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Me and my Mammoth

You  have probably heard me go on about Joel Stewart enough. But I cannot stop myself when he is busy batting a thousand.
In this book, he is going solo, writing and illustrating on the subject of fantasy and creativity. In a world where parents are often desperate to shield their children from disappointment and failure, fewer and fewer children are left to create without strict guidelines, boundaries. In such an environment, they can be creative "safely".
    Stewart writes of a creative boy whose projects "never turn out how I want". So, he tries an airplane kit, in order to get it right, and he ends up with a woolly mammoth and it is alive. The mammoth takes the boy on a tremendous journey that teaches him, (can you guess?)that having things turn out differently can be a terrific thing.
    This is a super tale for budding artists and craftspeople and television-heads alike.
For ages 3-6 but good to show 9 and 10 year olds who are frustrated in their art and DT classes.

The Witch's Children and the Queen

 I had lost track of Russell Ayto after our family's extensive love affair with Ella and the Naughty Lion by Anne Cottringer. His ability to draw meaningful expression on such a wide range of characters is impressive. His drawings are full of action and fun. Ursula Jone's story of three siblings with magical powers gone wrong, lends it self perfectly to his whirlwind style.
It was not until I got to the last page of this story that I realized it was a sequel. (There is an advertisement for the original,The Witch's Children ). This whiz bang story takes place en route to Buckingham Palace on a number 16 Routemaster bus. For all those nostalgic for the tall English buses (that are being sold off right and left to the horror of Londoners and others) this story is for you. Watch it change into a number 16 red magic carpet.
    Jones takes time in telling the story. There are a lot of details but it will still hold the attention of the 3 year olds, while drawing in 6 and 7 year old independent readers.
    Thumbs up and we look forward to reading and reporting on the original soon.