GOOD NEWS! BAD NEWS!.
by Colin McNaughton.
(Collins, 9.99).
Beware - this book is not for the squeamish in your nursery (and that includes adults too). Don't let babies near, or they will have nightmares. For starters, the endpapers are filled with a close-up picture of a monster with slavery choppers and enormous googly eyes, and Dracula appears right at the end. However, for those able to take the pressure, it's a pacey story that provides lots of opportunities for thinking skills. Opposite extremes are presented through the lively text and action-packed illustrations. So it's good news that it's a beautiful day, but instantly bad news when the boy hero learns he has to go to the dentist. The reader careers back and forth between these two options, and is given some genuine surprises along the way. When the boy is rescued from bullies by some friendly aliens, this is definitely good news, but when he finds out they smell like babies' nappies, well, you can guess.
EATING.
by Gwenyth Swain.
(Milet, 5.99).
This book, one of a series in two languages, offers an opportunity to introduce different scripts to children at an early age whether they speak a second language or not. 'It's time for breakfast. What will you eat?' - we see a photograph of a young child from north India drinking a bottle of milk for breakfast, and later a group of Moroccan boys eating couscous. Details of the settings and people are given at the end of the book, and there's even a chart showing the main types of food arranged in a pyramid. You could use this as the basis for low-key discussions about what makes a balanced meal, perhaps just before or after your nursery lunch.
The full series of these photographic books, Eating, Smiling, Carrying and Celebrating, is available in dual language versions including English-Turkish, English-Chinese, and English-Gujarati.
WHAT'S CREEPY AND CRAWLY?.
written by Clare Llewellyn and illustrated by Peter Bailey
(Frances Lincoln, 9.99)
This nature information book is presented in the form of an I-Spy puzzle, where, even on the front cover, a big die-cut circular window reveals a picture clue on the page underneath. The insects we are given clues about include a snail, a spider, and a bee, and the clues have a variety of levels. The heading for the spider section is a big speech bubble spoken by a boy who is pointing, and on the trail of a particular insect. 'I spy a hairy hunter,' he says, and the clues include details of how a spider scuttles along the ground, how it makes sticky traps in its web to catch flies, and how, if two people stand one behind the other and hold out their arms and one leg each (there's a sweet drawing of this), they can re-create the eight legs of a spider. Turn the page, and you spy it - there's a hairy hunter, along with some additional information.
THE OTHER GOOSE.
by Judith Kerr.
(Collins, 9.99)
Katerina the goose is sad from the first page, sad because she doesn't have a goosey friend to swim on the pond with. She is, however, captivated by the image of a goose that appears on the side of the local bank manager's shiny car whenever she goes near it. Katerina thinks this is a possible new friend - if only it would come out of that car. Of course it is Katerina's reflection, and the illustration of this, in the soft pastel style of the book, also featured on the back cover, is great. When a burglar pinches money from the bank one night, Katerina chases him, thinking the bag he's carrying contains her future goosey friend - it's about the right size. Katerina is down-hearted to find that the bag is filled with notes, but she gets her just reward when soon afterwards out of the shiny bank manager's car steps a gander. Her goosey friend has come out of that car at last. The illustrations showing their blossoming friendship are lovely, and soon there are not only two geese on the village pond, but five goslings too.
THE ADVENTURES OF BERT.
by Allan Ahlberg and Raymond Briggs.
(Viking, 9.99).
This is an unusual book that breaks away from the pattern of many other picture books and features a story split into five chapters. The content, however, is still aimed at young children, who are encouraged to interact with the story and pictures by the direct forms of address. We can meet Bert, his wife and baby, and we can say 'hello' to Bert and his wife, but not to the baby who is fast asleep in her cot. Readers are clearly instructed to turn the page quietly, and when the page is turned we find one crying baby and a text that blames us directly for waking her up. Every opportunity is taken to create a gentle joke about what Bert gets up to, or about the reader.
My favourite scenario of the five is the incident with the giant sausage. While desperately fleeing from it, Bert bumps into a lamp post. This sounds like a sad story, but the cover on the face of the giant sausage is lifted, and inside we see a man who offers Bert a free sausage, which cheers him up no end.
