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!