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Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum by Terri Rose Baynton

Posted by Abbie Jury in Picture books, Preschool picture book and tagged with ,
Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum

Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum

What a lovely celebration of friendship. Mr Bear Branches is a learned and intellectual bear while his best friend, Lintfrey Longfellow, is an impulsive and innocent little rabbit. When Bear Branches realises he has made Lintfrey sad by pointing out the impossibility of ever floating on the clouds, he sets out to create a real life experience as close as possible. It is a gentle tale of caring and friendship which leaves the reader with a genuinely warm feeling.

The language is sophisticated, as you may gather from the use of conundrum in the title, but the advanced vocabulary is so well integrated that the context makes the meaning clear. The illustrations are pen and ink drawings, detailed stick figures, with limited use of colour (red and brown) so quite subtle. It is a thoroughly delightful book and perfect for reading with children aged three years up.

Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum by Terri Rose Baynton (Harper Collins; ISBN: 978 0 7333 2921 0) reviewed by Abbie Jury.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Edge of the World by Ian Trevaskis

Posted by Abbie Jury in Middle childhood, Picture books and tagged with
Edge of the World,

Edge of the World,

It is always bleak winter in the joyless village at the end of the world, even more so for Toby McPhee who is wrapped up in his own grief which seems to infect the entire village. When he starts finding little pots of coloured paint in his fishing nets, he deals with the grief of his drowned wife and daughter and colour and joy return to the village. There is so much happening in this book that it is hard to get a handle on the target readership. It is a picture book but not for pre-schoolers. The soft focus illustrations have some debt to the old masters of Northern Europe and are appropriately gloomy. The intensity of the story, even though it has a resolution, means that the book is better suited to children aged 7 upwards.

Edge of the World by Ian Trevaskis, illustrated by Wayne Harris (Walker Books; ISBN: 978 1 921150 21 0) reviewed by Abbie Jury.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Queenie, One Elephant’s Story by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe

Posted by Abbie Jury in Picture books and tagged with , , ,
Queenie, One Elephant’s Story

Queenie, One Elephant’s Story

There is a tragic relevance to this book at the moment. It is the tale of Queenie, an elephant at Melbourne Zoo from around 1900 to 1945 where she was a star attraction. She killed her keeper and was euthanized soon after. It is a nostalgic amble through times past when elephants in zoos were fed peanuts and apples by visitors as they patiently plodded around taking paying passengers for a ride in the howdahs on their backs. This is not an experience that children of today will have experienced now that times have changed. The tone of the story is factual, even prosaic but the detailed illustrations are period in style and do much to convey the essence of the time.

Queenie, One Elephant’s Story by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe (Black Dog Books; ISBN: 978 1 742032 15 3) reviewed by Abbie Jury.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Ophelia’s Wild, Secret Spy by Elena de Roo

Posted by Abbie Jury in Middle childhood, Other children's books and tagged with ,
Ophelia’s Wild, Secret Spy by Elena de Roo

Ophelia’s Wild, Secret Spy by Elena de Roo

It is not easy to find first chapter books for children as they transition from picture books to predominantly text. This little book contains three stories about Ophelia, a smart and bold young girl who outwits the school bullies twice and solves a mystery caused by a thieving cat. There is a high interest level. The illustrations on every page are in grey and white, bold, swirly and stylised. It is written in verse which keeps it rollicking along at a cracking pace and perhaps helps the learner reader to keep predicting what the next words may be. However, it also means that at times the language is bent to fit the metre and rhyme. Part of learning to read is coping with unknown words so “cloud-scudding” on page one is likely to be new to all six to eight year olds. It is fine for children to be given books where there are some unknown words but a handy rule of thumb for parents is that it should not be more than about one word in ten. If it is higher than that, then the book is too difficult for the reader and they will soon lose interest and get frustrated.

Ophelia’s Wild, Secret Spy by Elena de Roo, illustrated by Tracy Duncan (Walker Books; ISBN: 978 1 921529 67 2) reviewed by Abbie Jury.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

I is for Iran by Shirin Adl

Posted by Abbie Jury in Middle childhood, Picture books and tagged with , ,
I is for Iran by Shirin Adl

I is for Iran by Shirin Adl

This is a curiously old fashioned book concept. It is an alphabet book with each letter having a paragraph of information illustrated by a photo or even several photos. The author is Iranian (now resident in England and wearing the hijab but not the black chador) and her clear intention is to educate children about modern Iran and its beauty and history. Unwittingly, the book also portrays what a male dominated society modern Iran is (very few photos of women but lots of men participating fully) and there sure is nothing at all about modern politics and religion.

It is hard to see a market here for this book beyond school projects or a resource for families who are taking their children to Iran for a visit. It is suitable for up to a 10 year old but what self respecting 8 to 10 year old wants to read an alphabet book?


I is for Iran by Shirin Adl, photographs by Kamyar Adl (Frances Lincoln; ISBN:978 1 84780 211 8) reviewed by Abbie Jury.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.