Tell me something happy before I go to sleep - Joyce Dunbar

'Tell me something happy before I go to sleep' by Joyce Dunbar tells the story of Willa, a young rabbit (depicted as a soft toy) who cannot get to sleep and seeks comfort from her elder brother Willoughby. Willa is afraid she will have bad dreams, so Willoughby encourages her to think of something happy instead.

Willia crosses her ears over her eyes to concentrate, but she can't think of anything happy, so she askes Willoughby to suggest something. Willoughby, who is sitting up reading in the top bunk, tells Willa to look under her bed. Willa sees her chicken slippers there, which her brother reminds her are waiting for nobody's feet but Willa's. Willa agrees that this is a happy thought, but she is not easily satisfied and asks for another one.

Willoughby draws her attention to a chair, where his sister's jumpsuit is longing for tomorrow when Willa will jump up and put it on. Willa is enjoying this too much, and wants another happy thought. This time Willoughby picks her up and carries her downstairs to the larder to see the food that is waiting to be made into breakfast. Once again, Willa is pleased, but still wants more. Brother and sister go to look at the toys in the sitting room, and then look out of the window at the night, which Willoughby tells Willa is waiting for the morning.

I will leave you to discover the end of the story, although rest assured, Willa does drift off to sleep quite soon after this.

The story is a lovely one for encouraging an older brother to look after and comfort his sister. It is interesting that at no point in the story does Willa want to go to her Mum or Dad; in fact there is no sign of parents anywhere in the house. Willoughby certainly thinks he is quite capable of convincing Willa how to go to sleep.

The illustrations by Debi Gliori add charm to the story. Willa and Willoughby both have incredibly long, floppy ears, and Willa's jumpsuit is intricately patterned with lettuces and carrots. The rabbits' house is inside a huge tree trunk, and the rather dark interior is brightened up by patchwork quilts in the bedroom and floral wallpaper and curtains in the sitting room. The rabbits have loving smiles on their faces in most of the illustrations.

This should be the perfect bedtime story, unless of course your child wants to emulate Willa and be shown all sorts of things around the house and outside the window before settling down to sleep! I hope this won't be the case.

I don't use this as a bedtime story, but as a book for seven to eight-year-olds that need reading practice. My only criticism here is the choice of the name Willoughby, as this is obviously a very difficult spelling to make sense of. I thought eight-year-old boys might find the story too babyish, but in fact they have enjoyed it.

Amazon are selling the Corgi paperback at £5.99, but there are much lower prices on Amazon Marketplace. I personally have the Red Fox Mini Treasures version, 24 pages, at £1.50.

George's Marvellous Medicine - Roald Dahl

Any child who has been left to the tender mercies of a difficult elderly relative will immediately identify with Roald Dahl's hero, eight-year-old George. George's family have a farm and there are no friends around to play with at weekends. When his mum goes shopping one Saturday morning, George is left alone with his obnoxious Grandma.

It would be hard to have any feelings of tenderness for George's Grandma. She moans constantly and never has a smile or a kind word for George. Even when he makes her a cup of tea, she grumbles about the sugar and makes a fuss about having a saucer and a teaspoon, even though George has already stirred the tea for her. After criticizing George for growing too fast, she scares the living daylights out of him by suggesting she has magic powers that could make his fingernails drop off and teeth grow there instead.

George rushes off and shuts himself in the kitchen to plan what he might do to 'shake the old woman up a bit'. He has a wonderful idea. He is due to give Grandma a spoonful of her medicine at eleven o'clock, and he decides to concoct a magic medicine to replace her usual one. George bursts into poetry as he hatches his plan. He goes from room to room in the house with a large saucepan, emptying in all the lotions and potions he can lay his hands on, with the exception of those in the forbidden medicine cupboard. George's Marvellous Medicine contains everything from shampoo to floor polish to canary seed. Even the shed and the garage are raided for anything from sheepdip to engine oil. George cooks it all up on the stove and finds himself chanting a magical verse.

The time comes for Grandma to have her spoonful. As soon as she swallows it, she shoots up out of her chair and then comes straight back down again. When she complains that she is on fire, George pours water down her throat. Strange things happen after this, and Grandma ends up several times her normal height with her head sticking up through the roof of the house.

Most boys would be in terrible trouble for causing such commotion but George's dad, being a farmer, wonders if he can use the medicine on his animals to make them super sized too. There might be a problem, however: will George be able to remember exactly what ingredients and in what quantities were in his original Marvellous Medicine? If not, might the medicine have different consequences?

Roald Dahl has created a fantastic tale in 'George's Marvellous Medicine'. Any reader will feel revulsion towards the nasty piece of work that is George's Grandma, and children in particular will sympathize with George's plight at the outset and cheer him on as he concocts his weird and wonderful mixture. Descriptive language and imaginative ideas will delight and entertain readers young and old.

As always, Quentin Blake's illustrations make a distinctive contribution to 'George's Marvellous Medicine'. Grandma certainly resembles a witch, and we see her aghast as she shoots out of her chair, then deformed in various ways as the medicine works its magic. Little George is sketched in the simplest of ways, yet his expression conveys immediately his feelings at different points in the story, whether scared, delighted or amazed.

'George's Marvellous Medicine' is just over a hundred pages long, but the text is set in a large font and there are so many illustrations that the book will not be daunting for a young independent reader. The sentences are on the whole quite short, and there is a fair amount of dialogue to keep a child interested. The longest chapter is about twelve pages, but even then progress is fast because of the number of illustrations.

This is not a story that has to wait until a child is old enough to read it alone, of course. It is a wonderful one to be shared between parents (or grandparents) and their children as a read-aloud book. As it was first published in 1981, some parents may remember it from their own childhood; if not, it will be a hilarious discovery for two generations at a time.

There is, it should be noted, a word of caution at the beginning of the story, warning readers that they should not attempt to concoct George's Marvellous Medicine at home!

George's Marvellous Medicine

Roald Dahl

Puffin Books

Paperback, 128 pages

ISBN 014132273X

Price £5.99 (Amazon £3.89)

Also posted on other sites.

I'm really ever so not well (Charlie and Lola)

Poor little Lola is tucked up in bed with a cold, but big brother Charlie brings her a tray of her favourite pink milk and some biscuits. Today, however, Lola says the milk tastes green and the biscuits are 'too prickly to swallow'. Charlie tries to cheer her up with flowers, but they simply make Lola sneeze. She can't join in a song with Charlie because her throat hurts, but she begs her brother to sing for her. Charlie is in a quandary because he has promised to play football with his friend Marv. He doesn't want to break his promise, but Lola tugs at his heartstrings so he tries 'If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.' Lola, however, doesn't clap because, as she says, 'I'm really ever so not well.'

Charlie takes Lola to the bathroom to see her cold germs in the mirror. She reckons there must be 54 billion, or even a trillion of them. Charlie gets a phone call from Marv and tells Lola that Mum will come and play with her as he is off to the football game. Once again, Lola pleads with Charlie to stay with her and do a jigsaw puzzle. The phone rings again – Marv is getting impatient.

There follows an imaginative episode where Charlie and Lola are cloud hopping to try to catch a butterfly that is missing from Lola's mobile. Marv, however, arrives at the door and puts an end to this. Charlie lets out a great big sneeze, and the next day he is in bed with a cold. Lola of course brings him pink milk and biscuits and revels in the idea that she will be there every minute for Charlie until he gets better. Poor Charlie is horrified, and the story ends as he shouts for Mum.

It took me a while to appreciate the originality of Lauren Child's illustrations; at first I felt they did not compare with the likes of those of Quentin Blake and John Burningham, but I have grown to love the pointy chins, tiny but expressive mouths and huge eyes. I have, however, always admired the bold and unusual colour combinations in Child's Charlie and Lola stories. The juxtaposition of orange with pink, lime green or bright blue may sound too garish, but Lauren Child knows how to make it work, even with a red floral quilt thrown into the mix. There is also a stunning double page spread of multi-coloured, alien-resembling germs on a black background: oranges, purples, greens, blues and pinks all vie for our attention. Almost as striking is the glass of pink milk with an exaggerated curly straw, again on a black background, with two little birds perching on it as Lola watches the milk rising up toward her lips.

The font used for the text of 'I'm really ever so not well' is quite large but not always the same size, even within one word. It is always superimposed on the illustrations, usually on a light background, but when the background is black the font is white. At times the text curls and swirls expressively around the page as though it is part of the illustration: it follows the curves of the drinking straw, or the flight of a bee. The only disadvantage here is that it might be a little confusing for a young independent reader. 'I'm really ever so not well' is probably more suited to reading aloud by an adult, but I can imagine a slightly older sibling who is a confident reader enjoying reading this to a brother or sister of three or four years of age. The vocabulary would prove challenging to a child that is just beginning to learn to read.

I have found that Lauren Child's Charlie and Lola books are always successful as read-aloud stories with a group of three- to four-year-olds. Most of the children will be familiar with the characters from the television series as well, but the delightful way that Lola speaks, the humour and situations presented all make the books great fun. 'I'm really ever so not well' is a story that every child can identify with, and older readers will chuckle at poor Charlie's predicament, confronted by a little sister who dotes on him and is in her element when she has the chance to look after him. This would be an ideal book to borrow from the library when a child is ill in bed, but you are likely to feel that it is worth buying a copy. I would definitely recommend it.

I'm really every so not well (Charlie and Lola)

Paperback

Puffin Books, 2008

ISBN 9780141500812

Price £5.99