Lowly’s Book Blog

cI rarely get the opportunity to review children’s books for Buzz, but I snatched at this one as soon as it was unpacked. Everything about it said, read me, now!

This book is exactly what you expect it to be, the letters of the alphabet illustrated using animals. One word on each page, and the associated letter. You have all seen the sort of thing on Sesame Street.

But this book has some wonderful illustrations. Andrew Zukerman is an excellent animal photographer. His photos demand attention. At first I assumed that the illustrations were drawn in a photorealistic style, but upon closer inspection, this level of detail could only come from the animal itself.

But a picture book is more than the illustrations. The text is placed carefully to suit each photo and the whole effect is to demand reading.

Thinking about Christmas presents for a youngster? This would jump to the top of my list.

This is a beautiful book for young children. The illustrations are amazing and the very simple story of Tom Tom’s average day is somehow ideal.

Tom Tom is a very young boy who spends every day with his mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grannys and cousins. He visits Grannie Annie every day, goes to school, then down to Lemonade Springs to swim with his brothers and sisters and cousins, and then home to sleep with Granny May and Grandfather Joe. This is a simple story of an average day. No drama, no disaster, just a warm caring story.

The simple story accompanied by Dee Huxley’s illustrations express to even the youngest child the life of an Aboriginal boy living in Australia’s Top End. This story for an audience of children at about the same age, is sure to improve understanding between the two races that share this country.

Where I grew up, the leaves fell from all the trees in autumn and we had to watch for bears as we wandered through the woods. For me this book speaks volumes about the changing seasons.

The story is about a young bear in his first year. After playing all summer, he notices that one day the leaves are turning strange colours and falling. He tries to put the leaves back on the tree, but eventually gathers them up to pack into a cave. And so begins this beautiful tale about the changing seasons.

I have been asked to approve this for Australian children though. And I wonder how relevant this story could possibly be. It is designed for very small children, but in this country concepts like hibernation and even falling leaves can mean something quite different.

But from what I can discover this is a first book from Stein. I adored it, and I hope he continues writing. Possibly next time a book for a more international audience.

Every time a Nick Bland book crosses my desk, I have to stop, make a coffee and read it. With titles like ‘A Monster Wrote me a Letter’ and ‘The Very Cranky Bear’ it is simply not an option to leave the cover closed. ‘Donald Loves Drumming’ is no different. 

On the surface, this is a simple family story about a very normal energetic and noisy boy. Donald loves to drum, and the family find it very difficult. But it is no easier when Donald takes up another pastime like painting or even walking the dog. The difference in this story is the illustrations. They carry the humor of the story even more than the words. 

This is never going to be an award winning book, but I certainly enjoyed this simple family story.

Everyone loved The Pocket Dogs, Wild’s first book about the two tiny dogs that loved to be carried in Mr Pockets’ big coat. And this story about their seaside holiday is simply delightful.

Biff and Buff and Mr Pockets travel together to the beach where they have great fun playing in the surf and building sand castles (kennels). But then the big coat disappears…

I am continually amazed that authors can pack so much drama into so few words. But those words would be no where near as powerful without Stephen Michael King’s whimsical drawings that make Biff and Buff so endearing.

This book is wonderful. Maybe not original, but small children don’t care. This is far more like a visit with old friends.

Some regular readers may think I like every book I have ever read. Well today I am going to review several bad books, just for a change.

The first of these are two books from the Disney Fairy Series. Before I start I will own up to never liking fairy stories. Folklore is fine, but stories written about sweet little fairies for sweet little girls never interested me. Give me a good adventure or mystery anytime, even when I was a kid. However, the VPRC committee had sent me 2 Disney Fairy books to read and evaluate for inclusion on the approved literature list.

My second bias is against Disney books. To me they reek of cheap advertising. When I found out that Disney is preparing an animated film about the Disney fairies for the home DVD market for release in 2008, suddenly the reason they were submitted to the VPRC became clear.

Anyway, I knew I had to read them, put my prejudices aside, and make a recommendation about their suitability for inclusion on the approved list.

The two samples I read were Beck and the Great Berry Battle and Vidia and the Fairy Crown. Of the two Beck was by far the better it dealt with the theme of the importance of finding a peaceful resolution to conflict. Except for the fact that the story took ages to come to the point (is there a mandatory word count?) the story was quite good. With that in mind I started Vidia. This book was every fantasy reader’s nightmare, an obnoxious hero, dozens of superfluous and silly side characters and no sensible solution to the problem. I am sorry, but the whole idea of a team of fairies that have laundry-talent gives me chills. Are fairies so stupid that they can’t learn to do washing?

Can you tell I won’t be recommending this series for every child in Victoria to read?

A simple picture book, and three authors credited. This is usually a guarantee of disaster. However, this book was partially completed when Steven Woolman died leaving only pencil sketches. Laura Peterson took up the challenge of finishing Woolman’s work and the result is stunning.

The story is simple. A father has refused to allow a young boy to have his own rowboat, claiming that it is too dangerous. The boy’s grandfather invites the young boy to help him build a boat for another boy. Together the two build what will become a generous gift.

As it has always been with Steven Woolman’s books, the artwork enhances the story adding layers of complexity to the tale. This time there seems to be a poignant beauty as well, perhaps because as a reader we know that we will never see illustrations like this again.

This is a lovely publication, and I would fork out the money to get the hardcover edition. The print quality is usually much better.

I guess it is only fair that occasionally I list a book that is absolutely awful. And this one qualifies.

Walter the Farting Dog is a series of books about a dog with intestinal problems that gets caught in impossible situations and only high air pressure can get him out. Naturally Walter comes supplied with ample amounts of the air under pressure and rescues himself and his whole family.

This time Walter joins his humans for a vacation cruise. Naturally his presence makes breathing uncomfortable for all the rest of the passengers, so Walter end up on a lifeboat floating behind the cruise ship. Inevitably the power fails on the ship and everyone is dependent on Walter’s fart to navigate back to shore.

Obviously a silly storyline. Really, I could find nothing of value in this book for children. It caters to a natural fascination with toilet humour shared by young children, but why does it take three authors and an illustrator to put together a book whose only purpose is to generate profits for the publisher.

And you were wondering when I would get around to some books for young children.

Ride with me is a wonderfully presented picture book that is sure to attract the attention of all those girls who long for a horse of their own, and this starts very young. (My parents moved from a city to a farm when I was in grade 1 because I and my younger sister were nagging about getting a pony.) The illustrations are all of a lovely white horse and a girl who befriends it and gradually gentles it to ride. Mostly the illustrations are shades of grey or blue and simply lovely.

When you read the story, though, there is a darker and sadder backstory. The horse once belonged to the girl’s mother who has recently and suddenly died. Both the horse and the girl are grieving independently. The horse is becoming timid and wild, the girl is sad and withdrawn. But for her mother’s sake she tries to communicate with the horse.

This isn’t quite The Horse Whisperer, but it is a picture story book. The story needs to be told in under 30 pages and less than 500 words. The surprising thing is that it works. The very simplicity of the tale and the illustrations draw you in.

I can see this as a favourite book for a few littlies