi, Tiny Owl, 32pp, 978 1 910328 22 4, £7.99pbk


This colourful Iranian


writer picture book Ahmadreza from Ahmadi


follows a simple concept – a child is given a box of crayons and using each colour they cover something bad in the world and replace it with something beautiful. Darkness becomes light when the yellow crayon makes all the light come on. Hunger becomes a field of wheat growing from a green crayon. Children might enjoy trying to fill in this template with their own colourful ideas on how to make the world a better place. The illustrations


are bold and original


and the book would work well in a classroom setting. KC


That’s Not a Hippopotamus!


Juliette Maclver, ill. Sarah Davis, Gecko Press, 32pp, 978 1 927271 96 4, £10.99 hbk


This picture book stars a funny class of little children who go to the zoo with their teacher (who already looks stressed at the beginning of the trip!) to see the animals including a hippopotamus. However, when they arrive at the zoo they find the hippo has gone.


HHH


double page with a line of trooping children in search of the hippo with a repeat pattern of ‘I see him Miss!’. The only trouble is that it is never the right animal: they see a giraffe, an elephant, a snake ... never a hippo. A different child always leads the hunt and spots the wrong animal but on each page eagle eyed Liam (you sometimes have to look carefully for him, he’s in a little jumper) spots the hippo. But his even more harassed teacher


notice of him when he tries to get her attention on each page. There is rhythm and rhyme to the


doesn’t really take any


text and some repeats. ‘The very best hippo hunters’ would be great to share aloud each time the page introduces the next wrong hippo creature. The repeat of ‘I see him Miss’ would also be a good one for everybody to join in. The


the children themselves. They’re a feisty lot, this class, and they eagerly undertake the hippo hunt. As they get bolder their poor teacher gets more stressed. It would be a rich read for, particularly a Nursery/ Reception class as there’s a bit of ‘Going on a bear hunt’ feel to this Hippo trail and it should definitely be bought to life with a hippo march just like the picture book children do on each page. SG.


illustrations are bold like The pictures then run on across the


the visual narrative literally unfolds. Indeed at the end of the day the ‘book’ can be hung on the wall; the designers have included a need hole for the hook. But you do not need to take it all in at one glance. As the scroll unrolls, the onlooker can take time, matching the text to the image searching for characters, animals, surprises helped by suggestions of things to look for. It is not easy. The pages are crowded, the visual language at first sight very different. Rohima Chitrakar has adopted the vibrant, lively, colourful style of the Bengal Patuas. Nothing could be more exciting - here the audience is truly transported into another place to learn and experience - and without the need for a passport. This is a magic carpet that should be in every KS1 and KS2 classroom, bringing potential for discussion, conversation, reminiscence and a different visual literacy. FH


A Rocketful of Space Poems HHH


John Foster, (ed) ill. Korky Paul, Frances Lincoln, 32pp, 978 1 84780 486 0, £12.99, hbk.


John


of poems on the popular theme of space in an anthology which includes several of his own. The selection takes us on a journey


Foster chooses a selection


describing other items on the menu, or other monsters after reading David Harmer’s Worst Monsters in the Universe. Important questions are answered


such as what would be sold at a garage sale in outer space and how you play Intergalactic squibble ball; David Harmer provides the official rules. If you are ever in danger in space John Foster tells us how to Save Our Spaceship, apparently you need to send a signal to Supergirl! The


along in this light-hearted, enjoyable anthology. There is a plenty of humour throughout including Clive Webster’s Dumb Earthling which describes a Martian who thinks he has found an earthling to talk to but gets no reply, because he is speaking to a petrol pump! The book ends with jokes, a riddle and a limerick. Korky Paul’s distinctive style adds


to the humour and fantastical effect. The page borders maintain the space theme providing an interesting and effective frame each illustration. The end papers with children’s art work are a lovely touch. SMc


The Glump and the Peeble HHHH


Wendy Meddour, ill. Rebecca Ashdown, Francis Lincoln, 26pp, 978-1-84780-710-6, £6.99 pbk


This colourful quirky picture book is about wanting to fit in and how to be yourself even when it feels a bit tricky. The story is in rhyme form and tells of a Glump who lives all alone in a wood, and doesn’t really do a lot ‘as a Glump should’. Meanwhile in the same wood there is a Peeble who dances at night and has a lot of fun. Both the Glump and the Peeble feel they have to be like all the other Glumps and Peebles, behave in the same way, do the same things and couldn’t possibly venture into each other’s worlds though they look on and perhaps wish they could. This is a delightful book which has


poetry rhymes and skips


throughout the Universe. We find out that If you Drive to the Moon it takes 134 days (according to J.Patrick Lewis) and how to direct Martians who have lost their way in Eric Finney’s Turn Left to the Moon. Space tourism is imagined in John Foster’s email poem Staying at a Space Hotel and Liz Brownlee sends greetings from the Milky Way in Flurp Blurp. We visit Peter Cookson’s Greasy Peter Pluto’s Fast Food Superstore with tempting treats such as ‘Lunar mooncheese toasties’ and ‘Zenchucky fried Kraken’ which are fun to savour as you read them though probably best not sampled! This and several other poems might inspire


children’s own creativity


quality which draws you in to look at all the details on the page. The rhyme works well and would be good to read together with your child or with your whole class. The messages in it are, again not too schmaltzy. Being a little afraid to try something different is explored gently and thoughtfully. The whole book is a celebration of daring to step out of


and finding more wonderful things beyond. Perfect to read at bed time, on your own or with a class of children who, I think would be delighted to make some drawings of Peebles and Glumps and write some more stories about their adventures. SG


The Little Gardener HHHH


Emily Hughes, Flying Eye Books, 40pp, 978-1-9111-7124-9, £6.99 pbk


The Gardener loves his garden; it is his home, his supper and his joy. Although he does his best to tend to its needs, he’s too small to look after the huge garden and his efforts to work harder soon tire him out. But the flower he has looked after is spotted by another, who is inspired to work as hard as the little gardener. When he finally wakes from his exhausted slumber he finds the whole garden bursting with life. A beautiful, simple story told with real heart by top new talent Emily Hughes. The illustrations are truly beautiful, and the sweet message about doing whatever you can to help is always relevant. A very pretty book indeed, stunningly designed and beautifully produced by the always-excellent Flying Eye Books.KC


Marge and the Pirate Baby HHHH


Isla Fisher, illus Eglantine Ceulemans, Piccadilly, 978-1-8481-2593-3, 176pp, £5.99pbk


Jemima and Jakey first meet their babysitter, Marge, in Marge in Charge (.....). She is not at all what they expect and from initial reluctance, they cannot wait for the evenings that Marge takes charge. From her rainbow coloured hair (carefully hidden under her hat when parents are around) to her sparkly shoes Marge is a pocket sized dynamo - the height of seven packets of biscuits! Whether getting Jakey to wash his hair or cooking chocolate soup her


anarchic, the result chaotic fun. Now she is back - and this time she


approach is


has to take charge of Zara, the baby cousin from hell; the pirate baby in fact. How will Marge cope? In these three new stories the energy that was such a feature of the first book is very much in evidence. The situations are rooted in real life - looking after a baby, going swimming, being a bridesmaid - but each is full of potential for humour and potential disaster. Young readers, whether reading for


its own very unique style of illustration, warm and flamboyant but not twee at all. The pictures manage to be vibrant also softer with a sketch like


listening at bedtime, will gasp at the chaos while relishing the fun. The action is non-stop, the characters lively, uncomplicated and instantly recognisable. Avoiding the scatological, Fisher fills her pages with moments that children will enjoy, turning the pages eagerly to find out what awful- near disaster threatens while knowing that Marge is in charge. FH


Books for Keeps No.223 March 2017 23 themselves or your comfort zone


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