Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s Endeavour voyage, prepare to jump abroad and sail through a story from the other side of history. It is often the characters in the background during great moments that give us the most rounded and fullest of accounts.
This is quite simply one of the most sumptuous non-fiction books for young readers at the moment. It makes a considerable effort to only delve into important things that little children would prefer to learn; like how do you cure your hiccups in Mexico? With red string stuck to your forehead, of course! Or what do mice say in different countries? Pip, pip in Sweden, zi zi in China and squitt squitt in Italy.
This modern retelling of a Grimms’ fairytale will ignite a spark in young feminists. We find twelve girls strong and capable, and although they are underestimated by a father whose main concerns are that of his kingdom, they are inspired and allowed to flourish under his audacious wife, the queen.
Everything scares Elsie: people, children, spiders and trees. She stays inside her house for safety; a place that is tidy and clean, and very grey. Then one day something sky-blue flies in through an open window. She sweeps it into the fire, but can’t sleep that night, her dreams haunted by thoughts of her house filled with flying things. Elsie is still scared the next morning when she hears a knock on her front door. Outside is a small boy looking for his paper plane. It was blue.
Hubert is an extraordinary child who is both incredibly clever and surprisingly responsible for his age. The answer to how Hubert became the marvel of a child that he is today has its origins in his parents’ blatantly irresponsible behaviour.
The idea of introducing philosophy to children is one that may seem daunting, but O’Donoghue approaches this topic in a form that all young readers will understand – that of stories. From the outset this introduction is posing questions that ask how much we think about our thinking and why we think how we do.
No one likes feeling ill, having to visit a doctor or stay in hospital, so this collection of funny, informative poems is like medicine for the reluctant patient. From the cosiness of your bed when you are sick, to parents’ care and humour when a little person in is hospital, Latvian poet Zandere gently deals with all aspects of being poorly. Reimagined by Cullen, medical procedures are deconstructed and simplified so that worries and fears can be seen from a child’s point of view.
Imagine a scenario where your dad falls in love with another man and you don’t want that to happen. How about if the daughter of the other man felt exactly the same? Could you both plan to break up their relationship? This is the predicament facing the very efficient and super intelligent Avery and the more adventurous and outgoing Bett. The problem is that they live in different parts of America – until their Dads decide it would be great if they spent time together in Summer Camp for the entire holidays.
There is a refrain that repeats throughout the book – ‘All around the world and through, people have…’ – and so begins a history of people, a veritable museum of items from across time. Each spread is full of over thirty images – all items that can be found in the British Museum. There is a broad sweep of all peoples from across the world through history – rich and poor, children and adults, wild beasts and friendly pets.
For any reader ebullient about words this book is a ripsnorter. Packed with four hundred unusual words from ‘absquatulate’ to ‘zygodactyl’ and everything in between, it’s sure to appeal to the little abecedarian in your life.
