Chitra Soundar (text) & Poonam Mistry (artwork) (Lantana Publishing) It is a dark and stormy night in the Indian jungle and the baby animals are anxious. The wind huffs and puffs, the thunder clatters, the rain falls; no one can sleep, and everyone is a little frightened. Thankfully Mama Elephant is here to console them, with her wise words and …
animals
Barroux’s “Where’s the …” series
Come and join Barroux on a game of hide-and-seek with a difference! Where’s the Elephant and Where’s the Starfish? (Egmont) are two quasi-wordless picturebooks which carry an incredibly powerful message about the effect Man has on the environment, and more particularly deforestation and sea pollution. Designed in a Where’s Wally? type puzzle book, the hide-and-seek style allows the message behind …
FABULOUS FIVE: Jonny Lambert presents five fabulous animal books
I am delighted that the blog tour for Jonny Lambert’s Little Why is stopping here today and that Jonny was kind enough to take part in our latest Fabulous Five feature. Little Why (Little Tiger Press) tells the story of a baby elephant who gets easily distracted while on the journey to the water source with the …
Finding Winnie
Lindsay Mattick (text) & Sophie Blackall (illustrations) (Orchard books) Finding Winnie won the prestigious Caldecott Medal in the USA a few weeks ago. I’ll admit I have had the book for a while and had put it aside, but the win prompted me to look at it again, and it was a delightful surprise. We all …
Crunch!
Carolina Rabei (Child’s Play) Crunch the guinea pig loves his food. A lot. And he spends an awful lot of time eating it. But when Cheddar the mouse turns up uninvited looking for some food. Crunch grumpily refuses despite having plenty and being offered a hug in exchange. Soon after Cheddar leaves, Crunch starts to …
Animal Rescue
Patrick George (Patrick George) I have always admired PatrickGeorge’s clever use of acetate in their books (see earlier reviews here and here). Their latest title, Animal Rescue, is based on the same principle, this time encouraging young readers to become ‘rescue heroes’. Each double spread shows an animal in an unnatural habitat. Flipping the acetate to the …
A picturebook a week: The Farmer’s Away! Baa! Neigh!
Anne Vittur Kennedy (Walker Books) When the farmer is away, the animals shall play …. and boy, don’t they have fun! From going boating to picnics, from rollrecoaster rides to ballroom dancing, the animals are having a whale of a time behind the farmer’s back! Much child participation is anticipated when reading this book aloud …
The Toucan Brothers
Tor Freeman (Macmillan Children’s Books) The Toucan Brothers, Sammy and Paul, have been dealing with the town’s plumbing issues for many years. For them there is “no job too big, no pipe too small” Until there is a new plumber on the scene, charismatic Flash Rover, who is faster and cheaper. At first the brothers aren’t worried, trusting their …
FABULOUS FIVE: Catalina Echeverri presents five fabulous picture books about animals
Catalina Echeverri’s debut picture Lion and Mouse was published earlier this month (see my review here) and I am delighted to welcome her to a Library Mice for our latest Fabulous Five feature. Catalina is originally from Bogota, Colombia, and she speaks English, Spanish and Italian. She studied graphic design in Milan, Italy and completed an …