TSL-67-4-WINTER-2019

Under 8
Cobb, Rebecca
Hello, Friend!
Macmillan, 2019, pp32, £11.99
978 1 4472 5051 7
Rebecca Cobb is my
favourite author/illustrator of
stories about pre-school age
children, managing to
capture their essence
perfectly, and this new
addition to her collection is
another wonderful example of her skill.
It is the heart-warming tale of how a slightly
over-enthusiastic young girl with pigtail plaits
and a love of jumping, building tall towers,
sharing and sandwiches, wins the affections of
an initially shy (and possibly star-struck) young
boy. The narrative depicts how keen the little girl
is to be friends, whilst the illustrations show that
the boy is perhaps not so happy to be ‘helped’
into his coat and bundled outside or piled with
toy rabbits in the girl’s exuberant demonstration
of how good she is at sharing. As the story
progresses, however, we see the boy starts to
show a tentatively upturned smile and at home
time, when the girl anxiously wonders ‘I hope he
misses me?’, we see the boy turn back with a
smile and a wave. There follows some joyous
depictions of ‘all the fun we can have’ and the
book ends with the two pals enthusiastically
greeting a new, uncertain little girl with ‘hello,
friend!’.
My 4-year-old daughter always likes to pause to
examine the end notes of the book, which
beautifully portray the messy chaos of the preschool
coat rack, each combination of colourful
welly boots and coats giving a glimpse of that
child’s personality. This is an ideal read for any
children starting nursery, especially for those
worried about forming friendships. I think we
would all be delighted for our child to be greeted
with a happy cry of ‘hello, friend!’
Eleanor Rutherford
Collins, Ross
This is a Dog
Nosy Crow, 2019, pp32, £11.99
978 1 78800 515 9
Attention seeking Dog start out well enough,
sitting nicely on his page opposite ‘This is a dog’.
However, things rapidly deteriorate as he
encroaches on the page of cat, further onto
monkey’s page, and completely steals the show
from downcast rabbit. After chasing squirrel from
his page, dog goes on to cross out ‘crocodile’ and
use his crayon to add ‘dog’ before cocking his leg
on poor giraffe and dressing up as an elephant!
He turns the light out on bear, steals gorilla’s
‘gorilla’ and finds himself the target of ‘a chase’.
Clever dog tricks the pursuing animals before
running straight at the reader on the penultimate
page, before curling up for a nap at the end.
Every page is a lesson in restraint. Bright primary
colours serve as a background for each double
page spread, and space is used to great effect.
Dog is incorrigible and adorable in equal measure.
High quality production make this a lovely gift
book, and it is great fun to share.
Helen Thompson
Daly, Niki
Here Comes Lolo
978 1 91095 977 0
Hooray for Lolo
978 1 91095 969 5
Otter-Barry Books, 2019, pp80, £6.99
Two books from a new series about Lolo, a little
girl who lives with her mother and grandma in
South Africa. In each book, there are four stories
about Lolo’s everyday life. In many ways, it is a life
which mirrors those of many little girls across the
globe. She goes to school, loves her family and
friends and really enjoys doing art. In Here Comes
Lolo, the first story is, appropriately, about
winning a gold star for reading and in Hooray for
Lolo she borrows a library book for the first time.
Her adventures are usually full of fun but
sometimes, like all of us, she worries, or has
upsetting experiences.
Both books would be enjoyable to read aloud, in
school or at home, but they have a value in
classrooms. If asked ‘Which books would be most
suitable at early transition stage (approx. 6 to 7
years old)?’ I would answer, ‘That stage is when
newly competent, but inexperienced, young
readers need books they can read with ease.
Books that are not threateningly long, that have a
well-designed font for young readers, a generous
mix of words and pictures on each page and,
most importantly, are rewarding to read’. Both
books about Lolo fit this description perfectly. In
addition, each story offers just the right amount
of printed text for a newly self-reliant reader to
tackle alone. Lolo’s stories will be a delightful
asset to any primary school bookshelf.
Prue Goodwin
Daynes, Katie and Miguéns, Marta
Alvarez
What is the Moon? (Lift-the-Flap
Very First Questions & Answers)
Usborne, 2019, pp12, £7.99
978 1 47494 821 0
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Moon
landings and there has been a proliferation of
books for all ages dealing with the subject. This
board book is aimed at the youngest and would
be a welcome addition to the shelves in Early
Years and Year 1 classrooms. The small format is
ideal for little hands, with flaps to open to
encourage interest and enquiry.
Even though there are only seven questions posed
in the book, from ‘What is the Moon? ‘, through
to ‘What’s it like on the Moon?’, a great deal of
age appropriate information is packed in, with
concepts such as the changing shape of the
Moon clearly explained. The colourful illustrations
add to the appeal. The final spread shows a
young girl planning her own trip to the Moon,
gathering everything she needs, with the reality
revealed behind the flaps.
Jayne Gould
Doerrfeld, Cori
The Rabbit Listened
Scallywag Press, 2019, pp32, £12.99
978 1 912650 09 5
Taylor builds a structure out
of blocks and is immensely
proud. Disaster strikes when
some angry looking crows
swoop down and destroy it.
Taylor is visited by a parade
of animals offering advice on how to respond to
this situation. The chicken, for example, suggests
talking about it and the snake suggests
destroying someone else’s construction, but Taylor
does not want to do any of these things. Then a
rabbit appears and sits beside Taylor, saying
nothing. Taylor runs through the gamut of
emotions from sorrow, through despondency,
vengefulness and then hope as described by the
other animals, but the rabbit just listens as Taylor
comes to the decision to build a bigger and better
structure.
This picture book, with its simple text and clear
drawings, would be ideal to share with a child
enduring a loss, from the trivial to the most
shattering. Taylor goes through all the emotions in
the company of the rabbit who does not
comment on what Taylor should feel or do. Small
children feel things very deeply and the loss of or
damage to a favourite toy can seem like the end
of the world when you are three. The rabbit does
not tell Taylor to put it in perspective but, by the
silence, acknowledges the depth of feeling that
this event produces. The book is an excellent
means of showing children how to cope and be
resilient when faced with the ‘little’ problems of
life so that they are a little more prepared when
life starts throwing the big things around.
June Hughes
Donald, Alison and Landy, Ariel
The Spacesuit
Maverick Arts Publishing, 2019, pp36, £7.99
978 1 84886 428 3
An interesting picture book about Eleanor Foraker,
whom I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t heard of
before, and the part she played in the first moon
landing. Lots of intriguing real life facts are
included that would encourage children to read
more about this momentous occasion by scanning
the QR code in the back of the book. A timeline in
the front cover leads you from the launch of the
218 The SL 67-4 Winter 2019