Curious George Takes a Job by H A Ray Houghton Mifflin
ages: 2-7
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
Crictor by Tomi Ungerer Harper Trophy
ages: 2-7
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile by Bernard Waber Houghton Mifflin
ages: 2-7
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
Three old books, starring three animals, living among people and doing people-ish things. They wash windows, lie in beds, skip rope or in the case of Crictor, become the rope. They are mischievous. They are heroes. They are genuinely loved by the people they know or live with. They are completely silent. And children love hearing their stories.
Why are they still read sixty, fifty and forty years, respectively, after they were written? I'm not sure. But it is possibly because George, Crictor and Lyle are endearing creatures. The people that they know are curious. The situations that they are a part of are action packed, prove their courage and spontaneity. They participate in the unusual which both reader and listener are drawn to. In an age of children and children's book characters growing up too quickly, they are naïve.
Curious George Takes a Job is one of a series of seven. In this one, George escapes from the zoo, has fifty-nine million adventures, and ends up as a film star (with the help of the man with the yellow hat). The highlights are: George tangled in pasta, painting an apartment and high on ether.
Tomi Ungerer, not published in English in the UK, has written many fascinating books such as The Three Robbers, Snail and Crictor. A boa is sent to an old French lady by her son in Africa. She cares for him. He helps her teach and entertain pupils in the school she runs. He saves her from the robber who has been burgling the townspeople. He becomes a hero.
Lyle lives in New York and mixes with his neighbours, especially Loretta, Mr Grumps' cat. He gets lost in a department store, sent to be imprisoned in the zoo, is rescued, saves his foe from a fire and the story ends happily.
The illustrations have a restricted pallet. Many details in the drawings set them in their given times. But not for nostalgia only should one take a look at these three and others by Ray, Ungerer and Waber.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Virginia Lee Burton Houghton Mifflin
ages: 2-5
buy from: Amazon
In 1939 the world was changing rapidly. Due to the looming war, American engineers and scientists were working hard. New technologies were being created and implemented immediately. The changes were exciting, for some. This is a story about those who were being left behind. Like the old Smith-Corona typewriter in the 1990's, steam powered vehicles were largely becoming passé. Like many typewriters, "steam shovels were sold for junk, or left out in old gravel pits to rust and fall apart."
But just as some typewriters are sent to underdeveloped countries where power to run a computer is non-existent, so too were there places in the end of the '30's where a steam shovel might come in handy.
Mike Mulligan and his shovel Mary Anne have done some impressive digging in their day. But when the cities shun steam in favour of diesel, electric or gasoline powered shovels, Mike goes to Popperville to try his luck digging the new town hall cellar. Through a mishap, Mike and Mary Anne find a completely new kind of job.
The book has stood the test of time for a number of reasons. The story is filled with many interesting facts. The pictures add to the understanding of how roads are made and tracks laid through mountain ranges. The relationship between Mike and Mary Anne is compelling, as is their dilemma. There is great suspense as they must finish the Popperton town hall cellar in one day or not get paid.
One last charming part of this book are the two themes that are repeated throughout. Firstly, that Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as a hundred men can in a week. Secondly, that an audience helps their performance. Both are put to the test and are proved correct.
A delightful classic that will interest the girls as well.
The Jumblies by Edward Lear illustrated by Emily Bolam Orchard
ages: 2-6
buy from: Amazon UK
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a sieve.
Get ready for a voyage that seems so improbable, only Edward Lear could have thought of it. By the end of the story, sailing in a sieve seems quite normal compared with wrapping their feet in pinky paper to keep dry or buying a hive of silvery bees to keep on board.
In this version of The Jumblies, a family of four sail away from home for some twenty-odd years. Their friends are sure that they will never return. They have great adventures in the Western Sea. They travel to the Lakes, the Torrible Zone and the Chankley Bore.
They return to a feast of dumplings made from "beautiful yeast" where their friends consider going to sea in a sieve.
Emily Bolam who was interviewed in <../aifocus/authors.htm#emilybolam>these pages, has resurrected two gems and has done a brilliant job in the process: The House that Jack Built and The Jumblies. She manages to depict the Jumblie family's joy and excitement, as well as, others' concerns and a foreboding sea. She uses the poems often repeated refrain to add her own detail of volcanoes and sea monsters, penguins and loads of underwater life.
Bolam is not daunted by the description of the crockery jar within the sieve, the pipe mast or the lollipop pawed monkey.
Lear's poem first appeared in 1871 along with his most famous poem The Owl and the Pussycat. The two are probably the most suited to young children. The story line is plot driven and the diversions are fascinating. For those who are unfamiliar with Lear, this is a fine place to begin.
Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells Picture Puffin
ages: 2-5
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Why is it that despite everyone's awareness of the woes of middle children, they still tend to be overlooked? Perhaps, family position does determine a lot about who we are. Most self-respecting babies demand heaps of attention. Eldest children tend to need an audience. Middle children tend to be incredibly self-reliant because they don't have some at their beck and call. Parents rely on that structure in order to use their energy most efficiently.
Rosemary Wells shows what happens when self-sufficient number two does need attention. Nora goes to great lengths to procure attention from her parents. When it gets her nowhere she announces that she is leaving and disappears.
Wells' poetry is first class. The story begins:
Jack had dinner early,/ Father played with Kate,/ Jack needed burping,/ so Nora had to wait.
Each line is complemented with a picture of Jack tipping his food off his spoon or young Kate playing chess with her father.
The refrain in Noisy Nora is, "Quiet!" said her father. "Hush!" said her mum. "Nora!" said her sister, "Why are you so dumb?" The story is real. The emotions are true. Nora's responses are destructive but drawn with a smiling and sensitive eye.
Only twenty-five years old but already a classic. This is an essential part of a sibling's library.
The Snowman
by Raymond Briggs
Hamish Hamilton
ages: 2-6
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If a snowman came alive, where would his interests' lie? Raymond Briggs' snowman has reached the age of twenty, but he is still as naïve and full of admiration for life as ever before.
The Snowman, if you've managed to miss it, is a wordless book. It's coloured pencil drawings are laid out in generous comic strip boxes.
It tells the tale of a boy who builds a snowman. When the snowman comes to life in the middle of the night, he is invited in to explore. The snowman is ephemeral, as they tend to be, and by morning he has melted.
But the road from here to there is filled with learning and adventure. The snowman is thrilled by the most simple things, such as turning a lamp on and off. He seems not to appreciate Van Gogh but he does like pulling out vast amounts of paper towel and squeezing washing-up liquid. He is naughty and dresses up in the boy's parents' clothes. He pretends to drive the car and turns on the headlights. He relaxes in the freezer.
But after the romp about the house, the pair fly off into the sky. They fly all the way to Russia and back. If you like a full sensory experience, you can play The Snowman CD in the background with the title song, "Walking in the Air".
For those who can appreciate the old-fashioned feel to the story, this classic teaches the lesson of carpe diem, seize the day. Or in this case, seize the night.
other books with a CD/tape include:
<../prizewinners/prizewinners.htm#echoes>Echoes of the Elders
The Lorax
in the features section:
<../features/features.htm#music>Music for children
My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Opie illustrated by Rosemary Wells Walker Books PBQ Prize Winner
ages: 0-5
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Mother Goose books are a dime a dozen; most are hardly worth selling. This volume, the yellow of a New York taxicab, is the one that inhabitants of modern nurseries will certainly be interested in again.
In her foreword to My Very First Mother Goose, Iona Opie reminds readers why everyone ought to own such a book. The centuries-old rhymes, she says, have been collected to "help people along the bumpy road of life". To be convinced of this one has only to read through the volume a few times to find oneself repeating little phrases at all sorts of odd moments.
Opie has included all the best known rhymes -- from Baa Baa Black Sheep to Jack Be Nimble. Then she found a whole slew of rhymes that are often left out. Rain on the Green Grass, Davy Davy Dumpling and Puss Came Dancing are just some of the gems included. Cleverly divided into four chapters, the book avoids overwhelming the reader with a daunting single block of text. Instead one can stop at the end of each chapter, if it proves possible actually to put the book down.
But the best attraction of this collection is the quality of the illustrations, which are not only charming but also illuminating. Aircraft wallpaper and claw-footed baths are just some of the surprises in store.Rosemary Wells (writer of <../prizewinners/prizewinners.htm#yoko>Yoko, which won a PBQ prize) does more than simply paint carbon copies of Mother Goose's poems; she adds her own interpretations of the events. Her Humpty Dumpty is a soft boiled egg. Her hog in To Market, To Market lounges languidly in the back of an open-topped car. Both those images, and others dotted about, dramatically challenge one's perception of the rhymes.
It is brilliant to have a bit of mutiny buried inside Mother Goose. Well done.
Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown illust Clement Hurd Harper Collins
ages: 0-3
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"In the great green room. There was a telephone and red balloon and a picture of a cow jumping over the moon."
These words are the beginning of an American classic, Goodnight Moon. Why has it become so greatly loved by hundreds of thousands of children and their parents? It is a combination of obvious things such as rhyme and design, but the rest is a mystery.
Goodnight Moon can be the first book on a child's shelf. It is about going to bed. As the poem progresses, the night falls upon the room until it is shrouded in darkness, with stars and a fire in the fireplace as the main source of light.
Goodnight Moon is the sort of book whose words can become the first that a child says. After hearing it countless times, they may say comb, brush, or even bowl full of mush, suddenly, one day, apropos of nothing.
Goodnight Moon speaks for itself. It is old-fashioned. A baby in the new Millennium may not recognise the phones. It is as timeless as Mother Goose. Try it. If it is not for you, donate it to Oxfam or the Salvation Army and it will be snatched up in minutes.
Horton Hatches the Egg Dr Seuss Random House
ages: 3-7
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Did you grow up knowing two important things about elephants; one, that they never forget and two, that they are faithful one hundred percent? The source of the first truism I fail to remember but the source of the second is none other than Theodore S Geisel, commonly known as Dr Seuss.
Whether you did grow up knowing that elephants were faithful or not, don't you think it would be nice to pass on that idea? If so, go straight to Horton Hatches the Egg and don't look back. If you don't care one way or another, there are other reasons to check out Horton.
After reading this fifty-two page book twice in succession to my three year yesterday, I was reminded how brilliant the language in it is. Dr Seuss, the master of rhyme was so fluent in the English language. Like Shakespeare, he rhymed the unrhymable. But his best verse were real rhymes.
The story is about an elephant who baby-sits on an egg while the mother, Mayzie, takes a holiday in Florida. When asked to do the job, Horton replies, "Me on your egg? Why, that doesn't make sense...Your egg is so small, ma'am and I'm so immense!"
When some hunters decide not to kill but take him to America instead, the lines read, "Tied onto a board that could just scarcely hold him...BUMP! Horton landed! And then the men sold him!"
Dr Seuss has a fascination with American town names and Horton's circus travels take him through all sorts of places like Wichita and Weehawken.
As one of his early works, the book has a two colour palette, red and green. The charcoal is gritty and the expressions pure.
Like in his later morality tale, The Lorax, Horton's message is not hidden. When Horton's egg is about to hatch, Mayzie returns and wants it back. But out pops an elephant-bird and that decides the outcome. For those who are Horton fans, tears may come into your eyes when you read "And it should be, it should be, it should be like that! Because Horton was faithful! He sat and he sat!" and so it continues.
After reading a Seuss biography where it suggests that he had an extra marital affair, one can't help but think that he should have pulled out a twenty year old Horton and reminded himself of the message.
The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr Seuss
ages: 2-6
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Dr Seuss's The Sneetches and Other Stories, first published in 1961, is not well known in England. But it is required reading for Seuss admirers and newcomers alike - and combines the author's familiar sparkling word play with subliminal messages that every parent will approve of.
Sneetches are goofy creatures who live on a beach under an apartheid system. Those with stars on their bellies are confident and snooty; those without are undertrodden, and suffer from low self-esteem. Social order is disrupted by the arrival of Sylvester McMonkey McBean, who offers belly-stars for for sale at three dollars apiece. Suitably starred, the plain-bellies tell their oppressors: "We're all just the same now, you snooty old smarties! And now we can go to your frankfurter parties."
But they have not counted on the venality of McBean, who then sells a star removal service. Only when the Sneetches of both types have spent all their money adding and removing stars does MacBean finally depart, with the words, "They never will learn. No. You can't teach a Sneetch."
But the Sneetches prove him wrong. Learning from experience, they realize that "Sneetches are Sneetches/And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches." Seuss's drawings convey touchingly the pain of exclusion, as plain-bellies stand on the cold dark beach watching the fun-loving star-bellies warming themselves at a barbecue. McBean, the self-styled 'Fix-it-Up Chappie', has a trademark Seuss contraption, complete with accordion-like tunnels and exhaust pipes. The denouement, a frenzied scene showing Sneetches being burped out of one machine directly into the queue for the next, is a delight.
In "The Zax", the second story, two creatures crossing a desert both refuse to let the other pass. "Never budge! That's my rule. Never budge in the least! / Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the east!" says one. The result of their stubbornness: a highway is built over and around them.
In "Too Many Daves", Seuss indulges to the full his taste for ludicrous and funny names: Snimm, Biffalo Buff and Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate. The fact that there is no resolution and no real point to the story is part of its charm.
In "What was I Scared Of?", the childhood fear of the unknown is happily laid to rest. A frightening pair of phantom trousers, walking around without anyone in them, turns out to be as vulnerable as the child-narrator - and the two become friends.
Entering the world of Seuss with its exotic foliage, strange cars, and wacky creatures is a stimulus to any growing imagination. But even more important than the drawings is the great doctor's confidence with language. The stories hop along in perfect metre, with inventive rhyme and words such as 'Grin-itch spinach' or 'a peck of snide' that are pleasing to say. Parents who buy this book will find themselves continuing to enjoy it, even unto the second hundred readings.
Please Try to Remember the First of Octember
Dr Seuss illust Art Cummings
Collins
ages: 2-7
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
I Wish that I had Duck Feet
Dr Seuss illust B Tobey
Collins
ages: 2-7
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Although Dr Seuss is best known for the books he wrote and illustrated, Theo. LeSieg is known only for his writing. In the Sixties and Seventies, Dr Seuss collaborated with many illustrators for his Beginner Books series and used the pseudonym Theo. LeSieg.
The name is made up of a short version of his first name, Theodore and the reverse of his real family name, Geisel. Why he never chose to change the author's name from LeSieg to Seuss during his lifetime suggests that the name change is a marketing ploy. LeSieg's books tend to be more educationally geared and less literary.
At the moment the books say by Dr Seuss, writing as Theo. Lesieg. Perhaps in a few years they will exclude the second part, thus losing a piece of the author's history.
Octember and Duck Feet are early readers as well as imaginative books for young listeners. The first is about all the things one can possess if one waits until the first of Octember. It is a delightful romp through a child's wish list. From pickle trees to Jook-a-ma-Zoons to 66 six-packs of Doodle Delight, Seuss has let his imagination roam. The book talks about months, patience and dreams.
I Wish that I had Duck Feet takes the reader through a boy's wish list of animal parts he would like to have. At first he wants duck feet, then antlers, a whale spout, a tail and finally a trunk. He tends to change his mind because of either his mother's disapproval or some for practical reason.
Big Bill Brown is also featured in this book. He is the heroes nemesis. All our heroes' fantasies are motivated by the need to outshine BBB.
The illustrations of this book set it in the 1950's, while the latter is set in the Seventies. They don't look Seussian at all but one will easily identify them by the Cat in the Hat logo of Beginner Books and now by the author's more familiar name.
The Lorax Dr Seuss Collins (with cassette read by Rik Mayall)
ages: 4-8
buy from: Amazon UK
The Lorax
(book only)
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
Subtlety is an art well suited to children's books. It is well suited to any subject one wants to teach to children, but fear that their initial reaction to the it will be unfavourable.
Environmentalism, at first, may seem boring. "Yes, Mum saves her newspapers and then ties them up and dumps them separately," or "We have to walk to school even on rainy days because we don't want to create more pollution by driving."
Dr Seuss, the master of the subtle, wrote a fabulous book on the subject, never mentioning the E-word and gets his message across clearly. The Lorax is a story about protecting the environment that will make a lasting impression on even quite a young child.
The book is about the cutting down of Truffula trees and making their tufts into thneeds. Without these fruit bearing trees, the Bar-ba-loots have nothing to eat. Without them the Swomee-Swans can't breathe because the air is smoggy. And the third fleeing inhabitant of the area, the humming fish, must leave because their ponds are polluted by the Truffula processing plants. After the last tree is cut down, the land is barren, wasted and useless.
Perhaps because Seuss wrote The Lorax in 1971, the story's ending is extremely hopeful. One truffula seed has been saved by the anti-hero, the Once-ler, and he gives it to the enquiring boy from the beginning of the story.
This text should be a mandatory school text for six or seven year olds. It clearly shows the process of the demise of an ecosystem. Because the language is entertaining and the beasts are typical Seuss-ian creations, children will want to re-read the text. Perhaps, they will want to go on devise ways of solving the problems of the rain forests or issues even closer to home.
Collins has recently re-released The Lorax along with a tape read fluently by Rik Mayall. Mayall, an Englishman, has given his Lorax a posh accent, while the Once-ler, has a cockney one. One may read into that what one may. Obviously, Seuss does not make such a comment.
On the whole the tape is highly entertaining. The sound effects are exaggerated, amusing and varied. Sometimes the fairground music competes too much with the verse, but it is not constant. The humming fish hum beautifully. But one must listen carefully to hear the sounds of the Swomee-Swans. For children who rely upon tape recorders instead of television for amusement, this tape competes admirably with its visual foe, especially when listened to with book in hand.
other books about environmentalism reviewed in the PBQ include:
<../bigissues/bigissues.htm#greenpeace>Dear Greenpeace
<../bigissues/bigissues.htm#growinggood>Growing Good
other books by Dr Seuss reviewed in the PBQ include:
<../religion/christianity/christian.htm#grinch>How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Elephant and the Bad Baby
Elfrida Vipont illust Raymond Briggs
Puffin Books
ages: 2-6
buy from: Amazon UK
Rummaging through a grandparent's attic can be exciting. If they were hoarders in their youth, one is bound to find one's parents school notebooks or size three ice skates. If one were to come across The Elephant and the Bad Baby, one would think that it too was a relic from one's parents or even grandparent's past. Although it was written in 1969, there is a timeless quality about it. It seems as if it probably felt old even when it was first released.
The Elephant and the Bad Baby is about the pair who and their wander through town. They steal food from every sort of food purveyor in the city. Finally, they are caught and the baby is chided for his lack of manners. The mother appears and serves pancakes to the lot to appease these irritated shopkeepers.
Briggs' (cf. The Snowman) pen and ink drawings and his paintings are full of humour and action. They are instrumental in evoking the "time past". Elfrida Vipont's text are a perfect compliment for the pictures. Her prose are simple, repetitive and rhythmic. Each page adds another character who is chasing the elephant and the baby who are "rumpeta, rumpeta, rumpeta, all down the road".
Young children enjoy this book immensely. After just a couple of readings they can join in the recitation of this cyclical text. As they age, they grow increasingly to appreciate the naughtiness of the baby. They are probably relieved when he stops being naughty and is forgiven.
This book is a lot of fun and despite the repetition, one unlikely to wear out.
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson Bloomsbury
ages: 2-5
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
view all books by Crockett Johnson listed at: Amazon | Amazon UK
In the late 1950's, an American author/illustrator created Harold; a tiny toddler with a vast imagination. Clad in white footed pajamas and armed with a purple crayon, Harold explores the world drawing as he goes.
The Harold stories read like a spur of the moment "Mama, please tell me a story" story or like the classic childhood game where one person starts a story and every player adds a sentence. Just when the story seems to be following a sensible track, some player will wildly veer off in another direction.
Such are the paths of Johnson's plots, which seem to start by the light of a purple moon and end up safely at home. What occurs between those two spots range from meetings with Martians, giants and witches to getting shot out of cannons and catching lifts on shooting stars and on the backs of sea serpents. The pictures are drawn in purple on a white background or occasionally in space on a black background. Harold adds the only other colour to the page, he is drawn in sepia.
Each story is a journey and each journey faces Harold with challenges and obstacles. Crockett Johnson is familiar with the psyche of young children; not only their brief attention span, flitting from one subject of interest to another, but their personalities as well. He knows them not as the cheerful and flighty creatures they are thought to be. But more like Harold, serious most of the time. One can occasionally spot a smile on Harold's face. For example, when he draws a very funny clown at the circus which causes him to laugh.
He is also a caring lad, which can definitely be a characteristic of young boys. Harold struggles with his conscience when he runs away from the many armed Martian he draws sitting in a flying saucer on Mars. He returns to draw a crack in the saucer to deter the Martian from flying to Earth and scaring a child. The stories remind one that often children make decisions that are well thought out and seem sensible to them. There might be a surprisingly good answer for why a seemingly irrational action has happened.
Though the stories are easily understood there are quite a few difficult words slipped into the text. Especially in Harold's ABC's, Johnson's alliteration is a cause for many of these. For instance, letter G is for "Giants generally aren't so genial." He also uses language that is a bit out of date and thus quite amusing. For letter H, Harold hastens to a hobby horse. For letter J, he goes to his jet in a jiffy.
Harold, the boy, seems a bit old fashioned but certainly not in a bad way. His imagination is brimming in a way that would make many Nineties parents envious. He certainly has not come across the Power Rangers. And although a reference to "men on Mars" must be connected with 1950's sci-fi cinema, the impact of the media was not as colossal in Harold's world as it is today. His world is safe and even when it is not, he has the skills to combat the foes he encounters. For many Nineties' children, the enemies both real and fictional can be insurmountable. Perhaps parents in each age think the influences of the ever more modern age are more corrupt from when they were little.
Harold's adventures have withstood the test of time. His purple crayon involves him in such a variety situations that they are hard to recall from reading to reading. Thus each session with Harold starts afresh. The page is blank, save a purple moon and a boy about to lead you on a fantastic trip through his dreams.
Harquin Humbert John Burningham Red Fox
ages: 5-8
buy Harquin from: Amazon
buy Humbert from: Amazon
If you have never entered into John Burningham's world of adventurous children with names like Julius, unexpected visitors, environmentalist animals, grumpy adults, you are missing a great trip. Because he is an extremely prolific writer whose topics span from fox hunting to going on errands, once introduced you'll be glad to have been seduced.
Harquin and Humbert are two of the many recently re-released books by Burningham. They are both about animals but, as usual, the similarity ends there.
Harquin is about a fox who is bored with his hill. His parents warn him not to descend to the fox hunting valley. He disobeys and puts his family in jeopardy. He ends up outwitting the hunters and restoring his family's security.
Humbert is about a horse who pulls a scrap iron dealer's cart. He is sociable and feels deprived. He envies the brewery horses and their fine lives. He is feeling completely miserable when spotting them in the Lord Mayor's procession until something happens and he saves the day.
Actually, their similarities continue. They both have happy endings. They both have the reader worry about the hero. They both are filled with Burningham's water colours, acrylics, pen and possibly crayon drawings. His drawings are realistic because they are set in England and people are rarely caught smiling.
Although these books were first published in the 1960's, their stories are timeless. Even if Tony Blair's Labour party makes fox hunting illegal, the message about disobeying one's parents and being responsible for one's actions, will forever be a suitable topic for a children's book. Aspiring for one's fifteen minutes of fame, as in Humbert, is also fertile ground for kiddy discussions.
Classic books set in China
The Story of Ping Marjorie Flack illust Kurt Wiese Grosset and Dunlap
ages: 2-5
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
The Seven Chinese Brothers Margaret Mahy illust Jean and Mou-sien Tseng Scholastic
ages: 3-7
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK
The Five Chinese Brothers by Clare Huchet Bishop illust Kurt Wiese Paper Star Books
buy from: Amazon
To many Western children, China is a faraway and mysterious place. It is vast country, with a long history and distinctly different culture. Two stories that have been favourites for American children for decades are set in China. One is a folk tale about clever brothers, the other is a made up story that takes place on the yellow Yangtze River. The fact that these stories have Chinese characters makes these entertaining stories have an extra enticement factor.
The Story of Ping stars an adorable yellow duck who lives on a boat with a large extended family. Every day they walk off the boat to hunt and fish, and each evening they go back on to sleep. The man who cares for them has trained them by spanking the last duck to go back onto the boat.
One day Ping forgets the time, and will be that last duck. Because he loathes the punishment, he does not return. The rest of the story is of his adventure, capture and escape. Despite the activities, it remains a low key book. Possibly because it was written in 1933, it's author did not know of the high action children's culture to come.
The drawings depict classic Chinese boats, clothing, and hairstyles. The pictures alone make this book worth having.
Margaret Mahy is an eminent children's book writer. She is best known for her incredibly wacky tales. Last year she won the Picture Book Quarterly prize for her hysterically funny <../bigissues/bigissues.htm#balloon>Beaten By a Balloon. The Seven Chinese Brothers is a traditional Chinese tale and does not contain Mahy's antics. But since she has chosen it to retell, one see why she would like it.
The seven righteous brothers in this story each have a strength. One has amazing hearing, another amazing sight, another iron bones and another the ability to withstand heat. The story is about how one threatens the emperor because he repairs a large gap in the Great Wall of China in one afternoon. The emperor decides to execute him because he fears his great abilities.
The remainder of this tale is how the emperor attempts to kill him and is unable to. Each night one slips out and another takes his place depending on his ability. Ultimately, the brother who can flood the earth with his tears, washes away the emperor and his armies. The brothers are reunited and are happy.
The Tseng's watercolours are awash with great costumes and drama. The scenery is filled with jagged mountains and Asian looking waves. When I received my copy, I expected a different book. People who did grow with this tale probably had Clare Huchet Bishop's version. That one only has five brothers and simple drawings but the drawings are unique and amusing. Bishop's version is suitable for a slightly younger audience.
Lentil Robert McCloskey Viking Books ISBN 0670423572
ages: 4-7
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK Robert McCloskey is probably best known for his book Make Way for Ducklings or possibly Blueberries for Sal. In either case, his story will seem from a time and place when life was a little bit slower and policemen were stout and had the time to be a friendly man about the neighbourhood. The story of Lentil drops you in similar territory. This is a place where a boy might walk to school barefoot and that very same boy might save the day.
Lentil is a boy unable to sing. He longs to make music and takes up the harmonica. He becomes addicted and practices his instrument every chance he has.
Like many small American towns, Lentil's had a 'patron', Colonel Carter. He is a man who had grown up in Alto, made his fortune and gave his money to build hospitals, libraries and such.
The story is about his celebrated visit and about one old man who tries to destroy the event with a lemon.
McCloskey's charcoal drawings are superb. His sharp outlines and soft shading bring Alto and its inhabitants to life. Old Sneep, the anti-hero, the colonel and even Lentil are people you feel you might have seen before in some rural setting.
The font is in italic which is an unusual choice. But McCloskey, draws sound effect words with a bold hand. The contrast works effectively. The story is compelling. The suspense builds and the outcome leaves even Old Sneep with an ice cream in his hand. As it should be in that kind of time, in that sort of place.
He Bear She Bear Stanley and
Janice Berenstain Collins ISBN 0394829972
ages: 1-25
buy from: Amazon | Amazon UK Everyone who has come across Stan and Jan has a strong opinion of their work. They are the people who draw and write about a civilised bear family who live in a tree. The mother is sensible. The children are full of fun and adventure. Unfortunately, the father is a total f-ing moron. He often dominates the books and thus puts people off. Sadly, for discerning readers, there are a few gems among their work that are often overlooked as a result of papa bear.
He Bear She Bear is a product of '70s feminism. It is a girl power book. But it is also a boy power book. The book says that boys and girls can be and do whatever they want. You don't have to be an investment banker(not that there is all that much wrong with that), you can "study the fish who live in the sea". You don't have to be a housewife (not that there is anything wrong with that), you "can fly a giant jumbo jet...build the tallest building yet."
Dr Seuss wrote a book many years after this one, Oh the Places You'll Go which was originally a keynote address to a university graduating class. Its message is, the path is long and hard but persevere and you will move mountains. He Bear She Bear should share a shelf with that book in every guidance counselors office. But why wait until the child is fifteen, seventeen, twenty, to start telling them that the world is their oyster.
Back to the feminist slant, even though young people's worlds are populated with high powered and low powered working women, the language and the culture and people of the world are largely sexist. My three year son came home from the surgery talking about the "lady doctor", I nearly had a fit. I wanted my children to assume that doctors were female as naturally as they were male. Someone he knows has different notions.
Statistics at schools still show that girls lose academic confidence much more quickly than their inferior male counterparts. Most CEOs are male. Although are daughters have greater chances than our mothers did, they need to be told from the tiniest of ages, the refrain from He Bear She Bear which is "We can do all these things, you see, whether we are he or she." And sons need to learn the lesson even more in order to support the women they know.
But please don't mistake this for a boring agenda filled book. There are terrific bear infested drawings. The rhymes are spot on. The mood is light and I must admit, that my eyes still water, on occasion, at the end of this book because life is so varied and wonderful. And that is what it teaches.
other recommended Berenstain books for the very young are:
Old Hat New Hat [buy from Amazon UK]
Inside Outside Upside down [buy from Amazon UK]
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett illust Ron Barrett Aladdin Picture Books
ages: 3-8
buy: Amazon | Amazon UK
used from Bookfinder
On the cover of Cloudy, is an old man with an umbrella, a bowl and a meatball falling from the sky and bouncing off the rim of the bowl. That man is Grandpa who tells a tall tale about the town Chewandswallow. There is something else at the top of the cover page. It is a small advert that says "over one million copies sold!". "How could it be? Only The Very Hungry Caterpillar produces such numbers." There are two answers. Firstly, this book was first published in 1978. So there has been some time to sell copies. Secondly, it is a truly imaginative and gripping story.
Weather changes three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. In this seemingly ordinary town nobody buys food, it falls from the sky. There are open roofed restaurants where people just wait to see what will blow in from the west.
All is well until the weather changes. "Spaghetti ties up the town" reads one headline. A giant pancake covers the school. Freakish weather makes it dangerous to continue to live in Chewandswallow. The residents decide to abandon it. They adjust well to their new surroundings except that it is hard for them to come to terms with buying and cooking food.
The marvellous crosshatch drawings complement the story. One has the sense that it must have been a treat to illustrate this truly original tale.
Squirrel Goes Skating Alison Uttley and Margaret Tempest Collins
ages: 3-8
buy: Amazon | Amazon UK (abridged edition)
used from Bookfinder
In 1934, Alison Uttley was writing little stories about a community of animals including a rabbit, a squirrel, a hedgehog, fox, rat, mole and hare. She writes of their adventure, living in little houses, some as adults, some as children and some somewhere in between.
Sometime last year, I received a few books and tapes of stories "based on the stories" by Ms Uttley with a medallion which read, "As seen on Television". I promptly put the books in the nursery and ignored them assuming that they were some modern rubbish poorly imitating the legendary Beatrix Potter. The children pounced upon them and devoured them. But still I ignored them.
About six months later, another set of Uttley arrived and this time it had no such flashy words and the volumes had more bulk to them. I looked to see when they were first published and alas the mystery was solved.
Squirrel Goes Skating is just one of the many tales published in long and short versions. I think that both lengths serve a purpose. The long ones are chapter books suitable for the good but young reader who likes stories of everyday life but also likes the security of the fact that the violence is not happening to people.
Violence? Yes, in Squirrel Goes Skating, a rat ransacks the skaters' house and eats their dinner. Their disappointment is great when they return home to the desecration and absence of a meal. They find out who did it and knot rat's tale. Serious punishments for serious crimes.
In How Little Grey Rabbit Got Back her Tail (perhaps available new from Amazon UK; certainly available used from Bookfinder) and The Story of Fuzzypeg the Hedgehog (perhaps available new from Amazon; certainly available used from Bookfinder) , the animals find themselves in danger. Some risk their lives for their friends. Others are mean and deceitful. And Owl is of course the wise one but must always be paid (bribed) for his advice.
Luckily, the stories always end with happy endings. The baddies get punished. And the listeners or readers, tend to learn something new. Whether it is about May Day or about icicles.
They are quaint and have a bit of the olde worlde about them. But such fodder is so seldom munched on that a little dose for everyone can be pleasing.
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, it is fantastic. If you look in our back catalog of reviews, you will find it. Mr Slinger is the most fab teacher you could ever come across. And as it says below, he is getting married. We were sure he was gay, so this comes as an enormous shock to us. Because eventhough Kevin Henkes is the bees knees in terms of humour, prose and terrific illustrations, I can be pretty sure that Mr Slinger is marrying a female.
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