Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

It might seem a strange combination, but a bagpiping Cat, a Squirrel with a banjo and a small singing Duck live together, seemingly in harmony, in a little house in a wood. We first see them through the window, have great fun together.

Their diet consists mainly of pumpkin soup – homemade, of course. Each has a particular task in the process: Cat slices the pumpkin, Squirrel stirs in the water and Duck tips in just enough salt. This never changes. There appears to be domestic bliss as they slurp their soup, play their song and cuddle up in bed with a quilt made by a joint effort. But the fact that duck still has his eyes open in bed gives us a clue that there is a current of dissatisfaction beneath the calm surface.

Duck has aspirations to be Head Cook, so one day he gets up early and makes the spoon hanging on the wall fall with his beak – 'KER-PLONK! Down it clattered'. In the bedroom Duck announces that it is his turn to stir the soup. A huge row ensues as the others don't want to change the way they do things. Signs and symbols in the illustration suggest that they are shouting unrepeatable words.

Duck packs his things in a barrow and leaves. Cat and Squirrel are initially angry but sure he will return. Duck, however, doesn't come for breakfast or lunch. Cat watches the door and Squirrel paces the floor until soup-time. The soup they make without Duck is too salty; they're not hungry and tears drip into the soup. The picture on this page shows Squirrel looking at his tearful reflection in his spoon. Realising they should have let Duck stir, they decide to go and look for him.

Searching the scary dark woods, Cat and Squirrel fear for Duck alone with foxes, wolves, witches and bears. They are afraid he fell over a cliff edge, but Squirrel finds nothing when he climbs down a rope to see. Duck, they think, may have found some better friends who allowed him to help – the picture here shows mice and birds queueing up at Duck's well-lit soup kiosk. They head for home, and I can assure you that the story ends happily, except that Duck wants to have a go on the bagpipes after supper...

The text is well broken up with charming little illustrations that I can imagine may appeal more to some young children than the pictures that take up full pages. Most parents will delight in these, I'm sure. The pumpkin, Squirrel and the quilt are all painted in warm, orangey-brown tones that give a cosy feel in contrast to the scenes of the wood where scary creatures and witches threaten the wanderers. It is easy to see why this book won the Kate Greenaway Award for Children's Illustration.

This is definitely a book to be read aloud, probably to children aged three up. It would be a difficult one for a child learning to read, as there is quite a bit of text on some pages along with a few lengthy words such as 'embroidered' and 'bagpiping'. It would, however, be an interesting challenge for a very able child who finds the usual reading-scheme books too easy.

The story of course deals with issues such as taking turns and allowing others to have a go at tasks or activities that appeal to them even if they may not be very skilled at first. It shows how angry we can be when we are selfish, but how sad we feel when we realise how much we have upset someone after they have gone away. Bravery is shown by Cat and Squirrel as they venture through the dark wood, and even more so when Squirrel descends the cliff face. Many lessons there, then, but it is overall a very enjoyable story with a touch of humour to end with.

I think it must be clear by now that I do thoroughly recommend this picture book. I have also used it as a basis for a drama session with three- to four-year-olds; there are only three main roles, but the other children enjoyed pretending to be witches or wolves and making scary noises. It lends itself particularly well to the wintery season and would make an ideal Christmas present. Otherwise, borrow from the library as I did.

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

ISBN 0552545104

£5.99 (£4.49 on Amazon)

The cleverest baby

If a children's book has won a major award that is judged by children, that's a sure sign that its target audience will love it. Such is the case with Simon James's 'Baby Brains', the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award in 2004. Subtitled 'The smartest baby in the whole world', the book's front cover shows a baby in a space suit space-walking against a bright blue sky speckled with silver stars and yellow dots. He's smiling inside his huge space helmet, and we know that he is no ordinary baby.

Turning through to the frontispiece, little Baby Brains is lying on the floor in his nappy, sucking a dummy, but there is an open book in front of him and two more to one side. They don't look like picture books, either – there are plenty of pages and plenty of text. This baby can read.

The story starts when Mrs Brains is several months pregnant, and she and her husband are doing everything they can think of to ensure that their baby will be a clever one: they turn the volume up when the television news is on, and Mrs Brains plays music and languages to her baby through headphones as well as reading to him before she goes to sleep at night.

Mrs Brains gives birth to a boy which she and her husband call Baby Brains. On their first night home, Mrs Brains lays him in his cot and tells him to sleep tight – it seems he does, too, as she is not woken by him during the night. What a lucky mum. The next morning, however, Mrs Brains is in for a shock when she finds Baby Brains sitting on the sofa, reading the newspaper. That afternoon he helps his father mend the car, and then announces that he would like to attend school the following day. Having amazed the children there, Baby Brains goes on to study medicine at university. It's only two weeks until he is working as a doctor at a hospital. Not long after that, he is invited to take part in a space mission.

Will Baby Brains continue to go from strength to strength, or will he suddenly feel that he wants to be an ordinary baby doing normal baby things, like being tickled and going out in his pram? Will Mr and Mrs Brains feel that they went too far in their quest for a clever baby and long just to bath and cuddle Baby Brains?

This is obviously a story that will delight children and no doubt amuse the adults that read it to them. It's very imaginative and full of humour. Adults will probably have a good chuckle at the lengths to which prospective parents will go to try to produce brainy offspring. Children will love the idea of a baby mending a car or going up into space.

Simon James has filled his story with colourful illustrations, perhaps slightly reminiscent of the style of Quentin Blake. Sometimes they almost fill the page, whereas others are smaller and interspersed with short paragraphs of text.

All the text is set against a white background and is large enough for easy reading. There are never more than four or five sentences to a page, sometimes less, so very young listeners will not get bored and be anxious to turn the page. Because there is such a good balance of text and illustrations, this could be a suitable book for young independent readers who are gaining confidence. They will not be put off by long paragraphs but will be encouraged by visual clues. There are a few difficult words such as 'languages', 'photographers' or 'headphones', but on the whole a five- or six-year-old could get a great deal of enjoyment from tackling this story.

I borrowed the paperback edition from the library and found a page of stickers (intact) at the end of the book. There are nine in all, depicting Baby Brains undertaking various activities such as talking on the phone, sitting at a laptop, or space walking. Each has a slogan, ranging from “I want my Mummy' through 'I love school' to 'stupendous'. I suspect they help to sell the book.

I do definitely recommend this as both as an entertaining read-aloud book for children aged three to five, and as a story for young independent readers. Although I wouldn't choose it as my favourite picture book, I can see the attraction for children imagining a baby who can turn his hand to almost anything that takes his fancy.

The only other book by Simon James that I am familiar with is 'Leon and Bob', a Smarties Book Prize Silver Award Winner which I enjoyed immensely. Amongst his other titles is 'Days Like This', which was short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. There is apparently a sequel to 'Baby Brains' entitled 'Baby Brains Superstar', so I must keep an eye out for that.

Baby Brains

by Simon James

Walker Books, 2005

Paperback, 32 pages

ISBN 1844285227

Price £5.99 (Amazon £4.49)