This colourful picturebook invites readers to ‘take a peek inside your mind’ and that is exactly what it does. The very first illustration literally lifts the lid on the subject of brains, showing us what we would see if we took off the top of our skull.
One day, Humperdink, a baby elephant, joins the children in the playgroup. As you can imagine, this takes a bit of adjusting, for everyone! The book follows the children, and Humperdink, through their day, as they each choose their favourite things to do; dressing up, hide-and-seek, playing on the slide. A child-sized playgroup poses difficulties for Humpredink – will they ever find a game that children and elephants can play together?
Gottfried Junior (the narrator) is very close to his Grandpa, who is seriously ill in hospital and hating every minute of his enforced rest. From the first exchange between Grandpa and Gottfried we realise that the ‘normal’ way of things is turned upside down, as Grandpa thunders ‘I’m not allowed out!’ and Gottfried muses ‘I liked it when Grandpa got angry. It made life a bit more exciting’.
Stevie’s life is about to change – from their city-centre flat, Stevie and her Mum are moving to the country, far from everything Stevie knows as ‘home’. To cheer Stevie up, her grandmother brings her a special present, a beautiful teacup-shaped house, complete with a family of toy rabbits called the Twitches. Little does Stevie know that the Twitches are very special toys that have a life of their own – but only when people aren’t watching.
It is wonderful when everything works together in a picturebook – theme, text, illustrations, cover, endpapers – when the whole art object is more than the sum of its parts. Luna Loves Library Day, the début by performance poet Joseph Coelho, illustrated by talented newcomer Fiona Lumbers, is such a picturebook.
Sam Hannigan and her friend Ajay love animals. When Sam’s next-door neighbour is cruel to his dog Barker, she uses her grandad’s invention, the Brain Swap 3000, to inhabit Barker’s body and give the dastardly neighbour a fright he’ll never forget. All goes according to plan – until the Brain Swap 3000 runs out of power and Sam is trapped in Barker’s body for four whole days.
My Naturama Nature Journal is the perfect companion to Naturama, by the same author–illustrator team. Michael Fewer’s text is simple and direct, yet full of information and good advice for the budding nature lover. Melissa Doran’s illustrations not only add to the aesthetic appeal of the book, but also reinforce the information in visual form.
At seventeen, Elias Martin was driven north ‘by dint of not fitting in anywhere else’. For twelve years Elias lives a solitary life of constant struggle to stay warm and fed as he slowly learns the skills that allow him to survive in the harsh tundra of the far north. One day, he sees strange tracks leading to his woodpile, the prints of small bare human feet – a ragged child, whom Elias takes into his hut and names Birch. The story is robust and harrowingly realistic, while also drawing on myth and legend, with touches of the supernatural.
If Ireland has a queen of board books for babies, Mary Murphy wears the crown. Her latest offering is a companion volume to the very popular Crocopotamus: Mix and Match the Wild Animals, also in the Baby Walker series. This time we are introduced to a set of animals we might find in a typical petting zoo or city farm; a calf, a lamb, a chicken, a kitten, a piglet, a goose and a puppy.
This information-packed and cleverly designed illustrated book on space and space exploration will please inquisitive children of many ages and abilities. The format, using small units of information-presented in interesting ways, allows children to explore the book alone or with the help of a friendly adult co-reader.
