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Daisy May by Jean Ure

Jean Ure is an amazingly prolific writer. I thought of her as a writer for older children mainly, with books such as Bad Alice. But Daisy May was a revelation. Daisy May was found in a flower garden and brought up at the end of the 19th Century in a foundling hospital. She then is sent out to work, always holding onto her romantic dream of becoming an actress. As the book progresses, the chances seem to be slimmer than slim that this could ever happen.
This book is from Harper Collins' Roaring Good Reads series. These are short chapter books and then longer ones for new and more confident readers. My six year old daughter just couldn't put it down. Daisy May charmed her.
Every couple of pages there is a small illustration by Karen Donnelly, to help the reader along. I listened to my daughter read some of this book aloud and thought it was a good mixture of compelling characters and fast pace. I will certainly be searching for more short books in the series.

The Boy Who Lost His Face

This review is by our latest junior junior book worm reviewer:

Freddie Wright

Curses are a bad thing. Some people believe in them, some do not. This novel will be more compelling to those who believe in curses. In school there are always groups; groups of cool people and those who are not so cool. This novel is about one boy who used to be in the cool gang but was cursed and from then on he began to slide into the category of not being cool at all.

She was old and crotchety, an easy target for the cool gang. They walked up her drive and then ran up to her. Swore at her, tipped her off her rocking chair, poured lemonade all over her head and then stole her cane and ran off. David was the last to leave. He turned round and gave her the finger. As he walked smoothly out of the gates and towards the gang, he heard her shout out a curse. “May you be cursed for ever more.”

The next few days were manic. He had walked into class with his fly down and then as he was asking out a girl his trousers fell down. He soon was not able to cope with all of these embarrassments and went to see the old woman. She said that everyday he lost a little bit of his face (not literally). This meant that every day he was becoming more and more of a loser. He also noticed that part of his face was on the old lady’s wall. She said that as he lost his face she was making it into a mask on her wall.

The main character in this story is David. The novelist makes you sympathise with him as he has to face all of the cool peoples’ taunts. The effect of all this on him is mostly depression because he is bullied at school and that he was cursed. This is a book under the genre of modern day life. It is set in the present and the events that unfold in this novel could well indeed happen to anybody today.

A really funny book, by one of my favourite authors.

If you like the sound of this book, check out Louis Sachar's site.

About Me

My name is Emily Marbach and I live in London. Junior Book Worm was formally called The Picture Book Quarterly which started in the high tech form of fax, when it first started in 1996. When the internet appeared, it seemed the perfect format for my book reviews.
Why do I review books? I was trained as an English teacher. I studied and wrote poetry for years. I become a mother four times over and one of our favourite things to do together is listen to stories. I write and paint and read and visit art galleries. But most importantly I love children's books and there are so many great ones. But when I first had a child, twelve years ago, people were reading Spot and other unenlightened crap to their children because "they like it". I was determined to discriminate between the good, the bad and the ugly. Most children's book reviewers are swayed by what they receive each quarter. They can't say nasty things about the lot. So, they find themselves finding redeemable qualities in the worst books.
The Junior Book Worm grew out of a need to mature. Slowly we are getting away from picture books and moving into chapter books. The problem is that I still love picture books (and so do the children).
This is turning out not to be about me, but I hope you can get a sense of what I am like and where my heart is.
My motto is never buy books (that you intend to read multiple times) with children under six.
To be continued, Emily

Margaret Wise Brown

Margaret Wise Brown in that beautiful blonde that feature on the paper cover that wraps the hardcover version of Goodnight Moon. I pondered that photo for many years. Children's book writers never seem that glamorous. "Who could this chick be?" I wondered. I read an article about her and the information led me to a biography about her. She is fascinating. She has written far more than you can imagine. I am not going to spoil it for you here but have a dig into her website and let the journey begin there.
I bought The Important Book on a whim and was at first dismissive. But after the website's pep talk about how she is the inventor of the modern day children's book, I took another look at this zen like book. This is a book that is pointing out the main aspect of what matters in the importance of a thing. It starts with a spoon. "The importance of a spoon is that you eat with it." She then goes on to describe the spoon. But finished the description with her original point about eating with it. She treats all her subjects the same, from a daisy to the snow.
The illustration come from a different era, as the cover photo suggests. They are from a time, late 1940's when there was a colour budget. Leonard Weisgard and Margaret Wise Brown must have decided to trade some monotone pages for full on colour in others. The fonts are as inventive as any Lauren Child book of today. It won't be your child's favourite book but it should make an impression on them.

Book Week at Bassett

As it is book week, Tim and I are going to our little kids' school to read a story. Many parents are visiting throughout the week to read or present books to the school. One can donate books to the library from a specific list. And the Year 2's have to keep a reading log from a whole range of reading options. They can read 5 road signs, read fiction, non-fiction or picture book. They can read instructions to a game. Read a newspaper article. There are so many choices and it has been a lot of fun.

Tim has chosen to read The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman and I am still undecided. I was going to read Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr Seuss. I still may do but we can't find The Seven Silly Eaters. So, I have been scouring the children's bookcases in search of it. I have found so many terrific alternatives that I don't know what to do. There is Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and The Amazing Bone by William Steig. I could easily read any of the Frances books by the Hobans.

I was just reminded by this search that silly and stupid books should be read by children on their own. When you are sharing a book, even if it is one you have read 50 times, you should still enjoy it for the language or the illustrations or even the smell, something!

I must go and continue the search for the seven. Bye.

Why Boys Like Girls' Books

    Slate had an interesting article entitled The Little Men who Love Little House. Emily Bazelon, the author of the Slate piece, was worried that she was not going to be able to share her best loved books with her sons. She has found out, luckily, that she is wrong. I have three sons, and have never had a problem sharing books with them. But I do notice that they are largely reading books about  spies, aliens and mummies. On the hand, it was my oldest son who introduced me to Jacqueline Wilson's novels.

In a world where sexist models run deep, challenging a boy's reading list and choices should expand their horizons. But you were probably doing that already.

Daniel Pinkwater

Daniel Pinkwater has a really warm voice. I followed a link to National Public Radio in the States (www.npr.org) and came across a series of books that Pinkwater discusses with Scott Simon. I listened to a discussion about Jellybeans by Sylvia van Ommen that he seemed to like a lot, especially the pictures. The real reason I came across Daniel Pinkwater was a phonecall I got from my friend Anne. She was baking a cake and said she got the recipe out of a children's book called Bake Shop Ghost by Jacqueline Ogburn. Her mother had given the book to her kids for Christmas and she thought that I would like it a lot. So, I can't say I have read it yet, but I will try and get my hands on it.
    Daniel Pinkwater has written around 100 books for children and yet he is not known here. I have read a number of his books including the one about the Valentine's day potato. I looked on Amazon.co.uk. They list under ten of his books. Amazon.com is better. They have The Big Orange Splot, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, The Werewolf Club Meets Dorkula or the Hounds of the Basketballs. One title is more bizarre than the next. The Pinkwater world is a prolific one. Quality and quantity come as a pair here. Thankfully, the voice is not just to be heard on the radio, Pinkwater is the voice that reads the Flat Stanley audio tapes. I am sure they are not the only ones.
And lastly, he writes novels as well. And one last post script, he wife Jill Pinkwater, illustrates many of his books.

Eric Carle Museum

The Eric Carle Picture Book Museum of Art has just sent us their spring 2006 program of events and WOW is about all I can say. This not just a museum (not that it ever has been) but an alive literary and art center. I am most excited by their upcoming exhibition of Dutch picture book artists. From 28th March to 25th June, you have a chance to see work by Dick Bruna, of the famous Miffy bunny and Max Velthuis of the Frog series of books. Sadly, Velthuis has died now but his empathetic books will not be lost to time.
Besides the exhibition, there is going to be a Dutch Treats fundraiser on the 17th June, which looks like terrific fun.  Dutch inspired art and Dutch music. If you can catch it, it is sure to be fun for the children and for adults (check out the adults only party in the evening).
The classes this place provides range from Toddler Tuesdays in the art studio to professional development for educators (which include an Eric Carle tissue paper workshop).
And for those eager literary consumers, the museum shop is one not to be missed. The books in there are hard to resist, especially signed copies of some rare tomes.

Their web address is www.picturebookart.org

Alexis Deacon is Back

    If you remember the book Slow Loris, it would be just as much for the illustrations as the text. While You Are Sleeping is not the book of the romantic film (with a similar name) but it is appealing to the romantic vision of a child and her stuffed toys.
    I always love having mini sleepover guests because they all say that they didn't sleep a wink. Believe me, I am not putting peas under their mattresses but rather holding back pouring the tequila in their milk. But the reason those little slumbers say that, I think, is because sleeping is one of the obvious manifestations of children's mortality. And as we know, most children are planning to live forever, sleep is reminding them that ultimately they will lose the battle.
    If the illustrations weren't so delicious, this book would not grabbed me as much. But they are. A wonderfully vivid pastel pallet, highlights Deacon's accomplished pencil. The sock monkey is my personal favourite. The storyline has a fascination for children. What goes on while they are sleeping, appeals to them. Imagining that their animals anthropomorphise at night is right up their alley. I think this book is perfect for 5-7 year olds who seem to grapple with the more sophisticated aspects of sleep.

World Book Day is here

The official UK site is  www.worldbookday.com. There you can learn all about their tokens and promotions. They list events and other random information.

The reason I am mentioning it is to remind parents that it is a good day to splurge and buy your child a book. I do not know about you but I am constantly browsing in the children's section at bookstores. I often come home and secret away volumes in my present cupboard. I then have to come up with excuses for indulging them. Sometimes in is for particularly good achievements at school or if we are going away and they need something that is not a library book for the journey.

Why am I so stingy with books? I am not. We have hundreds of children's books. I have four children and often people give them books for their birthdays. Their grandparents give them books. Somehow there are endless picture book gems but there are not that many chapter books that one is going to reread. Even our hero Lemony Snickett is probably only going to get one rereading per child. Also, I love libraries. And even though most London libraries do not live up to my American standards, I still think that they need to be used. I also want my children to value books and not think of them as they do disposable magazines.

So, there you have it. Tomorrow you have your excuse to buy that Roald Dahl or Anthony Horowitz or Hazel Townson or Jacqueline Wilson you have been holding out on. Go for it!