DINOSAURS AFTER DARK. Written by Jonathan Emmett and illustrated by Curtis Jobling. (Collins, 9.99)
I usually find rhyming picture books annoying, but this mixture of rhymes in the middle of lines and at the end make the text interesting and clever. It also reads beautifully out loud, and there's lots of excitement and anticipation. The style and colouring of the illustrations have a 1950s feel, and there are lots of things to look out for second and third time round. Notice how the lime green dinosaur's body matches the colour and texture of the boy's dressing-gown, so when he follows the dinosaur down the blue-tinged dark deserted buildings, the connection between them is highlighted. There are some scary moments, like when the dinosaurs declare they are going to eat the boy because he may tell on them (he promises not to). But the boy gets really scared when they begin a hide-and-seek game, and he runs and runs, to be eventually carried safely back to his bed wrapped in the arms of the green dinosaur, his dressing-gown and its coat melded together.
CLAUDE AND THE BIG SURPRISE. By David Wojtowycz. (Gullane 9.99).
Claude is a polar bear with pink sticky-out ears who is going to stay with his aunty while his mum has a new baby. Aunty doesn't live in just any old place, but in the Arctic. At the beginning when Claude is packing there are some nice adult touches, like books scattered about the floor on how to catch the Abominable Snowman. My favourite picture is one at the airport, with all the different bears and their luggage, and my four-year-old was highly amused by the panda bear flight attendant with the winged logo on her hat. While Claude plays in the Arctic snow he thinks of a unique present to take home. Unfortunately it is a snowman, so it has melted by the time Mum unwraps it, but that's OK, there's something much more important for Claude to do - meet his new baby sister.
I WANT TO BE A COWGIRL. Written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross. (Anderson, 9.99).
I like endpapers - the loose leaves at the front and back of a book that wrap around the story. When individually designed, rather than using plain paper or repeating images, they can really add to or reinforce the story. Here the front endpapers give us the story setting - a city-scape with high-rise blocks that transform into cactus shapes with cactus-shaped clouds above.The back endpapers move the perspective up so more of the sky is shown, signifying the liberation of the cowgirl's father in the story. At the back there are not only cactus-shaped clouds but also Stetsons and rearing stallions. The story is about a feisty young girl using her imagination to change her surroundings, or changing her surroundings to feed her imagination (an amusing picture shows her in riding trousers that she's cut out from the long-pile carpet).
SQUEAK'S GOOD IDEA. Written by Max Eilenberg and illustrated by Patrick Benson. (Walker, 10.99).
Squeak the elephant wants to play outdoors, but the rest of his family are busy reading books and ironing, so Squeak decides to see what it's like outside all on his own. There's a lovely illustration of him opening the back door and exploring tentatively with his trunk. Squeak's fear of going out by himself makes him decide that it might be too cold. Inside he finds lots of warm things to wear, and enlists Momma's help too - which is the point. After deciding it now might rain, he borrows Poppa's brolly, and fully-laden, he makes his way to the tree at the bottom of the garden. Here he sets out a picnic, and everyone else joins in. The illustrations and the easy pace of the text make an accurate picture of how young children can carry off a good idea.
OCEAN STAR EXPRESS. Written by Mark Haddon and illustrated by Peter Sutton. (Collins, 9.99).
These realistic illustrations of Joe and his mum and dad by the seaside really capture the feel of a summer holiday when the sun shines, and when the weather changes for the worse and you look out through rainy windows at what you could be doing. But Joe's holiday isn't spoilt. The owner of the hotel, Mr Robertson, has an amazing train set in his attic, where each little room displays a different scenario. The train chugs through a starry night sky, then the Canadian mountains, on to the blazing yellow of a desert and finally to the seaside. Each picture juxtaposes the model train and the boy watching it, helping readers relate to Joe's excitement.
Finally Mr Robertson and Joe paint a small model figure so it looks like Joe.
