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!