reviews Under 5s/PreSchool/Infant/Nursery continued


with kindness and respect and thereby open ourselves to finding it, the world is full of joy. Or, as the umbrella puts it, ‘anything is possible.’ CFH


I Don’t Want to be Small HHHH


Laura Ellen Andersen, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 28pp, 978 1 4088 9406 4, £6.99 pbk


The little boy is very little, much smaller than his classmates, and this means he can’t ride on the big rides at the fair, and even when he gets hand-me-downs from his brother, they are too big for him. The other children don’t seem to notice him much, and all this makes him so cross that he throws his teddy up in the air – and it lands in a tree! He tries all sorts of weird and wonderful ways to get it down, but nothing works. Along comes a girl, a friendly girl, who is much taller, and together they manage to get


teddy down by


working together. The humour in this book is super and very appealing, as are the rhyming couplets. Lots of the action is in the illustrations – comic pictures of children with expressive faces. The theme of being able to accept your body as it is remains current and important, as is the need for friends who are willing to help: ‘We play games and laugh for the rest of the day – I’m small and she’s tall and we’re perfect that way.’ Good fun! ES


How to be on the Moon HHHH


Written and illustrated by Viviane Schwarz, Walker Books, 32pp, 978-1-4063-7992-1, £11.99 hbk


“Let’s go to the moon!” said Anna. “But


that’s out in space,” said


Crocodile. “Space is dark, and there’s nobody there, and the moon is really very far away. It will be almost impossible.” “I like that,” said Anna. “Let’s go!”


Many would be daunted by a


trip to the Moon, but not Anna. Her stalwart companion, Crocodile, does his best to keep her firmly grounded with cautious


references to the


skills required. But Anna can ‘do maths’ and reckons that Crocodile has enough patience for the two of them. She builds the rocket while Crocodile


prepares a picnic and


soon they’re blasting into space in a whimsical construction that looks more like a playhouse than a rocket. The travellers while away their journey with a sandwich-eating game called Crocodiles in Space. And then the moon fills their viewing screen, in all its Clangers-and-tinfoil electron- microscope-evoking glory, and the friends head out in spacesuits to bounce around in zero gravity and gaze at the wonders of the earth. “Do you think it misses us?” asks Anna, in a wistful moment that captures


their closeness. By the


time they reach home, though, she’s as ebullient as ever. “It was almost


impossible!” she cries, as their rocket bursts through her bedroom window. “But we had the skills!” And readers, too, will feel that anything is possible. Schwarz’s delightful illustrations


draw us into Anna’s world, which becomes increasingly colourful and chaotic as her imagination takes flight. The friends have a rapport that infuses every spread, and Schwarz’s ear for dialogue captures the essence of their partnership. Crocodile is careful and caring, with the commitment to see things through and an eye for detail that Anna lacks. Anna, of course, supplies the energy, the wild imaginative leaps and the confidence that everything will work out right. Particularly satisfying (and relatively unusual in a picturebook of this type) is the nuanced depiction of their partnership, with all the give-and- take and insight that true friendship requires. Anna respects Crocodile and accepts his advice and leadership. In turn, she enables Crocodile to explore his silly side and discover that he’s braver than he thought. Great fun and with more depth


than may at first appear, this book will be enjoyed by children from around 3-6 years and offers lots of potential for creative exploration and learning through play. CFH


Amazing HHHHH


Steve Antony, Hodder Children’s Book, 32pp, 978-1-44494470-9, £12.99, hbk


Here is a little boy who is amazing. Not only does he have a special little dragon for a companion -other children probably have a dog or a cat - just watch how he powers across each page laughing, dancing, racing - doing everything together and with his friends who are as amazing. Steve Antony’s illustrations burst off each double


spread whether


they are vignettes showing snapshot actions or bold double-page spreads full of colour and movement. That his young protagonist is a wheelchair user is irrelevant; this is a boy, who with his friends - and a lively bunch they are too - is grasping life to the full with the support of his dragon companion, Zippo. And you do not require a wheelchair to need the support of such a companion as every child knows. There are far too few picture books where a child who is a wheelchair user (or indeed with a hearing aid or even glasses perhaps) is shown naturally taking charge of the narrative with nothing to draw attention to the situation except the illustration. Here Antony makes it very clear that children are children and all have the right to be centre stage, to see themselves, not as the supporting cast but in the spotlight for all the best reasons; enjoying fun and games. It would be Amazing if over the next year, such joyful, inclusive, child- centred books become the norm. FH


Humperdink HHH


Sean Taylor,ill. Claire Alexander, Quarto publishing, 29pp, 9781786035424, £11.99 hbk


This is a sweet picture book perfect for pre-schoolers because that’s where it is set. A little elephant has joined a pre-school and obviously wants to join in with all the fun. The book explains how their play works, then the Humperdink the elephants joins pre-school and their play becomes a bit tricky. He can’t really do the things they can and when he does it all goes a bit wrong: ‘His big bottom squashed Ryan’s favourite hat.’


for example.


However the children decide to go with the things Humperdink likes to


do and they enter his world which is full of even more adventure. Claire Alexander’s illustrations lend


a whimsical feel to the book as they have a sketchy style which gives lovely movement to the pages. The scenes perfectly capture life inside a pre- school setting with lots of different activities like painting, dressing up, building blocks so there are lots of recognisable


elements for young


children to identify with. Language is simple and perfect for reading aloud with a younger child and definitely for sharing in a pre-school setting. It’s also a good one for helping small children understand it’s important to include everybody and explore everybody’s interests. SG


Mighty Min


5 – 8 Infant/Junior Hummingbird


HHHHH


Melissa Castrillõn, Alison Green Books, 32pp, 978 1 4071 8531 6, £6.99 pbk


Tiny, young Min, who lives with her four ‘small-but-mighty’ aunts, Flora, Lily, Olive and Clementine is fortunate in having this quartet


to regale her


with pre-bedtime stories every night as they sit around the fire in their miniature house at the bottom of the garden. These tales are of the aunts’ amazing escapades and Min loves to hear them but longs to have an adventure of her own to recount. One night, unable to sleep Min to hear a voice and


is surprised


suddenly she’s seized by large claws and whisked away. The owl, for that is what it was, explains that he’s no intention of eating her; rather it needs her help, for a monster in the garden is frightening all the animals. Despite being unsure of her usefulness, on account of her lack of stature, Min agrees to do what she can. She goes on to rescue baby rabbits, untangle a knotted tail, turn over a beetle, bandage a grasshopper and calm two snails while growing ever more angry with the monster in so doing. Determined to tell it what she thinks of the chaos it’s caused, she refuses to run when urged. Turning round she finds herself staring right into the huge eyes of a fierce-looking, sharp- clawed creature. Will the tiny Min find the courage to stand up to the terroriser, and if so how? Charming, meticulously


draw


illustrations executed in warm hues give a dreamlike quality to the entire book, which is an enchanting tale of


self-discovery and a powerful


demonstration of how conflict can be overcome by other means than mere physicality. Small but mighty, Min truly is as she tells her aunts of her own adventure. Sheer delight from cover to cover.


JB Even if you’ve never HHHHH


Nicola Davies, illus Jane Ray, Walker Books, 32pp, 978-1406379273, £11.99 hbk


seen a


hummingbird, this beautiful book – words by Nicola Davies, illustrations by Jane Ray – will make them feel not just familiar but family. It describes the extraordinary journey these tiniest of birds make twice every year, flying from Central America to the north of the USA and Canada then back again – each trip over 3,000 kilometres. It takes us with them on their journey and introduces readers to different people who see the hummingbirds as they make their way north, starting with a little girl and her grandmother, in the garden of the grandmother’s house in Mexico. The little girl is going on a journey too, as far as the hummingbirds, and the little birds become a means to show that love is not interrupted by distance. As the hummingbirds visit more gardens, or are seen by more people, their journey serves to remind readers of how connected we are to nature too, and how much it does to brighten our lives. There’s a huge amount of information conveyed in the book about ruby-throated hummingbirds, facts about their size, their feeding habits, courtship and nesting (did you know for example that a hummingbird nest is the size of a walnut-half, just big enough for two eggs but able to stretch as the babies grow). Nicola Davies is a superb narrator and turns the


hummingbird’s


migration into an unforgettable story, while Jane Ray was born to paint hummingbirds: the delicacy and detail of her illustrations, their jewel-like colours, and sense of movement bring these tiny birds to life on the page. She invests as much life and character in the


human protagonists too,


presenting so many different people with warmth and understanding. Produced


in association with the RSPB, there’s both index and Books for Keeps No.237 July 2019 21


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