BfK 5 – 8 Infant/Junior continued


against the cream coloured pages which are in generous landscape format. Microraptors, as they fly and swoop, are in dramatic contrast to the


big scarlet beaks and their jet black feathers with white tips. This would be an excellent starting point for young children’s


writing. Books of this quality make the survival of the print information book desirable and likely.


MM


The Usborne Outdoor Book: Inspiring ideas for discovering and exploring outdoors


HHHH


Alice James, Emily Bone and Briony May Smith (ill.) 64pp, 978-1-4095-9910-4, hbk. £9.99


A recent poll conducted by The Wildlife Trust showed that many parents


did not spend enough leisure time exploring the outdoors. Learning about the natural world is important in school, too, and so it is not surprising that there is an abundance of nature books to choose from. Like similar books, this one is structured round


environments - ponds, rivers and seas, woods and wild areas. We join children as they investigate nature in different weathers and during the day and night time. The book has some welcome strengths; the pages have a modern look with an arrangement of illustrations and written text which will be inviting to young readers who also use on-screen information sources. There


information boxes and clearly set out instructions for such things as crabbing, dipping, pitching a tent and for mapping a place children have explored. The paintings of landscapes and seascapes and the creatures and plants


alive with interesting


pond, you could try to find out what creatures live under the water. See what happens when you build a dam, too.’ The creators of this book know how to capture children’s interest. In the ‘Night explorer’ section the two children who have accompanied readers through the book set out on a nocturnal nature hunt and learn how to trap moths and how to stargaze. I know from experience that children find forays into the dark atmospheric and exciting and here some structure is given to such explorations. Young readers are helped to keep


safety in mind and also to show respect for the countryside and its creatures, for example by not touching nests and carefully putting beetles back after they have been observed. A continuing interest in nature and the outdoors in all seasons and weathers is encouraged by the additional suggestions detailed on the


Quicklinks website.


well-established Usborne MM


‘If that


giving a welcome sense of place and encouragement for


sketching and note taking. I like the way the young readers are addressed directly:


you’re near a river or children’s own


inhabit them are information,


are annotated diagrams, sections covering different felt their young children discussion, drawing and ancient landscape with their A Rainbow in my Pocket HHHH


Ali Seidabadi, illus Hoda Haddadi, transl Azita Rassi, Tiny Owl Books, 24pp, 978-1-9103-2812-5 £12.99, hbk


Redolent of the work of Eric Carle, this beautiful


capture the ephemeral thoughts and wishes of a young child. The poetic sentences of the text take the reader gently through a week of images and fleeting wishes. It’s a week in which you are encouraged, if you can’t fit the rainbow in your pocket, to make your dreams so big that you can fit whatever you like inside of them. The delicate collages of the art


work reflect the fragile and fleeting nature of a young child’s curiosity. Just


of the story is hard to capture or define. Think of it more as a series of impressionist thoughts that are here, then gone. It’s about the simplicity and tenderness of life. It’s about the naivety of a child’s wonder at the natural world. But mostly it’s about what to do when you can’t fit the rainbow in your pocket. Written and illustrated by an


like a rainbow, the meaning book attempts to


experienced Iranian team, this is a book to linger over, to ponder, and to prompt dialogue with any young child about the magic and wonder of their own world. GR.


Anna Liza and the Happy Practice


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Eoin Colfer, illus Matt Robertson, Barrington Stoke, 96pp, 978–1–7811-2559 -5, £6.99 pbk


Anna Liza Madigan is nine years old with an older brother and a psychiatrist mother. Colfer explains that Anna Liza’s Mum has a job which involves helping people to feel better about their problems by discussing them. This is a worthwhile and constructive explanation. In her mother’s waiting room Anna Liza meets Edward, about her age. Edward’s father is being counselled, we imagine for depression. Edward is sad because his Dad is sad. Anna Liza decides unhappiness


father. She takes a pair of roller skates belonging to her brother. While Edward’s Dad is asleep she straps the skates to his feet. When he wakes, Edward’s Dad


by cheering to tackle


Edward’s up


his


Archie Snufflekins Oliver Valentine Cupcake Tiberius Cat


HHHHH


Katie Harnett, Flying Eye Books, 32pp, 978-1-9092-6337-6 hbk £11.99


The cat that lives on Blossom Street is very busy. He takes breakfast with one family, tea with another and fits in a host of activities with every other neighbour in between. Each household has its own name for the cat and the cat enjoys visiting everyone, but there is one house that no one visits. Mrs Murray at number eleven lives a very quiet life, she knits, and snoozes, and warms her feet by the fire. When the cat finally gets an opportunity to pay her a visit he finds that the peace and quiet of number eleven is exactly what he was looking for. The rest of the street must come to visit him from now on! A gentle


with charming illustrations of a busy residential street. The autumnal palette and cream paper give the book a slightly out of time look and the playful page layouts make the whole thing feel quite cinematic. If Wes Anderson made a picture book it might look a bit like this. Gorgeous matte production from Flying Eye Books makes it a joy for hands, as well as a feast for the eyes.


KC Will & Nill HHHHH


Farhad Hasanzadeh, illustrated by Atieh Markazi, Tiny Owl Books, 24pp, 978 1 910328 15 6, £12.99 hbk


Meet two cats, Will and Nill, different in almost every way except that they are both, on this particular morning, very hungry. Will however decides to do something about it; off he goes in search of food and, or, distractions from a rumbling tummy – not his, but Nill’s. All that lazy Nill fellow wants to do is to loll around, basking in the sunshine. Pretty soon, Will is happily engaged in a game of hide and seek with a sparrow: Nill on the other hand, has gone back to sleep. The game proceeds and finishes; and that is when Will gets a whiff of something. Right there, protruding from the very bin behind which he’d found the sparrow, is something very desirable and very tasty – albeit rather pongy. What do you think Will does next: gobble down the entire delicacy on the spot or save a morsel for Nill? There’s


careers off down to the coast and into the sea. Will he drown? Of course not. This is a story about happiness not tragedy. The incident bonds father and son together. Anna Liza’s mother makes her promise not to use such drastic tactics again, but to carry on trying to help people with problems. This book is a rarity. It opens a


window on the world of mental health for readers of this age group which is neither didactic nor medicalised. It is essentially a human story in which the therapy is compassionately positioned. Young readers will first laugh, then understand. Robertson’s illustrations


of the text and helpfully intervene whenever


becoming too intense. 24 Books for Keeps No.219 July 2016


reinforce the


narrative risks RB


the


(there always is with Tiny Owl books – every one is a treasure within which is a thought-provoking notion, a philosophical consideration or a lesson about life; and sometimes, all of them.) Atieh Markazi’s cityscapes, wherein she places her wonderfully realised feline characters, are really striking and perfectly bring out the inherent humour of Hasanzadeh’s fable.


JB


The Dragon and the Nibblesome Knight


HHHHH humour


Elli Woollard and Benji Davies, Macmillan Children’s Books, 32pp, 978-1-4472-5480-5 hbk £11.99


Little Dragon Dram must leave the family nest to find his own food and a dragon’s favourite snack is a nibblesome knight. But a crash


so much to enjoy here story is brought to life


landing leaves Dram a little worse for wear, and the young lad


cares for him mistakens him for a duck! The truth is revealed at their next encounter, but young James is actually a knight and now he’s expected to fight his new friend. More fairytale fun from the duo that


that


brought us The Giant of Jum. The sing- song rhyme will delight Donaldson fans and Benji Davies’s beautiful artwork is a joy to pore over. Children will love this fun friendship story that takes place in the fairytale realm and it may well be a book that demands repeat readings. Little details in the illustrations and a handsome map mean there is more to be discovered each time.


KC Steven Seagull Action Hero HHHHH


Elys Dolan, Oxford Children’s Books, 32pp, 978-0-1927-3870-7, £6.99 pbk


Surely one of the best covers of year in picture books, Steven Seagull could be sold on the title alone. Action hero Steven is hanging up his badge to retire, but when giant holes appear in the sand there’s only one man for the job. Steven’s back on the force for one more job and he’s got a list of suspects to interrogate. With his partner Mac back on his side they are an unstoppable team, Steven will save Beach City once more! Elys Dolan’s books are always


worth looking out for; they’re pitched perfectly to get the children and their adults giggling. The colours are vibrant and the pop references on point. The expressions on the faces and the little speech bubble comments are priceless, it’s a hoot from start to finish. Read in action movie trailer style voiceover for added hilarity. Buy it for a child, buy it for an adult, just buy it! KC


Hendrix the Rocking Horse HHH


Gavin Puckett, ill. Tor Freeman, Faber & Faber, 88pp, 978-0-5713-1540-6, £5.99 pbk


The story of Hendrix, the horse who loves rock music and learns to play the guitar, is told in rhyming couplets full of jokes and wordplay and is the second story in the author’s “Fables from the Stables” series.


by the Tumbling Pebbles, Hendrix finds a lost guitar and decides to become Hendrix the Rocking Horse and put on a concert of his own. But when he finds out that the Tumbling Pebbles need their guitar back he decides to do the right thing and return it. This is a funny, rhyming tall tale with a moral, a guitar-playing horse and humorous, lively illustrations by Tor Freeman that enhance the story. Some of the jokes and references may appeal more to adults than children and some of the vocabulary may be difficult for the age range indicated by the typeface and illustrative style, so this book will probably work best as a comic read-aloud story for family or classroom sharing.


SR My Dad is so Cool HHHHH


Keith Negley, Flying Eye Books, 30pp, 978-1-9092-6394-9, £ 11.99 hbk


Imagine finding out your dad used to be in a rock band and performed at


After a performance


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