I know that I have written about this before, but it takes a superhuman to sustain a non-collaborative career in the picture book industry. There are the exceptional few such as Rosemary Wells and Maurice Sendak. Even on the rare occasion that their books are not stellar the illustrations more than make up for the lack of content. There are also some illustrators whose drawing are mesmerizing that I would want their books no matter what the content is like, such as Sandy Turner and Elena Odriozola (although she doesn't write). I guess I hate the conceit of someone who can draw well assuming they can write well too.
Why am I ranting? Not because I am incredibly frustrated having just had a micro discectomy but because I just read two lousy children's books that seem to be appearing in quality newspaper round ups. I am very skeptical about many of those mass children's book reviews because they seem to want to say one nice thing about a book from each publisher and sometimes that is simply not possible if you have any integrity.
First of all there is Kristina Stephenson's Sir Charlie Stinky Socks, which is the second in a series. He has a great adventure which is stupidly written and incredibly pointless. The only reason that a child would ask for it to be read again is for the odd pull out pages of towers and cauldrons and because they are so baffled by the ending. I am not even going to give a link to it. I happen to be biased against books that have smelly or stinky socks as a theme since I don't think that children notice or are interested in the fragrance of their socks or any other part of themselves. I am not a sock sniffer but I can only imagine that picture book listeners socks smell warm and lovely or at the extreme, like chicken soup.
My second target for my sheath of arrows is David Lucas' new book The Lying Carpet. He is a terrific illustrator. He went to the Royal College of Art. He started off with a book called Halibut Jackson which was okay. This is his third book and he desperately needs someone to write for him. Why can't Andersen Press tell him. The book should have been a chapter book. There are far too many words. The carpet tells lies all the time to Faith, a statue in the shape of a girl. Their conversations are banal and boring. There is a happy ending but I can't imagine anyone could sustain their picture book interest that far. But the man can draw from the lovely orange cover to the end of the grisaille tale. Sorry David, find a writer. 
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Perfect Punctuation
Perfect Punctuation is not a book aimed at American children. A pop-up picture book devoted to commas and colons could only work in a system where babies are learning their ABC's. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of merits to the English system. The English win hands down to the Americans in knowing how to use our shared language and how to spell it.
I am an American. I studied English Literature and taught English in Japan, Belgium and England. This is the first grammar book that has ever made sense to me. It is brilliant!!! This book uses the pop-up genre in so many clever ways. It has pull downs and pull ups, windows and doors. A skier illustrates a dash, a penguin's footprints help explain ellipsis. I think that this should be an essential teaching tool in English classrooms. The children will not be offended, but positively embrace the volume tabs and all.
I do think it would be useful to have hanging around American English classrooms, though, because a confused and bored third or fourth grader could lead through it and be illuminated.
The Elements of Style was recently illustrated by the great Maira Kalman. This book is for an older audience and contains Strunk and White's original text. But unlike the original Kalman has illustrated the sentences that have been diagramed in the text. They are beautiful, amusing and thought provoking (about our terrific and complicated language).
Alphabet Books
Satoshi Kitamura is one of the few Japanese writer/illustrators to become a mainstay in the Western children's book market. He takes on emotional topics as with his book Angry Arthur. He has quite a sense of humor. He has collaborated with English writers such as Hiawyn Oram and Colin McNaughton. And in each of his 9 most popular titles, he reveals something bizarre, something unusual for a picture book to be revealing. And that is all the fun for devotees and the annoyance for those who cast him out.
His ABC book, From Acorn to Zoo, is a book of pictures and labels. Like Richard Scarry, he stuffs his illustrations with dozens of words beginning with the given letter. Unlike Scarry (however much we adore his work), the treats for the eye are overwhelming. His drawings are at their finest. His humorous animals are full of expression. His subject matter is surprising. If you are a collector of ABC's or have an eager pre-schooler, this is one to add to the library.
Here are a few more we like:
Velthuijs is Back
Frog is Sad 
In his eleventh book starring Frog, Max Velthuijs has just written his most subtle and true of the lot. Frog is sad, as the title suggests. Rat does everything he can to cheer him up. The rest of the cast run when they hear laughter and frog is cured. Why was he so sad?, Rat wants to know. Frog doesn't know, he just was.
This book rings true to me and to many little ones. They listen to this book with their small, serious faces and then they want to hear it again. They see anger come and go like a storm. Anger is an obvious emotion. But sadness is something that parents and grown ups can hide quite well. Children are encouraged to "cheer up". Having a "good cry" is something that adults experience. But as Frog shows us, little children can have a "good cry" too.
Children are more complicated creatures than they're given credit for. This story gets to the heart of a serious matter. Sadness is as valid as happiness. Four to seven year olds should enjoy this sombre and ultimately light hearted read.
Will and Squill
Emma Chichester Clark is usually a winner. Her Lily and the Blue Kangaroo books are moving and insightful. The illustrations are luscious. I am sure that they will stand the test of time.
Like most Lily fans, one is tempted to buy every new Chichester Clark there is. She wrote a terrific book about dog heaven a couple of years ago. More! was a big hit in our house. But sadly, Will and Squill does not live up to our expectations. It is cute but a bit tedious.
Will and Squill is about an undying friendship between a boy and a squirrel. Boy's mother and squirrel's mother both disapprove of the relationship. A kitten is bought as a displacement exercise. But ultimately, you can't keep a good friendship down. As they say in the old country about such relationships, it was b'shert, meant to be, in the stars.
Unfortunately, the book reads a bit like Fox in Socks but not as clever and just as annoying (Sorry Theo). This is a book suitable for those acquiring language. Little two year olds will love to chime in with the thirtieth repetition of the word Squill and Will. And if you are tolerant, you will read it to them.
The one redeeming feature of this book is the pictures. If you love Emma's drawings, her gardens, her familiar faces, the anguish, the glory, it is all there in boy form and squirrel form.
Read more about Emma Chichester Clark at the Magic Pencil site www.magicpencil.britishcouncil.org/artist/clark
Big issues
Amos and Boris William Steig Farrar Strauss and Giroux
ages: 5-8
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Existential books for little ones confine themselves, on the whole, to books about new baby siblings. Sometimes they explore difficult social situations or the issues surrounding the death of a grandparent. But often the story focuses on the matter at hand at the expense of the plot. The subject is often transparent and soon becomes tiresome, especially for the reader. Amos and Boris nestles two serious subjects, death and friendship, together without sacrificing plot. It stars animals, not humans, which lessons the gravity of the themes. It is beautifully written, subtly illustrated and a classic children's book.
Amos and Boris is inspired by the Aesop's fable about the lion and the mouse. In this version, a nauticle pursuit on the part of a mouse, Amos, goes terribly wrong. He is saved by a whale, Boris, and a wonderful friendship begins. Ultimately, Amos is in the unlikely position to save Boris.
William Steig who is in his nineties, is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and has numerous children's books under his belt. The subjects that he writes about vary enormously. His characters, whether human or animal, are so convincing that when one requires suspension of disbelief, the task is simple (even when a rabbit turns into a nail or a boy shrinking into a tenth of his size). When grown-ups find other adults who have read Steig, a match of begins of who can remember some of his best lines. In Amos and Boris the most popular line is undoubtedly, "He began to wonder what it would be like to drown...Would his soul go to heaven? Would there be other mice there?" Steig uses out of date exclaimations such as "egad" and usually a couple of words, like discombobulated or sounding, that require explanation. The names of his characters are rarely from the ten most popular list.
Reading Steig is a learning experience. Reading Amos and Boris is an emotional and fascinating experience. It will be a book to read to an older children's book audience and they will then read it on their own.
The Kite & Caitlin Roger McGough illust John Prater Red Fox
ages: 5-8
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How does one tackle childhood illness and death? It is not easy. Roger McGough's solution is to dilute the subject as much as possible. This is a story of an unloved kite, facts about tall mountains and a girl's fantasy life. McGough transfers the burden of presenting her death from his shoulders to the reader's. Few children would hear this story and understand that Caitlin dies at the end. The reader must explain the ending which will inevitably lead the listener to want to hear it again. Meanwhile, the grown-up is deeply despairing and doesn't want to repeat the story.
Caitlin is sick. She lies in her bed and dreams about where her kite can take her. She takes an around the world tour of the tallest mountains in the world on the back of the kite. She is finally lead to the heavens.
With proper editing this book could have been better. Using the words "death", "die" or "dead" is not a crime in a children's book. Many children have to deal with the subject. It would be a shame to Disney-fy death across the board, where people disappear forever when they have clearly kicked the bucket.
The Magpie Song by Laurence Anholt illustrated by Dan Williams Heinemann
ages: ?
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There are always a few picture books on the shelf that can be the catalyst for having a good cry. The Magpie Song will make fathers weep and give children a chance to ask why. This is a compelling story about a family's struggles, told through an exchange of letters between Carla, a city-dweller, and her aged grandfather who lives far away in the countryside. The Magpie Song is richly drawn in both illustration and word.
Carla writes of common childhood complaints; troubles at school, slushy snow, broken lifts and questions about an expectant sibling. Equally she mentions more serious worries such as homelessness, her father who works nights and then becomes unemployed, and money worries that keep the family from sleeping soundly.
In contrast her grandfather describes beautiful scenes outside his window. He has a confident and kind voice when he gives advice. He lovingly describes Carla's father as a boy. To add to his perfection, he carves wooden figures too. His only fault is that he is ill, and eventually dies without having visited Carla once.
Anholt has taken on many daring topics within this children's book. He explores them without steering the reader in a particular direction. This is because many of the harsh observations are shown through the eyes of a child. The book reminds adults that children are quite aware when there are problems, and because they inevitably trickle down to them, they are vulnerable. Children who read The Magpie Song may understand from it that it is all right to worry and it is important to share family concerns.
The book takes its title from the familiar counting poem that weaves its way through the story. Each number is associated with an emotion, an object or a person. The grandfather uses the poem to foster a common interest between himself and Carla. He uses it later to drop hints that reveal a surprise at the end of the story. It is a successful literary device, except that the poem is only written out in full on the book's inside cover. One is not sure when to read it out. It tends to be used more as a reference note as opposed to a song that could be sung at some point in the narrative.
The grandfather dies a bit too subtly. He disappears and the "D" word is never used. For the younger audience of three or four, the grandfather's demise would have to be specially explained.
Nonetheless, this book is highly recommended. Dan William's soft acrylic brush strokes are evocative. The story might even prompt some young readers to strike up a correspondence with their grandparents. Although this book sets up the worries in a child's mind, it responsibly relieves the young listener by resolving the family's problems at the end.
more books about family are reviewed <../family/familyf.htm>here.
The Dreaming Tree Alan Brown illust Claire Fletcher Collins PBQ Prize Winner: Autumn/Fall 2000
ages: 3-6
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How early do children's dreams shatter? Is it earlier than a century ago? What about a decade ago? Can one make a generalization? Does it depend upon on the background, the class? Idealism and optimism are precious features of the childhood psyche. Divorce, death, natural disasters and other calamities can launch children out of their golden view of the world. One of the most important jobs for adults is trying to preserve a child's naivety and fantasy life for as long as they are children.
The Dreaming Tree is about Erica and her rich imagination. When she is under a cherry tree which stands at the end of her street, she can be anywhere, in any season, no matter how far away or exotic.
Her tree needs to be chopped down because the road is going to be widened. She petitions the local government. Her friends rally around her cause. When the cranes come she thinks that she has lost her fight.
The ending turns out to be not about lost hope and shattered dreams. There is a happy ending, as there should be in such a book. For this book is about action. It is about taking a stand. It is about not being shy to say what you think is wrong.
Brown, a writer of
Fletcher's illustrations are extremely accurate portraits and landscapes. Her wide brush strokes add a dreamy quality to her realistic pictures. The movement of waves and racing children is well executed.
An inspiring book for young children with dreams of changing the world and even for those who don't dream those kinds of dreams yet.
More! by Emma Chichester Clark Collins Picture Lions
ages: 3-6
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If you opened your door one morning and found the sea lapping at your garden gate, what would you do? Adults rarely have such scenario posed to them. Perhaps some would be afraid to engage, for fear of a dearth of imagination. Children, on the other hand, relish the activity of supposing. But it is certainly an art that needs practice.
Two books have recently been published whose texts jump from one fantasy to the next. Completely different in nature, the books do excite children and seem to guide them in the art of fantasising.
More! is a story about a boy who always wants more of whatever he has or is doing. It is also about a mother who habitually gives in twice and then refuses. The boy leaves his mother and her refusals for another land where more of everything marvellous is always on offer. Led by a lion, the boy finally returns and the land appears to have been a dream.
Chichester Clark has written and illustrated some wonderful books. Her <../runnersup/runf.htm#kanga>I Love You, Blue Kangaroo was a gem. More! is odd because on one hand, it addresses limitations for children. On the other hand, it is not clear from the boy's experience that he will remember the next day what he learned in the fantasy land the day before.
Another surprising aspect of the book is that the boy never says "More, please!" and his mother never reminds him to ask for "more" politely.
But the pictures of the boy on the back of the lion, playing around at a kind of fun fair, are charming. The illustrations throughout the book are bright and alive with the movement of the band of animals who push the boy to his limit. A garden of sweet tasting flowers has the lion in a wonderful pose with his tongue tasting a petal.
What If?, as its name suggests, is pure fantasy from the moment it stops raining.... click <../prizewinners/prizewinners.htm#whatif>here to read the rest of the review from the prizewinning books section
To Every Thing There is a Season Leo and Diane Dillon Blue Sky/Scholastic
ages: 3-100
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To everything, turn turn turn There is a season, turn turn turn And a time for everything under the heavens.
If your parents were hippies in the 60's and early 70's, you surely came across this Byrds' song based on some of the verses of Ecclesiastes. Even if your parents were not hippies, the lines of this poem, taken from the beginning of chapter three, may seem familiar. Without a doubt, they will be appealing, thought provoking, and possibly illuminating.
Diane and Leo Dillon chose this two thousand year old poem, probably written by King Solomon, because it "encompasses the full range of contemporary human emotion and experience, from the wonders of birth to the unanswered questions of death."
They realised that the issues that lie in this verse are just as suitable for children as for adults. Especially when at the age of four or five these young philosophers are trying to cope with vast subjects such as "Will the world last forever?" or "What happened to me before I was born?" This book can be a handy catalyst for questions about our being and purpose in the world.
The Dillons have illustrated this book in a highly imaginative way. Each set of pictures has a different origin of style. For instance, the poem's line, "A time to get, and a time to lose;" is depicted in a Thai style of drawing inspired by shadow puppetry. They have taken art forms from the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Mexicans. Their drawings are inspired by European Middle Ages woodcuts, as well as Japanese, Ethiopian, Australian, and Russian paintings and prints.
One can have the children try to identify the origin. But Diane and Leo have provided background information at the end of the book, so that children can learn the historical facts.
This book is a joy to read. For those not so excited by the artistic styles, there is a lot of action in the lines, "a time of war," and "a time of hate," and "a time to kill". For each negative experience there is a positive one to balance it out. Teaching western children to differentiate between prints depicting Chinese people versus Japanese people will ultimately help them to recognise and appreciate the differences between foreign peoples. This book can arouse all sorts of channels of interest in the world, for the old and young alike.
Beaten By a Balloon by Margaret Mahy illust Jonathan Allen Puffin
ages: 2-6
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With the return of Star Wars, many parents are plunged into the dilemma of owning or not owning a toy weapon. For the parents of most boys, the subject will inevitably arise sooner or later. Every parent makes his/her own decision with the hope that the children will grow out of the need before he decides to become a serial killer. Enter the wacky world of Margaret Mahy and see how she tackles the subject.
Mahy has a wild imagination. And yet, after some reflection, her strange situations don't seem so odd because she has a keen understanding of human behaviour. Her characters all ring true. She convinces the reader that the implausible predicament might actually have happened.
Sam's professorial looking father refuses to buy him any violent toys. He is an idealist. Hacky Mackie's father indulges his son with all sorts of weapons.
But when the four of them are faced with a real bank robber, Sam and his father use a balloon, a sunflower and a chocolate cake to catch the criminal. Sam wins his gun but uses it (it being a water gun) to water his plants.
Jonathan Allen is a perfect team mate for Mahy. He matches her on the zany scale. In Beaten By a Balloon, he augments the power of her story with his ability to draw contrasting characters. Although all his people look similar, Hacky appears menacing while Sam looks kind, if not wimpy. The fathers are their sons thirty years on. Nobody has teeth except for the bank robber, whose set have seen better days.
Beaten By a Balloon is hilarious. The scene in the bank is brilliant, as well as the conflicts that arise beforehand. This is certainly a book that will strike a chord in adults and children a like.
Dear Greenpeace Simon James Walker Books
ages: ??
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Dear Greenpeace is a book in the form of a correspondence. Emily, a little girl with a whale in her pond, writes to a serious bureaucrat at Greenpeace. Through six exchanges, one learns a lot about whales in a very gentle way. Simon James' pictures of persistent Emily are adorable. The story is touching and realistic despite its fantastical nature.
Growing Good Bernard Ashley & Anne Wilson Bloomsbury
ages: 3-7
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"All his life Samuel had lived in the shadow of the box factory. Each morning for four years he'd woken up to its brick walls."
How much do children question their immediate environment? What do they take as a given and what do they desire to change? If your window faced a brick wall, would you dream of a green open space instead or would you accept it as the standard?
Growing Good is a wonderfully optimistic book about a massive change in a boy's world. After the factory across the street from Samuel's is knocked down, a vast space is liberated. The urban planners want to make good use of the land, but they are interested in the local residents' points of view. Grandad Jess and Samuel find an Old English Foxglove growing in the barren space. Thinking of his lush childhood home in St Lucia, Jess decides to start gardening while the planners plan. Many neighbours follow his lead, except one wants a car park built on the land.
Whose campaign will win, the growers or the pavers? Given that this is fiction, the lush gardens are allowed to thrive.
Such a scenario happened in New York's Upper West Side in the 1970's but sadly it, would not happen in the 1990's. The planners would find something commercially profitable to do with the land. The urban dwellers would unlikely take the initiative or spend the time gardening. Stepping back from reality, this is an inspirational book. It gives children all the right messages. If you have a dream, you can make it come true. If your motivations are sound, push on and ignore idle threats. The illustrations are playful, and leaden with colour, pattern and texture. Samuel and his grandfather wear lovely expressions on their brown faces. For all those who let their nursery aged child's bean stalk die on the windowsill from lack of water, repent this summer and start again. Children love growing things whether it be by a window that faces a brick wall or straight into the ground. Growing Good will get their juices flowing.
Nothing Scares Us Frieda Wishinsky illust Neal Layton Bloomsbury
ages: 2-6
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Admitting that you are frightened of something is very hard for children to do, especially boys. Somehow the culture imprints its gender roles firmly upon us. Girls learn to cry in films and boys learn not to. This book is not at all about that aspect of being scared, but it is a book that will make a boy feel it is okay to admit his fears.
Lucy and Lenny are good pals who spend their time fighting a range of imaginative foes. It is not until they see The Creature on television does Lucy worry that she is not so brave after all. Luckily, Lenny is terrified by a spider the next time they are watching The Creature. This allows Lucy to confess her fears. They become brave again and fight a twelve-headed snake in the garden.
Layton's art school, naïve drawings are bold, expressive and amusing in their simplicity. At times the children look outright goofy in a way that children capture best in their drawings.
This is not a knock out story. The writing is adequate except for their little bravery cheer, that will surely be repeated in the playground. But the theme of the story is an important one.
Particularly for nursery children who are facing a lot of new social situations, this book gives children room to discuss concerns. The PBQ's own child audience found the four and a half year old boys were requesting this book multiple times in succession.
Angus Rides the Goods Train by Alan Durant illustrated by Chris Riddell Viking
ages: ?
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Unwary purchasers may be deceived by the cover of this book into mistaking it for another fantasy train story. Little will they know that lurking between its is a drab political allegory with neither animals nor charm. The reader is presented with a watered down and inaccurate view of the problems in the world, and is spoon-fed a welfare state solution to boot. Old Labour for under-fives, you might call it.
Angus is taken on a train ride to deliver water, honey, milk and rice to an unknown and important destination. On his way he sees trees, bears, a baby and a girl, all in desperate need of these items. The driver refuses to stop. When they arrive at a palace, it becomes clear that all these goods are intended for the king and his courtiers. Outraged, Angus steals the train, hands out the food and drink to the needy, and bounces back to bed vowing that when he is older he will drive the goods train.
Chris Riddell's drawings, though skillful, are reminiscent of Japanese manga: lots of big pathetic eyes and ambiguous expressions upon the characters' faces. The back drops of destroyed buildings and parched forests are not firmly rooted in the world of fantasy or reality. Driving home the point that this book is not for children is that one of the courtiers has an unmistakable resemblance to Hitler. The implied comparison of the monarchy with Nazism is crass.
This book's characters are really mere caricatures. Angus's anger against the injustices he sees is too sophisticated for a boy of his age. One would think that a determined child would try and find an alternative solution when the most obvious one is barred. But he remains on the train. He doesn't try to free the bears; they'd probably eat him. He doesn't try to find the girl's parents; he just has her join him on the train. Some parents may be reluctant to read and re-read a that reminds their children of the risk that they might be orphaned.
For such a politically correct book, it also seems odd that a baby in want of milk doesn't get it from her mother's breast.
The book closes with Angus sitting at breakfast watching the little girl (who is refered to as his "friend") on television. Angus listens to why "...they could not help, could not give, could not save." One is left with questions: When did they become friends? Why is he watching television at meals? Where are this politically astute six year old's parents, who should be explaining ideas of empowerment to this lad? And why doesn't the author study a little economics?
The Emperor and the Nightingale Fiona Waters Paul Birkbeck Bloomsbury Children's Classic
ages 5-8
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There are two themes explored in The Emperor and the Nightingale that are particularly relevant to the lives of small children. The first is taking things out of nature and trying to keep them at home. How many butterflies and caterpillars die in jars? How exciting it is to catch them. How difficult it is to let them go. Secondly, when you shun a friend for another and the relationship ends, how difficult it is to rekindle the friendship. It takes one strong person to try again.
The Emperor and the Nightingale is a story about China originally written by Hans Christian Andersen. In an Emperor's forest there lived a nightingale that was famous for singing so beautifully every evening to fishermen while they pulled up their nets. The emperor heard of this bird from explorers books and wanted the bird. After no success, his courtiers were helped by a kitchen maid. There is a funny scene where the courtiers approach all sorts of animals such as a cow and comment on their lovely voices, thinking the beast was a nightingale. The kitchen maid invites the bird to the emperor's palace, the emperor hears her song and weeps. There the bird came to live in captivity.
One day, someone sends the emperor a mechanical bird encrusted with jewels. The court pronounces it the better singer. The real nightingale flies off while she can and returns to the forest and the fishermen.
Years later, when the emperor is deathly ill, the nightingale responds to his call for a song. The nightingale loves and respects her emperor and so she returns to him. She then revives him. They become partners for life.
Paul Birkbeck's drawings are gorgeous. The detail is extensive. The gardens and palace lush. The facial expressions are complex. The drawings are sophisticated. They urge the reader to study them.
This is the picture book for the older picture book listener or the new chapter book reader who still longs for colour pictures.
The Happy Frog Hiawyn Oram illust Ruth Brown Red Fox
ages: 3-6
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Did you ever hear about unhappy lottery winners? They make their millions and are suspicious of their friends and family ever after. They can't go down to the local pub for a pint. Their friends don't treat them the same? Somehow it is hard to feel sorry for them. Give all your money away to poor people in India then and stop complaining.
Hiawyn Oram explains very well why a frog who turns into a princess might not be happy forever after. And she comes to the same conclusion.
The Happy Frog is about Frances, a frog, meets a prince who wants to eat her. Instead he marries her. His mother knows about frog kissing from fairy tales and it works. She is unhappy and when served frog's legs for dinner one day, she runs off. There she meets and frog and is kissed back.
Ruth Brown, who has collaborated with Oram many times is at her finest here. She is highly skilled at detailed pictures of nature. And yet she gives the animals in this book deeply intelligent eyes. The humans, on the otherhand, look a bit inbred.
Frances, as a princess, has a frog like mouth and eyes, which give her an unusual appearance. There is a wonderful set of pictures of an extremely colourful royal family (the prince looks quite familiar, though blond) and a crowd drawn in black and white.
For children who have not come across the original Frog Prince, this version will neither taint that one nor visa versa.
For Every Child UNICEF Hutchinson
ages: 5-8
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"Eat everything on your plate, Billy. There are starving children in Africa." This is the way most Western children learn about poverty and famine. It is not a valuable way because they are on the defensive from the word go. They don't want to finish their food. They want to pack it up and send it to Africa, but they know that that is not the point. That is not the solution. It is a subject that they tend not to be keen to broach lest it come with some spinach or quiche attached.
In November 1989 the UN created the Convention on the Rights of the Child. They are fifty four principals that 191 countries have ratified in order to protect their country's children (two have not yet done so). For Every Child highlights fourteen of the most understandable points to children. Fourteen illustrators from around the world were asked to illustrate a right. And Desmond Tutu has written an informative foreward with a millennium blessing attached.
The rights are basic. "We shall have a name and a land to call our own,", "Keep our families together,", "No one on Earth has a right to hurt us,", "Make sure we have enough to eat and drink and if we are sick, nurse and comfort us."
The pictures are not soppy. They range from the loopy Babette Cole and Satoshi Kitamura, the surreal Henriette sauvant to the realistic Jerry Pinkney and PJ Lynch.
Many people steer clear of books with agenda. But this agenda is valuable in teaching about what most Western adults and children take for granted. This book reminds us of what we have, and what we need to help make universal. Not only that but it an excellent introduction to a marvellous group of illustrative imagination. This is not a story book. Those who read it must fill in the blanks from their own experiences.
The Red Woollen Blanket Bob Graham Walker Books
ages: 2-6
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Let's Get a Pup! Bob Graham Walker Books
ages: 2-6
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Security blankets, many psychologists will tell you, are an essential part of separating from one's parents. It is a special something that embodies safety. It helps the child feel confident when he or she is by him/herself. Some children have them and some don't.
My children never had them because although I adored mine it was confiscated too soon. What is cute at one or two turns vile at four or five. My blanket lost its welcome place in my home and disappeared, much to my horror. So although my children will not have a memorable bond with an inanimate object, they will also not lose a great love.
The Red Woollen Blanket tracks the life cycle of one such adored blanket. Julia has the blanket from the moment she is born. She does all the classic blankety things; she sucks, chews and rubs it gently against her nose. She hides in it, sleeps with it, carries it everywhere.
As a result of the blanket's active life, it deteriorates and ultimately disappears into practically nothing. This happening coincides with Julia beginning school. In Julia's case, her need for it diminishes until she "hardly missed it at all."
Bob Graham generally writes about real people. He seems to learn a lot from his own children because his stories always ring true (even if they are about super hero families, see the review about Max). His families are never the tidiest. The tend to have messy hair or mismatched clothes. They seem like people who potter along with little conflict and not very high expectations. And lucky for them, the big blanket issue in my own childhood home never happened to them.
In Let's Get a Pup! his typical family, having aged only slightly in the fourteen years since the blanket book was written, have been a bit updated. Mum sports a nose ring and a tattoo. Dad has a few discreet earrings as well.
With Tiger the cat dead, Kate needs a new pet. The family trots out to the animal shelter and gets Dave, a cute little brand new puppy. But they do feel guilty about not taking home one of the unloved, ancient large dogs such as Rosy.
To ruin the ending they go home and the next day much to everyone especially Dave's delight, they take home Rosy.
As is classic with Graham's characters, they don't freak out when teacups are flying, they just realize that that is par for the course. It seems such a simple solution to domestic nightmares. Why can we not all learn from Bob Graham and his Buddhist-like bunch?
Wash Your Hands! Tony Ross Andersen Press
ages:1-4
buy:
Some parents spend many a winter, spring, summer and autumn with ill children. Little colds crop up out of nowhere. Viruses, flu and other bugs transform childrearing into a nightmare. Hand washing can actually radically reduce these occurrences. That is what this book is about.
You may have met the little princess and her unusual royal family in other books. It might have been I Want My Potty, I Want a Sister, I Want My Dummy. The stories are amusing. The characters all focus on the princess and her trouble. And like in most loving families, everyone has lots of advice to give. Being on the receiving end, as many children are, they can whole heartedly relate to the protagonist. The stories ring true.
Wash Your Hands! not only rings true, it also teaches lax parents and children the valuable lesson of hand washing.
"I washed them after playing outside. I washed them after playing with the dog. I washed them after going on my potty. I washed them after sneezing . . . WHY?Õ
Her nanny and Tony Ross' illustrations simply and clearly explain the rest. After the princess receives the cake she has been after, she asks her nanny if she has washed her hands. That is probably a question the queen would have liked to ask too.
Old Bob's Brown Bear Niki Daly Bloomsbury
ages: 2-6
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Have you ever seen an old man receive a teddy for his birthday? "Why would he want one," you may ask. This is the premise for Niki Daly's latest book. Certainly Emma, his little friend, doesn't understand.
How many of us view old people as sub-people? Children start out viewing old and sick people just like any other member of society. But often times children get "socialised" so quickly that they begin to fear or even dislike these members on the fringe.
Old Bob's reminds children that old people are just very grown up children. If Bob longs for a worn out old teddy bear because he never had one as a child, then he should feel liberated enough to ask for one.
Unfortunately, Emma falls in love with Bob's bear and takes it away. Luckily, Bob did not like it in its new state and is secretly happy for her to love it into oldness. As a sophisticated seven or eight year old, she no longer has a use for it and Bob claims it back.
The story is incredibly touching for children as well as adults. Daly's illustrations are loaded with interesting details. Daly is able to convincingly depict Emma as she ages. The pictures are filled with loving glances and actions, and a few tantrums thrown in.
This unassuming book is original. And worth a couple of dozen readings at least.
Dos and Don'ts
Do's and Don'ts
Todd Parr
Walker Books
ages: 0-3
buy:
Amazon
|
Amazon UK
used from Bookfinder
What sparks a one and half year olds' imagination is hard to reckon. A piece of dirt tends to be much more exciting than a Barbie doll. A wooden spoon can entertain a small mind longer than the Teletubbies on TV. So when Todd Parr, from San Francisco, sits down to write for little ones, how does he know they will like it? It is equally hard to tell.
I do not think that Do's and Don'ts is a marvellous book but my nearly two year old does. I have read it twenty times in a row. The older ones think it is pretty funny, as well.
The pictures are simple, primary colour jobs, in thick black outlines. Each page either says "Do" or "Don't" on the top. Some are funny such as "Do brush your teeth after every meal. Don't brush with peanut butter." On the other hand "Change your socks every day. Don't make anyone smell them," is inappropriate for children who do not have smelly feet.
Parr is writing for non-readers but nonetheless, he could reserve capital letters for their proper place. His pictures are amusing. They add humour to his do's and don'ts especially, for example in, "Do wear clean underwear. Don't wear it in your hair."
Although this book looks like it has been thrown together swiftly and is not the most elevated read, the children find it very funny. And laughter counts for a lot.
