REVIEWERS IN THIS ISSUE BfK


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. Diane Barnes, was a librarian for 20 years, mostly as a children’s specialist, working in Kent, Herts, Portsmouth and Hampshire, and Lusaka (Zambia) with the British Council. Jill Bennett is the author of Learning to Read with Picture Books and heads up a nursery unit. Jon Biddle is English Coordinator/ Reading Champion at Moorlands Primary Academy in Norfolk, and co-founder of the Patron of Reading scheme. Tony Bradman is an author, editor and reviewer of children’s books. Annie Brierley has worked in libraries and the related sector all her working life and is currently Library Supervisor in North Devon. Rebecca Butler writes and lectures on children’s literature. Jane Churchill is a children’s book consultant. Stuart Dyer is an Head Teacher of a primary school in East Devon. Kathleen Faloon is a primary school teacher and leads an OU/UKLA Teachers’ Reading Group 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. Sarah Gallagher is a headteacher and director of Storyshack.org www.storyshack.org Ferelith Hordon is a former children’s librarian and editor of Books for Keeps Carey Fluker Hunt is a writer and children’s book consultant. Keranjit Kaur is a primary school teacher and leads an OU/UKLA Teachers’ Reading Group Helen Kelsey is a primary school teacher and leads an OU/UKLA Teachers’ Reading Group Matthew Martin is a primary school teacher.


Sue McGonigle is a Lecturer in Primary Education and Co-Creator of www.lovemybooks.co.uk Margaret Pemberton is a school library consultant and blogs at margaretpemberton.edublogs.org. Neil Philip is an author, poet, mythographer and folklorist. Val Randall is Head of English and Literacy Co-ordinator at a Pupil Referral Unit. Andrea Reece is Managing Editor of Books for Keeps. Sue Roe is a children’s librarian. Elizabeth Schlenther is the compiler of www.healthybooks.org.uk Nicholas Tucker is honorary senior lecturer in Cultural and Community Studies at Sussex University. Clare Zinkin is a children’s book consultant, writer and editor.


One Fox. A counting Book Thriller


HHHHH


Kate Read, 32pp, Two Hoots, 9781529010893, £7.99 pbk


One fox... three plump hens... oh dear. Silently, stealthily the


fox


creeps towards his prey... we see his sharp teeth (ten of them) but then an explosion of feathers as a hundred angry hens burst across the double spread. This is an exciting debut. Kate


Read’s artwork is vigorous and refreshing, her vibrant colours and textured images drawing on her background as a textile artist, while the drama of her illustrations in which a single figure or detail takes centre stage surely derives from her work as a theatre designer. For this is indeed a picture book that is full of drama – but just like an illustrious predecessor, Rosie’s Walk – the tension is created through the simplest of means, rises to a


crescendo then to a conclusion that is completely satisfying. The text is minimal. Here the vocabulary has been chosen with care drawing on apposite adjectives and alliteration to add to the suspense of the ascending numbers. These


are


matched to appropriate objects that in themselves create tension – this is a counting book thriller, indeed. What an exciting introduction to counting. This is likely to become a favourite not because of its educational value but because of the engaging story. Highly recommended; an artist to watch. FH


The story focuses on a landmark in a


young child’s life, seeking to smooth the transition on starting nursery school and preempt any anxiety, undoubtedly on the part of the parent as much as the child! The theme is informed by the epigraph which contains the words of Benjamin Moys, thinker behind the civil rights movement on the importance of a child feeling protected, loved and developing self-belief. This is a picture book which reflects diverse classroom contexts and promotes aspiration and achievement for all. The illustrations are gorgeous, vibrant and full of warmth, smiles and colour perfectly matching the sentiment of the story. SMc


King of the Classroom HHHH


Derrick Barnes, ill. Vanessa Brantley-Newton, Scallywag Press, 32pp, £12.99, hbk


It is a special morning, the first day of nursery school for one little boy. Encouraged by his mother to feel proud and confident he is told today he will be ‘King of the Classroom.’ This theme continues throughout the book from the moment the child rises with sunlight creating a golden crown around his head, he has a ‘golden’ brush to clean his teeth and a carriage to take him to nursery. He enters the classroom majestically and sails through the challenges of school with a strong sense of self-worth and support. Fortunately, his confidence is matched with kindness, for example he notices another child has less lunch than him and so shares with him. After a successful day he cannot wait to tell his parents about his new friends and experiences.


Perdu HHHH


Richard Jones, Simon and Schuster, 32pp, 9781471181269, £6.99 pbk


Perdu is a little dog with a red scarf round his neck. He is lost. Searching for someone to befriend him he journeys from the country into the city, only to meet with hostility, anger and rejection. He even loses his scarf. Lost and alone, what will happen to him?


This is a gentle, lyrical story which captures for


the someone sense of without


loneliness a home,


emphasising subtly the importance of belonging, of a relationship. Richard Jones’


narrative is straightforward,


taking the reader with Perdu as he travels across the double page spreads moving from one environment to another. The images also take us on a journey, a visual journey from the bleak darkness of the opening spread, through the city streets to the


reviews


Under 5s Pre – School/Nursery/Infant New talent


final scene where we see Perdu found at last and looking forward to the dawn. Throughout there are recurring images – the lone leaf that is also on a journey; the little girl whose red pompom hat echoes the red scarf Perdu wears. These are clues that extend and enrich. Jones uses a soft textured palette to combine with satisfying solid shapes that effectively convey emotion and atmosphere set within a spacious design. My only reservation – the use of a blue font against the stormy background of the opening spread – but this is picture book to recommend. FH


Meet the Planets HHHH


Caryl Hart, ill. Bethan Woollvin, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 32pp, 978 1 4088 9298 5, £6.99 pbk


Meet the planets is assuredly what youngsters will do when, along with the small child narrator and accompanying dog, they blast off into space aboard the space rocket that awaits them one moonlit night. Through


Caryl Hart’s rhyming


narrative we listen to introductions voiced by in turn, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and the Moon, the red planet Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto with ‘buddy’ Charon. In chatty mode, each one tells readers of its key features: the Sun warns ‘I’m friendly but don’t get too close now or I’ll frizzle you up to a fry!’ while Mars talks of its ‘rust-coloured dust that those pesky winds blow round my head.’ Uranus informs ‘golly, I’m f-freezing! / I’m a great swirling windy ice ball’ and lonely Neptune reveals its ‘Ice-Giant’ other name. Nocturnal


adventure


it’s time to head back where a cosy bed awaits for one adventurer


immediately grab


complete, to


snuggle down in. With her bold colour palette, Bethan Woollvin’s alluring illustrations


the


attention, as she personifies each planet in turn, in this exciting whizz around the solar system for aspiring astronomers. Gently educational, but most important, enormous fun, this is also a smashing unconventional bedtime story. JB


Hugo HHHH


Atinuke, ill. Birgitta Sif, Walker Books, 40pp, 978 1 4063 7929 7, £12.99 hbk


Hugo the pigeon has an important job; he’s the park keeper. Patrolling the park every day, he takes his job seriously as he keeps Madame Grande company and discusses the news with Monsieur Occupé in springtime; cleans up after messy summer picnickers; and in the autumn, plays with the children to give their mothers a rest. During the winter he flies off visiting


all the apartments that overlook the park, making sure the residents know


Books for Keeps No.242 May 2020 21


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