by Anne Fine and illustrated by Ruth Brown.
(Anderson, 9.99).
Get inside the head of a determined old dog called Ruggles. Hear the minute-by-minute motivations for leaving home and thwarting the attempts of his owner to keep him in. An extra-high fence all around the garden won't stop Ruggles, with his Colditz-style focus on escape. Once out, he goes about his business running, weeing and relaxing on the grass in the park, pinching a French loaf from the baker's and burying it back in the garden. The words are in the first person, in a clipped, immediate style that, with the funny and well-observed illustrations, give an insight into the life of an unsentimental shaggy dog.
SNOW COMES TO THE FARM.
By Nathaniel Tripp and illustrated by Date Kiesler.
(Candlewick Press, 10.99).
Here's a realistic portrayal of what happens when snow arrives, told from the perspective of two children who go into nearby woods. They are so fascinated by the wonder of what is happening around them that they forget the danger, and realise they can't find their way home. The text is written in the style of a diary, and describes in detail the sounds snow makes and what it feels like. The snowflakes 'whisper as they brush against the branches', and when they first fall, they look like stars on the children's coat sleeves. At the end when the children are lying safely at home in bed, the snow 'began to whisper sleep to us'.
CHIMP AND ZEE.
by Laurence and Catherine Anholt.
(Frances Lincoln, 12.99).
This is a large format hardback in the style of Babar giftbooks. If you've ever seen these classic editions, you might like the combination of detailed story pictures packed with talking points, and the handwritten style of text. This is the tale of a monkey brother and sister who run away from their mother while out shopping, and end up getting carried in a banana basket on the back of an elephant, far from home. When the elephant porter decides to take a swim, Chimp and Zee look like they're really in trouble, but as luck has it, the river they are moving along runs right by their home, and Papakey (their dad) fishes them out. There's a nice rhythm to the text in this upbeat story, and the illustrations are set out in a lively fashion.
THE BOLD BOY.
by Malachy Doyle and illustrated by Jane Ray.
(Walker Books, 10.99).
This circular story begins and ends with the bold boy finding a pea and popping into his nut-brown bag. The phrase, 'Then he did a little dance/and he sang a little song/and off he toddled' is repeated for joining in with. On he goes through various encounters with a woman with a hen, an old man with a pig, and an equally bold girl with a donkey, from each of whom he demands compensation. There's humorous detail in the illustrations, for example when the woman drops the pea into her bucket, with a diagramatic line of the pea's journey into the bottom of the bucket. Finally the boy ends up with only his pea, but he goes on doing a little dance, singing a little song on his way through the fairytale landscape.
UNDER THE GROUND.
by Paul Harrison and Louise Jackson and illustrated by Sally Hobson.
(Walker Books, 5.99).
The theme is place, as we meet a range of objects and activities under the ground, from natural to man-made. The opening spread poses a question and offers clues to the answer given overleaf. The question 'Whose fluffy babies are these?' is accompanied by the sound clue 'twitch, twitch' and a picture of three sleeping rabbits seen from behind in a safe, warm burrow. When the flap is turned, one rabbit wakes and jumps up to greet her mother coming into the burrow. The page beginning with the sound 'crunch crunch' asks 'Whose spiky wheel is this?' The answer is inside a miner's speech bubble - 'Mine!'
