Harry and the Dinosaurs say 'Raahh!'

Taking a young child to the dentist for the first time could prove to be a frightening experience for them, having to encounter complete strangers and deal with the prospect of pain, but Ian Whybrow comes to the rescue with his story 'Harry and the Dinosaurs say “Raahh!”'

Little Harry with the big fringe takes his bucket of dinosaurs everywhere with him in Whybrow's series of picture books. At the start of 'Harry and the Dinosaurs say “Raahh!”' Harry is busily cleaning his teeth in preparation for his first visit to the dentist. He is a little afraid because elder sister Sam has shown him her filling. His dinosaurs are hiding but they all jump in the bucket when he calls them, except for Tyrannosaurus who has so many teeth he is worried that the dentist might have to drill them. Harry reassures him by telling him that he will press the magic button on the bucket to make Tyrannosaurus grow big, and off they go on the back of mum's bike.

When Harry goes into Mr Drake the dentist's room, he isn't convinced about the promised ride in the chair that goes up and down. Mr Drake lets him put Tyrannosaurus in the chair, and while his back is turned Harry presses the magic button to make Tyrannosaurus bigger. As the dentist turns round again, Tyrannosaurus lets out a tremendous roar that scares Mr Drake into hiding behind the door and asking for Harry's help. Harry quickly presses the button again to reduce Tyrannosaurus to his bucket size.

Harry now feels much more confident about sitting in the dentist's chair, and Mr Drake assures him that there is no need to use the drill; he will just have a look at Harry's teeth and give him a mouthwash to rinse with. Of course the dinosaurs have to rinse as well, and one of them disrespectfully spits the mouthwash right in Mr Drake's face to Harry's great amusement.

On the way home Mum lets Harry choose a book from the library, and the dinosaurs are delighted that he chooses one about sharks because there are plenty of sharp teeth involved.

This story is much more fun than the usual kind of book about going to the dentist. It would probably encourage a child to feel more confident about going if they took a favourite toy along. The episode where Mr Drake is frightened of the Tyrannosaurus shows that adults, even dentists, are vulnerable too and get scared sometimes just like children. Rinsing with the mouthwash is shown to be great fun, and drills are unlikely to be needed for very young children. The double-page spread at the beginning and end of the book showing dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes wielding toothbrushes and squeezing toothpaste is a great way of showing children that brushing teeth is just like a game.

Adrian Reynolds's illustrations for the book are big, bold and colourful. Expert young children can have fun identifying the different types of dinosaur, or just enjoy the unexpected incidents in Mr Drake's room.

The text is in a large, clear font and only in a few instances are there more than three lines to a page, superimposed on the pictures. This is obviously intended to be a picture book to read aloud to very young children, but young readers who are gaining confidence might enjoy having a bash at it too. They might need help reading the names of the dinosaurs, or of course they might just surprise you!

There are a few parents who feel that mention of the dentist's drill in the story is too frightening for the very young, but the fact that Harry does not need it helps to reassure them that they are unlikely to either. Children are probably going to hear and see the drill at the dentist's, and it is better to have discussed it beforehand rather than having to come up with a last-minute explanation.

Harry and the Dinosaurs say 'Raahh!'

by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds

Board book, 24 pages

Puffin Books, 2005

ISBN 141381299

Price £4.99

Five Minutes' Peace

Jill Murphy's 'Five Minutes' Peace' is a charming picture book for very young children. The story centres around a family of elephants (Mum and three children) and begins as they are having breakfast. This is not a pleasant sight. The baby elephant has a cereal bowl upturned on his head, and there is a mess all over the floor. Mum, who charmingly has curlers in the few wisps of hair on her head, sets a tray and puts the newspaper in her pocket. She tells her offspring that she is going to the bathroom to get five minutes' peace from 'you lot'. The children immediately ask to come along, but she firmly tells them to stay downstairs.

Mum runs herself a bath and pours a cup of tea. She is in heaven, soaking in the suds, but it doesn't last for long. Her son Lester barges in and asks if he can play her a tune on his recorder. Mum is not amused, but of course she gives in and Lester plays 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' more than just the once. He has established a precedent, and the daughter Laura is upset when Mum initially says she may not read aloud to her. Mum realises she is being unfair, so she allows Laura to read from 'Little Red Riding Hood', and naturally Laura takes advantage of the situation and reads more than just the one page.

Baby is not to be outdone, so he comes up and throws all his toys in the bath. The three children bombard Mum with questions: Laura wants to see the cartoons in the paper, Lester wants Mum's cake, and baby wants to get in the bath with Mum. That seems like a signal for all three to jump in, and poor Mum groans. She decides to get out of the bath, and announces that she is going back down to the kitchen for her five minutes' peace. Do you think she gets it? You'll have to read the book to find out.

This is a picture book for very young children who are highly unlikely to understand that Mum needs a few minutes to herself now and again, and it might just do the trick of helping them to realise this. Although she is thinking of herself, the mother elephant here does encourage her children, allowing one to play a musical instrument and another to read to her. We feel that these are things that they often do together. Mum doesn't shout at her children and lose her temper with them. She leaves them to get on with what they are doing and takes herself off somewhere else. She is a great Mum with children who obviously are very attached to her, and she understands that if she is good to herself every now and then she will be better geared towards giving her children her best when they need it.

The illustrations accompanying the story are delightful, including those of the family parading one behind the other for the frontispiece and again after the story finishes. We can appreciate Mum's feelings when we see the mayhem at (and under) the breakfast table, and identify with her when we see her briefly relaxing in the bath, reading her paper and enjoying a cuppa.

Although first written more than twenty years ago, 'Five Minutes' Peace' is still tremendously popular today. It is one of those stories that can appeal to adults just as much as to children, and as such makes itself a perfect book for reading aloud. Dad does not appear in the story; he may of course be at work, but it may be that this is a single mum struggling to cope with the demands on her time. I would suggest that it is suitable for children aged between three- and six-years-old. It might also be suitable for confident young readers to have a bash at themselves. It's definitely the perfect book for demonstrating that Mums give their children their all, but there comes a time when they need to pamper themselves just a little.

Five Minutes' Peace

by Jill Murphy

Walker Books Ltd, 2006

Paperback, 32 pages

ISBN 1844285391

Price £5.99 (Amazon £4.99)

That Rabbit belongs to Emily Brown

Emily Brown loves her grey rabbit, Stanley, to bits, even though he is old. Together they have adventures around the house and garden, imagining that they are going up into space, crossing the Sahara on a motorbike, climbing through the Amazonian rainforest or diving off the Barrier Reef.

At the start of 'The Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown' life seems wonderful until the Queen notices Stanley and decides she wants him for herself. She sends envoy after envoy: her chief footman, the captain of the army, the admiral of the navy and the wing commander of the air force. Emily is offered a brand new teddy bear and a tempting lists of toys in return for Stanley, but she refuses them all. She becomes even more angry when the envoys refer to Stanley as Bunnywunny. Eventually she pins a large notice on her back gate stating in no uncertain terms that Stanley is not for sale and that his name is not Bunnywunny.

This seems to work for a few months, but unfortunately the Queen has not given up. Eventually she send her special commandos in the middle of the night to steal Stanley. Emily is distraught when she wakes up, and she marches up to the palace to confront the Queen.

The Queen has done unforgiveable things to Stanley and is in tears. Poor Stanley has been through the wash, stuffed, and stitched up. He just isn't right any more. The Queen begs Emily for help. Emily says she will take Stanley home, and she tells the Queen to play with the brand new golden teddy, take him to bed at night, hold him very tight and have lots of adventures.

Two years go by until Emily and Stanley hear from the Queen again. One day they are exploring the Milky Way when they hear a knock on the door. This time it's the postman with a letter from the Queen that simply says 'Thank you'. At the top, in the middle of the royal crest, is a portrait of the Queen and her golden teddy, both smiling.

It is not hard to see why 'That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown' was a Nestle Book Prize Gold Award Winner. Cression Cowell has given us an original story chock full of imaginative adventures and a brave little heroine who defends her beloved stuffed toy to the end. What's more, she knows much more about playing with toys than the 'silly naughty Queen'. This is a story that has plenty in its variety of situations and characters to appeal to both boys and girls alike.

Neal Layton's accompanying illustrations have a comparable amount of originality. Layton combines photo-montage with his colourful drawings to create the environments where Emily and Stanley have their imaginary adventures. There is plenty of scope here, from sea life and treasure chests at the bottom of the ocean to toucans and monkeys in the canopy of the rainforest. Such pictures could inspire plenty of discussions and provide opportunities for counting or spotting little details.

The text is in a large, clear font and almost always on a light background. Sometimes there are a few words in a larger font than the rest or in capitals. Speech bubbles add variety on several pages. The vocabulary Cression Cowell uses is rich and laced with humour. There is a certain amount of repetition, with phrases such as 'there was a Rat-a-tat-tat! at the garden door' or 'And his name isn't Bunnywunny. It's Stanley' occurring each time an envoy visits Emily. Children listening to the story are likely to be able to join in with these, as well as items in the list of toys such as the ten talking dolls that say 'Mama Mama'. A confident young reader might enjoy the challenge of this story, and the repeated phrases will give them encouragement along the way.

This is a wonderful book to read aloud, as it gives the reader the opportunity to take on several very different types of voice: Emily's, the captain of the army's, the Queen's, as well as those of the other envoys. I have also used it as the basis for a drama session with a group of bright four-year-olds. They loved acting it out and pretending to be an admiral or a wing commander. I can imagine it would work equally well with a group of five- or six-year-olds.

As there is quite a bit of text and not the simplest vocabulary, I would say that this is a read-aloud book for children of three-years-old and up. Both the story and the characters are wonderful, and I can't think of any other story book that resembles this one in any way. I borrowed a copy from the library, but 'That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown' would be a book worth having to keep, I'm sure; one that would certainly make an ideal present.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

What would a picture book aimed at very young children need to encompass in order to achieve an enduring success? Should it be educational? Should it be colourful and cleverly designed? Should it lend itself well to reading aloud as well as appealing to young independent readers? Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' combines all these elements, and in 2009 celebrates its fortieth anniversary.

The book opens with a tiny white egg seen in the moonlight on a green leaf. The moon is huge in comparison and bears a smiley face. Turning the page, the sun, also smiling, has come up and a little caterpillar has hatched out of the egg. It is Monday, and he eats through one apple: this is a very narrow page that actually has a hole in it, and on turning over the caterpillar is seen emerging from the hole in the apple. As the week goes on, the caterpillar increases the amount he eats. On Tuesday it's two pears, Wednesday three plums, Thursday four strawberries and Friday five oranges. The pages gradually get wider too, and this means that on Monday's page we can actually see part of the pages of the next four days and anticipate what is coming. Each picture of a fruit actually has a hole in it, and every time we turn over the caterpillar is there, coming out of a hole he has eaten his way through. At the end of each day, he is still hungry.

Turning the page to Saturday, there is a complete surprise. The caterpillar is no longer restricting his diet to fruit: he eats his way through an array of different foods, illustrated over a double page. There's an ice cream, a pickle, a slice of cheese, a lollipop and a piece of cake, to name just a few. Not surprisingly, the caterpillar has a stomach ache by the end of Saturday. On Sunday, he is much more sensible and just eats through one green leaf. By this time he is of course much bigger, and he is ready to build a cocoon around himself. There he stays for two weeks until finally, on the last double page, a beautiful butterfly emerges.

The educational possibilities of this picture book are several. It is obviously a wonderful way of teaching young children about the life cycle of the butterfly; there may be an element of fantasy in the caterpillar's weird and wonderful diet, but the progression from egg to caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly comes across very clearly. There is also a simple time scale as we follow the caterpillar over the course of a week and are told that the cocoon stage lasts two weeks.

Days of the week could also easily be learned from 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', and the fact that Monday to Friday are each linked to a different type of fruit as well as a different number, for example Monday with one apple and Tuesday with two pears, should create a progression that could help a child to remember the order of the days. Saturday will of course stand out with its huge variety of different foods, followed by a quiet, restful Sunday. Simple counting is of course included here, with a total of ten types of food on the Saturday.

'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' could be used as an inspiration for memory games after reading. A child could try to recall which fruit the caterpillar ate on which day, and how many pears, plums, and so on. It would also be fun to try to remember all the different kinds of food that the caterpillar ate through on Saturday; I tried this with a group of three-and-a-half to four-year-old children, and they excelled themselves by recalling all except the pickle.

The font is quite large and clear, and is presented on a white background throughout the book. This makes for clarity and should encourage children of around five to seven to have a go at reading it themselves. The repetition of phrases such as 'he was still hungry' will help them along, but there is also a good variety of vocabulary to challenge a more confident reader.

The illustrations are bold, colourful and definitely child friendly. The caterpillar is a cheerful-looking creature, whilst the butterfly appears at once vivid and delicate. The frontispiece actually shows rows and rows of little circles as if they have come from the holes in the food, whereas at the end of the story there is a double-page collage of coloured shapes with holes punched out, reminding us of the way the caterpillar ate through the food.

'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' is skilfully designed, attractive and charming; it can teach a young child a great deal, but in the most enjoyable way. Despite the plethora of imaginative picture books that are available at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Eric Carle's book is able to hold its own forty years after publication. It has so much to offer that its popularity is likely to remain for many more years.

The Kiss that Missed

Looking through a list of David Melling's books on Amazon, it is striking that they all have five-star ratings. I'm surprised that I have never come across any of them before, but having read 'The Kiss that Missed' I will certainly be on the lookout for the others. Melling is both author and illustrator of this delightful picture book. He began his career as an illustrator and then progressed to writing his own stories that were inspired by his drawings.

The story centres around a goodnight kiss that is blown by a busy king (on his way to have a bath) to his young son. The kiss unfortunately misses the little prince and bounces out of the open window. The king orders his loyal knight to go in search of the kiss, so the knight mounts his trusty horse and they gallop off to the wild wood. This is a pretty scary place when it is dark, and our knight does not seem to be the bravest of young men. Luckily, the royal kiss comes floating by and calms all the wild creatures down. They settle down to sleep, so the knight and his horse decide to have a seat on what they think is an old tree trunk. They soon discover that they have in fact sat on a dragon who rises up and decides that the knight and the horse would make a good breakfast. Just in time, the kiss floats by again and makes the dragon sneeze. The knight and dragon seize their chance to escape, but the dragon of course is now utterly calm. He picks them up, kisses them goodnight and takes them back to the castle. The story ends peacefully and happily.

One unusual aspect of this picture book is that the text sometimes appears on a white background independent of any pictures, and sometimes it is superimposed on a whole-page illustration. I particularly like the fact that some phrases appear in a larger font than others, and one phrase is in bold type. One or two words, such as 'sneezed!' are in a completely different font. It seems to me that, because Melling is primarily an illustrator, he puts more emphasis on the visual aspect of the text than other writers do. I find this very effective.

The illustrations took Melling six months to complete, and that is not hard to believe. From the skinny, dragon-like creature on the first page of text that gives the impression of an illuminated manuscript to the final double-page spread of a happy family scene with the enormous dragon curling around, this is a feast for your eyes. The passage of the kiss is shown by a curling gold thread, and the wild creatures can be either scary or amusing. We see a close-up of the dragon's face with the knight and the horse reflected in the pupils of his eyes, as well as panoramas of the wild wood at night where snowflakes fill the air and the twigs on the branches of the trees resemble fingers reaching out to grab passers-by.

This is of course an ideal bedtime story, as it ends on such a tranquil note and shows the prince tucked up in bed. There is a wise message for parents here, about not being in too much of a hurry but finding time to spend with their children. I would say that three to six would be a suitable age range for this story. Confident five- to seven-year-olds would probably enjoy having a go at reading it for themselves, although I don't feel that it was written with this intention. A fair amount of descriptive language is used, and phrases such as 'galloped off it hot pursuit' are not the easiest for emergent readers to tackle.

For such a beautiful and enjoyable book, I don't think anyone will feel that £4.02 is a lot to ask. If you haven't read any of Melling's books aloud to your children before, I think you and they are missing out. I certainly am going to keep an eye out for his other story books, and I would recommend them to all parents of young children.

The Kiss that Missed

by David Melling

Barron's Educational Series

Paperback, 32 pages

ISBN 0764136240

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

Winnie in Winter

Having had so much enjoyment from reading aloud Winnie the Witch and Winnie Flies Again, I was on the lookout for more of Valerie Thomas's stories about our beloved Winnie and her black cat Wilbur. This witch is not just for Hallowe'en, of course, and the next book I found at the library was Winnie in Winter.

It's not just winter, it's a severe winter, and Winnie's garden is covered in snow. Even her yellow and red striped tights hanging on the washing line have icicles drooping from them. Winnie is not enjoying it; she is indoors, hanging up Christmas decorations, when her black cat Wilbur comes in through the cat flap with frozen whiskers.

Winnie realises of course that she can do something about this inclement weather. She dons her winter woollies and picks up her wand. Wilbur follows her out into the snow in anticipation. When Winnie waves her wand five times and utters the magic 'Abracadabra', the snow disappears and we find Winnie relaxing on a deckchair in her garden, under a cloudless blue sky where the sun shines brightly. Wilbur is enjoying the summer weather just as much as Winnie is.

The animals that were hibernating, however, are not so pleased. The sun wakes them up too early, and all they want to do is go back to sleep. The flowers that begin to grow wilt under the blazing sun, and Winnie starts to worry a little. But then the problems really begin: crowds of sun-worshippers flock to Winnie's garden; they trample on her flowers, bathe in her pond and drop orange peel on the grass. Unable to stand the crowds and their noise, Winnie retreats indoors. The last straw for her is when she notices someone selling ice-creams in the garden. Seizing her wand and once again waving it five times along with her shout of 'Abracadabra', the spell is reversed. You can probably guess the reaction of the sunbathing crowds, whilst Winnie and Wilbur realise that winter is not so bad after all, especially when you can keep warm and cosy indoors with a toasted muffin and hot chocolate or a saucer of milk.

Korky Paul's illustrations always contribute enormously to the enjoyment of Valerie Thomas's stories centring around Winnie and Wilbur. In Winnie in Winter we see Wilbur struggling through the snow as he stalks a multi-coloured bird trying to drink from the frozen pond, and a strange array of yawning birds, reptiles and mammals that have been rudely awoken from their winter slumbers. The sunworshippers look a little like a section of the crowd from Glastonbury festival (without the mud), and there even seems to be a Winnie impersonator fleeing when snow falls once more on the garden. In that same picture, don't miss the Santa Claus riding on his sleigh high in the sky between the towers of Winnie's mansion.

This is of course a very entertaining story, but it is also useful for teaching young children about the different seasons of the year. It brings up the question of animals hibernating, and shows that flowers cannot grow all the year round. Then there is the matter of invading other people's privacy and creating a disturbance that doesn't have to be tolerated. It's serious stuff, but it's dealt with in a delightfully humorous way.

This is essentially a read-aloud book, probably for ages three to six. The illustrations are double-page spreads and many have just a few lines of text on one of the two pages; at most you will encounter twenty-three short lines of text over two pages, but usually it is quite a bit less than this. The book could therefore appeal to a fairly confident young reader, especially with so much humour and so many imaginative illustrations.

I would urge any young parents not to let their children grow up without enjoying the tales of Winnie the Witch and Wilbur; I'm sure that these are books that will provide entertainment to share over and over again. Winnie in Winter is available as an individual book or as part of a collection of six Winnie the Witch stories. Definitely recommended.

Winnie in Winter

Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

Oxford University Press

Paperback, 32 pages

ISBN 0192726452

Price £5.99 (Amazon £4.49)