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Picturebook Reviews
A Long Tail
Rebecca Atkinson, illus. Kate Read, pub. Happy Yak
A delightful tale (excuse the pun) of what happens when a young girl sees the end of a tail, through an open door. She follows what appears to be a never-ending trail as it loops and twist it way around the area. We follow her as she plays, reads, paints and swings her way along the tail. Eventually it leads her back home, where she finds it attached to a very cuddly creature that she calls a Looperdoo. It seems to be a fitting name for a creature that becomes a magical friend to her.
We, the reader, can also follow the trail by running a finger over the tail as it moves from page to page. The image has been given a slightly rough texture, so that it is easy for a child to run their finger over the line and follow its route. This makes the book very suitable for young children who have some visual impairment, or who really enjoy being able to feel the page. There is a lot of opportunity to guess where the girl is at any time and to imagine what is happening. The illustrations are on a white background, but the tail itself is a constantly changing riot of colour and pattern, which provides an opportunity for children to create their own version of the story. A great read for the early years classroom, as well as individual children.
Margaret Pemberton
Bad To the Bone
Alex Willmore, pub. Farshore
A very little dog (a chihuahua of indeterminate gender) in its studded black jacket, which could be leather, tries to be as fierce as possible, protecting the ‘pack’ as they in turn look after it by taking it for walks, picking up poo etc. The front cover shows the dog set against its much larger shadow - evidently how it sees itself. It rejoices in being ‘Bad to the Bone,’ and it is unclear whether this is really the name that the ‘pack’ shout when they want it to come…
It's shown barking at a woman with cats on her clothes, and at birds, as it proudly claims to have their backs. The family, only shown from shoulders down, consists of two parents and a small child in a pushchair. They go to a café that welcomes good dogs, but the dog wants all eyes to be on it, and makes its presence felt by yapping. When a dachshund also arrives in the café, dog war breaks out, and chaos ensues. Banished outside, the little dog decides it’s not really bad to the bone, and, once allowed back in the house, hangs up the studded jacket. The family still love it and make a fuss of it, so the story ends with a defiant: “VIP, and totally Bad to the Bone.”
The book is based on Alex Willmore’s own dog, but your reviewer, a former dog owner, is unsure what to make of it, except that possibly a family can still love a bad dog? Do they know about dog training classes? The studded jacket, and occasionally sunglasses, make sure we know that this is a dog with attitude, and probably some are…
Diana Barnes
The Bug Hotel
Manu Montoya, trans. Tim Smith-Laing, pub. Pushkin Children’s
Welcome to the colourful world of The Bug Hotel where you will meet a range of interesting creatures who each have their own room - all the same and all very comfortable. Yes you are welcome BUT only if you adhere to the Book of Rules set out by the very insistent Mr Beetle who likes everything in its place!
The same rooms for all and a set of rules to be followed does not however suit all of The Bug Hotel’s guests who have their own needs that are not being met. There is poor Billie who isn't fond of the leaves that are the only thing on the hotel's menu and Cilla who wishes to sing and tell stories. How will they convince Mr Beetle to make some changes?
This is a super story about change and individuality. It is stunningly and colourfully illustrated with cute pictures of the creatures and introduces the reader to a diverse set of guests. I particularly love the Bug Spotter's guide at the back of the book that gives factual information about the hotel's residents including how they have included artistic license when drawing these. There is also a section to inspire the reader/owner of the book to draw some creepy crawlies of their own.
Hayley Reeve
The Cow in the Dark at Night
Jess Hannigan, pub. Quill Tree Books
What actually happens on the farm after the sun goes down? While the rest of the animals sleep soundly, one inquisitive cow decides it is finally time to find out. Driven by curiosity, she sneaks out into the moonlight on a late-night journey of discovery, eager to explore the shadowy world beyond her barn.
Her nocturnal adventure quickly escalates into a series of absurd encounters. As she wanders through the fields, she calmly crosses paths with an eccentric cast of characters including a baffled scarecrow, sneaky robbers, and even a rather polite vampire. Cow takes every bizarre interaction entirely in her stride, remaining blissfully unbothered by the growing mayhem around her. It isn't until her wandering takes a turn into the truly extraordinary that she finally realises things aren’t as they should be — resulting in a trip to another world altogether!
Jess Hannigan’s original, sharp writing style pairs perfectly with her bold illustrations. The dry wit embedded throughout the narrative will have readers of all ages chuckling along as the oblivious cow steps through ridiculous situations, leaving a trail of accidental chaos in her wake. The graphic art style, rich with colours and strong lines, tells a vibrant story of its own that perfectly mirrors the energy of the text. Cow herself is an absolute delight of a main character. Her dialogue is one of the book's standout features: wonderfully old-fashioned, excessively polite, endlessly optimistic, and delightfully oblivious all at once. Even when faced with nocturnal creatures and scheming villains, her polished manners and cheerfulness never waver. Her friend, poor cat, gets dragged along reluctantly and, despite her efforts to prevent cow from some of the more dangerous situations, ends up taking every step of the journey beside her frustrating friend.
This brilliantly entertaining picture book is a perfect pick for young readers with a keen sense of humour who love their bedtime stories served with a heavy dose of silliness. Hannigan has created a hilarious, visually stunning tale that demands to be read aloud—and will undoubtedly be requested night after night.
Tom Joy
Eric the Museum Rat
Catherine McArdle, pub. Farshore
Picture books set in either a museum, art gallery or library have been a favourite for many years, but this charming title has a slightly different hero, in the shape of Eric who is a rat and is a cleaner at the museum. He loves his job and often imagines himself as someone who lived in the past. However, despite looking after the building, he is not allowed to touch any of the exhibits. One day, when he is cleaning his store cupboard he comes across an old box full of dust and dirty items, so he decides to give them a good clean. They are so beautiful that he decides to put them on display and the curators quickly realise that these are lost treasures and give them pride of place. When a cat burglar tries to steal them, it is Eric who saves the day.
This wonderful book reminds us that museums, our cultural hubs, are for everyone and that people can appreciate their history, regardless of their background, heritage or wealth. But it also shows us that we should not look down on those undertaking more ‘menial’ tasks because they usually take pride in what they do and make sure that others are in a position to enjoy the facilities surrounding them. This story will be a great hit with children from Reception upwards and would be lovey to read before a visit to a local museum.
Margaret Pemberton
I Am Going To Jump This Log
Stephanie Stansbie, illus. Jack Viant, pub. Little Tiger
I am going to jump this log – and it will be easy. So says frog with confidence, verging on arrogance as he stands, hand on hips, whilst the other creatures around him look on with bemusement. Off he goes claiming he will sail so high that birds will ask for his autograph – then splat! Oh dear! His first attempt ends in failure.
Undeterred, frog says he will jump the log, but just not yet. He has a little rest, a snack and then limbers up for a second go. Just as he’s about to make his attempt, he watches a snail crawl vertically up the face of the log and on to the top. It takes so long that it’s nighttime before he reaches the summit. Now its frog turn again, but splaaat. The second attempt also ends in failure. Will frog ever manage to jump the log?!
The text is sparse and pithy, but it’s the hilarious and anarchic illustrations that make this book such a gem. The expressions on frog’s face show his frustrations and the colourful collection of secondary characters just leap off the page as they watch whilst frog leaps to clear the log. There is so much detail in the background that readers will feel like they are in on a secret joke. With clear messages about perseverance, the dangers of arrogance, boasting and the value of quiet kindness, this book would make an ideal classroom read as well as a fun and hilarious tale to share at home.
Janet Ling
Mama’s Wedding
Circle Yuen, Lantana Publishing
Ruby’s mama is getting married to Cindy’s daddy, Alex, and the two children are going to be flower girls. Ruby, the older child, is thoughtful and sensitive, aware that everything is changing. She wonders what her daddy, Daniel, thinks about her mama getting remarried and how much she doesn’t know about Alex. The two girls are friends and decide that Cindy will be Ruby’s flower girl when she gets married. A sisterhood is developing. Ruby, with the help of her three parents and Granny soon realises that everything will be okay and the book finishes with the sentiment “love can bloom in different ways.”
This is a sensitive and sincere book with a heartfelt important message that will resonate with young readers who belong to families similar to Ruby’s. The softly expressive colourful illustrations have lovely little details such as Cindy’s bunny slippers falling off her feet as she rides her scooter or the two girls huddled together under a table at the wedding, whispering and eating cake.
This is a tender, hopeful, touching picturebook which is very quiet and gentle in its approach to what could be a daunting, confusing and possibly upsetting time for children who are experiencing living in blended families. Through its whispered and tender nature this author-illustrator has created an uplifting and insightful celebration of hope, reassurance, belonging and love.
Natalie McChrystal-Plimmer
Milo and Twig
Liz Brizzi, pub. Post Wave Children’s Books
This story is told to us from the point of view of a small bird, that we learn fell from the nest, and met a boy called Milo. Its wing was injured, Milo took it home and looked after it, naming it Twig.
Milo makes Twig a box, and takes him around, discovering ‘concrete trees with no leaves, …fast metal beasts and loud noises.’ Twig then moves on to describing meeting the rest of Milo’s flock, at what looks like a Show and Tell, and sings for them, which seems to make them happy. (There don’t seem to be any parents, or indeed any adults, around). Twig travels in Milo’s pocket, eats a crumb, a chip, a bit of doughnut, and enjoys riding with him on his bike, which he decides is quite close to flying. The wing heals, and Milo gives Twig another ‘nest’- actually a cage. Twig misses the sky, the clouds, and being out in the open air, so much that he stops singing - the sadness shown by little grey clouds over his head. Eventually Milo delivers ‘the most beautiful gift of all’ – freedom. On the final page, the bird still sings to Milo, from a tree, as a gift to the boy who realised what Twig needed.
Milo is a tousle-headed boy with a plaster on his leg, and the bird is not a species readers in Europe would recognise - yellow, with a blue breast, possibly American, as the street scenes. But this is a lovely story about letting go, enabling wild creatures to stay wild and an encouraging start for Liz Brizzi as her debut author-illustrator picturebook.
Margaret Pemberton
Red Snake Blue Snake
Olivier Tallec, pub. Gecko Press
With more than sixty books for children illustrated you might wonder at how Olivier Tallec can still surprise us with not only his continued brilliance in illustration but also in story. I believe he must have a fantastic imagination and a skill with words.
Red Snake Blue Snake is sparse in words and somehow both sparse and full in illustration. It’s easy to understand how the sparseness of the words works and it works brilliantly, just the right ones are chosen, telling us exactly what we need to know whilst encouraging us to use the illustrations behind and around them to tell us more about what is happening in each scene and to help us develop the characters of these snakes. Choosing to use snakes as his characters, choosing to differentiate them by colour alone, and to make them best friends, is a very intelligent technique for engaging readers. If these were real snakes some children might be too scared to read but this cartoon-esqe pair are friendly and approachable. They are also relatable. Friends since they were little, they love to do everything together even if they find themselves not always agreeing with one another. That alone will help readers relate. Then there is the humour in the way they see the world around them and debate everything. Don’t forget the illustrations.
Filling every page the illustrations are sparse, just as the desert landscape they place these snakes in but they are also filled with meaning, expression, ideas and objects. These are the spaces that Red Snake and Blue Snake populate, the spaces they call home and the spaces they can’t always agree on. These are the spaces we are invited into, will want to continue to return to time and again to laugh to be reminded that no matter how opposite your points of view may be they can both be true. That is the sign of a true friendship.
Louise Ellis-Barrett
Seven Curious Ants
Joohee Yoon, pub. Chronicle Books
Seven Curious Ants is an unusual, eye-catching book. It’s impossible to not to be intrigued before becoming engrossed. The rich, vivid illustrations and sophisticated text work in perfect union to create a fairytale about seven intrepid ants who, fed up with living in the crowded colony where the 200,501st ant has just been born, embark on a journey into the unknown for a new home that suits them as individuals.
The ants first visit the wise mole for advice, then traverse the trunk of a tree, gradually discovering various dwellings which appeal to one specific ant as a new home. The one who was always hungry is attracted by “a red orb” where a “chubby creature” invites them to stay to enjoy an “early afternoon snack.” The ant who wants to watch the clouds rather than be underground is attracted to the “geometric structure” and is welcomed by those “noisy inhabitants” to live in the attic and be a lookout for approaching storms.
By the end of the story three ants remain – an impatient one, a thoughtful steady one, and one in the middle who has no opinion and contentedly follows others. It is here that Yoon teaches the lesson about not rushing in and introduces one of the most curiously creepy characters I have seen. If, like me, you are not keen on spiders, you’ll understand! With its eight glowing orange eyes, luminous orange hairs sticking out from its large body, long sharp fangs hanging from its neon mouth, eight white gloved human hands at the end of each leg, two rubbing gleefully as it watches the ants make their way to its shimmering sticky web, it is truly, sublimely weird.
The story follows established patterns of children’s literature such as the repeated counting down as each ant leaves the group, the search for just the right home and presents the seven ants as rebellious, breaking free from the confines of their safe habitat and venturing into the wider world. The artwork is more than technicolour, it is fluorescent, kaleidoscopic, psychedelic with a surreal element running through. Yoon has created extraordinary artwork utilising techniques such as pointillism and fractal geometric labyrinthine patterns with saturated neon and contrasting colour palettes. As fitting with such a distinctive book there is no clear happy resolution leaving plenty of questions for the reader to ponder.
This is a very enjoyable, deeply strange, captivating and visually stunning book.
Natalie McChrystal Plimmer
The Tiger Child
Michelle Beech, pub. Post Wave Children’s Books
When a shy little girl spots a mysterious tiger's tail inviting her to follow, 'the call of the wild' she steps into a dream-like adventure. And as she follows footprints that lead her into the heart of a magical garden she discovers not just a tiger, but her own confidence too.
As the young girl takes each step the reader takes them with her and find that bravery doesn’t need to be a big expression or a giant step forwards, it can be something much gentler, something that takes as much time as each person needs it to. This story is as much about the imagination that hopefully every child has plenty of as the courage they might not yet have but can discover.
Michelle Beech beautifully written and illustrated tale is full of peek through scenes, gatefold pages and pop up surprises to explore making it a great book to share. The lyrical text is lovely to read aloud and is a good springboard for discussions about feeling shy and taking the first step to finding your voice. The novelty format of this book works incredibly well but it might not be robust enough to suit some library settings.
Mariesa Dulak
Uprooted!
Philippa Rice, pub. Cicada Books
A flower grew in a garden surrounded by a fence the same colour as the sky. Sometimes a bird flew over but nothing else happened. It was always the same. Most of the flowers were happy, but this little flower wanted to travel. He could imagine somewhere different and so wanted to see something of the world outside the fence.
The gardener noticed that the little flower was restless so he dug him up and put him in a pot so they could go on an adventure together. They travel by bus and train to the seaside where the flower discovers that sand is nothing like soil and sea water is definitely not like rainwater. The flower discovers that the world is full of wonders and more exciting than he could ever imagine.
This beautiful hardback publication is vibrantly illustrated in joyful colours that mirror the joy and excitement of the little flower’s journey of discovery. A fabulous celebration of curiosity and the thrill of discovering new horizons. A lovely book for very young children and a reminder that we can all benefit from opening our minds to new adventures.
Janet Ling