reviews


Under 5s Pre-School/Nursery/Infant continued Cinderella of the Nile


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Beverley Naidoo, Marjan Vafaeian, Tiny Owl, 9781910328293, £12.99 hbk


The Cinderella story can be found all around the world,


often appearing


in surprising places. Here Beverley Naidoo looks to Egypt, adapting a story told by Herodotus and bringing in familiar


fairytale elements – a


bird that is instrumental in bringing “Cinderella” and her prince together, three sisters, not ugly but jealous. This Cinderella lives in a real location and shares her story with characters known from history. Here we meet


Rhodopis, born


in Greece, captured and enslaved, befriended by Aesop she is then sold


to an Egyptian master. Like


all good fairytale princesses she is both beautiful and kind. And it is her kindness that will eventually lead her to a happy ending. Naidoo’s


retelling of Mediterranean


variegated narrative that spans the ancient


this richly world,


is


straightforward and almost matter- of-fact. It is direct and accessible, an admirable quality though I would have liked a bit more of the exotic to match Vafaien’s


illustrations. These are


indeed exotic. Brilliant colours spring from the page, a feast for the eyes. Her style, very much her own and unique, presents some challenges to a Western audience, referencing not just her Iranian background and the miniatures from that world but also Egyptian tomb paintings, Greek vase paintings and Minoan friezes while remaining completely contemporary. This is very different to our familiar literacies but it is exciting to be faced with such vibrant images transporting us to another world to meet a lively, positive heroine. Cinderella of the Nile is the first in


series of books through which young readers will meet stories that will be both familiar yet unfamiliar combining authors and illustrators from around the world; they will be welcome. FH


Tomorrow HHHHH


Nadine Kaadan, Lantana, 9781911373438, £12.99 hbk


What would it be like to be confined to your house, never able to go out? But you are not ill. There seems to be no reason why you are shut in. However, outside a war rages, the streets are not safe, the conflict has been created by adults but it affects children. This is the life of Yazan who longs to go to the park, but his Mother, once a painter, now just watches the news. If they do go out it involves phone calls...why? Perhaps Yazan could take himself out... There


on those that still live in cities where bombing and hostility are the norm. While Nadine Kadaan’s picture book draws on her experience of living in Damascus and was originally written in Arabic, Yazan’s life is one that can be mirrored in many places round the world and it is to be welcomed in this translation. The text is straightforward, unadorned, direct. The illustrations add power, creating the door to both a sympathetic and empathetic response. Yazan’s boredom and sadness are emphasised by bare rooms and a sombre palette, we get a hint of past happiness in the red of his mother’s dress before being overwhelmed by grasping shadows pouring from the television.


Vertiginous perspectives


give a sense of the destruction of the buildings – these are reflected in the dress of the adults, emphasising their roles both as a prison and as a playground. The endpapers add to this narrative as we see a row of newspaper dolls on the opening spread – figures covered in text, but the final spread shows the dolls without text against a grass green background. Maybe the future will bring them freedom to play in the park. This is I think an important picture


book, and Lantana is to congratulated for publishing it here. FH


Cannonball Coralie and the Lion


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Grace Easton (and ill.) Lincoln Children’s Books, 40pp 9781786030313 £11.99 hbk


Coralie, a solid girl in a stripy tunic, lives in the woods on her own, stands on her hands, swings from tree to tree and can juggle five squirrels. “Funny and brave, and silly and strange”, she joins a troupe of circus people travelling through her woods, befriends


Lion, and asks The Man


in a Big Hat who tells everyone what to do and how to do it, if she can join them. Her tricks are not up to standard, but she is the right size to be the human cannonball, and does that for one performance (a rather scary experience: Kaboom!)


Again,


she was not up to the standard required, and is told to pack her bags and go. She has no bags to pack, but does go to say Goodbye to Lion. The Man in the Big Hat shouts “Get back to work! More tricks! Less smiling! And absolutely NO caring about each other!”, which makes Lion do an enormous ROAR that blows away the Man in the Big Hat, and the circus people, free at last, go to live in the woods with Coralie and learn to swing through the trees and juggle five squirrels- just for fun. One of many young artists working


now which draw the reader into the experience


are a number of books of refugees; there


are fewer that highlight the effect of war


for The Bright Agency, Grace Easton is well established in design, but this is her debut picture book. The story is odd, but appealing, and the illustrations are fun- the Man in a Big Hat, with his flowing moustache, looks very fierce indeed, and speaks


5 – 8 Infant/Junior Grandad Mandela HHHH


Zazi, Ziwelene & Zindzi Mandela, ill. Sean Qualls, Lincoln Children’s Books, 9781786031365, £12.99 hbk


This picture book format biography of Nelson Mandela, aimed at younger children,


collaboration with Mandela Legacy Media


to


is being published in celebrate


importance Nelson what would


have been Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday on July 18th 2018. The book conveys the political of


Mandela’s


life and his position as a global icon of courage, reconciliation and forgiveness but it also has a very personal tone as it is written by his youngest daughter and two great- granddaughters. A feeling of family pride


in their famous father and


great-grandfather pervades the book. This title is accessible to children as it


takes the form of 15 questions by Zazi and Ziwelene to their grandmother Zindzi, the last born child of Winnie and Nelson Mandela, who was only 18 months old when her father went to prison. The question and answer format allows complex issues such as apartheid, colonialism and the pursuit of justice and equality to be explained in a way that children can understand, and places them in a personal context.


The children also


learn how they can continue their great-grandfather’s legacy in the world today. The text is complemented by the powerful illustrations of American illustrator


Sean Qualls who also


succeeds in conveying the political and the personal elements of Nelson Mandela’s life. This is an informative, inspirational


and well-constructed biography that should


discussion from its young readers. SR Books for Keeps No.231 July 2018 21 provoke questioning and


in capital letters, while Lion looks friendly with a very circular mane. The design is good; the double-page spread


of Coralie, her eyes shut


tight as she is shot from the cannon, is shown as if from the roof of Big Top with hundreds of faces in the audience open-mouthed below, and text is used imaginatively throughout. This picturebook will be fun to share or to read aloud. DB


Zeki Gets a Checkup HHHH


Anna McQuinn, ill. Ruth Hearson, Alanna Books, 22pp, 978 1 907825 200, £7.99 pbk


A book for the youngest child (18 months+) about what to expect when going for a checkup. This is a family where Daddy takes a major role, and it is he who is to take Zeki to see the doctor while Mum is at home or at work. It is also Dad who talks to Zeki about what a big boy he is now – he can drink from a cup and eats by himself and he sings and dances, and now he is going to have a checkup. We see Zeki and Dad waiting in the waiting room with all the other parents and children; we then see him being weighed and measured and having eyes and ears looked at and his heart listened to. All is well, so he then must have a jab ‘to keep him healthy’, and as


he smiles even through this process, he seems to have been very well prepared for the procedure! A warm and happy picture book that shows us a loving black family experiencing a normal everyday happening in the life of any family with young children. While a paperback, the paper is very strong, and the fact that the corners are rounded will make it difficult for young children to poke themselves or others in the eye. An excellent book for families and for surgery waiting rooms – good for toddler groups as well. ES


Dinosaur Firefighters HHHH


Sarah McIntyre, Scholastic, 32pp, 978 1 407143 30 9, £6.99 pbk


In this picture book for younger


children, a giant dinosaur dreams of becoming a heroic firefighter. She is lucky enough to be accepted onto the force and joins Barry Baryonyx and Pablo Parasaurolophus in rescuing cats


up enormous trees and cause dinosaurs carnage in


distress. Sadly, being a firefighter takes some getting used to for Dipsy. Dipsy’s gigantic frame tail


and in


Dinoville, despite her best intentions, and some unfortunate catastrophes (including accidentally catapulting a cat!) offer plenty of humour to engage a young audience. She is determined, though, and her helpful dino-friends are soon able to find the perfect role for her on the force. Huge, bold, bright illustrations tell much of this story, and the pages are further enlivened by original uses of fonts and calligrams, with sentences snaking across the page and sound effects exploding out of the action. Dipsy is a cheerful and endearing


hero and children will enjoy reading about


the trouble she gets into.


The story is simple and it is easy to imagine some children asking to hear it over and over again. SD


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