Baby Brains

Author and Illustrator: Simon James
Publisher: Walker Books, 2004 ( featured edition 2007)

Here's a picture book that belongs on all good preschooler bookshelves. Baby Brains is a simple and warming story about 'the smartest baby in the whole world', only despite being super human clever Baby Brains, when the chips are down, is just the same as any other baby, crying out for and wanting,  above everything, his mummy. The book, humorously and  
quintessentially comments on the human condition, what unites us and what sets us apart as human beings. It raises a smirk with me every time I read that author illustrator Simon James took the humourous initiative to take a very deep and dark topic that has puzzled philosophers for millennia,and whittle it down to this one delightful and simplistic story about a clever baby- brilliant! 

Illustrations reminiscent of Quentin Blake, with sketchy ink and watercolour people, see Baby Brains in some familiar and less familiar scenarios given his juvenile status. So for example, starting with activities babies are frequently associated with, such as going to sleep in a cot, Baby Brains is soon embroiled in farcical scenarios, such as Baby Brains fixing cars, teaching medicine at the university and eventually being scouted for a NASA space mission.  
 What I love about this book is the very stark message to parents, warning against pushy parenting and being hung up on fretting about the intelligence of one's child. The moral can also be flipped, an intelligent child [ easily substitute this for any child that defies 'the norm' ] feels and needs love and support like all others. This is a great book then, for opening discussion with children about similarity and difference, useful then for illicting discussion on dis/ability, appearance, culture, creed, family circumstance etc. I've used this book many times to illicit discussion with my children regarding adoption for example, as you can ask how each character feels, and why that is, and what each character needs and why. So Mrs Brains (the mum) for example, imagines her child might be similar to herself, but when Baby Brains surprises her she shows she loves baby Brains for whoever he is, praising him for being brave.  The book can also be used to talk about 'what babies need' such as love, tenderness, comfort, an important narrative to impart on all children, but especially those for have experienced early trauma. 

Most importantly, this book is really funny, throwing 'clever baby' at hyperbole. Clever baby doesn't mean having the ability to recite some numbers, as is the conventional scenario, this baby reads newspapers days after being born. The affinity that young children often have with babies, puts them in on the joke here too: my children find the story hilarious, a baby in space, a baby teaching, a baby dependent from its parents! The book is also very nicely paced, short sentences, a very consistent structure, and easy to read aloud. It's a real gem to share, and highly recommended. 

The Tickle Book

The Tickle Book with pop up surprises

Author: Ian Whybrow 
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler

This book, together with The Bedtime Bear by the same author and illustrating duo, are by far the most loved and well read books in my house. So well loved in fact, I've bought them three times over (each!) and since the summer days have now befallen, the kids being at home ( sheltering from the summer rain) so much more, I find myself putting in my order for a fourth copy of The Tickle Book tonight...and really, they're pretty robust for 'pop up' books! Nonetheless, the absolute excitement and joy a good old fashioned lift-the-flaps, pull -the- tab, pop-up book seems to bring (any age child, in fact the older they get, the more excited by the pop-up aspect they seem to be), dumbfounds me. The pure suspense of the pull, for my seven year old, has him in squeals of delight every time. 

I can't recommend these two books more highly, they're such a pleasure. Bright, loads of fun, very quirky ( why is a lizard in a blizzard? Why is there a rabbit on a motorbike?) , ah the countless questions I have for the author...situational madness ' a mouse motel' and a ' lynx carrying drinks' to a picnic, brings humour with every read. And yet as each book follows a jouney to tickling bedtimes, the menagerie of characters and places all seem to make bizarre sense, fuelling the excitement further. The rhymes are very catchy, with a staccato beat and optimal use of rhetoric. There's also a play on phonics that's a preamble to the now very popular Kes Gray 'Oi' books ( e.g. Oi Frog!) , so an 'owl in a towel' and a 'snake' with a 'cake'. The word choice of the author speaks to toddlers beautifully, plenty of 'hello' and farmyard / animal noises. These are the type of silly rhyme books kids really remember, with invitations and instructions to tickle, close eyes, say goodnight. As such, fantastic books for helping build attachments, for bonding, perfect for adopters. My older children currently love reading these to the younger ones, squeals and giggles of laughter amount, hence the wear and tear on the tabs. I also like that there's lots of different lift flap, pull tabs and card wheel arrangements in the book, it really does make for a 'pop up book  full of surprises.' Big thumbs up from me, but buy three copies at least as you'll get through them, and sadly these books are no longer on constant sale in the big supermarkets, like a few years ago. 

Me...

Author and Illustrator: Emma Dodd
Publisher: Templar Publishing, 2010 as a free edition Bookstart book

The Templar Publishing books by Emma Dodd (in hardback) are the perfect books to give to new parents (titles include You..., Sometimes... and When..., and as above, Me...), and more importantly I think, as there's a real dearth in books for this market, they're perfect books for 'newly placed' adoptees (and as presents for new adoptive parents). Why? because these books espouse a rhetoric of unconditional love, a wholly important message for all young children, but adoptees especially, as feeling safe, secure and loved is a huge part of attachment building. 
What is particularly interesting about the messages in these books, are that the protagonists (generally a young animal, so for example, in Me..., it's a penguin chick) are not 'straightforward' . In Me... the baby penguin is feels very small and insignificant compared to his colony counterparts and the world around him; he says, 'the world is big, but I am small, and several incantations of this beat out throughout the book. At the end of the story he feels reassured, 'I may be small, but I can see, the biggest thing to you is me':   

In Sometimes...a baby elephant is exploring the world, and occasionally he finds himself  pitching his behaviour incorrectly, so squirting water and scaring flamingos away for example. While his behaviour is 'sometimes' a challenge, the parent elephant is always there, and loves him in the face of everything and for all of his behaviours. There's an acceptance here that the young are learning, and learning means making mistakes, and that consequently, it's okay to make mistakes. These messages of commitment, acceptance, love and security are important offerings to all children, but again, to vulnerable children foremost, no matter what their age. 

Just as the latest Bookstart free book for children is launched (Every Bunny Dance) and entered our house via the library this week, I wanted to thank Bookstart especially for this previous title. Me...came out in 2010 and has been treasured in our house. Me... is a lovely, soothing bedtime read, very calming, quiet and sincere. These Emma Dodd books are prefect of young babies and toddlers, with the latter titles including texture on the pages, such as shiny silvery paper representing 'water' for the elephant to wallow in and spray. The illustrations are simple, with small colour palettes used and various artistry techniques (eg. What looks like sponging, crayon and collage to me (but I might be wrong), and these techniques give the illustrations depth and visual texture (particularly in setting the scene of this vast and frozen Antarctica in Me...). 

To conclude, perfectly themed, attractive looking books to buy for friends and family on the birth or adoption of children. Highly recommended. 

If you like this book, you may also like: No Matter What by Debi Gilori