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Millions

I have just noticed that I have not gushed about Millions by Frank Cottrel Boyce. I was introduced to the book via the film. It was a random choice at my local, awful Blockbusters video store (now I use Lovefilm and am extremely happy with the choice they offer). It turned out to be a gem, undiscovered by me or anyone I knew. It turns out that the order in which I discovered the book was satisfying. Who has ever seen a film that was better than the book, except maybe Lord of the Rings? The film was very true to the book. It had a few minor tweakings that would only have bothered you if you had read the book first. Instead we got to relive the joy and glory of the film by reading the book aloud.
In a nutshell, recent young widower relocated to a new housing development with his two young boys. One boy is spiritually Christian and believes he talks to saints. One boy is economically savvy and matter-of-fact. The spiritual one finds a giant bag of money on his cardboard clubhouse and thinks god has sent it. The Euro, in this story, is about to replace the Pound and the boys need to spend the money before it becomes unusable. There are burglars, Mormons, nativity plays and a love interest. The story is told with wit and emotion. The northern English accents take a little getting used to for the American film going ear. But it is well worth the struggle. The child acting is amazing as well. Cottrell Boyce has just come out with another novel, Framed, which we have just started. So, watch this space.

Adaptations

The Barnyard Band by James Riordan illustrated by Charles Fuge Macmillan Children's Books

ages: ??

buy from: Amazon UK

The Brothers Grimm are an ever-popular vehicle for contemporary children's authors and illustrators. The Barnyard Band is an unusually imaginative retelling of the classic Musicians of Bremen, which comes highly recommended. As a bonus, parents will find a concise account of their lives of these Rhine masters, who published their first collection of local peasant tales in 1812.

The animals that make up the band of the story's title run away from hard lives on the farm to seek their fortunes as musicians. A food stop at a forest cottage brings them into conflict with a trio of robbers, with hilarious results. The story is told with grace and regard for its original style.

Riordan's animals don't mince their words. They speak plainly with the odd music-related analogy added ("puffing like a pair of bellows"), to help emphasize the poor animals' condition.

The illustrations, an effective mix of blazing colours, precise lines and water-coloured back-drops, are a foil to the desperation of the four pathetic creatures. Fuge's illustrations bring out to the full every pink, baggy eye, loose feather and spindly leg. Innovative use of silhouette is made as each animal begins his trek, joining the others in a walk across a white page.

The robbers, comically corrupt with large noses and sinister eyes, have a touch of the Marx Brothers about them. Their table is laid with child-familiar foods that become messy at the paws of the eager animals. When one of the robbers attempts to recapture the cottage, his defeat, flight, and final account of his experiences will delight both children and parents.

Snow White Josephine Poole illust Angela Barrett Hutchinson

ages: 4-8

buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK

Those bred on the Disney version of Snow White miss out on the suspense build up of the Grimms' version. Josephine Poole retells the story with old fashioned words and a duty to the original. Not only does the wicked queen try to kill Snow White with an apple but with laces and a hair comb as well. One knows she must finally appear dead, but Snow Whites' naïveté and the efforts of the seven little men to revive her are half the beauty of the tale.

Angela Barrett's drawings are splendid! The portraits, sets, animals and foliage are beautiful. Her skill is extraordinary. Her taste is impeccable. As with the other Grimms' originals, this story is certainly not only for little girls.

The Twelve Princesses by Jane Ray Orchard Books

ages: all

buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK

Another Grimm classic, this tale of a dozen dancing royals and the mystery of their worn-out shoes is a feast of marvellous drawings. Framed in gold, with floral backdrops, each picture is a patchwork of faces, animals, gowns, shoes, activities, secret passages, jewelled foliage, goblets, banquets, masks and stars.

Children of all ages will enjoy themselves, whether listening to the snap of magic garden branches as their parents read to them, or or savouring the pictures and silent tiptoeing of the girls at theirown reading pace.

The publisher's suggested message of 'feminine independence', touted in an accompanying press release, is questionable. Most readers will decide themselves what moral should be drawn.

Rereleased Classics

The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christen Andersen illust Jonathan Heale DK

ages: ??

buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bodley Head

ages: ??

buy from: Amazon UK

Two classics have been given a change of clothes with sparkling results. Hans Christen Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier (DK) has been retold alongside radiant woodcuts by Jonathan Heale. The Velveteen Rabbit has been republished by Bodley Head, this time set during the 1920s, when Margery Williams originally wrote the tale.

These two stories are classics for similar reasons. The plots are universal stories of love and rejection. The stories explore the hearts of the more vulnerable characters, the ones with whom children identify and adults sympathize. One would be pressed to find a modern story with such raw emotions and ruthless turns of plot.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier is about the life and death of a one legged tin soldier. He tumbles out of the nursery window, and after various mishaps he is returned home in a fishes' belly. All the while he dreams of the ballet dancer who lives in the nursery. Upon his return he is thrown into the fire and the dancer joins him in the blaze.

Mitchell does eloquent service to the story. It is laid out as verse, and can almost be read as such. The author repeats words from one paragraph to the next, effectively building a military rhythm. This serious manner causes the listener to take the soldier's military feelings in earnest. Occasionally, though, one is bound to chuckle when the soldier considers proposing to the ballerina but realizes that he couldn't ask her to move into his box with his 24 brothers.

Heale's black bordered woodcuts on cream coloured paper are great accomplishm ents. He manages to capture the atmosphere in the nursery, the jack-in-the-box's menace, and the soldier's minor stature in proportion to the enormous rat, large fish and the 'huge little boy'.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier was written in a pre-television age, where parents were not so worried about the horrors their children were being exposed to. Current thought may deem this book too violent. People might worry that it would encourage children to throw their toys into the fireplace. Such unfounded worry should be discouraged. The more important question is: can you read to the end with dry eyes?

The two books leave us with opposite conclusions. They are both about toys and their turbulent relationships with the boys who own them. Perhaps the fact that one was written by a woman and the by a man accounts for the disparity in the outcomes.

The Gingerbread Man by Barbara Baumgartner illustrated by Norman Messenger DK

ages: ??

buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK

The Three Bears by Robert Southey illustrated by Norman Messenger DK

ages: ??

buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK

Classic nursery tales are an essential part of childhood. Without them, scores of literary references would be lost later in life. The harsh subjects integrated in the stories might not be explored at the correct developmental stage. One can only guess at the consequences of such deprivation.

Despite the feeling that one should pass on these stories, finding a suitable version can prove to be difficult. Dorling Kindersley and the illustrator Norman Messenger have teamed up for a series of popular fairy tales. Each one is retold by a different author.

Last year, Rosemary Wells (cf. <../prizewinners/prizewinners.htm#yoko>Yoko, <../classics/classics.htm#magoose>My First Mother Goose) adapted Jack and the Beanstalk which included an even happier ending than usual. Alan Gardner had a go at The Little Red Hen. This year DK has put out The Gingerbread Man and The Three Bears.

Messenger's drawings in both of them are superb. The gingerbread man is actually drawn to scale. He is extremely small. The cow, on the other hand, has an extra long trunk. The detail on all of the animals is exquisite, from the rings in the water around the foxes bushy tale to the veins on the cow's udders.

As is common with DK books, varied fonts sizes and positioning are used to good effect. Every time a duck quacks or a horse neighs, non-readers are sure to notice the unique style of the particular set of words.

Baumgartner strays little from the original. She uses the famous, "Run, run as fast as you can!" theme tune. The attention to the animal sounds is a success. Her writing compliments Messengers drawings.

Robert Southey, unfortunately, has done less well with The Three Bears. His prose style does not read well. He seems to be attempting to use an old-fashioned way of narrating. The result is awkward and causes stumbling reading.

Southey has made another curious choice, he has removed the gender of the bears. We no longer have Mama and Papa Bear but instead have Great, Huge Bear, Middle-sized Bear and Small, Wee Bear.

The politically correct police would no doubt applaud. Fathers don't have to be the largest member of the family. Mothers don't always like soft chairs.

Sadly, the loss of the family unit has weakened the story. Those unfamiliar with the original story will pay little attention to the bears' names and are sure to assume that they are father, mother and baby anyway.

One should look forward to the rest of the series that is undoubtedly in the works. Take care to give the books more than a glance before purchase in order to avoid the less successful versions.

Five Little Piggies
by David Martin illustrated by Susan Meddaugh
Walker Books

ages: 2-5

buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK

Nursery rhymes have always taken a prominent place on the children's shelves in bookstores. <../classics/classics.htm#magoose>Mother Goose is often a first choice for new parents. Children will gladly listen to an old favorite for the third time, rather than reading a new story. And nursery rhymes often become that old favorite. They are easy to remember and recite even when the books have been forgotten at home.

For this reason the young end of the children's book market it saturated with books of nursery rhymes in every shape, color and size. This makes room for a variety in quality and deviation from the original poems.

One such departure is Five Little Piggies which has taken the original rhyme of "This little piggy went to market" and has further developed the story line. David Martin has an odd sense of humor. The book is filled with five strange stories each of which has a peculiar end. Nonetheless, each story raises a pertinent issue in the lives of two to five year olds.

Meddaugh's watercolored pigs are lively and full of expression. Her pigs tiptoe around on their trotters while making messes and fusses.

Martin explores the topics of responsibility, staying home from school, mealtimes, illness and toilet accidents. The disasters that seem to occur are amusing on the child's and grown-up's level. The mother is indulgent yet wise. She has a lot to teach parents who do not know which fights to engage in, nor which rules to break.

To his credit Martin has resisted tampering with the original poem. Pigs eat roast beef and not pizza. Pigs go to the market not the mall. Five Little Piggies does not devalue the original rhyme, it enriches it.

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
Richard Scarry
Collins

ages: 2-5

buy from: Amazon UK

"A new Scarry book?" you may ask. The Richard Scarry Corporation has released this Christmas story this year. So the answer to the question is not clear. The good news is that if you are an old fan of the Scarry man then it will make you pull out your whole collection in order to decide if it is the real McCoy or a fairly good imitation.

In short, Mr Frumble, a pig, is pissing off people in Busytown while only wanting to be helpful. He drives his fixed up pickle car to the North Pole in order to offer his services there. He causes Santa Bear to mix up the date and start off early. Santa Frumble saves the day, or the night, that is, by following Santa with the rest of the toys.

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas has a lot of familiar characters and humour. The large format enhances the many pictures on each page. Is it a brilliant story? No, but it certainly keeps you turning the pages.

other Christmas books can be found in the <../religion/religf.htm>Religion and Holidays section.

The Tale of the Turnip by Brian Alderson illust Fritz Wegner Walker

ages: 3-6

buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
turnip cover

You may be thinking that The Tale of the Turnip is yet another version of the age old story with a similar name. You'll see the enormous turnip on page nine and figure that the farmer and his family will be spending the rest of the book trying to tug it out. Since that fine story has been beautifully published as recently as last year (by Barefoot Books), you'll be happy to note that this is a completely different tale.

Based on a traditional English narrative, it tells the story of a farmer who finds a vast turnip in his garden. He presents it to the king, who in turn gives the farmer a cartload of gold.

A greedy squire imagines how much he could gain if he gives the king a fine horse instead of a mere turnip. Due to his bad intentions he is not rewarded, or at least, not rewarded as he would like to be. The author and illustrator leave the king's intentions ambiguous, and up to the reader to decide.

Despite being printed in Opti Benson italics, the text is well written. The story is told in a " ye olde" style that works. Whether it is consistent or accurate, we could not tell you. But expressions such as "hen's teeth!" or "stone the crows!" are used and are in keeping with the time.

Wegner's illustrations of the English countryside are detailed and amusing. The farmer and his family are sour and pasty looking. The squire's family look pretty dim. The king is round and regal, and resembles everyone else in the book.

This compact book is a lot of fun. It will pass the read again and again test because the outcome is satisfying.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll illust Helen Oxenbury Walker Books

ages: 5 and up

buy:
Amazon 0763608041 US | Amazon UK
used from Bookfinder

In 1999 Alice received a new face. It was a face for a new millennium. Alice, as illustrated originally or even as "disneyfied", was no longer to be kept in an old-fashioned era. Alice has always been a modern tale of adventure and experience. Now she was to be depicted as a modern girl in a short blue shift and tennis shoes.

Her sister is depicted. The Mad Hatter is someone you may have seen before. The pictures once so pored over due to their scarcity, have multiplied. The intense detail has gone; Jane Ray has not re-drawn Alice, but there is a fresh, easily approachable look that will re-interest many children and more importantly parents who had always intended to get around to passing down the story of Alice.

Do I need to review Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

The truth is that it would be too Western-centric to believe that everyone has come across this psychedelic tale of life beneath the ground. But where should one begin with the synopsis? I am not sure one would be necessary after all. The only way this will get read is if the adult in the party scratches her head and says, "What was Alice actually about? I am sure I have heard of it somewhere. We must read it."

There are a few important rules to reading this book. Try Winnie the Pooh first. It is shorter and if the child likes that in all its silliness and seriousness, they ought to like Alice. Don't start to read it to a child below the age of five unless they have shown a keen ability to sit and listen. This is a funny book and you don't want to be stopping the whole time to explain the jokes. Try to read it in the most animated way possible. That way your audience will have a blast.

If dormice, March hare, Cheshire cats, and a whole mess of kings and queens and duchesses don't excite you, go read some Harry Potter. But if you have time for tea party's and battles and gryphons and poetry, open the book. You won't be disappointed by this classic. It has stood the test of time.