story time books

This is another lovely picture book, by Mem Fox, with illustrations by Vladimir Radunsky. There’s a lovely account somewhere on the world wide web, when Mem Fox explains how hard it is to find the right words for what looks like a very simple book, in that case  Where is the Green Sheep. In this book too, every word counts, every rhyme is just right,  and th rhythm almost compels a child to feel tired. Here’s a sample from the beginning: “This is where the giant sleeps/and here the fairy dozes./Here the pirate lays his head, though one eye never closes.” Gloriously soft-focus  sleepy illustrations too. A treasure.

Nick Bland’s last book (I think) The Very Cranky Bear has been a favourite here, and quite a few people have discovered its charms. That was a very good value hardback.This one is in paperback, the story of Nicholas Ickle, who is trying to tell a story, but keeps getting interrupted by characters from other books, elephants, monsters, pirates, a queen, rats and a puppet with a long nose.  These unneeded and unwanted characters accumulate and prevent Nicholas telling his story, which we never do get to hear. Great fun again.

This is one of those picture books which is almost more for adults than for children, though many children will enjoy it too. By Serge Bloch, it’s a zany look through a child’s eyes at the first day of school and all the idiomatic phrases adults use intending to reassure, but which are often incomprehensible to children. The illustrations picture the literal meaning of those phrases, from “getting out of the wrong side of the bed” through the butterflies of the title, to “all ears”, “coming out of one’s shell”, “all in the same boat”, “crossing that bridge when we come to it” and so on, until reunited with his dog, Roger, he’s “as happy as a dog with two tails”. A very clever little book which will provide laughs for adults and children.

The 20% off everything sale finishes on Tuesday, so you have a last chance to get more books for your buck until 5 pm on Tuesday. I’d hoped it would get the stock level down a bit, but it has had only a slight effect, but sales have been good and without it the stock level would have gone up again, and I’d have been struggling to find shelf space for all the books.

Siobhan Dowd has become the first posthumous winner of the Carnegie Medal for Bog Child, reviewed here in April last year. Here’s a link to The Guardian announcement: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/25/siobhan-down-carnegie-medal-childrens-literature , except that it’s not behaving like a link, so you may have to cut and paste the url to see that article, or just go to www.guardian.co.uk/books and enter “Bog Child” or “Siobhan Dowd”  in the search box. If more people seek this out to read it because of this award, they’re in for a treat.

Another in the same series as the previous post, this time by Francois Michel with illustrations by Marc Boutavant, it has the same  combination of clear text and explanatory graphics which make it a good choice for primary or intermediate age again. It talks about the environment, ecology, natural cycles like the water cycle, pollution, noise, radioactivity,and other topics,  so it’s quite a comprehensive look at the subject, and finishes with a quiz, an eco-dictionary and a list of useful websites.

Another Gecko Press translation, from France this time, this is a timely look at the issues behind the title. By Gerard Bertolini and Claire Delalande with illustrations by Nicolas Hubesch this is a very clear introduction to this subject, with good explanations and wonderful graphics. Should be appreciated by school libraries at primary and intermediate levels, and by many families. It goes through the history, the problems and the possible solutions, including making less rubbish, recycling, and composting, and includes the costs of solutions as well as the costs of doing nothing. A quiz, crossords, dictionary of terms used and a list of useful websites make it even more user-friendly.

This is the third Findus and Pettson book by Sven Nordqvist  translated and published here by Gecko Press. In this one Findus the the cat asks Pettson to tell him the story of how he disappeared, early in their association. It’s another one of those stories that is beautifully simple and simply beautiful, and the illustrations are wonderful. These stories have apparently sold over four million copies in 40 countries, and now thanks to Gecko Press New Zealand children  can enjoy them too.  They are more wordy than many picture books,  so better for slightly older preschool or early primary children, but they are lovely stories which repay the attention required many times over, and the increased concentration span which comes from having longer stories read is a valuable thing to cultivate, even with younger children. Lovely as each is on its own, together they tell a story which is more than the sum of its parts as the reader (and listener) learns more about this unusual family.

The third book about Charlotte and her Hollywood-star horse Leila by Dave Warner is just as full of laughs as the earlier books about the pair. This time it’s back to Hollywood to make a movie to try to get Thornton Downs out of trouble when Miss Strudworth is sued. Leila’s co-star Sarah-Jane is immediately jealous of  Charlotte’s obvious bond with Leila, and her petulance causes problems. The scriptwriter can’t write without her cat, which has disappeared, so the movie is in jeopardy from several directions. Fortunately Charlotte’s friend Todd is also in LA for an international competition and helps out when things get tricky, as does Feathers the talking bird, and things get gloriously chaotic. If you like sober realism, avoid this, but if you like a bit of over-the-top farce with characters to match, excitement and humour stirred together make an interesting cocktail here, as they did in the previous books. Laugh-aloud funny in many places and once again skewers the pretensions of Hollywood in an interesting way. 10-year-olds and up.

The eighth Judy Moody book by Megan McDonald with illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds is here. In this book Judy has a substitute teacher who picks up that Judy is a little behind in maths and suggests a tutor for some extra help. Judy is not impressed until she realises that the tutor is a college student and Judy will go to the college for her help. Chloe, the tutor is very trendy and fun, and suddenly Judy is loving maths. After much hilarity and learning of college jargon Mr Todd returns to the class and tests the maths skills and Judy comes top of the class, while everyone else fails, because they want a college tutor. Like the other Judy Moody books, full of gentle fun, word plays, unexpected consequences and Judy’s irrepressible zest for life. Very popular with the 7 – 9 -year-old girls, and this one will be just as loved as the others.