Beegu
by Alexis Deacon (Hutchinson, 10.99)
A wonderful book in its theme and execution. The way the central theme, acceptance, is delivered through the story might provide a good basis for discussion about refugees being integrated into communities.
Beegu is a yellow glowing creature who lands on Earth after a failed solo adventure in her flying saucer. She speaks a different language from everyone and everything she meets, and feels desolate when the rabbits, a tree, swirling leaves, and people, don't respond to her attempts to communicate. Things are looking up when she meets some children in a playground and they welcome her to their game, but along comes a stern teacher and Beegu is ousted.
The swirling hoop the children give Beegu before she is transported back to her planet becomes a treasured object. The story is beautifully drawn, and has so many subtle layers that you can come back to it again and again.
Look out for Beegu's speech bubble at the end, which includes pictograms telling about her adventure on Earth - these really work, and can be read by children.
Bing - Get Dressed
by Ted Dewan (David Fickling, 4.99)
A rhythmical story chock-full of toddler vitality, with contemporary images that remind me of 1950s retro in colour palette and style. Bing, an appealing rabbit, and his hessian pal Flop get on with the business of putting clothes on. It's not easy, but Bing Bunny does really well with the shirt and the pants, and there's a repeated phrase for children to join in with. When Flop asks if he can do it all by himself, he says, 'Yup', and the response is, 'Good for you, Bing Bunny.'
But it goes a bit wrong when they realise they've forgotten the dungarees.They have to backtrack in the dressing-up process, but not too far. Then there's another set-back - Bing wees in his pants. It has a good message for adults: children will turn all kinds of menial day-to-day activities into good games if you have the time to let them, and when accidents happen it's up to you how you deal with them. The individual items of clothing are shown as separate entities on the page, which also offers an opportunity for a spotting and naming game.
In this story the wet pants just offer another opportunity to play the dressing-up game. The way the words are set out on the page and work alongside the images - some big, some small - carefully determine the delivery of the story, and the individual items of clothing are shown as separate entities on the page, which offers an opportunity for a spotting and naming game.
Smog the City Dog
by Adria Meserve (Red Fox, 4.99)
The good things about this book, according to a child tester, are the funny bit about the dog pinching the sleeping woman's food shopping bag, and the colourful scratchy pictures with 'upside-down buses' and cars.
The artist has bent objects around swirling shapes of city roads and underpasses and railway bridges, to give an idea of the smoggy, busy city where Smog the dog lives alongside other city animals. The underlying themes, put across with humour and subtlety, include the transitory life often lived on the streets, the generosity among fellow inhabitants - Smog the dog shares the bag of food with the other animals - and the importance of taking opportunities when you are offered them. That's the cheeky bit.
The Magic Toolbox
by Mie Araki (Chronicle Books, 9.28)
Unusual materials are used to make this book, including images printed on rice paper.
Binding the images together is a strong and appealing story resonating with themes of children's friendships, their competitiveness, their enthusiasm for trying again, and their imagination.
The narrative features a hippo called Lulu who can turn her hand to any kind of brick construction, unlike Fred the rabbit who just hasn't got the knack. While Lulu builds impressive things like a boat and a dragon from bricks, all Fred wants to build is a house. His attempts always fail, until a magic toolbox appears, and helps out with an amazing array of tools. The picture here is a delight for children interested in the details of objects and their names, and includes a trowel and a wrench. Even a pair of ladders materialise out of the toolbox.
In the end Fred makes an amazing house, and Lulu is impressed. Their joint dream bubble in the final image shows the same thing this time - a many-turreted castle - their next, combined, building project.
