Tuesday 30 December 2014

Peepo! by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Peepo! is the book you reach for when it's time to snuggle up with your baby and get ready for bed. Full of beautiful illustrations and with descriptive rhyming couplets, I have had many the happy cuddle with both of my babies reading this book. 

Originally published by Viking in 1981, Peepo! was written by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Janet Ahlberg, a married couple who worked together on numerous children's books. The book walks through the day of a baby and all the things he sees, from the sun in the window when he wakes up to the baby in the mirror, just like him, when he goes to bed. Every other page has a circle cut out of the middle to accompany the word 'Peepo', which looks through to the illustration of the things the baby can see. This is a wonderful idea as it gives a certain interactive quality to the book, my 7 month old enjoys looking through the circles and playing Peepo! with me. 


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The book is set in the 1940's; there are several hints towards this, the mother with a hairnet on her head, the father bringing in a bucketful of coal, the baby's nightie warming on the oven door. It is also evident in the illustrations; the clothes that are worn, the furniture, the tin bath, the fireplace. Allan Ahlberg confirmed this when he stated that the baby in Peepo! was actually him (he was born in 1938). I think the setting really helps to add to the warmth of the story, you picture a time which is a lot more innocent than the times we're in now, a time that isn't cluttered up with technology and electronics. Even the mention of the two sisters squabbling over the baby doesn't take away from the story, it just makes it more ordinary and everyday. 

The story implies that the Grandma lives with the family, which I think is an appropriate addition given that multi-generation living is becoming more and more common these days, much like back in the post-war era. The illustrations often show all members of the family, one person looking after the baby whilst the others are in the background, the children playing, skipping and fishing, and the adults working, ironing, cooking, cleaning windows. 

The ending of the book makes it a perfect bedtime story. The baby is taken up to bed by his mother and father, given a kiss goodnight, and on the final page the story ends with the line, "fast asleep and dreaming, what did he see?". This is my daughter's favourite page of the book, she likes to talk about what the baby might have dreamed about and I love hearing her ideas, which normally follow the pattern of what her recent dreams have been. 

I remember reading this book when I was small, and now, reading it to my children, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it's one of my favourite children's books. It's aimed at babies, but my three year old still adores it now. It's ageless and timeless and every child should have this book on their shelves. 



Tuesday 16 December 2014

The Queen's Hat by Steve Antony

The Queen's Hat is a picture book showing the journey the Queen and her soldiers go on as they chase her wind-swept hat through London. Naming all the main landmarks, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye and Big Ben to name but a few, the book provides a dynamic overview of London to celebrate the Queen, the Jubilee and the new royal baby. 

This book is definitely a picture book. Published by Hodders Childrens Books, the illustrations are so detailed and vibrant. Made up mainly of black and white images with only the red of the soldiers' jackets in colour, each page has countless soldiers doing everything they can to retrieve the Queen's hat, more often than not with the Queen way ahead of them doing a better job! The centre-fold picture of Big Ben is my favourite image, with all of the soldiers scaling the tower as the Queen stands on top reaching for her blow-away hat. 


Unfortunately, the book would have been best left as just a picture book. The words don't really add anything to the book and aren't really required as the illustrations are such a joy to look at and search through. Overall, a ten out of ten for thoroughly enjoyable PICTURE book. 

Ten Little Pirates by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty

Ten Little Pirates is a counting picture book telling how, one by one, each little pirate comes to a sticky end. The pages count down from ten to one enabling the readers to count down each time. This picture book is aimed at pre-school and primary school aged pirate lovers who are just getting their head around numbers. 

Although sometimes a bit graphic, the story of the pirates each meeting his or her demise is quite amusing, especially for the young reader. From being struck by lightning and hit by a cannonball, to falling in love with a mermaid or getting eaten by a whale, one by one each cute little pirate is taken from the story. Much the same as other 'counting down' books I've read, but with an added obligatory "Arrrrrrr!", Ten Little Pirates is a fun, educational read, for when you and your little ones are feeling a bit silly. 

The cartoon-style illustrations throughout this picture book are very well drawn, with each pirate having their own unique identity. Some pages are laid-out like a cartoon strip which gives plenty for the reader to look at whilst reading along, although my daughter did find having two countdowns on one page confusing at times. 

All in all, this book gives us nothing we haven't seen before, but for any young child that loves pirates, like my little girl does, it puts a fun spin on the usual counting book. 


How High is the Sky by Anna Milbourne and Serena Riglietti

How High is the Sky? is a heartwarming story about an inquisitive young penguin, Pip, who goes on a journey to answer the question, how high is the sky? 

I was lucky enough to have this book sent to me from the publishers, Usborne Publishing, via Toppsta, and as it's currently December and we're all feeling rather wintery, a book about a penguin was very apt. The illustrations throughout the book are beautiful. The detailed, animated style looks like it has been painted on the pages in cold blues and greys, and a lot of thought has gone into each and every picture. 

The journey of Pip is as you'd expect from a children's book aimed at 3-5 year olds, and unfortunately, the question of 'How high is the sky?' is never actually answered. However, I don't think that that matters in this book, Pip goes all the way to the moon and can't find where the sky ends, so he goes home to his bed and concludes that the sky goes on forever, so there'll always be plenty for him to explore. A cosy end to a lovely bedtime story. 

I won't say that it's my three year old's favourite book, but she did enjoy it. It also ended up with a late night search of google to find out how high the sky really was, (I have my own inquisitive little penguin it seems). For anybody else who is curious, not defined, but there is an imaginary line around 100km up which is often used as a marker.