I wish I’d written…


Cath Howe chooses a book that vividly depicts the human capacity to endure.


The book I wish I’d written is The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird. Set in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, it is the story of two boys, one from a background of affluence and the other left destitute by the death of his mother. Their destinies collide when they meet in an urban graveyard and become unlikely allies. As the story develops, they learn from each other.


From the outset, the reader becomes hugely invested in both characters in this pacey and exciting plot. Through the dual perspectives, the author creates points of tension where we really feel the risks to the safety of both characters and respond with empathy to the limited choices they face.


Cath Howe’s latest book, How to Be Me, is published by Nosy Crow, 978-1788005975, £6.99 pbk


BfK Storm Dragon HHHHH


Dianna Hofmeyr, ill. Carol Thompson, Otter-Barry Books, 28pp 978 1 9130 7496 8, £12.99 hbk


Wonderfully wild, mixed media illustrations and a rumbustious telling full of invitingly join-in-able words, seamlessly combine to create a terrific intergenerational celebration of imaginative play set against roaring winds and pouring rain. We see two intrepid adventurers – a Grandpa unsuitably clad only in shorts, sweater and flip flops and his grandchild who at least has boots – undertaking a stamping stomping, clattering, splattering wild romp on the seashore as they follow the footprints in their search for storm dragons. They board a ‘pirate ship’, weigh the anchor, look through the spyglass and … AAHHH! The chase is on. They find dragon jewels and even a dragon baby but will they find that dragon mummy, or will the dragon find them before they reach the safety of their own front door once more? Indeed what or who is the real storm dragon? If you’re after a cracking read aloud


picture book to set the scene and inspire some exuberant outdoor play of the creative kind – rain or shine – then look no further: this book is the perfect starting point. From front endpapers to back endpapers, simply superb. JB


it’s Here the illustrator works HHHH


Diana Murray, ill. Zachariah OHora, Andersen Press Ltd. 32pp 978 1 83913 043 4, £6-99, pbk


closely


to the text, beginning on the front cover where we see snoozing carrot, perky beetroot and our narrator, the smiley worm, all beneath a moonlit, star spangled sky. The worm is quite enchanting, wriggling his way from page to page with his baseball cap, his one shoe and perpetual smile. It is sunset, and the veggie garden is being watered as the sun sinks. Their long day of growing is drawing to a close; the cuddly cauliflowers, droopy pods of peas and baby carrots settle for the night. There is rhubarb, reading stories to worn out broccoli, and the beetroots are simply … beat! The cabbages nod their leafy, sleepy heads, radishes doze in cosy garden beds.


Meantime, under and over worm slithers ground, taking in


all the sleepy veggies ‘for nothing’s more exhausting than growing day and


night.’ The charming bond


between text and pictures continues throughout as night draws in. The story ends with worm tucked up in his own little bed, in the soil below the sleeping beetroots. His cap is on the hat stand, his single shoe at the foot of his bed, family photos hang on the wall. This garden has been created on a rooftop, along with solar panels and


20 Books for Keeps No.248 May 2021


Elizabeth Laird says Addis Ababa is her favourite city in the world. Her great skill is in bringing the place so vividly alive for a reader who may never go there. There is a wild spirit in all her books tethered to an honest depiction of complex challenges in young people’s lives. Life on the street is rendered with an unflinching eye for the struggles these boys face simply to survive.


She depicts our human capacity to endure so vividly that I will always reread this story myself and recommend it to young readers.


The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird is published by Macmillan Children’s Books, 978-1509802951, £6.99 pbk.


reviews


Under 5s Pre – School/Nursery/Infant Goodnight Veggies


raised beds for the veg. Will children spot the robin, mentioned in the text at the beginning…with wriggly worm in its beak, supper


for its chicks?


Perfect for a bedtime read. GB What Happened to You?


HHHHH


James Catchpole, ill. Karen George, Faber, 32pp, 978 0 571 35831 1, £6.99 pbk


Joe is playing his favourite game of pirates, sharks and crocodiles


in


the park when several children he hasn’t met before turn up. girl shouts, leg!’


‘You’ve only A little got one ‘Yup’, says Joe. And then all


the children start asking questions, which Joe doesn’t want to answer, like – what happened? –


your leg? – perhaps it fell off - was it a lion? – maybe a thousand lions? – did it fall off in the toilet?! No, no, and no, Joe shouts. It becomes clear, both from his facial expression and his silence, that he doesn’t want to talk about it. The children finally twig to this, and the first little girl begins to join his game as though nothing has


happened. James


Catchpole is missing a leg himself, and he understands only too well that questions like this are not only boring, but intrusive and difficult to handle. This theme – about how people with disabilities dislike being queried about their disabilities - is particularly apt in a children’s book, both because


where’s


it is often children who are prone to asking such and because it shows a lack of empathy with others.


It is


also very unusual in a picture book! The story comes along at a great time for use in both classroom and home, and the text, together with excellent illustrations, make the point clearly, but with humour and fun. ES


The Three Happy Lions HHHH


Louise Fatio, illus Roger Duvoisin, Scallywag Press, 32pp, 978-1912650712, £12.99 hbk


The Happy Lion introduced in the book of the same name, has even more reason to be happy in this story. He has a partner he loves, and now they have a cub. The cub, named François after their best friend the keeper’s son, is admired by all, ‘Comme il est


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