Hot, Hot, Hot. By Neal Layton. (Hodder, ISBN: 0-340-87326-4, 9.99)
Oscar and Arabella are woolly mammoths with wiry hair who adore snow. They live in the Ice Age, and during the winter they whizz around happily in the freezing Arctic winds. But summer is a time when the new-grown plants make them sneeze and the insects send them crazy. It gets hotter and hotter and they can't find any shade. As Oscar and Arabella fan each other to keep cool, a sketchily drawn man in animal skins is shown sunbathing in the background. When the bulky mammoths jump in the lake to cool off, every drop of water is displaced, leaving an empty pool and a drenched, coughing man. The mammoths finally decide to have a haircut. This cools them down and the fad catches on.
There's a single page at the end of the story featuring Ice Age facts. The line style of this illustrator is packed with energy.
Some Dogs Do. By Jez Alborough. (Walker, ISBN: 0-7445-8339-X, Pounds 10.99)
Tight rhyming couplets are not usually my favourite reading, but the world this author-artist creates in this style is irresistible. Sid the dog finds that his happy feelings make him fly, 'like a doggy shaped balloon'. But the other dogs and his teacher don't believe him. When he tries to prove it to them, the happy feeling has gone, and so has his flying ability. The tingly part of the story comes when he tells his Dad why he is sad. His dad confides a secret - that he can fly too. The focus throughout on close-ups and expressions makes this book tug successfully at the heart strings.
Meg, Mog and Og. Written by Helen Nicoll and illustrated by Jan Pienkowski (Puffin, ISBN: 0-14-056938-3, 4.99)
The usual exuberant colours burst out from this new story about Meg and Mog. While Meg is busy cooking up a large cauldron of yukky green bubble and squeak, she explodes with anger when Mog and Owl get in the way. Their room is too small, so she casts a spell and transports them to a huge cave.
The cave belongs to a prehistoric man called Crom who brings home his dinner - a live mammoth. Meg persuades the man to eat the bubble and squeak instead and finds that the mammoth also likes it - and everything she cooks. As a result the mammoth grows so big that there isn't room for them all and Meg decides to move back home. But while Meg, Mog and Owl are sleeping a familiar trunk sneaks through the window...
There's some lovely adult humour in this book too, like the scene where Meg is busily brushing the prehistoric paintings off the cave wall to tidy up.
Wilbie, Footie Mad! By Sally Chambers. (Piccadilly Press, ISBN: 1-85340-743-7, 9.99)
This is a good story because it doesn't take the usual line. Wilbie, a duck, has a passion for football. He reads about it and watches it on TV, but when he enters the football team trials himself he does hopelessly. His dad suggests practising. They dribble and head and score and save goals and hug and have a great time together. Although Wilbie isn't on the team he helps out by bringing on the oranges at half time and collecting the balls.
The team thank him by giving him a chance to play in a game. But Wilbie says that he likes playing with his Dad best of all.
It's a heartwarming message that will resonate with many readers. The illustrations capture the actions and the emotions warmly.
Mo's Smelly Jumper. Written by David Bedford and illustrated by Edward Eaves (Little Tiger Press, ISBN: 1-85430-909-9, 9.99)
This is a carefully crafted tale focused on the young ones' point of view.
It has them getting the better of the adults in a tug-of-war contest involving Mo's woolly jumper. He doesn't want to take off the jumper even though it's smelly. When his mother insists, Mo enlists his friends' help.
They tug on one end with the adults on the other. When Mo sneakily whispers for the young animals to let go, the adults end up needing a wash too.
The jumper is so misshapen after this that it's unwearable, but Mo isn't downhearted. The last image shows him languishing in a woolly jumper hammock. The illustrations convey Mo's love for new experiences and his stubbornness.
