Issue No. 93 - July 1995
Cover Story
July's front cover features the hardback version of Paula Danziger's Thames Doesn't Rhyme with Jmaes, using an illustration by Joe Csatari. The book is published by Heinemann and we're grateful to them for their help. For further details see the Authorgraph interview with Paula Danziger.
Articles In This Issue
If It Ain’t Broke ...
MORE »Dennis Hamley
When I said I was attempting a ‘Point Crime’, some asked, ‘Why are you doing this, Dennis?’ I understand their problem. Series books are seen as formula fiction, cliché-ridden, slackly written, full of venal wish-fulfilment fantasy, actually inimical to the development of good reading habits: they are published for profit and exploitation of the market; bad money drives out good and children will drown in pap - or worse. ‘So have I heard and do in part believe it.’ Or did. Now I’m not so sure.
MORE »The winner of the 1995 Mother Goose Award for the most exciting newcomer to British children’s book illustration is Flora McDonnell for I Love Animals
MORE »
Paula Danziger interviewed by Chris Powling
MORE »Adèle Geras asks
‘What’s the Rush?’
Overcoming the urge to begin this article with the words: ‘why, oh why?’, I would like to try to enlist some support. Is anyone else out there irritated by the current lust for speed in children’s books?
MORE »Philip Pullman laments the out-of-printness of
The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay first published by Angus and Robertson in 1918
Norman Lindsay had a robust idea of children’s literary taste. Given a choice between fairies and food, he believed, they’d go for food every time; fighting and eating were what stories should be about. The result of this conviction is The Magic Pudding.
Quite simply, it’s the funniest children’s book ever written. It concerns the adventures of Bunyip Bluegum, ‘a very well-bred young fellow, able to converse on a great variety of subjects, having read all the best Australian poets’, who sets out to see the world and meets Bill Barnacle the sailor and Sam Sawnoff, the penguin bold, the owners of the Puddin’.
MORE »Nicholas Tucker reflects on the changing status, and situation, of the children’s author
MORE »Wendy Cooling
This year summer came to me early - ‘The pick of the latest hardbacks’, said your Editor, ‘littlies through to teens’. Thereafter heaps of advance copies, proofs and manuscripts landed on my doormat. The titles I’ve chosen begin with some for the very young and move on to books for secondary school readers and adults, too.
MORE »NEWS
Books Holding Their Own
MORE »Reviews In This Issue
I've put these books together for review because their subject-matter is so similar and is an important one for young children. Both books deal, very sensitively and interestingly, with a small child's fear of taking steps into the outside world. They show how a loved toy can act as a catalyst and support by projecting the child character's fears onto the toy.
11 short, eerie stories, effective because they take the stuff of everyday life and slide it just out of focus. The most profound terrors surface when familiar landscapes acquire an unexpected dimension: the family house made ghostly by an unfamiliar creaking stair...
This has the setting and background of The Machine Gunners and is a strongly emotional and physical story. When Sonny's mother is killed in an air-raid, his father joins up determined to get revenge and Sonny is cared for by his grandparents.
'A packet of crisps is much more expensive than the same weight of potatoes. You are paying the person who makes the crisp for peeling the potatoes (and removing the fibre), and for adding fat, salt and chemical flavourings, which are all bad for you!' Strong irrefutable stuff from Miriam Moss in Fibre which shows fibre-power at work keeping us healthy (fibre-filled bowels move up to seven and a half times faster than those without) and tells how and where to find it.
A real hoot of a story, wildly imagined, with episodes that seem impossible to avoid reading aloud. Mr Sidebottom, Ben's new neighbour, tries to take on Agent Z - Ben, Barney and Jenks - but he shouldn't have.
Mrs Robinson's class have a topic to do, so she puts her two naughtiest children together - clever that! The story unfolds around Agnes, a mean and bad-tempered goat with amazingly filthy habits, and Mrs Carpenter, a sad and lonely old lady who has the most unsuitable but fascinating stories to tell.
This sequel to If It Weren't for Sebastian shows Jean Ure as readable as ever. She has strong opinions about animal rights and these are clearly evident here. Her skill is that she communicates and persuades without adopting an evangelical tone.
Bobby's bad, everyone knows he's bad and he's convenient to blame even on the rare occasions when he didn't do it. Testing his teacher's patience to the limit, the real Bobby suddenly finds that Miss Fox isn't the nasty person he thought.
This was originally published in 1983 - a dramatic and powerful story of a journey through the dense South American jungle in search of the lost city of the Inca Sun King, Atahualpa. Paula is taken out of her rule-bound private school as her famous explorer father suddenly embarks on this long-awaited expedition.
I defy anyone to read this book and not be moved to tears. Told in the form of letters, the extraordinary story of a young partisan, Misha, who escaped from the Warsaw ghetto at the age of 14, makes harrowing reading.
Shoo Rayner's latest paperback has all the verve and zany humour we've come to expect from him. It has been devoured and yet the flaps have taken the strain - thank you, Puffin. Cat's attempts to catch a mouse start, as all good plans do, with research through the available literature.
In this jolly tale Cat's Witch is being put out of business by the hi-tec wizard who's recently moved into town. With his computers, chemicals and lasers, he seems the perfect modern answer to the problems of the people of Wantwich.
Two entertaining stories for young, newly independent readers or older, slower ones about two precocious children. Connie is born able to do the most difficult mental arithmetic, and Rollo always speaks in rhyme.
Against the Northern Australian background of loggers versus 'Greenies', Kevin, a logger's son, is introduced to the flora and fauna of the forest (where his father works) by the greeny Rainbow kids. And he realises for the first time what he's been missing as he contrasts the natural opulence of the untouched forest with the desolation left by the loggers to whom the extinction of 2000-year-old trees is a way of life. Presented as a story, this is really a fine display of Dailan Pugh's wildlife paintings and, of course, a strong conservation message. Students of the BfK Green Guide will remember Dunkle's excellent Conservation; her text here is just as spare and just as telling.
Zindel's enviable knack of making witty and credible links between bizarre teenage behaviour and deeper universal truths is as on-target as ever. Della is a talented, dipsomaniac actress who lives in her own fantasies and David is her lonely pupil, a would-be playwright with writer's block.
'Science is measurement' was one of the topics I got used to arguing fluently for and against during my 'A' level years; now here's the concept hallowed at infant level in four volumes devoted to qualitative and quantitative differences, an ability to observe which is basic to the furtherance of any sort of science (there, I told you I was fluent).
This is the twelfth in the alliteratively titled and enticingly packaged 'Animal Ark' series centred on a country vet's practice. Here Dorian the donkey takes affairs into his own hooves when it looks like his future rests somewhere in the dog-meat market.
The focus for Dr Xargle's latest investigation of the ways of Earthlings is families. A family he informs us, 'belong to each other whether they like it or not'. Both brand new and antique Earthlings participate in such unlikely events as 'bread-throwing contests' at the local pond, the winner being the one who hits the most ducks without falling in!
A large, dramatic format suits this imaginative book perfectly. Eric Carle's artwork tells a cumulative story of an artist who is creating a picture, adding another element at each opening and then becoming part of the picture himself.
These two stories, less than 70 pages each, were written 15 years apart but are well linked by the common setting and themes of Roman Britain. The first is an especially powerful and clever piece of storytelling.
I've put these books together for review because their subject-matter is so similar and is an important one for young children. Both books deal, very sensitively and interestingly, with a small child's fear of taking steps into the outside world. They show how a loved toy can act as a catalyst and support by projecting the child character's fears onto the toy.
Steve Parker is, by now, an old hand at science information writing and it would be reasonable to wonder if his combination with two perennial subjects could add anything exciting, new or even noteworthy. Happily Parker's professionalism is such that it can, and these two seem to get to many parts of their subjects that other books don't reach. How many 'light' books encourage striking flints (safely), include the Brocken Spectre, explain the workings of the 'flourescent' (sic) tube, show us a lacemaker's condenser or accord Ayer's Rock its proper name of Uluru? What other energy book shows you how augers are vital to the combine harvester, tell you that derailleur gears have a centenary in 1999 and mention the energy-rich submarine sulphur vents?
'A packet of crisps is much more expensive than the same weight of potatoes. You are paying the person who makes the crisp for peeling the potatoes (and removing the fibre), and for adding fat, salt and chemical flavourings, which are all bad for you!' Strong irrefutable stuff from Miriam Moss in Fibre which shows fibre-power at work keeping us healthy (fibre-filled bowels move up to seven and a half times faster than those without) and tells how and where to find it.
Mother Owl and Blink sit on a branch at the edge of the wood through a long summer's day. Mother Owl sleeps but Blink watches and waits and waits - when will it be his turn? He watches the creatures of the wood - but when will it be his turn? As dusk draws in, he dozes and suddenly the time is now - the anticipation, the nervous excitement and finally the timeless revelling glory of his maiden flight are exquisitely drawn in words and illustrations.
In April 1961, when Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel through space, exploration of the 'final frontier' became a realistic goal; eight years later Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. This fascinating, wide-ranging yet succinct narrative explores all the various scientific, technological and political developments which culminated in that giant leap for mankind.
Garth Pig fans are in for a bonanza. Mary Rayner has always had a winning formula with the wonderful Pig family, endless piglets (who thankfully wear the same clothes or half the fun of identification would be lost), satisfying parent figures and the indomitable and indefatigable Mrs Wolf.
Granny's patchwork quilt is really her autobiography for sewn into it are tiny pieces from the dresses she had as she grew up. While she tells her own story, readers (and her granddaughter) learn something of her memories of schooldays, her first dance, her wedding and her evacuation.
One of the funniest books about dogs that I've ever read. The detailed drawings treat dogs like machines, there are some hilarious notes and details, yet the text has a serious side, too. We're reminded, very gently, of dogs' needs and how we have to be responsible for them.
An entertaining story which has a very strong atmosphere of the traditional tale about it. Bold, clear pictures and a rich but straightforward text tell of the way in which the fish eagle avenges himself for the trick Hyena plays on him.
A collection of poetry by and for women, representing several cultures. These poems are fresh and lively, avoiding cliché and only occasionally lapsing into self-consciousness. There's plenty of scope for GCSE study and a good deal for the Lower School, too, as adolescent problems get an airing.
'Science is measurement' was one of the topics I got used to arguing fluently for and against during my 'A' level years; now here's the concept hallowed at infant level in four volumes devoted to qualitative and quantitative differences, an ability to observe which is basic to the furtherance of any sort of science (there, I told you I was fluent).
'Science is measurement' was one of the topics I got used to arguing fluently for and against during my 'A' level years; now here's the concept hallowed at infant level in four volumes devoted to qualitative and quantitative differences, an ability to observe which is basic to the furtherance of any sort of science (there, I told you I was fluent).
A 'pretend friend' story with a difference, since this pretend friend is a bear. Jenny loves bears and has a collection of toy ones, but wants a real bear to come to stay. She prepares the garden shed as a home for any bears that may be passing and is delighted when one arrives to play.
The third book about The Outfit: 'four kids and a dog on the lookout for adventure' starts with a heated local dispute about the aesthetic and ecological merits of a new wind turbine on a farm owned by the parents of two of the children.
Steve Parker is, by now, an old hand at science information writing and it would be reasonable to wonder if his combination with two perennial subjects could add anything exciting, new or even noteworthy. Happily Parker's professionalism is such that it can, and these two seem to get to many parts of their subjects that other books don't reach. How many 'light' books encourage striking flints (safely), include the Brocken Spectre, explain the workings of the 'flourescent' (sic) tube, show us a lacemaker's condenser or accord Ayer's Rock its proper name of Uluru? What other energy book shows you how augers are vital to the combine harvester, tell you that derailleur gears have a centenary in 1999 and mention the energy-rich submarine sulphur vents?
And now for something completely different... It's amazing, but true, that Lesley Howarth has pulled off this piece of weird storytelling, where the utterly fantastic seems plausible. Maphead is a child resulting from the coupling of an alien from the parallel Subtle World and an earth woman whom he saved from a bolt of lightning.
Three more stories about Mouse and Mole which highlight qualities of fine friendship. There's a lovely excitement when the first daffodil of Spring appears and true kindness in Mouse's concern to shield his friend from avoidable upset.
Here's an information book with a difference. Richard Fowler carefully paces facts about the parts of a boat - fascinating to me, a landlubber, and the young children who shared the book with me - wit
Pamela Allen's delightfully awkward anti-hero sets out with Mr Bean-like determination to pick blackberries. Disastrous consequences inevitably follow when a jealous bull resents the unwelcome attention the cows shower upon him.
Mr Pam Pam, a gangling beanpole of a man, kids young and old alike about the Hullabazoo. This apparition with yellow hands, green moustache, red-and-black spotted tie and purple socks, which bounces and twizzles, is always out of sight, just gone or around the corner.
A Macmillan 2-books-in-1 'Flipper' where you read one story then literally flip the book over to read the other. Mum routinely goes food shopping and becomes 'Mum in a Million' through being the millionth customer and also through (wisely?) giving her prize holiday in Florida to the rest of the family.
When your mother loves spots and your father loves stripes and both insist on bright colours - life is never black and white. Both parents are agreed on one thing, however, that their son is the funny one! The visual jokes and the bright, chirpy text lead to a wonderful twist at the end of this book.
In the format of a novel but with no more words than a picture book, this is the tale of a quiet and orderly spinster who adopts an abandoned baby monster. The subsequent course of events is highly predictable but entertaining none the less.
Garth Pig fans are in for a bonanza. Mary Rayner has always had a winning formula with the wonderful Pig family, endless piglets (who thankfully wear the same clothes or half the fun of identification would be lost), satisfying parent figures and the indomitable and indefatigable Mrs Wolf.
Convincing your parents that you've really grown up is always a tricky business, particularly when you're heir to the throne and been cursed with the name Prince Vincent Alexandro de Maximus Rot. In the first book Prince Vince, with real royal pluck, sets off to trail a goat. Spurred on by a collection of the wimpiest guardsmen I've ever seen, he eventually finds the goat and learns a lot about people too. A superb read for confident goat-lovers.
Convincing your parents that you've really grown up is always a tricky business, particularly when you're heir to the throne and been cursed with the name Prince Vincent Alexandro de Maximus Rot. In the first book Prince Vince, with real royal pluck, sets off to trail a goat. Spurred on by a collection of the wimpiest guardsmen I've ever seen, he eventually finds the goat and learns a lot about people too. A superb read for confident goat-lovers.
Imagine a mixture of Hitchcock's Birds and Garner's Owls and you'll get the drift - a rivetingly gruesome story which begins in AD 842 with the execution, by stoning, then the burying alive of the magician, Gelert.
This book reads like a chain of pulp fiction clich$eAs: an over-inquisitive guest turns up at a hotel and alienates the proprietor's children with her nastiness; a cryptic message from a stranger's distant childhood is found by chance; a bag of jewellery is extracted from an old doll; the children are separated from their parents and locked in an attic; old family hatreds are rekindled and resolved .
Although this is archive Cookson - first published in 1972 - like all good stories it's undiminished by time. She really knows how to tug at the heart strings. Set in the mid-nineteenth century, it tells the tale of Rory, poor but honest, who serves his master loyally and is lavishly rewarded.
When her family move out of their farm to a quiet house with no animals but the family cats, Ruth grieves for the life and the lives she's had to abandon. Then she befriends a strange blue horse in a nearby field, who seems to understand her feelings, and even her language.
Sanji's room is the best in town - right above the baker's shop. The delicious smells of crusty bread and cinnamon buns waft up both morning and evening for free - until the baker realises, that is. He demands that Sanji pay for his smells and, when he refuses, takes him to court.
Against the Northern Australian background of loggers versus 'Greenies', Kevin, a logger's son, is introduced to the flora and fauna of the forest (where his father works) by the greeny Rainbow kids. And he realises for the first time what he's been missing as he contrasts the natural opulence of the untouched forest with the desolation left by the loggers to whom the extinction of 2000-year-old trees is a way of life. Presented as a story, this is really a fine display of Dailan Pugh's wildlife paintings and, of course, a strong conservation message. Students of the BfK Green Guide will remember Dunkle's excellent Conservation; her text here is just as spare and just as telling.
'... he suddenly asked mum if he couldn't be a baby and start all over again. Except this time could he please be made like other kids?' This is a rare self-absorbed moment in this no-nonsense, wryly comic, award-winning novel about the last month of a young muscular dystrophy sufferer's life, as seen through the eyes of his best friend and classmates.
Next time an older reader asks for something spooky, reach for this title. The Days' holiday business is progressing well enough until the arrival of the Todds who just won't leave. They are determined to take over the lives and identities of their hosts by a cruelly tenacious, psychological campaign.
'Only thing I've got, is my name. And I've given it away to this man. Barnie, his name is, or something like that... "Mister," I call him, to his face, that is. But there's a little space in my head where his name is Barnie.' The Barnie of this story is Doctor Barnardo and the boy is Jim Jarvis, the lad who led to him founding his refuge for children of the street in Victorian times, and eventually to the worldwide institution of today.
'A packet of crisps is much more expensive than the same weight of potatoes. You are paying the person who makes the crisp for peeling the potatoes (and removing the fibre), and for adding fat, salt and chemical flavourings, which are all bad for you!' Strong irrefutable stuff from Miriam Moss in Fibre which shows fibre-power at work keeping us healthy (fibre-filled bowels move up to seven and a half times faster than those without) and tells how and where to find it.
First E.T. and now A.T., or rather C.A.T., not the furry variety, you understand, but the talking alien variety. Tabby wants a kitten but the C.A.T. she gets is far from home and needs more than milk and fish.
For whatever reason, William definitely makes a false start to life at his new school. For Jane it's bad enough that he's nasty about her beloved cat, Furlong, without his also turning classmates against her.
A lushly presented collection of folk tales from around the world, many of them unfamiliar to this reviewer. Each story is accompanied by a teaching kit of related activities, which include toys, games and instruments to make, recipes, art projects, science investigations and book-making.
Ben falls in love with Sophie while he's playing Sir Lancelot, rescuing her from an unhappy love affair. Their relationship develops slowly, with the threat of Ryan, Sophie's ex-boyfriend, always in the background.
Garth Pig fans are in for a bonanza. Mary Rayner has always had a winning formula with the wonderful Pig family, endless piglets (who thankfully wear the same clothes or half the fun of identification would be lost), satisfying parent figures and the indomitable and indefatigable Mrs Wolf.
A title claiming to be the 'best-ever' has a lot to live up to, but even a random dip into this appealing production is enough to convince you of its merits. Despite being packed with facts about all aspects of castles and castle life (how and where they were built, who lived in them and how they were defended), the book's generous format and attractive page layout ensures that information on each topic can be readily absorbed.
The latest paperback picture book from the master surrealist of children's literature resembles a Technicolor version of one of the disturbing stories he illustrated for Ian McEwan's The Daydreamer. A very blokish bloke, obsessed with holding age at bay, reverts into a man-headed baby after chugalug-ging a whole bottle of elixa de yoof, and everybody around him finds his plight rip-roaringly funny.
This picture book presents the childhood of the four Bront$eU siblings, told through a somewhat bland, but nevertheless interesting, reconstruction of Charlotte's journals. The illustrations attempt to capture the wild beauty of the moors above Howarth and the contrasting orderliness of life in the rectory, while in frame after frame a phantom figure looms, gazing from windows and mirrors and half-open doors.
Interestingly, this book is one of the most popular of this month's review collection. It's set in the style of a ballad, and the rhythm and verse were often commented upon by the Year Two children helping me with the reviewing.
In his introductory letter Dr Chevallier claims that 'condoms are as much part of our lives as the chewing-gum that sticks to our shoe.' Really? Well, if not, would that they were, and this is the book to help.
As a child Renata promised her aunt she'd always be true to the Oldmouse family name, no matter what she became. Because of her fondness for smiles and because she liked to see them well looked after, she decided to be a dentist and dedicate herself to providing an entertaining and specialised smile-maintenance service in an environment dazzling with flamboyance.
When Hippo call this an 'all ages' picture book, I can see why - anyone reading it will be enriched. The illustrations work on all sorts of levels and break all sorts of conventions with stunning success.
Ted (not Ned as is written in the blurb on the back of the book) is responsible for Gordon's need to acquire greater strength as he doesn't want that bully to cause any more misery to himself or anyone else.
The ingredients of classic horror meet roaming 'Beast of Exmoor'-type carnage in this well-crafted and sensitive tale for an older readership. Credibility gets very stretched, however, but if you can manage it, the story of Jess and the strange lad, who leads her right up the forest path to his gothic, seedy mansion (complete with mad mother), becomes very toothsome.
A strikingly beautiful cover is slightly marred by the rather theatrical statement 'Master of Menace' emblazoned across it. Perhaps Walker feel that Hugh Scott needs more positive marketing - he's certainly one of the best writers for children around, though still sadly underrated.
Plato Jones, his name reflecting Greek mother and Welsh father, finds himself in between - his separated parents, his two countries and his two families. In Greece, for his Greek grandfather's funeral, he's immersed first in the life of his mother's family and then in the past.
Another Percy story in which squirrel's poor listening skills inadvertently make complications for Percy and we're left wondering if everyone did, or did not, get out of the maze ... and also, thanks to the poster-size picture of the maze, with an opportunity to ascertain just how difficult the predicament is.
This is not a book, it's an exercise routine and must surely beat family aerobics in front of the television. It's guaranteed to send adults and toddlers into hysteria as the family is supposed to emulate dancing cows, twirling pigs, swaying hippos and somersaulting seals! No one can escape - there are specific instructions for adults - as the animal show rolls inexorably on.
Rich with words adapted from the book of Genesis, Jane Ray's illustrations give immediacy and brilliance to a difficult story. The words have some lovely contemporary deviations; why do I always visualise sardines in cans? The pictures are dazzling and detailed - they beg to be talked about and shared.
First published in 1991, even such a short gap gives this book a dated feel. It's a shame also that the hideous hardback cover has been used for this paperback edition. It's a powerful story, nevertheless, of Lallie and her boyfriend, Paul, both in trouble for petty crime.
With over 11 different sports and activities to choose from, there's something here for everyone. Inevitably, the first port of call is the reader's favourite sport, but I found myself engrossed in stories about horse-racing and even boxing!
When 10-year-old Penny's Uncle Bumpo comes into her life for the first time, he appears generous and charming. Her parents' scepticism about whether his sticky fingers have really changed is surprising and a little upsetting.
'It's boring spending Sunday afternoons at Aunt Sarah's.' At least, that's what Sophie thought until she disobeyed her aunt and went under the stairs. There she discovers a whole new world of strange creatures such as the Brush-hogs, the Golflogg, not to mention the terrible Hooversaurus with whom she does battle.
Don't worry if (like me) you can't stand football! I read this book in the name of duty and had the most wonderfully entertaining time. George is a passionate fan of Sheffield United and spends a good deal of his time (and parents' phone bill) taking part in 'Praise or Grumble', the phone-in on his local radio station.
'A packet of crisps is much more expensive than the same weight of potatoes. You are paying the person who makes the crisp for peeling the potatoes (and removing the fibre), and for adding fat, salt and chemical flavourings, which are all bad for you!' Strong irrefutable stuff from Miriam Moss in Fibre which shows fibre-power at work keeping us healthy (fibre-filled bowels move up to seven and a half times faster than those without) and tells how and where to find it.
1994 W H Smith Young Writers' Competition winners are gathered here in an attractive collection of prose, poems and artwork. The 65 contributions are arranged into nine sections with headers like 'Time Capsules', 'A Heart That Thumps' and 'Litter-filled Wastelands, Oil-filled Lakes.' There's wit, humour and impressive philosophy here.
Julie Lacome has produced a lovely repetitive book about the creatures of the jungle looking for their tea. It lends itself beautifully to drama work and re-reading after re-reading. The illustrations
'Science is measurement' was one of the topics I got used to arguing fluently for and against during my 'A' level years; now here's the concept hallowed at infant level in four volumes devoted to qualitative and quantitative differences, an ability to observe which is basic to the furtherance of any sort of science (there, I told you I was fluent).
Ten stories featuring the way in which Just William did his bit for the war effort. The hero's unwitting ability to destroy the pretensions and pomposities of the adult world while attempting to emulate the public-spirited endeavours of his elders, are depicted in hilariously straight-faced prose.
This is very good value, being a story and a puzzle book in one. Each page is packed with dense and action-filled pictures which, combined with the questions in the text, encourage children to look very carefully to find the answers to a number of different puzzles.