The Places You Will Go

Picture Book of the Month: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

February 2009

WHY MOSQUITOES BUZZ IN PEOPLE'S EARS
By Verna Aardema
Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dilllon
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 32 pages
THIS West African folktale unfolds at a leisurely pace, and packs in a wealth of detail, in its text and pictures, about the animals it describes. A mosquito so irritates an iguana with her silly story that he blocks her out by stuffing two sticks in his ears. When python calls out to his friend, iguana doesn't respond as he can't hear. This sets off a chain of events that leads to the owl not waking up the sun and leaving the world in darkness.

I love Aardema's use of onomatopaiea: off goes the iguana "mek mek"; "wasuwusu" goes the snake through the grass; the rabbit scurries away "krik, krik, krik". The pictures look like a vibrant batik painting. In one spread, python is drawn with a head at each end of his body - to cleverly show how he moves from one situation to the next in the story.

In the end, when mosquito is revealed as the trouble-maker, owl is satisfied and wakes the sun. But mosquito hides and goes unpunished. Still, she continues, to this day, to to whisper guiltily in ears. "Zeee! Is everyone still angry with me?" she asks and we all know how she's answered!

Picture Book of the Month: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

January 2009

TEN LITTLE FINGERS AND TEN LITTLE TOES
By Mem Fox
Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
(Walker Books, 40 pages)
ISBN: 978-1406315929

IT'S a pity the board book version isn't out yet as this would then be the perfect gift for droolly little babies with curious little fingers. The hardback is still a lovely book to read aloud to little ones, thanks to Mem Fox's lovely way with rhythm and words.

Babies near and far, in tents and igloos, villages and cities, are celebrated in rhyming stanzas that each end with "ten little fingers and ten little toes". The repetition of this line creates an easy and comforting beat.

Older children can chime in and count along; parents can tickle, tweak and kiss. Oxenbury's babies are a variety of colours and nationalities, each a precious and cuddlesome bundle of joy that you will want to scoop off the page and bounce on your knee along with your own "sweet little child" who is the final focus of the book.

P.S. Roger Sutton has written a post about this book, pointing out that not all babies have 10 fingers and 10 toes. True, and it never occurred to me. Some comments say that it's possible to be too sensitive about how much a book excludes some readers - for example, in this book, those who don't have 10 fingers or toes. I say, it doesn't hurt to show some sensitivity. I still adore this book - I just think that I will probably not use it for storytime at public events.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes was chosen by booksellers in the States as their favourite picture book of 2008.

Picture Book of the Month: The Tiger Who Came to Tea

December 2008

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Written and Illustrated by Judith Kerr

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books, 32 pages

ISBN: 978-0007266449

ONE day, just as Sophie and her mum are sitting down to tea, a tiger shows up on their doorstep and asks, most politely, if he can join them?

The tiger is so well-mannered and so handsome. Sophie and Mummy are only too pleased to have him as a guest.

However, they don't anticipate how hungry and thirsty he is - so thirsty that after he's finished off the milk and tea and lemonade, he proceeds to drink ALL the water in the tap.

What a tiger though. With his benevolent smile and the gentlemanly air with which he wears his striped fur coat (as though it were a bespoke suit!), he would be welcomed in many houses and allowed to drink up many tapsful of water!

Here is an interview with Judith Kerr. It appeared in The Guardian on 29th November, 2008.

Picture Book of the Month: Not a Box

November 2008
Not a Box
By Antoinette Portis
Publisher: HarperCollins, 32 pages
ISBN: 978-0061123221

A BOX is a box is a box. Right? Wrong! A box is a race-car, a mountain, a robot, a skyscraper, a hotair balloon, a pirate ship ... basically anything and everything you want it to be.

This book is about how imagination can transform an object, and your life!

Rabbit and his box are rendered in black ink, while red embellishments show readers just where Rabbit's flights of fancy take him and his "not-a-box".

Absolutely brilliant!

Picture Book of the Month: Follow the Line Through the House

October 2008

FOLLOW THE LINE THROUGH THE HOUSE
By Laura Ljungkvist
Publisher: Viking Children's Books, 32 pages
ISBN: 978-0670062256

A black line makes its way through a house, travelling through rooms - kitchen, basement, bedroom, bathroom, playroom and attic - and even smaller spaces - refrigerator, toolbox, wardrobe, cabinet, toy box, treasure chest.

There's so much to see - and you'll notice something new each time you read this book. Questions prompt searches - or urge you to notice things.

Every page is a riot of colour, crammed with interesting, quirky things, pictures and patterns. Sometimes the line twists and turns its way to form part of an object.

It's the house itself and even squiggles into "Goodbye" on the back cover. Laura Ljungkvist's latest book is Follow the Line Around the World.

Picture Book of the Month: The Sound of Colors

September 2008

The Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination
Author & Illustrator: Jimmy Liao
Publisher: Little, Brown, 80 pages
(ISBN: 978-0316939928)
Jimmy Liao is a whimsical and fantastical illustrator whose imagination really takes flight in this book about a girl who is set free by her lack of sight. She wanders and wonders through the city she lives in - her disability, far from preventing her from experiencing the world, makes her more acutely aware of it: "Now I listen for the sound of the colours I can't see. I try to smell the shapes, taste the light and dark." In her mind's eye, she sees amazing things, and all around her the world feels like magic to her.

Picture Book of the Month: Cowboy & Octopus

July 2008

Cowboy & Octopus
By Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Lane Smith
Publisher: Viking, 32 pages
Cowboy and octopus are an unlikely twosome. They are as different as a ... well, a cowboy and octopus can be, but it's these differences that go to show what good friends they are. Cowboy and octopus put up with one another's strange tastes (beans with everything!), incompetence (in the hands of some, hammers can kill!), cross-dressing and bad jokes. Mst telling of all, they accept the truth from each other - because that's what good friends do - tell you the truth even if it's not what you want to hear.

Picture Book of the Month: John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat

June 2008

John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat
By Jenny Wagner
Illustrated by Ron Brooks
Publisher: Puffin Books, 32 pages

John Brown is an old English sheep dog. He belongs to Rose, an old widow, and is a deeply devoted companion. Says Rose, "We are all right, John Brown. Just the two of us. You and me." But one night, Rose notices a cat in the garden. A midnight cat. She is fascinated by the cat. John Brown doesn't approve. He tells the cat to leave. But Rose wants the cat. She longs for it. She leaves it milk in a bowl, which John Brown tips over. Finally, Rose takes to her bed and declares that she might stay there forever. John Brown is sad and decides that, because he loves Rose so much, he will put up with the midnight cat. This is a strange picture book - quite gloomy and sombre. The midnight cat is slightly sinister - could it be a symbol of death? When John Brown finally allows the cat into the cottage, is he really accepting Rose's death? Perhaps being a true friend includes being able to let go.

Picture Book of the Month: Kate, the Cat and the Moon

May 2008

Kate, the Cat and the Moon
By David Almond
Illustrated by Stepehn Lambert
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books, 32 pages

Kate wakes one moonlit night and is invited, by a white-furred, blue-eyed cat, to join him on an adventure in dreamland. The best part of this escapade is that Kate experiences it as a pretty grey-striped cat! Even the moon morphs into a beautiful feline and joins Kate and her new friend on their journey, through the dream-filled skies. This book is very like Lane Smith's "The Big Pets" in its magical, dreamy feel, and the glowing illustrations that look like they've been dipped in milk!

Picture Book of the Month: The Way Back Home

April 2008

The Way Back Home Author

By Oliver Jeffers

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books, 32 pages

OLIVER Jeffers' books tend to feature little boys with big dreams, big hearts and big appetites. Here, we have another boy who, finding an aeroplane in his cupboard, flies off in it. The sky's not the limit for this young adventurer: he flies past clouds, stars and planets and, finally, lands on the moon when he runs out of petrol. Luckily, he's befriended by an alien who's suffered the same fate. Hopefully, the pair can figure out how to get out of the predicament they're in. And if they don't, at least they'll have company on the moon.