Picture Book Nook

Picture Book Nook: Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Gavin Bishop

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Earlier this year we lost one of our national treasures, Margaret Mahy.  Margaret wrote many wonderful stories in her time, from picture books to novels, that are treasured by children all over the world.  October sees the publication of two of Margaret’s last stories, including the wonderful Mister Whistler, featuring gorgeous illustrations by Gavin Bishop.

Absentminded Mister Whistler always has a song in his head and a dance in his feet.  In a rush to catch the train, he is so distracted he loses his ticket.

Is it in the bottom pockets of his big coat or the top pockets of his jacket?  Perhaps he slipped it into his waistcoat…

Where is Mister Whistler’s ticket?

Mister Whistler is an absolute treasure.  It’s Margaret and Gavin’s first collaboration and I couldn’t imagine a more perfect pairing for this story.  Margaret’s story is delightfully old-fashioned and Gavin matches this with the styles and fashions of another era.  Mister Whistler is a rather distracted fellow, one of those people who would forget his head if it wasn’t screwed on.  He gets carried away by the music in his head, that makes his twitching feet long to dance.  While he is looking for his ticket he’s dancing out of his coat and tap dancing impatiently.  Children will love that they know something that Mister Whistler doesn’t – where his ticket is – and they’ll want to yell it out and tell him.

Gavin Bishop’s illustrations for Mister Whistler are my favourite of all of his work.  There’s so much joy and energy in the illustrations and you can see it bursting out of Mister Whistler, who is always smiling.  I love the way that Gavin has made the story flow from one page to the next, both my Mister Whistler’s dancing body and the musical notes which follow him.  Mister Whistler himself is quite gangly and I love the way that Gavin has him throwing his long limbs all over the place as he dances.  Gavin’s use of colour is spectacular, from Mister Whistler’s blue, checked trousers and very loud wall-paper, to the flaming sunrise in the background.  Gavin has added a real spark to Mister Whistler’s character too by giving him a crazy dress sense.

Once again, Gecko Press have produced an absolutely beautiful book that will be treasured by children and adults alike.  Mister Whistler is my favourite New Zealand picture book of the year and my pick for the winner of next year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.

5 out of 5 stars

Picture Book Nook: This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

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Oliver Jeffers is one of those illustrators that can do nothing wrong.  Whichever book he writes and/or illustrates is wonderful, whether it’s his own picture books, or illustrations for other authors’ books, such as John Boyne.  Oliver’s latest picture book, This Moose Belongs to Me, is another beautifully illustrated tale.

“Wilfred owned a moose. He hadn’t always owned a moose. The moose came to him a while ago and he knew, just KNEW, that it was meant to be his. He thought he would call him Marcel.”

Most of the time Marcel is very obedient, abiding by the many rules on How to Be a Good Pet. But one dark day, while deep in the woods, someone else claims the moose as their own …
Is Marcel really Wilfred’s pet after all?

This Moose Belongs to Me is a classic Oliver Jeffers story, with the wit, subtle humour and odd characters that I love in his books.  It’s quite a simple story filled with lots of quirky details, such as Wilfred’s rules of how to be a good pet, the string to help him find his way home, and even Wilfred himself, who wears a bow-tie and listens to records.  It’s the sort of story that children of all ages will love.  What kid wouldn’t want to have a moose for a pet, that would go anywhere you wanted to go and provide shelter from the rain?

Oliver’s illustrations are as remarkable as always, but he has tried a different technique with this book.  Instead of using a plain white or coloured background he has painted onto landscape paintings created by another artist (Alexander Dzigurski).  This has created a really interesting effect.  Even though the background and the characters were painted by different people, many years apart,  they go together perfectly.  You feel like you want to dive into the book and follow Wilfred and Marcel through the beautiful landscapes, especially the cover image. It’s almost difficult to tell the two different artists apart on some pages.  If you’re familiar with Oliver’s other books you might even be able to spot several characters from them in this book too.

This Moose Belongs to Me is great for children young and old.  Younger children will love the story and older children (and adults) will appreciate the remarkable illustrations.

5 out of 5 stars

Picture Book Nook: Catching fish and dragons – picture books by Tanya Batt

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Clean Slate Press is a New Zealand based educational publisher that has just launched a new picture book imprint.  Their first book, Wishy Washy World by Joy Cowley, is a collection of eight stories featuring Mr and Mrs Wishy Washy and the animals on their farm.  Clean Slate Press have just launched two new picture books, Catching Fish and My Dad’s a Dragon Catcher, both written by Tanya Batt.

Catching Fish is about Jake, who wears his favourite shirt all the time.  It’s his favourite because it has five red fish on it that swim along the bottom edge.  It gets so dirty that he has to wash it, but when he wears it next all the fish have gone.  Jake and his mum look everywhere for the fish, but they can’t find them, until they look up in the sky and see them swimming through the air.  How will Jake get the five fish back on his shirt? Catching Fish is a delightful, funny story that begs children to join in.  They can make the sounds of the clothes in the washing machine and on the line, help Jake go fishing and jump up to try and catch the fish from the sky.  I really like Natalia Vasquez’ quirky, collage-style illustrations.  It’s interesting to see all the different materials and photos that she has used to create the illustrations (the wooden fence is photographs of wood and the sun is a photo of pasta).

My Dad’s a Dragon Catcher is about Toby and the job that he makes up for his dad.  When Toby and his friends are sitting around eating their lunch they talk about what their dads do for a job.  Toby says that his dad is a Dragon Catcher because that sounds exciting.  When his teacher invites their dads along for Father’s Day at school, Toby has to figure out what to do.  His dad isn’t really a Dragon Catcher but maybe he can pretend.  Boys especially will love this story, with its dragons, red truck with fireproof wheels, and the fire-proof undies.  Helen Bacon’s fiery illustrations will really appeal to children.  Her dragons all look quite silly and harmless, even when they’re breathing fire.  It’s a great book for dads to share with their children, especially if they’re ready for a longer story.

The thing I like most about these two great picture books is their production.  The hardbacks look wonderful and they have beautiful endpapers with dragons and fish on them.  Catching Fish and My Dad’s a Dragon Catcher are available now from a Whitcoulls near you.

Picture Book Nook: Clumsy giraffes and mid-air mayhem

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The latest bunch of picture books from Scholastic New Zealand feature a clumsy giraffe and mid-air mayhem in hot-air balloons.

Great Galloping Galoot is the first picture book by New Zealand author and illustrator, Stephanie Thatcher.  It’s about a clumsy giraffe, called Galoot, who is always tripping over things and bumping into things.  Whenever he does something silly, the other animals call out, ‘You great galoot!’  His parents always say to him, ‘when walking, walk tall. When running, run fast.  Galoot, always be your best.’  When he comes across some other animals who can’t cross the river , he offers to help, but they tell him he can’t because he’s a great galoot.  But Galoot remembers his parents’ words and knows just what to do.  Great Galloping Galoot is a cute story about being different, with a character that children will love.  I must admit, I got a bit confused when I first read the story (Why are they calling him a great galoot when he’s called Galoot?), but when I read it again I realised that children wouldn’t pick up on that.  Galoot’s parents’ words of advice are repeated throughout the story, so children will be able to join in.  Stephanie’s illustrations are quite cute, especially her googly-eyed Galoot, and I love the determination on his face as he rushes down the hill to save the day.

3 out of 5 stars

Madison Moon and the Hot-Air Balloon by Chris Gurney and illustrated by Catherine Foreman, is the story of Madison Moon who has a great idea.  Madison is sick and tired of being stuck in traffic in her little red car, so she decides to buy a hot-air balloon.  She soars up, up and away, ‘high in the cottonwood clouds,’ while everyone else battles the traffic.  Soon everybody wants to go for a ride in her balloon, including the butcher, the baker and the lollipop maker, and they all decide they want their own hot-air balloon.  As everyone starts to use their balloon instead of their car, the sky becomes very crowded, and suddenly Madison doesn’t find it fun anymore to be up in the sky.  Chris Gurney’s text is fun to read, with lots of whooshing, swooshing and blabbety-blabbing.  You get caught up in the rhythm as you read and get taken on a wild ride through the air.  Catherine Foreman’s illustrations are bright and colourful, and filled with lots of different patterns and shapes, especially the balloons.  Madison Moon and the Hot-Air Balloon will really appeal to children, because it’s taking something ordinary (traveling from one place to another) and making it extraordinary.  They’re sure to enjoy the cyclic ending, and could imagine what might happen after you close the book (Will everyone else join Madison?  Will she get sick and tired of the traffic and try something else?  What might she try next?).

4 out of 5 stars

Picture Book Nook: In the Lion by James Foley

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‘In the city there’s a zoo.  In the zoo there’s a lion.  And in the lion there’s…’  Richard and his family are visiting the zoo one day when they witness the lion swallowing the zoo dentist whole!  This is only the first of many things that end up ‘in the lion.’  Will anybody be able to stop the lion?

In the Lion is a hilarious picture book about a very hungry lion and the havoc that he causes.  The story gets sillier and sillier at more and more things end up in the lion.  Children will be laughing out loud because they’ll figure out very quickly what is going to happen next.  Just when you think you know what is going to happen on the next page, James Foley surprises us and brings in the hero of the story.  I love James’ illustrations because there are lots of extra details that you might not notice the first time (look at the shadows and reflections on each page). The expressions of the characters in the story (both people and animals) are hilarious, especially at the end of the book.  Every page in the book is illustrated and full of colour, including the very cool end papers.  If there was an award for the best picture book cover it would have to go to In the Lion because it’s absolutely fantastic and will really appeal to children.

The story works well as a read-aloud, but is even better for one-on-one sharing so that you can make the most of the illustrations.  James Foley is a very talented author and illustrator and I’ll look forward to reading more of his picture books.

Picture Book Nook: A Hare, A Hound and Shy Mousey Brown by Julia Hubery

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The best picture books are those where the text and the illustrations are perfectly matched.  Even though the author and illustrator may have worked in different parts of the world, the book is so perfect that they could have been working side by side.  A Hare, a Hound and Shy Mousey Brown, written by Julia Hubery and illustrated by Jonathan Bentley is one of those rare picture books.

‘There’s a hare in the air, there’s a hound on the ground, and watching them both is shy Mousey Brown.’  On the first page we meet these three very different characters.  The hare is bouncing around, full of joy, while Mousey Brown watches on, hoping the hare will notice him.  But when the fearless hare dances right up to the hound and tries to wake him, Mousey Brown has to be brave and save the hare from the hound’s jaws.

A Hare, a Hound and Shy Mousey Brown is a beautifully illustrated picture book, full of joy, mischief, and three very loveable characters.  Julia Hubery’s rhyming text begs to be read aloud and it simply rolls off your tongue.  It’s the sort of story that’s perfect to act out because of the three different characters and their very different personalities.  The hare has lots of energy and is always bouncing around, the dog is pretending to sleep, and Mousey Brown is just watching from afar and trying to warn the hare.  Jonathan Bentley’s illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and he’s perfectly captured the personalities of the three different characters.  The illustrations are cute but full of character.  I love the way that Jonathan has captured the complete joy and carefree nature of the hare, the irritation of the hound, and the admiration and worry of Mousey Brown.  Even before I opened the book and read the wonderful story inside, Jonathan’s front cover grabbed me and I knew it was going to be special.

Like Mousey Brown, my heart goes pitter-pat-pounding with love for Julia and Jonathan’s book.  I hope that we see more picture books by this amazing duo.

Picture Book Nook: The Giant’s Loo Roll by Nicholas Allan

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Kids love a good book full of toilet humour.  The best of those books are the ones where the author is clever, not just trying to get as many poos and wees in as they can.  Nicholas Allan’s latest picture book, The Giant’s Loo Roll, is one of those books and it’ll have kids in fits of giggles.

The giant is sitting on the toilet one day when he drops his toilet roll and it rolls off down the hill.  Follow the giant’s loo roll as it hurtles through town, leaving havoc in its wake.  What will the townsfolk do with all the enormous sheets of paper?  They use it for painting, making paper planes, paper pants and even more toilet rolls.  Eventually the loo roll comes to a stop and the townsfolk roll it back to the giant – just in time!

The Giant’s Loo Roll is a classic Nicholas Allan story, that’s funny and a little bit naughty.  The rhyming text rolls off your tongue as you follow the loo roll down through town.  There’s an environmental message in the story, as the townsfolk find all sorts of ways to recycle and reuse the giant toilet paper.  I’m sure your children could come up with many other uses for the toilet paper. The children that I’ve read the story to especially like the giant paper plane that the school children make to knock over all the teachers.  I really like the way that Nicholas has used anticipation when turning the pages, because children never seem to be able to guess what is going to happen on the next page.  Unlike a lot of giants, this one is friendly and even invites the townsfolk in for a cup of tea.

The Giant’s Loo Roll is perfect for reading aloud with a group or sharing on your lap, and will have children giggling away with every read.

4 out of 5 stars

Win a Gecko Press book pack

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The Magical Life of Mr. Renny and My Happy Life are the latest releases from the wonderful Gecko Press.  I LOVE The Wonderful Life of Mr. Renny and reviewed it here on the blog in my Picture Book Nook feature. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of their ‘curiously good books from around the world.’

Thanks to Gecko Press I have a special pack of 4 of their latest releases to give away.  The pack contains:

  • The Magical Life of Mr Renny by Leo Timmers
  • My Happy Life by Rose Lagercrantz
  • The Best Singer in the World by Ulf Nilsson
  • The Birthday Cake Mystery by Thè Tjong Khing

This competition is now closed.  Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner is Jenny.

Picture Book Nook: The Magical Life of Mr. Renny by Leo Timmers

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The wonderful Gecko Press introduced us to the remarkable Belgian picture book creator, Leo Timmers, when they started to publish his books in English.  He is incredibly talented, not only as a storyteller, but also as an artist.  His illustrations are vibrant and almost seem to jump off the page, so I can’t think of a better illustrator to create a picture book about an artist whose paintings become real.

Mr. Renny is a very good artist.  Whatever he paints looks just like the real thing, but no one wants to buy his paintings.  He has no money, and he’s hungry.  One day a mysterious stranger offers to make Mr. Renny’s dreams become real.  Now whatever he paints becomes real, including a hotdog, a car, and a ship.  But what happens when his friend wants to buy one of his paintings?

The Magical Life of Mr. Renny is a colourful masterpiece that children and adults alike will love.  Like Leo’s other books, including Who’s Driving? and I am the King, the illustrations are bright and vibrant, and he makes them look 3D so they jump off the page.  This is one of those picture books that you want to pick up again and again just to stare at the illustrations and find what you might have missed last time you looked.  Leo adds in lots of little details for you to find, like the goat who has dropped her eggs or finding all of Mr. Renny’s treasures in his mansion.  The story itself is funny and thoughtful and would make a great read aloud.  It promotes lots of discussion about art, greed and friendship, and you could have children talking for hours about what they would paint if their paintings became real. Local author, Bill Nagelkerke has done a fantastic job of translating the book into English and making it flow so well as a read aloud.  Gecko Press’ books are always beautifully designed and this is no exception, from the front cover and the inside flaps to the back cover with its frame design.

Get your hands on the work of art that is The Magical Life of Mr. Renny by Leo Timmers.

5 out of 5 stars

Picture Book Nook: Blue Gnu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Daron Parton

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You can always rely on Kyle Mewburn to write a book that will make kids laugh and keep them entertained from start to finish.  Kyle’s latest book, illustrated by new talent Daron Parton, features a silly animal who likes being different.

Boo is the one and only blue gnu.  Well he thinks he is, until he meets Hoo.  Hoo tries to convince Boo that it’s more fun with two, but Boo likes being unique.  So Boo tries to make himself look different by adding touches of colour.  Boo has to decide whether it’s better to be the one and only striped or spotted blue gnu or whether things really are better with two.

Blue Gnu is a delightful, tongue-twister of a book about friendship and being different.  You can tell that Kyle has had so much fun writing this book!  You can get tripped up very easily with his wonderful, rhyming text.  Kyle always uses lots of ‘noisy’ words and Blue Gnu is no exception.  Sentences like “What a splotchy, spotty, dotty gnu!” and “What a hoopy, loopy, stripey gnu!” are fun to get your mouth around and it would be great to get the children saying it with you (try saying those sentences quickly three times!).  I love Daron Parton’s illustrations, which seem to fit the story perfectly.  He has brought Kyle’s silly gnu’s to life and made Boo and Hoo stand out from the herd.  His style is really unique and his bright, bold illustrations make the book great to share with a large group of children. I’ll look forward to seeing more of his illustrations in future books.  Book Design have also done a great job of positioning the text so that it doesn’t get in the way of these wonderful illustrations.

If you’re not already hooked on Kyle Mewburn’s books, you will be once you read Blue Gnu.  Grab a copy from your library or bookshop now.