story time books

Every now and then, when a bookseller is feeling a little jaded,  sick of vampires and books which provide lousy role models for teenagers, sometimes in the same covers, along comes something wonderful, beautiful and life-affirming, like this book by Jeannie Baker. If you haven’t seen some of her earlier books, e.g Belonging and Window, they use carefully constructed collage illustrations, and are completely wordless. This one is like that, but adds another dimension. When the reader (or should that be viewer) opens the covers, two books are revealed, one on each side, and a note explains that they should be looked at side by side, turning the pages together. One story is set in Sydney, Australia, the other in Morocco, North Africa. What the book illustrates, beautifully, is that while lives in the two places are hugely different, they are also hugely similar. And for the careful watcher, there’s a rug, or carpet, made in Morocco, which ends up (or another which looks very similar does) in the Sydney family, and the Arab family who take the rug to market come home with a computer which connects them to the digital world. I’ve only just opened it for the first time, and I’m sure I’ll see more and more as I look again and again, but it is a beautiful idea, superbly executed. A note at the end of the book, in English and Arabic (I think) explains that while political poisoning of attitudes to foreigners was happening in Australia, Jeannie Baker travelled alone in remote parts of Morocco and was met with much friendliness and generosity. Whatever wonders appear between now and December, this will be one of my favourite  books of the year. Hardback at $45 and worth every cent, a wonderful antidote to xenophobia and stereotyping.

This is a new addition to the “picture books about fathers” list. By Margaret Allum, illustrated by Jonathan Bentley, it’s a recitation by a small girl of all the types of kisses she likes, from big and small kisses , through petal kisses and frosty kisses, sorry and friendly kisses,  on to family kisses from smelly-yelly brothers, rosy-cosy grannies and snuggly-cuddly mummy, “But the kiss I love most is a great, big bristly-growly-daddy-kiss.” Brand new in hardback only.

This is a lovely imaginative book by Rachel Bright, about coming to terms with a new sister. Alfie has favourite things: aliens, rockets, and the moon, “in exactly that order.” He also has a mother, a father and a “brand-new sister, called Ruby.” The parents are forever talking about the new baby, but Alfie hears only words to do with space, and quickly comes to the conclusion  that his sister is an alien, based on appearance, sounds and smells, and the fact that she often cries for home. So he helps her into his rocket, counts them down to takeoff and blasts off for the moon, where the aliens are friendly. But when Alfie gets tired and decides it’s time to go home, he climbs into his rocket, but suddenly feels very sad and decides to take Ruby back to earth for a while longer. And at the end, Alfie’s favourite things are: Ruby, aliens, rockets and the moon, “in exactly that order.” Wonderful illustrations, and this is a lovely oblique way to approach the sibling rivalry issue. I love it, and recommend it. A great book to give to an older sibling as a gift when the new baby arrives.

Kyle Mewburn’s latest is for older readers than anything else he’s written, but still  accessible to primary age children.  Conor’s day starts badly in several ways, including his mother ripping her favourite skirt on a  spring in their old sofa. Money’s not readily available, but then something happens that seems impossible: a red sofa floats into the bay, against the tide. When Conor and his mum check it over it seems perfect, except that its size seems somewhat variable, and they don’t think it will fit in their room. When it does, it seems ideal, until Conor uses it as a trampoline, his mother loses her job, he falls asleep and wakes up somewhere different. Too much more plot would ruin the story for a reader, but it’s a good read with some most unusual twists. Good readers of seven and anyone older might enjoy. It’s only 165 pages, and has infrequent zany illustrations by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson. The acknowledgements at the end tell of several other writers and editors helping the novel to its present state, so kudos to all concerned.

This is another lovely New Zealand picture book, by June Peka, illustrated by Jo Thapa. It’s  a story narrated by Dino, about his grandfather, a keen gardener whose gardening becomes a little difficult when he accepts a pet magpie from his friend the vet. Pop won’t hear of the magpie being caged, just clips a wing so it can’t fly away, but the bird creates havoc in all sorts of ways until he is forced to respond.  Still refusing to cage the magpie, Pop builds a cage around the garden, with his beloved vegetables,  the pohutukawa tree and his armchair inside, and won’t share it with the magpie.  Also available in a te reo Maori version: Manu Haututu, retold by Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira. Lovely illustrations which complement the story perfectly.

This is Wellington writer Philippa Werry’s latest novel, and it’s a very good one. I read it a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it, but I did wonder if it was too sophisticated for most children, so I asked an eleven-year-old friend to read it and let me know how she found it. So here’s Eleanor’s review.

“This book is an extremely strange and funny one. Harriet Jasmine Emerald Florence Mabey McDonald is a girl in year 8. She has a normal life and a best friend called Jessica. But all of that changes on the day the new girl arrives and suddenly life is turned upside down. There ares so many questions to be answeered, like will the new girl be as exciting as she hoped? Or will her Mum get a job? And will Uncle Theo be OK? This is a great book that to me says not to judge someone by the outside but find out what’s on the inside. I highly recommend this book to people who like things that include problems and imagination.”

The book is really all about that wonderful thing called imagination. Harry has a very active one, and it sometimes causes problems for her. As the story develops she realises that it is both an asset and a liability. I liked Harry as much as Eleanor did, and I also recommend the book, especially to imaginative readers.

I reviewed Wolven here in January this year, and here’s the second book already. By Di Toft, it has a similarly spectacular lenticular cover, and a similar mix of supernatural beast horror and humour. Take this image: a character feels “as nervous as a small nun at as penguin shoot.” All the usual suspects are here again, vampires, werewolves, wolven, goodies and baddies. I’ve almost entirely given up on vampire books and the werewolf clones which have followed. Every publisher has tried to cash in on the huge Twilight sales, mostly with a notable lack of success, but these are different and worth a read. Great characters, humour, and a rattling good yarn, and the conclusion to this one leaves little doubt that there will be another.

This is Volume Three of the trilogy by Kate Thompson which started with The New Policeman and continued with The Last of the High Kings. It is just as wonderful as the previous books, with the same humour, insight, beautiful writing, fantastic characters (human or ploddy and fairies) and playfulness, the same sharp comment on ploddy ways, and the same insistence that the fairies are only a little better, still full of ego and self-protective camouflage. This time the setting is in the future, with a global-warming ravaged Ireland almost incapable of sustaining human habitation.  So in Tir na n’Og, the land of eternal youth, there’s a refugee crisis, with ploddies appearing everywhere. When enquiries are made and it’s clear that one of JJ’s sons is the tyrant responsible for making things even worse than they might be, JJ has to use the White Horse Trick (see the Irish legend of Oisin) to return across the time skin and do some sorting. A great read,  a terrific conclusion, and now that all three books are available in B format paperback a good time to read them all. Lovely storytelling, but there are always several threads, so these books require a good reader.

Sometimes we underestimate children, as adults and sometimes as writers,  to their detriment as well as ours, and provide them with answers instead of helping them to ask questions. This picture book, new in paperback is by Joyce Dunbar, with illustrations by Patrick Benson, and it doesn’t make that mistake. As you might expect from the title, it’s a little odd, but many kids love odd. Three strange creatures appear: the Lostlet, who doesn’t know where he is or what he dreams of; the Strangelet, who doesn’t know what he is or what he dreams of; and the Oddlet, who doesn’t know who he is or what he wishes for. A little boy runs down the road and echoes each of their questions, but then speaks of home and Mum and love, concepts they don’t understand, gives the Oddlet a hug, the Strangelet a cuddle, and the Lostlet a hand, they dance and sing together, and suddenly they are home “… just in time for supper,” with Mum and love in the background. Beautiful and sure to stimulate the imagination and the emotions.

Sometimes the illustrations in a picture book are the main thing, rather than an adjunct to the words. This book by Kylie Dunstan is  a perfect example. The pictures are done with collage with handmade Nepalese Lotka paper, and they give the book a warm fuzzy feel before a word is written. The story is told by the voice of a little girl, and it is about all the things she can do because her father is with her, which otherwise might be beyond her courage or abilities. It is a very special and beautiful book, a lovely gift for a girl or her father, as a celebration of the relationship between them.