Author and Illustrator: Benji Davies
Publisher: Simon Schuster, 2013
I'm not sure what to make of this book, it makes me feel quite uncomfortable, which is no bad thing- kid lit that's challenging; now there's a thing. Sharing this story with a child is fascinating, they see the world through the eyes of lead character, young boy Noi, so the whale washed up in the beach (of course it's alive), but as an adult, is the whale dead?! How dark is this book?
From an adult's perspective, Noi lives in a remote area by the sea, his father is a hardworking fisherman with sole care of his son. Due to the nature of his job, he's away for long periods, sailing dangerous seas at considerable risk to his life. Noi has six cats for company; he might be lonely, he seems to have a big imagination. He wanders about on his own a lot. He craves the attention of his dad. He finds a dead or dying whale washed up in the beach, he takes the whale home and puts it in the bath. His dad arrives home, doesn't realise until late at night that the whale is in the bath. The dad is shocked, outraged, saddened, worried, he realises he's neglecting his son, spends time with his son (still needs to earn a livelihood though?!). He indulges his sons' fantasises about releasing the whale. Then there's a twist- father and son sit happily together having a picnic, looking out on the whale and his mother/ father swimming away. The whale has brought Noi and his father closer together, whatever. (The whale is a metaphor for a missing/ absent/ dead mother?) This book is about the complexity of love; love requires keeping things close (father- son) and at the same time, letting things go (boy-whale)?
From the child's perspective: Noi has all day to play on the beach, he has a net and bucket and goes around exploring. He's a lucky boy (but, I quote my three year old, 'you can't see his smile though, so he might be a sad boy too'. Noi finds a poorly beached baby whale and so he tries to help him. Noi doesn't know how to help the whale but he tries his best (adult perspective: the dad tries his best with Noi but he doesn't know how to help/ connect with him either). Noi realises he needs to keep the whale wet, so he finds his radio flyer and carts the whale off home to the bath.
The whale is nursed and cared for in the bath by the boy. The boy has a new friend. The dad arrives back home. The boy keeps his new friend a secret from his dad. (I quote my five year old here: 'The dad finds the whale in the bath and says to Noi that whales can't live in bathtubs, but that they should be outside in the sea.') The dad and boy take the baby whale back to the sea and let him free. The whale finds his mum (my children all think the big whale is 'the mum'?!) , and the whales and the humans both live happily ever after.
As such, Benji Davies is one seriously clever author to write a very simple picture book like this which supports two parallel readings, one for adults and one for children. The illustrations in The Storm Whale are reminiscent of those poe- faced boy images in the work of Alex Jefferies. This is an amazingly thoughtful and provocative book, with themes of loneliness; mortality; rescue; neglect, care and attention; imagination; friendship; freedom and capture. The book invites many readings, many themes and many discussions; it wouldn't be out of place in any primary school classroom, and in fact I've found some fantastic online resources to support reading or use in teaching:
The Storm Whale teaching ideas
Author: Cynthia Rylant
Illustrator: Sucie Stevenson
Publisher: Simon Spotlight, 1987, edition featured Aladdin Paperbacks 1990
I know very little about this author (I just looked her up: Cynthia Rylant) and very little about the educational context of this 'ready-to-read' series of books ( Henry and Mudge), but I absolutely love this book, and I'm cherishing passing it on to my children.
Henry and Mudge: The First Book is about a young boy, Henry, who feels lonely. He has no siblings nor friends in his neighbourhood; he asks his parents for a dog. His parents agree, so along comes Mudge, a puppy. This puppy grows into a huge drooling heavy-weight of a dog and a lovely friendship between boy and dog is forged, seemingly impenetrable. There's a humourous 'growing up' moment in the story when we see all the collars Mudge grows out of, before meeting giant Mudge himself. This sweet, charming story is so well written, it reads aloud so effortlessly as an adult, and with its many moments of pause and reflection, it reads easily to the child as well. Bert read the series when four and a half years old, and he was a fair to good reader at the time. It's an ideal book as part of the Summer Reading Challenge, as one of many in an American early years reading scheme.
Now what I especially like about this man and beast relationship, is that it's shown to be reciporcal, so dog Mudge, loves Henry as much as Henry adores Mudge. They spend all their time together, sharing the same bed, smelling each other, lying on each other.
Henry gains confidence through having Mudge, described concisely yet poetically:
Rylant's economy with words is Orwellian. She gets across the idea perfectly, with no unnecessary exposition. As an early reader these books are perfect, very short smart
sentences, interesting vocabulary but most importantly a gripping story. I remember my heart beating in my head reading these books as a child, wondering if Henry will find Mudge once Mudge goes missing in the wood. Rylant sets up this moment of loss and worry so nicely, showing how the landscape suddenly seems big and empty, showing the desperation in Henry as he shouts and shouts for his dog. The pastel watercolour and pen illustrations feel a tiny bit dated, but mainly thanks to dad's handlebar moustache (though admittedly back as a fashion faux pas again currently). Saying this, I like how Sucie Stevenson has captured a sense of flow in the tree detail and the idea of a vast lonely sky with the formation of birds migrating overhead in the Mudge being lost scene.
The ending of the book is also suprisingly solemn, with Rylant reminding the reader about the fear and loss Henry felt when Mudge was missing. As such, this story really stays with children; after reading it yesterday Bert asked if we could get a dog (fairly predictable), recalling how Mudge was Henry's best friend. He said that in the story Henry had learnt how much he loved Mudge, especially when he was gone. Loyalty, and valuing friendship then, is a theme children take from this book.
Author: Helen Nicoll
Illustrator: Jan Pienkowski
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd 1975, Puffin Books 1979, edition featured 2009
I think this is a 'Marmite' series, you either love these bizarre, nonsensical, bold, bright books of the 1970s Nicoll and Pienkowski Partnership, or they furrow your brow in a bad way. I love watching adults who aren't familiar with the series, try to read these to children for the first time. The series borders on the psychedelic, with dystopic plots and a strange sort of coherence. They leave you filling puzzled and yet fulfilled.
Cartoon witch Meg lives (in a house) with Mog the black cat and Owl, the white bird.
Together they go on an adventure or celebrate an event, usually involving making spells that go slightly wrong, always ending peacefully with the characters waving their goodbyes. The books are made up of exuberant colourful illustrations, pop-art style, and incredibly short stanza, one- six words per page normally. There's a a lot of onomatopoeia used, mixtures of font sizes and styles, and grabbing impact words such as ' victory!' ( huge font). In Meg's castle there are interesting cultural references to the Green knight legend and St George, with snippets of rhyme and proverb thrown in for good measure, 'I'm the king of the castle.' Meg, Mog and Owl books are action-filled as well as eye catching, and are great fun to read aloud. Here's my favourite high-drama page of this title:
The Meg, Mog and Owl series are perfect share-with stories for the 18month- 3 year old old range because these books are loud, fun and the snippets of speech, rhyme, spell are very catchy and memorable, 'call me George'! This series also comes into its own again for 3-5 year olds, with such simple sentences, making them suitable 'first readers.' I'm also finding the series quite useful to inpart the principles of comic- book writing on my 7 year old, encouraging him to add speech bubbles and sound tags to his pictures, as those techniques are abundant and effective here. Now as this series is over forty years old, it is understandable that it's somewhat of an institution, and as such, the series has a huge array of resources to support reading available online. Here's a selection: Pinterest Meg and Mog resources, Meg and Mog WordSearch
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
Author and Illustrator: Steve Antony
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2015
Voices, is what we say about this book, really fun to read-out-aloud voices.
Toddler ape Betty is resistant to bedtime, and, like many an ape before her, she borders on the edge of extreme meltdown distracting herself and procrastinating at the same time with any toy that comes to hand. And my my is she active, wanting to play instruments, paint on her easel, and play with all manner of transportation device, anything but go to bed.
Meanwhile, poor tired looking Mr Toucan (Toucan? Yes, we were baffled at first, but then this strangely makes sense alongside toddler-gorilla-in-pyjamas), Mr Toucan manages to keep very calm and in a soothing (if slightly wearisome voice), he convinces Betty to go to bed. Until one final amusing calamity, as Betty's toys burst back out the cupboard and she once again looks (very) awake. Doh!
This book succeeds where many don't attempt to go, hitting at the stormy waters of the 2-4 year old age range. At 2 and a half years old Edie (now 3) turned ape every night demanding this book was read before she'd get in her bed...oh the irony! The comic timing, as Mr Toucan finally looses his rag with Betty, then returning his composure by summoning his inner super nanny, is genius. The very keep-calm-and-get-them-to-bed of Mr Toucan resonates brilliantly, and my wry smile increases every time I read Steve Antony's dedication at the end of the book 'To Mum, the best storyteller ever, and all other toucans.'
Main character Betty, is probably one of my favourite of all fictional characters. Her expression-filled face says it all, you almost don't need to 'read' this book, as little ones can certainly follow the gist of how Betty feels from the illustrations alone (excited, elated, engrossed, sleepy, wired). The voice of Betty, for us, is this monosyllabic butch ('Little Britain' style) man voice. Our children roll about in fits of hysterics when we read this book, especially if we have Mr Toucan's voice the same as our own 'get to bed' voice ( and roll our eyes and sigh at the same time). At 5 (Bert) and 7 (Alf) the older boys still like this book, but mainly reading it and imitating 'the voices' for the younger two. There's a good amount of repetition in the story, so again, really perfect for the 2 year olds, and there's plenty of bright colours and inanimate objects in the illustrations such as lorry, teddy, drum, that the little ones enjoy spotting/recognising/naming/pointing at. There's also lots of little quirks I enjoy about the book; Betty's romper suit has a banana print, there's letter blocks scattered about
on each page which cover the whole alphabet from start to finish, there's no hint of a gender stereotype- Betty plays with her bananas lorry and pink open top car.
We love this book- big thumbs up for Betty and her weary toucan parent /carer.
Here's a link to The BookTrust's review and e-card request for this book as we love it so: BookTrust - Betty Goes Bananas
Author and Illustrator: Shirley Hughes
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd, 1985
One very simple, beautiful poem called 'Bathwater's Hot', manages to manifest one massive place in my heart. I think this shabby ex-library book purchased on a second-hand book stall for 20p is one of the most valuable things I own, as for me it's synonymous with bedtime and so synonymous with this phase of raising young children that I'm currently in.
This sweet little rhyme is about a 3-4 year old girl and her podgy toddler brother observing their surrounding and finding lots of opposites in the world. Bath water might be hot but 'sea water is cold' for example. Each binary idea carries its own illustration, packed full of warmth and feeling and family life. The cadences of the rhyme are particularly moving as they rise up and down, up and down like a soft lullaby. So catchy is the beat of this poem, we seem to have committed it to memory (unintentionally, though I do read it a lot): on approaching traffic lights one of the children will always recite 'It's fun to run very fast, or to be slow. The red light says 'stop', And the green light says go!' Feel free to cringe at the geekiness, but this book is just so innocent, so kind-hearted and dreamy, its hard not to be swept away with it. I also like that this book captures the early 1980s as generation so nicely, with the clothes, household items, the bathroom unit, the bedstead.
This is a real 'join-in' bedtime rhyme, with quiet moments and louder moments, quite literally. It's perfectly short, and definitely showcases Shirley Hughes work at its very best.
Authors: James Bowen & Garry Jenkins
Illustrator: Gerald Kelley
Publisher: Red Fox Picture Books, 2015
Every inch of me loves this book. I love cats, buskers, rescue stories, real life stories, puppies...well not puppies, but the cat wearing a scarf makes up for that. The children were dubious at first, mainly because, their words, "the pictures are too scary, and everyone in the book is afraid", but as with all first-time yarns, once re-read a couple of times familiarity sets in, and with this book that familiarity means we know of the hero ending, the happy reunion between girl and puppy, so the 'fear' fades. What we're left with is this lovely animal-to-animal rescue mission, as brave scarf wearing former stray Bob, worries about the small shivering puppy he finds under a bush in the park. Not wanting to leave the puppy alone in the howling wind on a dark, rainy night, Bob ventures back outside to intervene. He finds the puppy, but has a hard time convincing the puppy he is 'a friend'. Turning away, Bob is chased by a 'big dog' ( the section of the book the children deem 'most scary'), but the yelping puppy comes to the aid of Bob just in the nick of time. And if that wasn't enough drama, there is still time for the puppy to be reunited with his owner.
In terms of the graphics, the simple ink and watercolour illustrations used capture the human faces in the story especially well, bringing a realism to the piece. As such the dog chase page depicts a cowering Bob at the moment the baying big dog lunges, the realistic expressions are again, just a little too scary (for the preschooler age range), but have softened for us with familiarity. The illustrations are however, very rich and beautiful, well worth a look, capturing the night sky vividly. In contrast, here's the opening two pages with nice depth of perspective over the park:
The backstory of 'Bob the Rescue Cat' is enthralling, and brought in via snippets in the intro and outro. Author James Bowen had himself faced a period of homelessness, and was making a new way in life for himself as a busker when he met stray ginger tom cat (he later named Bob) back in March 2007. Having nursed the poorly stray cat back to health, James and Bob became very attached to one another, so much so, Bob accompanied James on his stints on the streets busking. (I think this where the knitted scarf and cat harness come in). Author Garry Jenkins then helped James Bowen pen the book 'A Street Cat Named Bob' in 2012, and the further books, fame, charity work, and feature film went from there (reference: Bob the Rescue Cat back page).
At 3 years, 5 years, and 7 years respectively the children seem to be interested in the backstory of James Bowen's life as much as the rescue mission tale. They love the photos page showing Bob in several scarves and giving his owner a paws-up high-five. I think I'll try to move Alf (7) on to some of Bowen's work aimed at older children, at some point this year, as Bowen's biography has been a little 'edited' in these picture books, and I think there's hardhitting more exploratory themes to come. This is a great book for starting discussion about trust, friendship, loneliness, homeliness and bravery though; I think it has the potential to become a real classic.
BBFC Rated 12A, so not suitable for the littlies, I'll leave you with the trailer from the newly released film: A Street Cat Named Bob
Author/ Editor: Joe Fullman and Alexandra Koken
Publisher: Carlton Books Ltd, 2015
It's always a joy to see a child with their arms around a book, having not been told to choose or find a book...though bedtime, with The Titanic (again!) When will Alf's obsession with this book end?
We've had 'The Story of Titanic For Children' for a good 18 months now, and I can safely say it's the boys' ( 7 years and 5 years) favourite non- fiction. The book is a sort of scrapbook encyclopaedia of The Titanic, from the building of, to the legacy of 'the unsinkable ship.' Each page is a colourful double page spread under a differing theme, such as 'loading', 'manning' , 'powering' et.al. Particularly interesting are the overviews on passenger social class and where this placed passengers in relation to the ship's quarters (and their likelihood of survival).
It seems the secret to the success of this book ( with my children), besides this being a captivating, horrifying and real-life tragedy that simply fascinates, is the personalisation of the stor/ies and themes. Each page offers a photo or two and short paragraph on how individuals were associated with the Titanic and what fate had in store for them, so for example, in 'First Class' we read how The Countess of Rothes steered lifeboat 8 to safety, and became friends with Able Seaman Thomas Jones ever after. Alf's current favourite snippet of story is that of Eva Hart, who was a seven year old on board The Titanic, as he can relate to her, being seven himself.
As you can see, the pages are laid out like a pin board with pin images in some of the pictures, this makes the arrangement of the page very inviting and novel, with photo excerpts interspliced with poster images and artefacts of that time. There's also little clues and suggestions as to who or what is to 'blame' for the sinking of The Titanic; lookout boy Fredrich Fleet, whose binoculars were locked in a cupboard thanks to Second Officer David Blair being transferred to The Olympic? First Officer William Murdoch for taking evasive action and giving the order to turn the ship away from the iceberg, leaving it to hit side on rather than dead centre? Alf and Bert revel in this guessing game and opportunity to exercise their own opinion, they have even recreated the 'side on' 'straight on' impact using bubble icebergs and toy boats in the bath.
Now don't get me wrong, this is a great book, but inevitably it's a morbid story of a tragic disaster. The page 'A Ship Destroyed' has a graphic image of dead men in the water, so maybe not suited to the more faint hearted. This sort of macabre and gruesome drama does seem though, to really appeal to children of 5years and upwards. So much so that Alf persistently bought this book into class for 'silent reading' for a lot of last year. After a good few months his teacher stopped me in the playground and politely requested I send Alf in with 'something less diaster based.' He agreed and scooted off upstairs to find a new 'independent reading book.' He came down a few minutes with 'Pompeii' !!
I will leave you with a fantastic clip from a National Geographic documentry, that Alf and Bert have watched over and over again, helping them to support their theories and foundation knowledge obtained from this hugely recommended book: The Stroy of Titanic for Children.
Titanic Sinking CGI Video: National Geographic
