Watch out! Big Bro's Coming, by Jez Alborough

A little white mouse comes running to a frog to ask for help because Big Bro's coming: “He's rough, he's tough, and he's big.” The mouse stretches his arms out as wide as he can to show just how big, then he runs away to hide. The worried frog conveys the same information to a parrot before hopping off to hide as well. The parrot tells the story to a chimpanzee and stretches out his wings to show just how big Big Bro is, but of course his wing span is far greater than the span of the mouse or the frog's arms. By now it seems as though Big Bro really must be a fair size and a creature capable of striking fear in the heart of any other animal. The parrot flies off to hide in his turn, and the chimpanzee rushes to tell an elephant about Big Bro. The chimp can stretch out his arms even wider than the parrot's wings, so the elephant decides that there is good reason for them both to hide.

The animals are all huddled together and the elephant thinks one of them should creep out and have a look around. They are, however, all terrified, but the little mouse bravely offers to go. He soon rushes back, shrieking that Big Bro is on his way and that they must hide. The animals all cover their eyes in trepidation as they hear footsteps. When they finally discover that Big Bro is in fact a mouse, albeit a largish one, they comment on how tiny he is. Not wishing to be made to look a fool, Big Bro takes a deep breath and shouts “BOO!” which really makes the animals jump. The story ends with Big Bro marching his little brother off home while the others remark that he really is rough and tough.

Jez Alborough's “Watch out! Big Bro's Coming” is a simple but effective story that cleverly uses the idea of size and builds the tension up gradually for a young audience. This is a great book for talking about the various animals and how big they are, and how likely they are to be frightened of other creatures. There is plenty of humour and repetition to keep a young child's interest throughout the story.

The text is in a large, clear font that is superimposed on the illustrations, usually on a light blue background so there is no difficulty in deciphering it. On average there are about ten lines per double page, occasionally more but sometimes less. A two-year-old child might be impatient to turn over, but a slightly older child will enjoy taking in the illustrations while listening. A child who is gaining confidence in reading would probably not have too much difficulty tackling “Watch out! Big Bro's Coming”. Rough, tough and chimpanzee may not be the easiest words to read, but there is enough repetition of sentences throughout the book to making reading the story not too challenging.

Alborough illustrates his own picture books, and this one is particularly colourful and appealing. There is always a bright blue sky and plenty of greenery; while the mouse, chimpanzee and elephant are rather neutral colours, the parrot is a beautiful yellow, orange and red plumed bird and the frog is rich green and yellow. The animals usually have wide-eyed, open-mouthed, flabbergasted facial expressions that bring each illustration to life.

“Watch out! Big Bro's Coming” has proved to be one of the most popular picture books that I have successfully used as the basis for a drama session with a group of four-year-old children. Almost all children love pretending to be animals, making the appropriate noises and hopping or flapping their arms like wings. It is an ideal length, and the children enjoy hiding and whispering while waiting for Big Bro to arrive. The story obviously captured their imagine, as they were still saying “Big Bro's coming” during an outdoor play session after the drama. I had suggested that before they go off to school in September we might repeat some of their favourite dramas, and they said that this would definitely be one of their choices.

It is hard to go wrong with Jez Alborough, and if you and your young family have not yet become familiar with his picture books, “Watch out! Big Bro's Coming” would be an ideal one to start with. It is likely to appeal to both boys and girls from the age of two up to five or six. It's great fun for reading aloud, and I thoroughly recommend it.

Watch out! Big Bro's Coming

Jez Alborough

Paperback, 32 pages

Walker Books, 2005

ISBN 0744598346

Price £5.99 (Amazon £5.39)

Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake, by Ronda Armitage

A small knight and his even smaller pet dragon, George, live in an old castle. One day a letter arrives from the king, saying that he and the queen will be visiting and would like a party to be arranged. He particularly requests that Big Cook make her special chocolate cake.

Everyone begins to make preparations, with Small Knight and George distributing the invitations. Soon the chocolate cake is ready, and it is huge. However, the delicious smell wafting from it reaches the wild brigands in the dark woods. Indignant that they have not been invited to the party, they creep into the castle in the middle of the night and steal the cake.

Dad Knight orders Small Knight to go in search of the brigands and bring back the cake. Small Knight doesn't feel in the least bit brave, but his love of chocolate cake spurs him on. With George behind him on his horse, he sets off to the wild woods, singing a song. After a while he encounters the band of brigands who declare themselves to be very wild and very hungry. Small Knight bravely shouts at them to leave the cake alone. He cleverly tells them that if they behave, they can come to the party. His idea miraculously works, so that cake is taken back to the palace and the spruced up brigands are allowed at the party. When they have eaten their fill, everyone plays kick-a-ball.

'Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake' starts off seeming rather traditional in many ways, but stands out because Small Knight achieved his aim not by fighting but by being friendly and generous towards the brigands. I was at pains to stress this concept to a group of four-year-old children and suggested that they might learn a thing or two from Small Knight's methods, but I think I was being over-optimistic. Perhaps the story needed to be read a few more times to drum the message home. Ronda Armitage is, nevertheless, to be commended for depicting such friendly, peace-loving characters.

There is slightly more text per page than some picture books, but the font is large and the background is always white for the story itself. The letter from the king appears on a pale yellow scroll in handwriting which is easy to read as it is not cursive. There are a few words and phrases that are set in a large font for emphasis, and coloured speech bubbles are interestingly used when Dad and Mum Knight and Big Cook are watching out for the brigands just before the party. The flavour of a medieval manuscript is suggested by a particularly large first letter decorated by George on many pages. Adults might appreciate this detail more than young children. The vocabulary is fairly straightforward, although understandably there seemed to be just one four-year-old boy in my group who knew what a portcullis was. This is definitely a story to be read aloud rather than a book for a child who is learning to read.

The illustrations for 'Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake' are by Arthur Robins.

They are full of humour and in a style that will appeal readily to young children. Apart from the first picture of the wild brigands hiding in the woods, they are all very bright and colourful. The fact that they are not my favourite picture-book illustrations is almost bound to be a good sign; I'm too old to appreciate what today's pre-school children are likely to enjoy most.

I am always on the lookout for picture books that can be used as a basis for a drama session, and 'Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake' proved to be ideal. Most young children enjoy pretending to be wild brigands and eating chocolate cake at parties. It would probably work well even with quite a large group that need a lively activity.

This is a book that might appeal more to boys than to girls, but the fun illustrations and imaginative story should make it one worth at least borrowing from the library to read to any young child. I particularly liked Ronda Armitage's idea of inviting the brigands to the party rather than fighting against them, so I would recommend adding it to any children's library on that basis alone.

Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake

Ronda Armitage (author), Arthur Robins (illustrator)

Paperback, 32 pages

Orchard Books, 2009

ISBN 9781846169137

Price £5.99 (Amazon £4.19)

Oi! Get off our Train - John Burningham

A little boy dressed in his pyjamas is scolded by his mum as he is still playing with the train on the floor at the end of his bed. He is told to go to bed at once, and mum gives him his pyjama-case dog to cuddle. There's no goodnight kiss, however, just an order to “settle down and go to sleep”. The boy obeys.

The next two pages show a double-spread of the toy train chugging off, with smoke billowing out of the engine's chimney. Turn over again, and the boy is seated in the engine, wearing his pyjamas and a cap. The dog, also sporting a cap, is shovelling coal into the furnace. The train speeds along over great bridges, puffing out grey smoke, and the boy thinks they might have time for a picnic. Then he notices that it looks as though it's foggy ahead and says they could play ghosts if it is.

Suddenly, an elephant boards the train, but the boy and the dog say in no uncertain terms, “Oi! Get off our train.” The elephant, however, very politely begs to be allowed to stay on the train as someone wants to cut off his tusks, and soon there will be no elephants left. He stays on and sprays the dog with a huge jet of water when they stop for a swim. It looks like great fun.

After this several other animals try to board the train: a seal, a crane, a tiger and a polar bear. Each one is initially told “Oi! Get off our train.” But each animal has a reason to stay: too many fish are being caught, forests are being cut down, marshes are being drained. Lots of fun is had during the journey, flying kites, throwing snowballs, and messing about with umbrellas.

Suddenly the boy realises that they will have to head home so that he will be in time for school in the morning. We see him tucked up in bed and mum comes to tell him to get up straight away. It must have been a dream, or was it? Mum says there are animals all over the house: an elephant in the hall, a seal in the bath, and so on. She wonders if it has anything to do with the boy.

'Oi! Get off our Train' is a delightful story in which John Burningham cleverly brings in the message that these animals are all endangered species. It is an original way of combining an imaginative tale of a boy and a toy dog speeding off on an adventure with the idea that the animals need help because their numbers are dwindling. Burningham makes sure that there is plenty of play and fun throughout so that the story will have sufficient appeal for a young child.

This is an easy book to read aloud with the text in a clear, large font and just a few lines – sometimes only one – on each double page. Although the vocabulary used is straightforward, I wouldn't recommend it as a book for a very young child who is learning to read by phonics. It could, however, be popular with children up to the age of seven who are independent readers and might enjoy reading the story aloud to a younger sibling.

John Burningham illustrates his picture books himself, and the illustrations contribute enormously to 'Oi! Get off our Train'. They are watercolour/pastel sketches that use a great variety of colours to create different moods, from the sun-filled scene of kite-flying to the black and gold sky of the double page that shows the train steaming home again. The animals take on human qualities as they stand upright, either to tell the latest arrival to get off the train or to hold up umbrellas. At one point we see the dog taking a break from shovelling coal: he has removed his cap and is mopping his brow with spotted red handkerchief. Burningham is one of my favourite illustrators, but I know there are those who prefer the more up-to-date work of, for example, Lauren Child.

I have successfully used 'Oi! Get off our Train' in drama sessions with small groups of four-year-old children. I thought the title might be considered rude and I'm expected to be teaching these little ones how to be polite, so I suggested we say 'Hey! Please get off out train' as an alternative. The story does lend itself well to drama as most children enjoy pretending to be animals as well as chugging round the room making steam train noises. If there are too many children in the group there is no harm in having two elephants, two seals, and so on. To be honest I'm not quite sure how well they understood the idea that the animals were endangered species, but if you are reading the book aloud to just one or two children it might be easier to emphasise this and talk more about it.

'Oi! Get off our Train' may appeal slightly more to boys than girls, as the main character is a boy and boys are perhaps more likely to be interested in trains. It is, however, a delightful story, and the animals and sense of adventure should make it a book that any child will enjoy. For anyone interested in explaining the idea of endangered species to young children, this book is an ideal way of approaching the subject since it weaves the message into a story. I would highly recommend it.

Oi! Get Off our Train

by John Burningham

Paperback, 46 pages

Publisher: Red Fox, 1991

ISBN 009985340X

Price £5.99 (Amazon £3.97)