Juxtabook

The Clumsies by Sorrel Anderson

Thank you to Caroline Smailes for hosting a giveaway for The Clumsies Make A Mess Of The Big Show by Sorrell Anderson. I was delighted to win a copy for my 7 year old and even more delighted, when I said we hadn't met The Clumsies yet, that the publishers sent not one but three titles from the series. So thank you Caroline and HarperCollins.

 

Poor Howard works in an office and he has a very scary boss who likes everything to be ship shape and tidy. Unfortunately Howard has two talking mice living in his office and though they try very hard to help, and put the kettle on an awful lot (those are my kind of mice!) they just cause hilarious chaos. The Clumsies Make A Mess is this first in the series and it is a several-chuckles-a-page worth of fun. If you have ever wondered how to turn an elephant into a dog using only a box, a tooth brush and a mouse you need look no further!

Under the Sea by Anna Milbourne and Cathy Shimmen

In my quest to find books that avoid the icky-sticky sentimentality rampant in the publishing world for the under 6s I was delighted that my 4 year old received this lovely book recently. Under the Sea by Anna Milbourne and Cathy Shimmen is both visually delightful and textually sensible. It is also non-fiction but even the most dedicated story-head won't notice as there is so much to talk about on each page.

A positive approach for a non-fiction book for the younger age group is the attempt to involved the reader, like a story book might:

"Have you ever looked out to sea and wondered what lies under the waves?"

And just like any good story book would, after taking you on an adventure right to the bottom of the sea with lovely black background pages, and bringing you back up to the sparkling surface, it brings your pre-schooler back to security:

"But sail away far enough across the sea and you'll always come to shore."

There is no reason, of course, why a non-fiction book should be judged by story book type qualities, but the nice bridge in style here is useful if you want to vary your child's literary diet a bit but they expect some narrative tics. If on the other hand you have child stuck on the repetitive non-fiction of near-list type formula tractor or digger or train books then this might also come in handy both for its own sake, and as a non-fiction way into listening to the longer sentences and connected ideas more readily associated (for pre-schoolers at any rate) with a tale.

The endpages also tell me there are 12 more non-fiction titles in this series, focusing on environments but with some historical and weather themes thrown in too. The text is always by Anna Milbourne but the illustrator seems to vary. I quite fancy In the Nest, or In the Castle though On the Seashore would be a good companion for this volume and On the Farm or Under the Ground would appeal to the tractor or train obsessive.

A lovely looking series for which the publishers, Usbourne, should be commended.

Claydon was a Clingy Child

Ripe pickings this week from the foyer of my child's nursery school where there are shelves of tempting books for borrowing. Normally in rather a rush, I fail to linger here but absent mindedly arriving on time (before time!) I began to read the nearest one, Claydon was a Clingy Child by Cressida Cowell. Most stuff for children of nursery age is cloyingly sentimental, and weirdly that is what appears to remain in print. Several of my favourite quirky books for pre-schoolers are only available secondhand and that appears to be the case, sadly, here too.

Claydon is a hanger-on. He grips his mother's leg, "It is safer here", he tells his bear. Forthright Bear thinks differently however. Claydon's mother likes sky diving and rugby: her leg is a rather dangerous spot. The humour comes from the play between the bright illustrations of the inevitable disasters and the convoluted and formal attempts of Bear to talk Claydon into a bit of independence, in this case during a sky dive:

" 'Your mother,' he said, as they rushed towards the Earth at a hundred miles an hour ...' while an excellent person in many respects,' he said, as they floated gently down, 'is also - and I mean this nicely -a MANIAC!' "

The four year old and I have enjoyed a good laugh each morning reading this sitting on our stairs before setting off for nursery, where she is in fact less clingy too when I leave. Humour and self-help!

So if you are stuck in a sugary rut of predictable reading for the children or the grandchildren, and are tiring of little bears who love their mummies (which seems to be the publisher's stand-by subject matter for 2-6 year olds) this is perfect.