Alan MacDonald, Ill. David Roberts

Stripes

1847150047

Sep 2006

It is easy to see why the mischievous child has a lengthy tradition in children’s literature. What an ideal vehicle with which to exercise struggled liberation from the constraints childhood often is culturally hemmed within and to implicitly present didactic ethics and morals.
High-jinx and japes can be traced from Mrs Sherwood’s ‘The History of the Fairchild Family’ down through Nesbit’s well-intentioned though oft-misguided Bastable children, Blyton’s ‘Naughtiest Girl’, Crompton’s ‘William’, Dorothy Edward’s ‘Naughty little sister’ and the recently televised ‘Horrid Henry’. This tradition is continued with ‘Dirty Bertie’.
‘Dirty Bertie: Worms’ is the first in a series of young fiction titles ‘ ‘Stripes’ ‘ published by Little Tiger Press. Indeed, ‘Dirty Bertie’ himself will be familiar to readers through his appearance in two picture books ‘Dirty Bertie’ and ‘Pooh! Is that you, Bertie?’. In this young fiction book, three tales are presented, ‘Worms’, ‘Manners’ and ‘Rubbish’. The highlight of these is definitely ‘Worms’, wherein Bertie makes a highly unusual fancy-dress appearance at next-door-neighbour Angela’s pink party. In typical irreverent Bertie style, our hero finds if he can’t wriggle out of the party, the best thing is to wriggle into it’
More endearing than a certain child-terror, Henry, these tales feel to be more led by character than by mischievous deeds alone. It is hard not to feel endeared to Bertie who, once more, is brilliantly realised in full-fiendish detail by the talented David Roberts. Fans should also look out for ‘Dirty Bertie: Fleas’ also now available in Little Tiger Press’ distinctive new fiction label.

Neal Layton

Hodder Children’s Books

0340930292

Oct 2006

‘By tusk and trunk’

Those who have followed Oscar and Arabella, that indomitable, woolly mammoth duo, in their picture book adventures: ‘Oscar and Arabella’ and ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’ will be delighted to learn that the pair have ascended to school age.
On arrival of a letter from Professor Snout at the Mammoth Academy, the pair are both advised as to the items they will need in readiness for their first school day. Use of the novel form, allows significant character development, Neal Layton includes a facsimile of Oscar’s letter ‘ and later of his school map ‘ both of which have been rather carelessly crumpled and smudged!
Activities take a turn towards the unexpected when Oscar discovers a set of footprints in the snow which, being the inquisitive mammoth that fans of the series will know that he is, he decides to follow…
It transpires the tracks lead to the kitchens where a thief has been stealing oranges. The mystery unravels and Oscar becomes entwined in playing out the role of detective in a furiously paced adventure that sees him do battle against the humans using a rather unwieldy prehistoric skateboard!
This novel will appeal to those who have enjoyed Ian Whybrow and Tony Ross’ ‘Little Wolf’ series. Illustrations and text alike are brilliantly executed by Neal Layton whose brilliant first novel guarantees mammoth amounts of fun!

Sean Taylor

Frances Lincoln

1845076273

Oct 2006

A welcome return of the zealous and zany pupils that together constitute the chaos that is’ Purple Class! The four stories in this latest volume see the class battle against the eponymous flying spider, see Leon manage to misplace thirty violins (much to the consternation of Mrs Powell), sees the loss of the class guinea-pig and the discovery of suspected munitions in the class’s new vegetable patch!
Worthy of particular mention is ‘Goodbye Joyce’ where the escape of the class guinea-pig is sensitively and, in parts, hilariously juxtaposed with the decease of much loved dinnerlady Joyce. The story succeeds in embracing life ‘ and freedom! ‘ whilst at once grieving absence and loss.
Malapropisms and mishaps abound in these genuine, laugh-out-loud, short stories set in the modern multicultural classroom. Let’s hope another school outing is allowed for the irrepressible Purple Class!

Nikki Cornwell, ill. Karin Littlewood

Frances Lincoln

1845075218

Aug 2006

‘Each time you tell a story, the spirit of the person who told you the story is standing behind you; and behind him there’s the spirit of the person who told him the story. And each time you tell a story, they help you to make pictures in the sky.’

The potency of storytelling, its ability to traverse terrain and to cross cultures blazes strong in ‘Christophe’s Story’, an impressive, deeply thought-provoking and moving short novel whose understanding and compassion bathes readers in hope and belief that regardless of who we might be, whatever our backgrounds or beliefs, all our tomorrows might one day be better and brighter.
Removed from a landscape and populace that has been savaged by war, Christophe’s familiar homelands of Rwanda have been substituted for England. Starting at a new school, Christophe is taunted by one of his new class-mates Jeremy. These playground persecutions offer a glimpse at the dynamics of conflict that in the macrocosm of Rwanda led to Christophe’s family becoming embroiled in the programme of ethnic cleansing that was carried out there.
Accidentally revealed his war-scarred body, Christophe comes to tell his class his story of war-torn Rwanda, the death of his brother Matthieu and the burning of his house. That his class are unaware there has been a war in Rwanda is an indictment of the narrowness of focus and the Anglo-centricity of the classroom.
His storytelling constitutes a process of abreaction for Christophe who through reliving his trauma is able to begin the process of relieving that trauma arriving at resolve. Eager that the wider community should be aware of Christphe’s story, his teacher Miss Finch writes this down, an act of sacrilege for Christophe, who follows his grandfather Babi’s belief that stories begin to die when written down. Angered Christophe tears the story into pieces, however, Babi’s spirit visits him vesting within him the role of storyteller, master of words, lives and light’
Karin Littlewood’s illustrations brilliantly capture the suffering and pain surrounding the war in Rwanda yet successfully sparkle with the innate pleasures and life of childhood. To document such large political ideas, such hatreds and injustice in so short a novel and yet to leave readers awed, heartened and feeling in a real sense more tolerant is an enviable achievement and one which this exceptional book achieves with a real zeal.

Andrew Fusek Peters & Polly Peters

Frances Lincoln

184507520X

Aug 2006

‘history is full of tales, and sometimes it takes bravery and pluck to uncover them.’

Bravery and pluck are the lifeblood that abound and flow so thoroughly through Czech siblings Jan and Marie Klesek who, following their father Frantisek, a maths teacher who has got a new job in England, move to a small village. Their arrival in the middle of the night is met by a welcome that is quite literally divest of any warmth and hospitality, a bull charges down the side of the car and the cottage in which they are staying ‘ the curiously named ‘Shoe Cottage’ ‘ is cold, damp and in a state of near dereliction.
Bob Thomson the families new landlord is a seemingly uncaring and miserly individual who has a great nephew, Ross, and a great niece, Kerry, who both become the bane of the Klesek children’s life, taunting, teasing and being malicious to them both. On one such occasion the children take flight and come across a barn where they take shelter from a sudden storm. Lady Beddoes lives in the barn and the two children quickly befriend her.
Marie encounters prejudice and xenophobia in the guise of her new friend, Ashleigh’s mother, Carol Jillson who has a decidedly narrow outlook and small-town mentality when it comes to accepting newcomers, let alone ‘foreigners’.
What Jan and Marie find hidden in a shoe in the chimney of their cottage and that landlord, Bob Thompson, is desperate to gain possession of and thereby conceal, leads to a revelation and through a series of plot twists and turns lead to Lady Beddoe ascending to her rightful position within the village thereby setting about making things right once more! This is a real romp of a read, Jan and Marie make for particularly endearing protagonists whom it is difficult not to feel a joint affinity and affection towards’

Chris Powling

A & C Black

0713676809

Jun 2006

Sibling jibes, rivalry and jackanapes form the background to Chris Powling’s book ‘On the Ghost Trail’ which forms a part of the ‘Mystery and Adventure Stories’ collection for year three pupils in A & C Black’s ‘White Wolves’ range for guided reading. An accompanying resource guide can be bought to support use in class. This series has been developed in conjunction with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.
People often attribute shared characteristics between dog and owner, here it is grandpa’s house that is painted as being similar to him ‘ it being old, creaky and somewhat untidy! It makes a classic setting for a ghost story,
Adam plants the seed of doubt in his younger brother and sister’s minds (Ben and Susie respectively) when he suggests that the cobwebs in the fireplace are actually trails left behind by ghosts, or that the twig tap-tap-tapping on the window pane is in fact a ghost’s heart beat.
So begins a midnight mission, a dare amongst the two brothers that they should visit a nearby graveyard. Whilst there, however, a flash of intense light startles them and they immediately run for safety’ Is the light a supernatural apparition or is there a more surprising ending still?! A fun book that explores the nature of bravery.

Julia Green

A & C Black

0713675942

Jun 2006

A father figure is absent for Luke in ‘Taking Flight’ by Julia Green. It is easy to empathise therefore with the sense of closeness existing between Luke and his grandfather, who appears to constitute the boy’s sole paternal influence. His grandfather’s house and its gardens represent a safe-haven for him, an area in which Luke’s imagination is unshackled, a clear opposition to the rigour and rules implied in his school life. The sense of freedom and the ability Luke has to be a child: to explore, to discover, to play and to imagine, relieve him of responsibility.
This carefree existence is shattered by the impending sense of reality that is unwittingly imposed through the concerns of Luke’s mother. ‘In the car, she tells Luke that he ought to help Grandad in the house more. ‘Didn’t you see the piles if dirty dishes in the sink?” This tension between the responsibilities of adulthood and the carefree time of childhood is never resolved and highlights the ways in which children in single parent families sometimes appropriate adult anxieties.
Nonetheless, grandfather’s condition is deteriorating and he is eventually admitted to hospital. Luke makes him a promise that he will look after his pigeons, but soon after realises that his unlikely to recover. The ending to the novel is at once poignant, moving and uplifting as the pigeons fly-off into the sky and Luke and his mother move into the home where he has memories of enjoying his childhood.
‘Taking Flight’ forms one of the novels in A & C Black’ guided reading series ‘White Wolves’, this novel is a part of the ‘Stories that raise issues’ collection for year four pupils and there is a teacher’s resource pack that can be bought alongside it to facilitate use in the classroom. The book, however, is a perfectly satisfactory read in its own right too.

Megan McDonald ill. Peter H Reynolds

Walker Books

0744583691

Jul 2006

Megan McDonald, author of the perennially popular Judy Moody series, has created a spin-off featuring Judy’s brother Stink. In ‘Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker’, Stink is disappointed to find that the aforementioned jawbreaker in fact does nothing of the sort and that his jaw remains very firmly still in tact.
Stink sends a letter of complaint to the company and receives a mammoth box of complimentary sweets. From here-on-in he writes numerous letters and receives a good number of replies, unfortunately amidst this deluge of post one important piece of mail gets lost thereby threatening Stink’s friendship with Webster’ Can this be remedied?
This is a fun, easy-to-read novel that will appeal to boys, particularly those with sisters who are ardent fans of the Judy Moody titles. Peter H. Reynold’s illustrations really help to bring the book to life. Look out for another adventure featuring Stink ‘Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid’.

Anna and Barbara Fienberg ill. Kim Gamble

Allen and Unwin Children’s Books

174114731X

May 2006

‘Now let’s look at this marvellous world of ours and think where we would most like to explore.’

The twelfth book in the series about Tashi, ‘Tashi and the Forbidden Room’ sees the hero regale his audience, within which readers become cleverly included, with two further tales from his time back in the village’
The first of these adventures is a rip-roaring, rollicking, re-telling of the legend of Bluebeard with Tashi firmly at the centre as the hero. Tashi confides in his best friend Jack that Bluebeard has been the most terrifying villain he has ever faced.
The second story ‘The Three Tasks’ re-introduces a familiar adversary, the Baron. The Baron’s peacock has gone missing and Pongo his dog is, alas, found with incriminating feathers around him and a mouth soaked in blood. The Baron threatens him with death, but allows opportunity for reprieve provided that Tashi is able to complete three tasks.
Firstly the Baron expects to hear Tashi but not to see him. Secondly Pongo must no longer bleed and his cuts must be healed. Finally, the peacock must be back in the garden alive.
Anna and Barbara Fienberg really bring stories to life in this series of novels that are perfect as introductions to reading and to the backdrop of mythic and legendary tales. Kim Gamble’s illustrations give an other-worldy aspect to the books making for beautifully packaged collections of stories that introduce new readers to the magic, wonder and endless possibilities of story-telling and reading.

Anne Fine

Walker Books

1406300136

May 2006

Time for reflection, for thought and for the development and exploration of individual imaginative worlds are constantly impaired and impinged upon by the bombardment of visual and audio stimulation that assault children’s senses at every turn demanding their occupation in the ceaseless cacophony of ‘modernity’. Perfect remedy can be found in ‘It moved’ a short, but delightfully witty tale that challenges us to see the extraordinary in the everyday.
Lily faces a dilemma, it is show and tell but, as computer games are now banned, as the chocolate rabbit upon her dressing table is – or rather Lily feels should be – for the delectation of her taste-buds alone, she wonders what best to take to ensure the enlightenment and entertainment of her fellow class-mates. Solution comes in the form of the pleasingly lumpy stone, with the rich grey colour, weird little pockmarks and faint wavy lines that trips her dad up on his way home from work each day’ sadly her class-mates appear to be geological philistines .

‘Mrs Bentley! Mrs Bentley! Please tell us we didn’t have to get out of bed and come all the way to school this morning just to look at an old stone!’

Lily tells her peers that the stone moves ‘ a comment that is not entirely fallacious as astute readers will discern. Some of her class firmly uphold belief in the geode’s perambulatory capabilities, others are sceptics whilst others still remain uncertain preferring to rely on empirical evidence rather than gut feeling’
With characteristically deft and sparing prose Anne Fine paints an instantly recognisable school setting. Though Lily’s story enquiring readers are provoked to question the nature of truth and of belief. The stone acts as a wonderful focal point for the children’s powers of imagination and wonder serving as a potent reminder that though not wielding wands, we are all nonetheless magicians, made of and making magic.