Clean up! written by Julia Lawson with photographs by Peter Millard. (Evans Brothers, 6.99)
The text is written from the perspective of four children, two girls and two boys, who are busy doing different kinds of cleaning. In the garden the children use tools to rake up leaves, then sweep dirt off the floor inside, and we are shown a road-sweeper working outside with bigger, swirling brushes. At the end of the book, the boys are shown chatting happily, surrounded by their pristine floor, when in walks one of the girls wearing muddy boots. Dotted throughout the book are action songs and follow-on activities. There is also a list of storybooks on a related theme, together with some brief science links.
Ella's Games. Written by David Bedford and illustrated by Peter Kavanagh. (Scholastic, 10.99)
There are several strong themes running through this hardback picture book, all seamlessly interwoven in the tale of Ella, the only female mouse among three mice brothers. Ella's brothers don't want her to join in with their games, so offer a new excuse each time to put her off. Ella merely takes these rejections as a new challenge she must surmount. As soon as Ella convinces her brothers that the whisker she brings them has been plucked from a rainbow cat (the illustration for this episode is striking), she is well on the road to winning them over. Soon they are all embarking on their first adventure together, and Ella's vivid imagination transforms a makeshift plant pot, with a bath plug for a ship's anchor, into a real ship sweeping through the ocean. Captain Ella is firmly in charge in the final exuberant picture.
Mother Goose Remembers. By Clare Beaton. (Barefoot Books, 12.99)
Although the cover price may challenge your book budget, there are 64 pages in this hardback treasury of traditional nursery rhymes, and so many wonderful material collage illustrations that you will probably think this well worth the outlay. The illustrator, who combines embroidery with fabrics with different weaves and textures, particularly with felt, has made quite a name for herself in this style. Especially impressive is her ability to convey a wide range of movement and mood in her detailed collages. Here you will see children playing, birds dilly-dallying and piggies going to market. The heading of each nursery rhyme is rendered in hand-sewn letters too, and there are several surprises for adults and children to discover. I like the grumpy faces on the flowers in the 'Mary Mary Quite Contrary' rhyme.
The Colour of Home. Written by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Karin Littlewood. (Frances Lincoln, 10.99)
In this longer picture book for older children (the publishers suggest that it is suitable from six years upwards) we gain an insight into the experiences of a Somali boy called Hassan. He and his refugee family made a long journey from their original home via a transit camp where they stayed so long that his sister learned how to walk there. At school Hassan paints a picture that expresses some of his fear and anger. He thinks his new home is wet and grey: 'We seem to have left all the colours behind in Somalia,'
he explains to an interpreter sent to school to help him. The strong illustrations are both emotional and informative.
Jethro Byrde, Fairy Child. By Bob Graham. (Walker Books, 10.99)
Annabelle is obsessed with fairies - finding them, that is. Her dad, on the other hand, is convinced she will never find fairies in the cement and weeds at the edge of their garden. When one day Annabelle squeezes through a gap in the fence, she meets a boy as big as her finger, whose 'wings shivered in the breeze.' The fairy boy 'hitched up his jeans, flew on to a leaf and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve.' Annabelle then has the pleasure of meeting the rest of the Byrde family, who (debunking all those sickly-sweet fairy stories) run an old hamburger van. The illustrations combine extr-eme close-ups of Annabelle and her new fairy friends, who come to the human tea and remain unnoticed by all the adults, of course.
