Chinese Whispers

The Dudgeon is Coming by Lynley Dodd

How can you go wrong with Lynley Dodd?
She has an impressive record as a writer and illustrater of the much-loved Hairy Maclary series, though it's her stand-alone books that seem to have caught Mitchell's attention best. Like all prolific authors, there are some titles which stand out as excellent in one way or another, and others that are less impressive.

And I feel that The Dudgeon is Coming, is one of her very best as a read-aloud story.

The news of the impending arrival of the Dudgeon is passed from creature to creature, changing and becoming more alarming at each repetition, until the overwrought atmosphere of terror is punctured by the arrival of the tiny, harmless inoffensive Dudgeon.

The story rhythm and repetiton make it an easy read, though some of the language can be a bit challenging (bombazine, taffeta, omnibus). An easy extension for more confident readers, is to use different voices for the characters, and discuss how the message is changing at each repetition, and even try a game of Chinese whispers.

The colourful full-page illustrations, give a comically entertaining picture of each creature, with the expressions of increasing dismay on their faces as the news becomes more and more alarming. I particularly love the Stickleback Twitch in his Bamboo Canoe, and the penultimate page with all the creatures hiding in fear of the 'terrible Dudgeon'.

Highly recommended for groups of all sizes and ages.

Pet Book

I Want a Pet by Lauren Child

Pets have been another theme in our reading. Mitchell loves to meet cats and dogs - although they don't always love to meet him! So we're learning to ask before we race up to hug every dog we encounter. But he loves to read about pets, and I'm sure the 'I want a pet' issue will raise it's head at our house in the next year or so.

Along with Hairy Maclary's Rumpus at the Vet, this has become a favourite 'pet' story.

Lauren Child is, of course, better known for her Charlie & Lola books. But, to be honest, I'm not enraptured with them, and find them hard going as 'read aloud' books.

Here, however, we have a great read aloud story.

I really want a pet.
Please, Mum, can I have a pet?

When her mother weakens, and asks the little girl what kind of pet she wants, it opens up the horizons of her imagination. She thinks of more and more weird and wonderful possibilities, responding to her family's concerns with impressive logic.

The voices of the girl and her family are delightful and amusing (and 'true' to the ear, so far as reading aloud goes)

Granny says, "Nothing with a buzz." It interferes with her hearing aid.
Grandad says, "Stuffed pets are very reliable."

The flat, cartoon-like, line-drawn illustrations, filled with bright scribbled marker-pen-style colours, set against the strong solid background colours, make this visually a good choice for large groups - as even the back row can see them clearly.
The only challenge are the sentences set at the bottom of the page - readers unfamiliar with the story can easily miss these (though they aren't critical to the storyline)

The humour is easily appreciated by the older children, while the younger ones are simply delighted by the thought of a lion or an octopus as a pet.

While the ending (the little girl chooses an egg, just about to hatch, so no-one knows what the pet is going to be) is a little frustrating for those children who like to have all the loose ends neatly tied off; it does encourage children to use their imaginations in speculating what the pet might be.

This is an 'easy' read aloud story, with a good strong plot and simple vocabulary.
More experienced readers can extend the story with different voices for the adults, sparking discussions about the about the pet choices the little girl is making, and leading off into different pet or imaginative activities (let's make a pet, let's act out the story, let's draw a picture of what the pet in the egg will look like)

Wombats

Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

We seem to be going through a bit of an Aussie theme at the moment; but there's something just so darned cute about marsupials (wombats, koalas, even kangaroos), NZ wildlife is interesting, but you wouldn't call it cuddly.

But this one stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The rhyming text follows the adventures of six wombats as they go on an outing -- tracked by a hungry dingo "I've a hunch my lunch just walked on by". One by one, the friends get captured, until the last two wombats turn the tables on their foe. A predictable story line, with the last in line disappearing, but half the fun is waiting to see how the wombats will strike back.

Carol Diggory Shields rhyme and rhythm is natural, unforced and easy to read, with lots of Australian colloquialisms (walkabout, swagbag) to provoke interest and discussion - there's a helpful glossary at the front to assist with 'translation'. The downwards progression of wombats, from six to two, encourages children to count along with the story, and introduces the earliest concepts of subtraction.

Sophie Blackall's illustrations are delightful, with charming, chubby wombats, each with their own distinctive item of clothing, to help you identify them; and a sly and slinking dingo (smoking a pipe) to provide contrast. The pictorial influence of the Australian outback is very evident (though it is sketched in rather than realistic imagery) and provides great visual contrast to the dense and lush bush illustrations from New Zealand picture books.
Hiding the dingo on each page, offers children the chance to find the hunter, as the wombats numbers diminish. And, a lovely in-joke for parents, Jack's paper hat has a picture of the dingo - clearly a 'wanted poster' - on it.

This has been a stand-out success with big and small groups of children. It has plenty of extension concepts for the older kids, while the story and rhyme scheme work well for the younger crowd (2+); while the retribution visited on the dingo is popular with everyone.
It's very easy to read, and I've happily put it in the hands of people who aren't confident reading to big groups of children, and watched them succeed.

A real winner. I'll be looking out for other books by this duo.

It was surprisingly hard to come by in New Zealand, despite the publication information listing Penguin NZ as one of the publishers, they couldn't supply a copy to my favourite bookstore, so I had to buy it directly overseas (Amazon wins again)

Hunt the Ladybird

What the ladybird heard by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Lydia Monks

A book by the Gruffalo author, how could you go wrong!

There's an excellent story-line, with the little ladybird "who never before had said a word" organizing the animals on the farm to foil the plot of the two bad men to steal the "fine prize cow".

As you'd expect from Julia Donaldson, the story has good rhythm and some rhyme elements, and lots of animal noises for the kids to chime in with; though not much in the way of vocabulary extension.

But it's the pictures that steal the show - from the exciting sparkly yellow cover onwards.

Lydia Monks collage-style illustrations are full of character and appeal (even the baddies have their own sneaky charm), and offer different perspectives on the story - keeping up the interest levels.

The little glittery ladybird appears on every page, except the endpapers [we've looked! - at one stage, I was tempted to get a ladybird and stick it on, so we could just shut the book]; giving lots of opportunity for playing 'hunt the ladybird'

Although Mitchell enjoyed it one-on-one, he found hunting the ladybird to be the most exciting element; so I was a bit dubious over whether it would work as a read-aloud to a group of kids (since the ladybird is too small to see at a distance).

But it was brilliant.

In a big group the animal sounds "the cow said Moo and the hen said Cluck..." worked the best, with the kids joining in with the sounds, and guessing which ones would be different during the raid "at the dead of night".

Interestingly, the use of the map by the baddies, sparked an interest with our 4 year old boys in map making to find pirate treasure - I really didn't see that one coming!

Nackle, Mama, Nackle

The Nickle Nackle Tree by Lynley Dodd

OK, I'll admit it; I bought this book for Mitchell because I loved it as a child.

Lynley Dodd is now much more famous for her Hairy Maclary series, but I think that this is one of her best books ever. The language has great rhythm, and the words are simply delightful -- bound to appeal to anyone brought up on Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll.

In the Manglemunching forest, there's a Nickle Nackle Tree,
Growing Nickle Nackle berries, as red as red can be.

Disguised amidst the verbiage, is a simple counting book helping children to learn the sequence of numbers - and the consequences of over-crowding!

Big bold illustrations, with beautiful use of intense saturated colours, make this a very attractive book for kids.

As an aside, you can see the influence of the NZ birds on Lynley Dodd's illustrations -- just look at the bashful blush birds (kiwi) or the haughty huffpuff birds (NZ native pigeon) - it's a nice 'in joke' for the NZ reader.

Mitchell loves it as well, and it was one of the first he asked for, once be began to enjoy being read to - "Nackle, Mama, Nackle" he'd say. I think that I remember reading it 14 times in one day!

He's moved on from listening to the story; to 'reading' it to me; to counting the birds on each page; and is now tracking down the nickle nackle berries on each page & coming up with a reason for their presence or absence! (whatever floats your boat, I guess)

I've had medium success with this as a read aloud to groups. You (the reader) have to be pretty confident with the weird names (not a problem for me, but a bit of a challenge if you're not a confident reader, or English is not your first language). And a big group of children of different ages, may want very different things from the book. I've found it works best with up to 6 kids of similar ages - and is an absolute hit with one or two snuggled on your lap.

It's great to see such a very early work (1976) by a popular and prolific author - indeed the first book that she both wrote and illustrated - not only remain in print, but stand up very favorably indeed against her later stories. It won the 2006 Gaelyn Gordon Award for a much loved picture book - so I'm not alone in my enjoyment! Go Nackle!

Sheep Hunting

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox illustrated by Judy Horacek.

I love this book! And, more importantly, so does every toddler (18 months to 3 years) that I've read it to.

The simple repetition and rhyme scheme:

Here is the blue sheep, and here is the red sheep. Here is the bath sheep, and here is the bed sheep. But where is the green sheep?

and characterful illustrations, have great child appeal. Within a couple of repetitions, Mitchell was 'reading' the story to me.

Favourite pages include the Moon and Star sheep, and the party scene, which is full of detail to be investigated.

It also provides a great introduction to simple vocabulary, colours and comparisons (near and far sheep); helping children to learn without learning.

As the story ends with finding the Green Sheep fast asleep, it makes a great bedtime book; providing a nice segue into going to sleep, 'just like the green sheep'

The board book version is better than the hardback one, as children want to turn the pages themselves to find the green sheep. And the square shape is subtly attractive -- it makes you want to hold it in your hands!

Despite the relatively small size (though large for a board book), the large clear illustrations mean that it works well as a read aloud to a group of up to 10 or so children. It does work best with the under 3 crowd, as there isn't enough plot to retain the interest of older children.

Our copy arrived with a promotional green sheep which is almost as beloved as the book itself. Opening up lots of opportunities for playing 'Where is the green sheep?' all over the house.

It's a Star!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star illustrated by Tracey Moroney

A simple illustrated board book version of the well known song, featuring a polar bear looking up at the star while he plays and then gets ready for bed, and ending with him dreaming about meeting the star.

This was the very first book that Mitchell actually sat on my lap to listen to! Admittedly it took months to get to that point. Months of singing the song while turning the pages, and pointing to the star, (teddy, sled, windmills, bees, etc.) on the pages while he wriggled to get down, and bounced around the room, racing back to my knee to look at the pages, and off again.

But finally he became intrigued with the detail on the pages, and began to find the teddy on the page, or look for the bees on the lampshade. (It took several months before he'd respond to requests to find the star!)

The illustrations are charming and surprisingly full of detail for such a small board book - only 10 pages, and 12 cm tall. I think that the size is part of it's appeal, as it's easy for very small hands to hold and turn pages, and board pages mean it survives even the roughest handling. Mitchell still asks for it now, and enjoys turning the pages, and telling me what he sees on each page.

I've just found out that Tracey Moroney is a NZ illustrator, I'll have to look out for more of her work.

Muddy Fun

This is the mud by Kathryn Apel

Mud, the muckier the better, is always likely to appeal to small boys, and this book provides lots of it.

Loosely based on This is the house that Jack built, this is a simple story about a cow getting stuck in the mud, and what happens to the farmer and friends who try to rescue her.

The great rhythm and rhyme and lovely large cartoon-like illustrations help this work well as a read-aloud for groups. And the colloquial language, "the ute spun and bogged" "don't worry old girl" is a refreshing change from Americanisms for 'down under' kids.

This was one of the earliest books (other than illustrated songs) that Mitchell asked for again and again. I've found that it works well for kids from 2 to 4 - older children will enjoy it, but not ask for it again.

Puff, Puff, Toot Toot

Down by the station by Will Hillenbrand.

This was one of my earliest success stories with Mitchell. As he didn't like being read to, but loved being sung to, I kept my eyes open for illustrated songs; and this was one of the first I came across.

Early in the morning the train travels around the zoo picking up the baby animals to go to the Children's Zoo. So you have the drawcard of cute baby animals as well as the singing.

The illustrations are sufficiently bold to work for large groups of children, with lovely large double page spreads of each stop on the train's journey; and also have lots of interesting detail that Mitchell picked up on after many readings (what the naughty monkey is doing on each page, where is the balloon?, clues to the next animal enclosure on the right of each page page spread, etc.)

My only criticism, is that the scansion of the rhyme is 'off' when each animal is described (there should be 4 syllables, and are only 2), but it's easy enough to add in another descriptive word (sleepy panda, pink chick, seal pup, etc.)

The recommended age range is 4-8 -- but it worked brilliantly for my 18 month old (with Mama turning the pages)

This continues to be a favourite, and is still as beloved well over a year after the first reading.

Of course, I can't actually read this story to Mitchell, I have to sing it!