Treasure Island

Usborne Young Reading version of Treasure Island
Based on the story of Robert Louis Stevenson
Retelling: Angela Wilkes
Adaption: Sam Taplin
Illustrations: Peter Dennis
Publisher: Usborne, 2007

Tonight I really enjoyed reading this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island to my seven year old boy Alf. This adaptation is part of series two in the Usborne Young Reading scheme, and is aimed at 'readers who are growing in confidence'. Part of a reading scheme this book may be, and indeed Alf has read many from this series through school, but actually they're great for adults to read aloud as bedtime stories too, especially condensed classics such as this one, as I think we're still a year or more away from his interest and concentration being such as to listen to the real thing chapter by chapter, night by night. 

This took me about 20-25minutes to read aloud at a good steady pace, with interjection time for questions and elaboration. The main point of departure from the novel, and most sanitised part of this classic, is the absence of the 'black spot' (chapter 1, The captain's secret), which was a shame I felt, as this pirates folklore was a highlight for me in the novel. The arrival of the blind man and death of Billy Bones needed a lot of elaboration too, I felt, to bring this adaptation anyway near as gripping as the novel. Likewise Jim Hawkins hiding in the apple barrel lost all sense of fear and thrill in this version, but then, this adaptation is more of an introduction to the plot only, rather than the anything of the texture and feel of the story. It's intended for a different purpose than the novel of course, and to sustain interest (especially from the target audience of 5-8 year old boys I assume) the book moves forward fast, only a little too fast given the breadth of characters introduced. At points Alf lost track inthe whose who. In fact, this Usborne Reader feels a bit like the exposition section in The York Notes, only on speed, no wonder we both got lost. 

What we liked about this adaptation though- the graphics feel very 'classic' and the thought bubbles from characters bring foresight to characters are feeling. Alf loved the gung ho of the plot, with Jim Hawkins climbing rigging, shooting with pistols, hiding in forts and chartering row boats to save the day. The book is action packed and readable in one session, though as an early reader it is also suitable to be read alone and can be dipped in and out of with the short chapters.  The vocabulary suits slightly younger readers than Alf too, maybe 5-6, but he was interested in the pirate specific words and pirate specific code, such as the reading of the treasure map and the double bluff of Long John Silver. In all, this is a good, comforting read best placed as a one-off bedtime story when in between chapter books with the older readers (+7 years in our house). It left Alf asking ' for the real thing' tonight, which was exactly my intention. 

Dear Zoo

Author and Illustrator: Rod Campbell
Publisher: Campbell Books, first published 1982 by Abelard-Schuman Ltd

Tonight it's the turn of famous toddler board book 'Dear Zoo'. Simple, repetitive and formulaic, so perfect for babies and toddlers. A letter to the zoo returns eight surprise animals hidden in crates, boxes and baskets. The receiver is fussy and sends the animals back one-by-one based on their common characteristic, so, the camel was grumpy, the frog was jumpy and the dog? The puppy is perfect so the receiver keeps him. 

This is about as straightforward as a flap-book for toddlers gets, with pretty much the same sentence on every page ( about writing to the zoo) and then an opportunity to sneak a peak under the flap to understand the big reveal. Adjectives used are appropriate and characterise the animal hidden well. Our children provide their own sound effects for certain adjectives so 'grumpy' is accompanied by a huff, or for certain animals, so 'lion' is followed by a roar. For toddlers this is great as it invites joining in. I'm not sure that all families would agree that a puppy is 'perfect' though, especially one eating furniture or weeing where it shouldn't. 

Here's a slightly stern reading from the Book Trust:  A reading of Dear Zoo

Each Peach Pear Plum

Author:Allan Ahlberg
Illustrator: Janet Alhberg
Publisher: Puffin Books 1978, board book edition 1999

I'm surprised it's taken me until mid January to review an Ahlberg book, as their many books are staples of our book shelves and classics of British children's literature. 

Each Peach Pear Plum is a fantastic rhyming 'I-spy' book, inviting small children to spot well-known nursery rhyme and fairytale characters such as The Three Bears and Bo-Peep. 
The Ahlbergs use intertextuality again in the Postman and other People's Letters books; referencing characters that young children are likely to know, playing in their inherent familiarity and knowledge, helps them feel like empowered readers,  it's a technique I've  noticed used a great deal in British children's early readers fiction. 

Each Peach Pear Plum in board book edition is particularly engaging for the 18month-2 1/2 year old age range, tough and durable for all the poking and pointing of podgy little hands. The story / game itself, to spot the arm or legs or distant figure of the next character, is fun and invites action, and the scanning of the illustrations. The illustrations are very 'busy' and detailed, there's much to see, sometimes a little too much as on first read the clues are very hard to spot, but then the child gets a real sense of satisfaction from remembering the exact spot to point amongst all the busyness. 

In terms of the nursery rhymes inside the rhyme, again this is clever as it makes associations and so is easier for children to remember and recite. With rhyming couplets and use of alliteration the book is very catchy, 'Wicked Witch over the Wood' 
and I find myself repeating the verse over and over in my sleep. I also like the ending, bringing the rhyme to a happy conclusion, in that 'plum pie in the sun' unites so many disparate story characters together on one picnic blanket, from Tom Thumb to Robin Hood, Baby Bunting to The Wicked Witch. I never tire of reading this beautiful rhyme. It has iconic status in modern British children's literature, and rightfully so. 

The Sly Fox and the Little Red Hen

Retold by Vera Southgate
Illutrations: Robert Lumely
Publisher: Ladybird Books ltd, 1968

I am a huge fan of Ladybird books, as, I imagine, are most children's literature fans of my generation (I had many books from the 1960s, which would have been 'nostalgic' for my own parents). Now here I am trying to share these books with my own children, to mixed effect. Some titles just haven't worked, so for example, my favourite, 'Snow White and Rose Red', the children just won't tolerate, 'it's too long and too weird' seven year old Alf says. (I can't argue with that, I also agree, only I liked that it was long and rather than weird, I found it thrilling because it was darn right scary). I'll try again when they're older.

However, this title, from the Well-loved Tales Ladybird series, 'The Sly Fox and the Little Red Hen', the children do like, in fact they really get on board when this is our chosen book at bedtime. The illustrations are incredibly detailed compared to the illustrations they are used to and familiar with today. The fine lines and detail of the pictures muster a sort of realism, that the children are just not used to. This contrasts with the story itself which turns the fox into a caricature, he is sly, he is cunning and he desperately wants to eat the little red hen. The hen looks silly, flapping around, getting put in a sack, but she's clever, and in a brutal way (putting stones in the sack so when the foxes put the 'hen' in the boiling pot of water, the heavy and big stones cause the boiling water to spill out and scold the foxes to death) she kills the foxes. Understandably this version of the fairytale has more sanitised ending these days, but the shock and victorious ending for the little red hen in this version, with foxes dead not just walking away distantly in the woods, rouses cheers with the children. It's the same fear- filled curiosity feeling I think I had as a child when reading these books, the same fear- enjoyment binary that enabled me to remember 'Snow White and Rose Red' so well.

I also like that my children refer to this book as an 'olden days book' . The yellowy look of the book and feel of the pages interests Bert (5) , but mainly it's because the book is tattered and torn, has a lighter palette of colours than their modern story books. The storytelling itself in The Sly Red Fox', with roughly three lines a page, still works so well. I wonder how far removed the next generation will find these books, or whether in some respects, thanks to their newfound place in marketplaces such as EBay as 'retro, vintage and chic' they will remain timeless. 

Goodnight Moon

Author: Margaret Wise Brown

Illustrator: Clement Hurd
Publisher: Originally published in 1947, reprinted in 2012 Macmillian Children's Books

Goodnight Moon is heralded as a classic of North American children's literature. I became familiar with the book from a language blog I read many years ago, in which the poem had been translated into Polish. Having not initially read the poem in English, it made so much more 'sense' in the English translation and I grew to love it (and yet this poem makes very little 'sense' at all). Having scribbled the lyrics of Goodnight Moon down from the language blog, I actually read it aloud to Alf and Bert when they were little from a scrap of paper. It became a ritual at bedtime to read this poem, which is of course, what Goodnight Moon is all about (the anthropomorphic bunny's bedtime routine). 

Three years on and having purchased the board book version, this book remains consistently part of the bedtime routine in that one of my children (at least) will always, choose this to read out to their baby brother. The poem is rhythmic and surreal. Illustrator Clement Hurd has used bold psychedelic orange and green alongside black silhouette and shadow, making the illustrations quite haunting, ethereal. 

Goodnight Moon seems to be enjoying a new / renewed fame in the UK at the moment, as I've seen it on sale in art galleries and being pushed in more highend book shops lately. I assume this is because it is deemed a young children's 'classic' and is easily marketable as an American cult classic at that. I would like to see  The Quangle Wangle's Hat be reinvented like this, in the same way, as to me it's tantamount to Goodnight Moon in its ethereal nature and has the same iconic pictorials. 

Loved by my older children as an easy- read to the baby each night, Goodnight Moon is perfectedly pitched at the 1-2 year age range. It holds their attention in a rather hynoptic way, with its duo-toned block pictures, such as the lamp, and use of black and white, such as the house. I'm sure I've read before that babies under 4 months only see in this basic colour wheel, so again Goodnight Moon is ideal for the very youngest of bookworms and their parents.
In all, this is a really lovely, dreamy, familiar, ritualistic read, and it always puts a neat full stop on the night. 

The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies

Author and illustrator: Beatrix Potter
Publisher: Frederick Werne 1909 originally. reproduction Frederick Wearne and Co 2002


This is my 3 year old daughter's favourite book, and it has been for quite some time. Once you overcome the length of Beatrix Potter stories with little ones, and Potter books do feel quite long for them on the first few reads, there's something comforting and familiar about the stories, characters and even the way she writes, probably because her work is so over merchandised in contemporary Britain. I've lost count of the Petter Rabbit toys we own, the Squirrel Nutkin birthday cards we've received, and the Tiggy Winkle cup and bowl set I kept from my own childhood we use most days. And there's the rub I suppose, nostalgia! I think I read these books with more passion, more longing, more patience then any other children's books as I have fond memories ( of that cup and bowl set), and so maybe it's this Edie hears in my voice that makes her love them so. I don't think I was ever really read the books as a child myself, but I remember this version of BBC serialisation so well, happy days: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_of_Peter_Rabbit_and_Friends 

Now the thing I love about 'The Flopsy Bunnies' tale in particular is the menace of Mr McGregor nearly getting to put the sleeping bunnies in a pie. Edie and I like how he counts out the bunnies on several occasions as it brings the proximity to the time that he will eat them so close.  I also love the fact Potter's work is still unabridged ( I think that's the correct word) meaning that her original descriptions and use of language lay in tact, and so my three year old understands / is expected to understand what 'soporific bunnies' means! I could tell I was reading Potter books far to much to Alf when he was three, as he once turned around in the park and said, with hands on hips, ' I am affronted!!' to a complete stranger.  (line from 'The Tale of Tom Kitten' if anyone is wondering). 

As an aside, when we took a visit to Beatrix Potter's house in the Lake District,the National Trust volunteer tour guide handed all the children a copy of The Tale of Samuel Whiskers. We were worried that our 7 year old wouldn't engage in the tour at all, but with book in hand the guide asked him to find all the places in the house illustrated in the book. These were places, she said, where Beatrix Potter was reported to have seen real rats ( and tried to kill them.  Far from bored, the boys in particular run excitedly round the house comparing the illustrations of the skirting board to the real nooks and crannies in HillTop house. If you're interested in visiting Hill Top (a great way to support children's reading of The tales of Beatrix Potter, visit the National Trust site:  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hill-top
Rating: Stick with these books, persist, and you'll be rewarded with discovering the magic of Potter, beautiful, detailed and eloquent stories, with a very 'British' rural flavour, note wild flower illustrations encapsulate the period.