I can only imagine how difficult it must be to convey on the page the worlds one mind’s enter when dreaming, but Britta Teckentrup’s latest picturebook, Before I Wake Up (Prestel) sure does a wonderful job at doing just that. The story follows a little girl as she enters her dreams, travelling through the night and …
dreams
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Yasutaka Tsutsuitranslated from Japanese by David Karashima(Alma Books) Fifteen-year-old Kazuko is busy cleaning up the school science lab when something odd happens: she appears to have disturbed an intruder fiddling with chemicals, suddenly smells a strong scent of lavender and then faints. After this freak accident, she finds herself with a strange gift: what she first mistakes …
FArTHER
Grahame Baker-Smith(Templar) This little boy’s dad dreamt of flying. A dream that took over his life, curbing how much time he spent with his son. Sometimes, his dream made him depressed, sometimes it made him elated. When the father is called to war and does not return, the dream of flying seems to die with …
Up and Down
Oliver Jeffers(HarperCollins Children’s Books) The boy and the penguin from Lost and Found return in this brand new adventure. The two are still the best of friends and love doing everything together. But there is something that Penguin feels he needs to learn by himself. He wants to learn to fly. As readers, young and old, …
Cave Baby
Julia Donaldson (text) & Emily Gravett (illustrations)(Macmillan) Cave Baby lives in a cave with Cave Mum, who likes to paint, and Cave Dad, who likes to be “brave”. However both parents (who seem quite self-involved!) do not seem to appreciate when he decides to scribble all over the walls so Cave Baby is banished to his …
When Night Didn’t Come
Poly Bernatene (Meadowside Children’s Books) To make Night, what does one need? Surely the darkness, the stars, the moon? When Night does not appear after the Sun has gone for a well-deserved rest, the man in charge (who could easily be Mister Sandman!) discovers a group of children having fun in the epicentre of the …