A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

 'I am a Child of Books. I come from a world of stories. And upon my imagination, I float.' These are the opening lines of this beautiful picture book, which follows a young girl as she takes a little boy on an adventure by opening his imagination. As they journey along, she teaches him that you don't need to travel the world to have adventures, you can travel anywhere you like with the aid of a book, as books are the key to letting your imagination flow freely.

Its very simple plot is very effective. The story itself is told through very few words. However, the artwork on every page is an explosion of words from a range of children's literature, which are cleverly presented to create the sea, clouds, mountains and monsters.

The written story and the illustrations visually take you on a journey. The passages have been carefully selected to echo each illustration. The sea is created from texts about journeys: The Voyage of Dr Doolittle, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels (which isn't a children's book but Jeffers and Winston can be forgiven for that).

The little girl leads the boy down the path of adventure which is created from the words from Alice's Adveentures in Wonderland. They climb the mountains of Neverland and enter the caves of Kidnapped before playing in the fairy tale woods and extracts from Rapunzel form the rope from the castle. Many of the illustrations use muted colours but interestingly and significantly the house where the little girl lives is bold and bright. The 2 page spread which features the words ' For this is our world we've made from stories.' is the most colourful of the whole book emphasising the bright, colourful world of stories and books.

It is the perfect book to launch a school book week or reading challenge. Pupils in upper key stage 2 could be challenged to identify all the titles featured. (Apparently there are 42 classic books and lullabies in total - I haven't spotted them all yet!).

It  would also be interesting to explore the 'word painting' that is used. Children could find appropriate passages from books they have read  to create their own images of worlds they have encountered and visited through story. Applications such as wordle , tagul and tagxedo would be useful in acheiving this.

In the back slip of the dustcover, Jeffers and Winston state 'From the very beginning we both wanted to create a tale that celebrates our own love of classic children's literature with an added modern twist. For us it was about capturing some of the magic tha happens when you first get lost in a timeless story, but doing it in a way that readers haven't seen before.' They certainly have done that.

Publisher: Walker Books

Publication Date: Sept 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4063-5831-5

     

Bravo, Mr. Shakespeare! Seven Plays presented by Marcia Williams

In Bravo, Mr William Shakespeare!, Williams presents accessible and entertaining retellings of seven of Shakespeare's plays. Included in the book are four comedies (As You Like It, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, and Much Ado About Nothing) and three tragedies (Antony and Cleopatra, Richard III, and King Lear). The plot of each play is condensed into four to six pages.

Williams presents the plays in three distinct, but complementary ways; each contributing to the overall reading of the play.  First, the actual words Shakespeare wrote for the characters to say are reproduced in cartoon-like strips on the page, some in “bubbles” above the character’s heads. Second, the plot of the play is narrated below the image in modern-day Standard English. Thirdly, the pages are bordered by pictures of members of the audience, who comment on the plays as they take place, much in the way they would have done in Shakespeare's time.   The commentary ranges from humorously personal to illuminating observations on the plays as well as providing comic relief. "They're mummies, you dummies!" explains a member of the crowd, as Antony and Cleopatra are buried together in a tomb. "Cantankerous harpies!" declares a King Lear attendee, of Cordelia's sisters. 

By reading both Shakespeare’s own words and the paraphrased plots side by side, children will be able to understand the plays and get the sense of Shakespeare’s English. 

Each page is jam-packed with intricately detailed, comic-book styled cartoon panels, done in pen and watercolour, which move the action along. Despite each page being 'busy', the text, black set against blocks of white, is easy to distinguish and read. The artwork does invite scrutiny and although it is comic in appearance, it does add to the mood of the play. In the comedies: As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Merchant of Venice, and Much Ado about Nothing, the illustrations are bright, colourful, and have a sense of fun to them. In Antony and Cleopatra the illustrations have a definite Egyptian feel to them through the use of the gold and turquoise colours and the clothing and ships. The tragedies: Richard III and King Lear have the appropriate darker feel to them through the use of blacks, greys, and more sombre tones.

The front endpaper reproduces a Playbill as it may have appeared to the audience at the Globe Theatre. It contains the table of contents for the book. 

Teachers at Key Stage 2 will find that this is accessible for all children. It is an ideal early introduction to Shakespeare's plays. It will help children understand the plot of each of the plays and provide opportunities to explore and experiment with Shakespeare's dialogue.

publisher: Walker Books

publication date: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4063-2335-1

Charlie Crow in the Snow by Paula Metcalf and illustrated by CallyJohnson-Isaacs

Metcalf's story Charlie Crow in the Snow is a lovely picture book story about friendship and the changing seasons.

Charlie Crow loves him home in the tree and enjoys visits from his friends Bear and Swallow. However, things begin to change, much to Charlie's surprise. Charlie Crow hasn't seen snow before and when he does see it for the first time he panics and goes to find his friends. He can't find bear and Swallow. However, he does bump into Squirrel who is just as confused and between them they set off to find Bear and Swallow who will surely know the answer to what is going on.

The story beautifully introduces children to the changing seasons from Autumn through to winter. Children will learn about how leaves fall from trees, water turns to ice, snow, hibernation and migration.

It would make a lovely read-aloud story for Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. It would also make a lovely guided read for children who have mastered phase 5 phonics. In terms of comprehension there are ample opportunities to teach wither through shared or guided reading each of the 5 domains that are identified in the Key Stage 1 Reading Tests, in particular 1a vocabulary, 1b identify key aspects of fiction and 1d make inferences from the text.

The dialogue within the story uses a wide variety of synonyms for said such as squawked, whimpered, cried, shrieked and exclaimed allowing teachers the opportunity to develop children's vocabulary, consider characterisation and further children's grammatical knowledge in context.

The illustrations are bright and clearly depict the different colours and tones associated with the different seasons. Also, the expressions on the characters faces are an absolute delight. The positioning of the eyebrows on each of the characters emphasise the emotions felt by each of the characters at any one particular time and would therefore support the teaching of comprehension  and emotional intelligence. My favourite, I think is the page where Charlie Crow and Squirrel attempt to hibernate with Bear.

Publisher: Macmillan 

Publication Date: 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4472-8155-9

Betty and the Yeti by Ella Burfoot

Ella Burfoot's story of a little girl called Betty who collects various items of clothing as she ventures across the frozen, snowy landscape, is a charming tale of friendship. Betty is an inquisitive character who befriends a Yeti and helps him to stay warm and make new friends.

The story would make a good stimulus for a science topic 'Keeping Warm'. As Betty ventures through the snow with her sled full of clothes, she meets various animals and inquires if the clothes she has found belong to them. Each of the animals tells Betty that they don't and explains why. Betty then meets the Yeti, who does need clothes to keep him warm.

It is also a story about friendship. The other animals are frightened of the Yeti, despite him being small, because of his appearance. However, this changes when they see Betty walking along holding the Yeti's paw.

The story is told in rhyme and as such provides numerous examples of alternative spellings for long vowel phonemes. Children could collect the examples, sort and classify them in preparation for a spelling investigation.

The language used is also rich with noun phrases. As Betty collects the various items of clothing they aren't simply listed. They are described using noun phrases which enable the reader the visualize each item: 'a little red sled', 'a jingly jangly fluffy hat', 'a woolly scarf', 'one enormous smelly coat'. It would be interesting to read the story to the children without them being able to 'see' the illustrations and get them to draw what they imagine the items (and the Yeti) to look like before introducing them to Ella Burfoot's own illustrations. This could then lead onto children composing their own noun phrases for items they might include in a story of their own.

The text is also a good model for investigating direct speech as in the short text there is a great deal of conversation between the various characters. This could be done through re-presenting the text as a comic strip or a play script.

Overall, a lovely humorous, little story which is a rich resource for the English curriculum and provides a stimulus for topic work in other curriculum subjects.

Published: 2010
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 978-1-4472-8154-2

This is Our House by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Bob Graham

Michael Rosen’s This Is Our House takes a humorous look at the lack of logic behind reasons for discrimination in a way that even the smallest children can grasp.George, the protagonist of the story, wants to feel special and powerful, so he takes over the cardboard house and makes up reasons to exclude others from it.  He bans them for different but always personal reasons: because they're girls, or too small, or wear glasses, etc. His house is NOT for people that are unlike George. These characteristics comically exaggerate the ways in which children (and adults as well) set up boundaries in distinguishing “us” from “them,” which discourages any acceptance of others' identities.  This can open the door for teachers to talking about bigger real-world issues of discrimination with even very young children.

George's friends do try to get him to open up his house by weaving him into their play: ""We're coming in to fix the fridge,"" announce twins Charlene and Marlene, while Luther sends his toy airplane crashing into the house and tells George that he must rescue it. But George will not budge until, finally, nature calls. Whilst he is gone, they take over the house and turn the tables on George and force him to see the error of his ways. Rosen has an instinctive feel for the way children confront one another, ponder, negotiate and form alliances; every word of the text rings true. 

However, this does cause a slight problem in that the way the children manage to get George to see the error of his ways is through retaliation. While it’s good that Rosen does not show the children fighting or resorting to violence over control of the house, the other children do end up ganging up on George. (Surely not an approach teachers would wish to advocate). While their retaliation's effect on George's change of attitude seems justified in the end, the implicit idea is that if someone discriminates against you, it’s okay to discriminate against them to teach them a lesson. This “eye for an eye” mentality undercuts some of the anti-discrimination ideal that Rosen intends to share with the reader.

Finally, according to Graham's illustrations, the cardboard house is destroyed at the end of the book, which is also problematic. On the last page of the story, the walls of the house have separated and are nearly beaten into the ground. While the text above it proclaims that the house is for everyone, the picture of the house says that once you let everyone inside, the house falls apart. Teachers do need to be aware of this unintentional message because for some children the illustration may convey the idea that it is better to exclude people because when everyone is included, things get destroyed! 

Nevertheless, it is a good book to share with children in early years settings and Key Stage 1 as it does raise important issues in a way that can be accessed and understood by young children. It demonstrates in a 'safe' way the non-sensical way in which people discriminate and offers the opportunity to open up those discussions. 

Leave Me Alone by Kes Gray and illustrated by Lee Wildish

“Leave Me Alone” written by Kes Gray and illustrated by Lee Wildish is a  picture book that tackles a controversial subject in our  schools: bullying.  A young boy who is being bullied is approached by eight animals that can sense his sadness: a fly, frog, robin, cat, rabbit, cow, and Magpie. The little boy tells them they won’t be able to help because his problem is too big. He is being bullied by a giant. However, the animals stay with the boy and when the giant arrives, the animals all shout together “Leave him alone.” The combined force of the animals standing up for their friend persuades the giant to leave and of course, he never comes back. 

 The picture book is a magical tale of what can happen when children have the support of friends when facing someone who is bullying them. 

The story is told from the point of view of the young boy and is written  in rhymed couplets, One by one, the animals come up to offer comfort to the boy,  but he tells them each to leave him alone.  

“Leave me alone,” I said.

“Sorry,” said the pig.

“But problems should be talked about,

Especially if they’re big.” 

The illustrations by Lee Wildish enhance the text and offer the opportunity to develop children's emotional intelligence and in particular understanding of the emotions and feelings of others. The cover page of the picture book shows a young boy sitting alone on a hill.  Wildish is able to capture the sadness the young boy is feeling through the boy’s expression, and the colours he uses on the boy’s face.  The boy’s face is slightly red as if he has been crying, or recently embarrassed. Through detailed illustrations, Wildish is also able to capture the sadness that each of the animals feels when they see the young boy sitting alone on the hill.  Over a two-page spread Wildish draws all the animals sympathetically staring at the young boy as they surround him on the hill.

Wildish’s artwork also supplies a substantial amount of drama. When the Giant appears in the story, the shadowy figure soon takes over the hill and is “so big he blocks the sun”.  Wildish draws him as a dark figure with fiery eyes who is casting a huge shadow over the hill.   The bully is so big that he causes the ground to shake, which is also brilliantly illustrated by Wildish over a two-page spread. The giant is, in fact, portrayed as an enormous, hulking monster, backlit by a blazing sun, who lumbers toward the group, eyes glowing red. Again, the visual representation of a child’s feelings is wonderful here. Wildish has made use of texture, scratchy lines, splatters and the use of size and perspective to convey emotion.

When the Giant finally reaches the young boy he is so big that the reader can only see his feet, but stretched across the page are giant words that say “LEAVE HIM ALONE”.  In this illustration the reader sees the back of the animals who are yelling those words, which allows the reader to also feel like they are standing up to the bully.  With “eight voices” standing up for the young boy, the Giant with the fiery red eyes retreats down the hill.  After the Giant is gone the illustrations include bright colours as the animals and young boy jumping for joy. 

Whilst the message may be over-simple and a little unrealistic 'tell those that bully you to leave you alone and they will', there are many 'lessons' that can be learnt from reading and discussing the story with young children. It provides a real context for teachers to raise and discuss the issue of bullying with children in early years settings and Key Stage 1 and in that sense a 'safe' way to approach this sensitive subject. It contains many of the key messages that are advocated by the anti-bullying alliance: tell someone, keep close to friends, if you see someone being bullied stand by them, and for that reason would prove to be a good stimulus for anti-bullying week.

  

Toby and the Ice Giants written and illustrated by Joe Lillington

Toby and the Ice Giants is a story and an information book rolled into one. It tells the tale of the young Toby, a bison, as he ventures away from the herd for the first time. Like other similar stories (Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson, The Bad Tempered Ladybird by Eric Carle, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See? By Bill Martin ) Toby meets other creatures as he journeys, many of which are quite scary to Toby. However, unlike these other stories all the creatures that Toby meets are genuine animals that were around during the Ice Age.

The book would support any study of the Ice Age as each page includes a fact file of the creature that Toby encounters which details its Latin name, size, weight, diet, habitat and when it died out. The fact file also includes an illustration which demonstrates how big the animal was in comparison to a human.

During the Ice Age, it would have been impossible for Toby to have met all if these creatures as they originate from various countries all over the world. We are made aware if this fact in the author's note at the end of the book. At the very beginning of the book Lillington includes a very useful and informative map of the world which illustrates the countries each of the animals would have been found.

The back of the book has a size comparison chart ranging from the smallest (a young human child) to the largest, the woolly mammoth.

In terms of English, much of the story is told through dialogue which is highlighted in small ovals which are paler than the rest of the illustration, almost speech bubbles. This would provide a model for that important transition for children: moving from speech in speech bubbles to punctuated direct speech embedded in the written text.

As the majority of the story is told through direct speech teachers could explore with children how authors develop characterisation through speech without having any descriptions. We can identify with Toby's emotions throughout the story through the things he says. 

Lillington's rich style of illustration brings an almost retro charm to the story. The facial expressions on each of the creatures again gives insight into their thoughts and emotions.

Publisher: Flying Eye Books

Publication Date: Sept 2015

ISBN: 978-1-909263-58-1 

The Scariest Thing of All by Debi Gliori

Debi Gliori's picture book, The Scariest Thing of All, is about a little rabbit called Pip. He is the smallest of his family but he has the biggest imagination.  Pip is scared of just about everything, from tree stumps to unusually shaped clouds and his worries begin to wear him out. When Pip is awoken from an afternoon nap by a strange growling noise, he is so frightened that he runs away. Unfortunately, he runs into the dark and forbidding woods. Finally he stops deep in the woods and sees the scary thing nearby and hears the sound again. This forces him to be brave and figure out what the scary thing is, which in turn helps him confront his fears and realise that things aren’t always quite as scary as first he thinks. 

Children in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 will enjoy the humour and the imaginative writing in this book. Through shared reading of the story, children will enjoy exploring the fearful creatures Pip imagines the everyday objects of the wood to be: rainfall to "...the sound a vast hisster makes as it weaves its web." and a "...gobbler blowing bubbles at the bottom of the lily pond." The journey into the wood and back home again is reminiscent of that the mouse takes in Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo. Pip returns home with a new found confidence.

The language used to describe the journey usefully introduces children in Reception and Year 1 to the prepositions 'into', 'through', 'across'. Teachers could build on this vocabulary with the much loved Pat Hitchins' tale of Rosie's Walk. 

Year 1 and 2 will also enjoy playing with the onomatopoeia in the book as they read of the 'flippity flap' of the insects, the 'aaark, aaark' of the gulls, the 'rustle, rustle' of the caterpillars, the 'hoowit, hoowit' of the owl and of course the 'raaarrrr' of the scariest thing of all. There are other examples of onomatopoeia later on in the book which children could 'collect' for the working wall, before expanding their list of examples from other texts and their own imaginations.

It is also a lovely story to revisit at Key Stage 2 when looking at personification. Pip imagines each of the inanimate objects to be a living creature, making them hiss, blow bubbles, bite, wave, move, slide and agree. Gliori's ink and watercolour illustrations, particularly the one in the wood of the upturned tree, provide the stimulus for a discussion about personification, exploring the human qualities that can be attributed to the tree. 

The tones and colours of this particular two-page spread exemplify the devices authors often use to create suspense: cold, dark, moonlight, silhouettes. This particular composition also captures the emotion of the action via its scale ( pink-eared Pip is surrounded by large shadowy trees in midnight blue). The incredible blue moon rising above Pip gives a really haunted feeling.

It is a beautifully illustrated book, designed to be pored over. There are holes to look inside, tree rooms to investigate and scary creatures to tame. The art of this picture book is really special beginning with the sunny warmth of Pip's family and home to the dark blueness of a the woods at night returning to supper and the golden glow of home. 

 A truly stunning book which can be enjoyed on many levels.

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publish Date: 2011

ISBN: 978-0-7475-9969-2

   

Ready, Steady, Jump! by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Adrian Reynolds

Ready, Steady, Jump! is a lovely picture book which celebrates individuality. Meet Elephant who, desperately wants to be the same as the other baby animals. Why can't he jump like they can? He sets out to prove the others wrong, but alas, no matter how hard he tries, he just can't jump. Then, one day, he discovers there is something he can do which none of the others can!

This is a beautifully told story, ideal for Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 as a read aloud story. It illustrates the very important message that everyone has a gift or talent and is good at something. Ready, Steady, Jump! would provide the perfect stimulus for a topic on difference and individuality. Children in Key Stage 1 could explore Elephant's feelings throughout the story. This could readily be done through the use of thought bubbles or hot-seating. 

Adrian Reynolds' bright illustratrations bring each of the characters to life. Children and adults alike will find all the baby animals loveable. The facial expressions are superb. We have the determined concentration of baby Elephant (tongue sticking out as children often do), amusement of the other baby animals, puzzlement, concern, joy and on Monkey's face, bewilderment (which I think is my favourite).

Other stories which could be read alongside Ready, Steady, Jump! are Alexis Deacon's Beegu about an alien creature that doesn't 'belong' and, of course, David McKee's Elmer. Each focuses on a slightly aspect of difference.

publisher: Andersen Press
Publish date: 2015
ISBN: 978-1-78344-172-3

 

Bringing Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett

Bringing Down the Moon is an enchanting, picture book tale which concerns a young mole, who climbs from his hole one night to be dazzled by a full moon. Thinking he just must have it, he ventures to get it; first by jumping for it, then by poking at it with a stick, then by tossing acorns at it. With each attempt, he manages to wake up another forest creature: a rabbit, a hedgehog, and a squirrel. They all agree with Mole that the moon is beautiful but warn him that “It’s not as close as it looks.”

The tale is beautifully told using patterned language and clear sequencing. The story is enhanced by the richness of Vanessa Cabban's illustrations.

Bringing Down the Moon would be a lovely read aloud book for foundation stage as part of a topic on Nighttime. The children will really enjoy hearing about mole's attempts to capture the moon. The repeated phrase 'You'll never do that,' said.....'It's not as near as it looks.' will encourage the children to participate. Because of its clear and repetitive structure, once familiar with the story 3-5 year olds will readily pick up this book and play read. The rich watercolour illustrations beautifully depict night time. Very young children though will need an adult led discussion to understand the sequential nature of the pages that are split into four frames. 

These, for older readers, depict a sequence of events but many children in foundation stage will 'read' these images as four separate and individual moles.

For children in Key Stage 1, there is plenty to support their language and literacy development. Throughout the story there are numerous examples of onomatopoeia as mole desperately attempts to 'bring down the moon': thump, bump, swish, plink and splash. When mole meets each of the characters there is a simple conversation between the two of them which clearly model the use of direct speech, which could easily be differentiated from those beginning to demarcate speech with the inverted commas to those who are ready to develop their use of internal punctuation. In terms of story structure, it is a 'quest' story where mole makes several endearing attempts at obtaining what is, as all his friends know, the impossible. Being a short picture book story makes it ideal as a text to explore story structure and a model on which to base their own stories. The theme of the story is also suitable for Key Stage one: that of resilience or never giving up.

A beautiful book.

Author: Jonathan Emmett

Illustrator: Vanessa Cabban

Publisher: Walker Books

Date of Publication: 2001

ISBN: 978-0-7445-8950-4

   

There's a Shark in the Bath by Sarah McIntyre

What would you do if you found a shark in your bath? Or worse still, if you found a whole family of sharks in there? Well that's exactly what happens to Dulcie in Sarah McIntyre's picture book There's a Shark in the Bath. Dulcie, the little girl who makes this discovery is not a girl who is easily rattled and uses her skills and several sneaky games in her efforts to outwit the sharks in this amusing and enjoyable adventure.

The shark family arrives at breakfast time in Dulcie's house and Dulcie races downstairs to tell her parents the news. Dulcie’s parents greet this announcement with disbelief and gentle teasing in a manner which reminds me of Bernard's parents in Not Now Bernard by David McKee. Therefore, Dulcie has no option but to deal with the shark family all by herself. This is made a little challenging as the sharks are extremely keen to eat Dulcie for their breakfast. Dulcie, though, doesn't let this put her off and has several bright ideas up her sleeve. 

The story is great fun and is enhanced by Sarah McIntyre’s uniquely wonderful and vibrant illustrations.

There's a Shark in the Bath would be ideal as a story time read to children in foundation stage. Young children will enjoy the excitement of Dulcie's adventures, the vibrant colours and the 'busy' images which provide so much opportunity for discussion. Foundation stage teachers could follow up the reading of this story with activities that focus on ordering sizes (Papa, Mama and Baby Shark). The font of the text makes use of a range of sizes and is sometimes emboldened and capitalised and therefore, could promote discussion around reading with expression.

For children, in year 1, teachers could draw similarities between There's a Shark in the Bath and traditional tales such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Here, you have the same patterning of speech as you do in the 3 Bears story, 'Papa Shark said....Mama Shark said....Baby Shark said'. You could also explore the character traits of the sharks and compare and contrast them with those of the 3 bears.

There's a Shark in the Bath could also be read with children at Key Stage 2 as part of a unit on Fairy Tales. It contains the key 'ingredients' you would expect to find in a fairy tale, such as the importance of the number 3, the delaying of impending doom by the use of magical, inventive tactics and the theme of good versus 'not so' evil. As such pupils at key stage 2 could be encouraged to identify these elements after investigating them in traditional tales and then plan their own 'modern' fairy tale, which they could write for the children in Key Stage 1 or Foundation Stage.

A lovely picture book worthy of a place in every school library.

Published by Scholastic 2014

ISBN 978-1-407121-91-8

 

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers' picture book, Lost and Found, is a charming tale about a boy and a penguin and their growing friendship.

One day the penguin just turns up at the boy's house and the boy presumes he is lost. The boy then goes on a journey to try and find out where the penguin has come from. As you follow the character, Oliver Jeffers tells the story with a humorous tone that will amuse both children and adults alike with lines such as “ He asked some birds if they knew where the penguin came from. But they ignored him. Some birds are like that.” 

The language and sentence structure are simple enough to make the story suitable for Key Stage 1. The themes of loneliness and friendship are ones often explored at key stage 1 and Lost and Found would be an ideal stimulus for these topics.

The illustrations introduce another level of narrative and add complexity to the written text. Whilst the story can be enjoyed by very young children the illustrations require a much more developed visual literacy. For example, it would be interesting to ask children in year 2 or above how Jeffers depicts the passing of time on the page where we are told 'The boy didn't know where it had come from but it began to follow him everywhere.' It is only as children develop through Key Stage 2 that they will be able to discuss the effects of the differing tones of each of the frames, the relative sizes of the characters in each of the frames and the distance between them. Likewise when the boy returns to find the penguin at the South Pole, younger children will not understand why the boy can't see the penguin. Although the illustrations are simply drawn, Jeffers captures each emotion of the boy and the penguin. How can the positioning of two small dots and a beak portray so much? 

Lost and Found won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize Gold Award and was the Blue Peter Book of the year.

Published by HaperCollins 2005 in HB and 2006 in PB
PB ISBN 978-0-00-715036-6

   

It's a Book by Lane Smith

This is a charming and delightful picture book.

A tech-savvy donkey quizzes a monkey about the object which so engrosses him. “Do you blog with it?” the donkey says. “No, it’s a book,” the monkey explains. This only makes the donkey’s exasperation keener: Where’s the mouse? Does it need a password? Can you make the characters fight? Can it text, tweet, toot? No, none of that, the monkey explains, and then Monkey hands the book to the donkey.

The book, it turns out, is “Treasure Island,” though, this isn’t explicitly announced to the reader, but must be inferred from a quotation. The tech-savvy donkey, at first, is unimpressed by the word rich book and quickly suggests a reduced text-message version of the famous sequence he has just read: 

“LJS: rrr! K? lol! .

JIM: : ( ! : )”

Then, in a memorable two-page spread, the donkey reads the book. A clock runs above him, counting out the hours. The donkey's fascination with the book is expressed with wonderful caricatural economy, first puzzlement, then absorption and at last the special quality of readerly happiness: a mind lost in a story.

It's a Book doesn't attempt to claim that books are superior to technology, nor does it suggest that they can compete with computers or screens.What it does is demonstrate that they do something else. The message is that even in a world of internet and smartphones, the book still has its place and still retains its own special and irreplaceable magic.

This would be the perfect text to use as a stimulus for a discussion which compares and contrasts 'old' technology with 'new' technology. 

Lane Smith is probably best known in the UK as the illustrator of Jon Scieska's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.

Beegu

Book Review

Beegu

Author   Alexis Deacon
Publisher Red Fox 2004 (originally published in 2003 by Hutchinson)
ISBN 978-0-099-41744-6
Rating    *****




Beegu is a story about a young alien who crash lands to earth. She attempts to communicate but finds it difficult to make herself understood. At the same time, she finds it difficult to make sense of the surroundings in which she finds herself.

It is a heartwarming story which is simply but beautifully told through the use of very few words. The  book's issues of loneliness, rejection and isolation are effectively portrayed through the delightful images, evoking a range of emotions. In the primary classroom it will facilitate discussion on all these issues at a number of levels for different age groups; from the new pupil arriving at school and helping him/her understand routines and make friends to more complex subject matter such as comparing the themes with those in John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

The written text should easily be decodable by the majority of children in year 2/3. Therefore, it would be a suitable choice for the class library. However, so much more could be gained from this text if it were to be used with the class as a whole as a shared read or  with smaller groups as a guided read. With support from the teacher the children could identify the story structure and use it as a model for their own writing. It makes effective use of ellipsis.

The main feature of this picture book though is the images. It is a multimodal text. One where the written text simply does not tell the whole story. Like other mutlimodal texts such as Pat Hutchins' Rosie's Walk  and Eileen Browne's Handa's Surprise it is only when the images and the written text are read together that the full story emerges. The tonal quality of the images really evoke a deep sense of empathy for Beegu. She stands out, literally, in a dull and grey world.

It comes as no surprise that The Sunday Times review of Beegu states, ‘Alexis Deacon may well be Burningham’s heir apparent . . . Deacon’s poignant and understated text is brilliantly served by his illustrations, which carry distant rreminders of some of the best illustrators of the last 100 years and yet still remain uniquely his own.’ 

Beegu is Deacon's second book and was short listed for the Kate Greenaway Award in 2003. In the same year the New York Times named Beegu as one of its 10 Best Illustrated Books and in 2008 Deacon was named as one of Booktrust's 10 Best New Illustrators.