The Butterfly by A. Delaney

It was the tiny and humble splash of orange flitting amongst the fine line ink drawings inside the covers that drew me to this totally unpretentious little book. Not only does the story tell about the flights of a lone butterfly on a summer's day but it also illustrates the story of the energetic and fun-loving dog and a troupe of close friends as they gamble through the daisy and grass fields encapsulating life itself. It is a book about really enjoying the little things in life and appreciating the moment for whatever it may be. The energy and joy is captivated so well in the illustration and the  rhyming flow of text. The warmth and absolute joy of the day is ever present. 

Mean Max by John Peterson and Syd Hoff

An interesting retro read on dealing with bullying. In the picture book Mean Max by John Peterson, first published in 1970, Toby struggles to deal with the ongoing bullying he receives at the hands of Max who lives close by and attends the same school. Tony's best friend, Eddy, is more undermining than helpful and Tony ends up becoming a bully himself. Build up your muscles and train to run fast are the main pieces of advice in this little book as well as learning to stand up for yourself. Certainly an unusual addition to the Little Library of Rescued Books and also smelliest book in the collection. This book was originally called Mean Max Chickens Out. Read it and smell it for yourself and you decided how helpful this book could be. What mainly drew me to buying this book for the grand sum of twenty cents was the illustrations by cartoonist Syd Hoff as I have a lot of respect and admiration for his work. Sadly for us he is no longer around to create, but you can appreciate his works at:

http://www.sydhoff.org/

The Mouse and the Potato by Thomas Berger and Carla Grillis

The Mouse and the Potato, which is now out of print, was translated from German by Polly Lawson and was printed in Belgium in 1990 by Floris Books. This is a book about a potato, obviously and it makes for an unusual protagonist. It starts out with a little girl called Maggie deciding to plant a rather large potato with the mindset that is will produce more potatoes.  A plant appears and it grows prolifically, the problem is, when it comes to harvest time the gigantic plant won't budge. Maggie's father, a farmer, tries to uproot the plant, is shortly joined by his wife, then a farmhand, a milking maid and then Maggie; all to no avail. Then it's time for canine, felines and rodents to partake in the what is now proving to be a very challenging harvest. Well, I wonder  what could possibly happen? The farm horse even ends up with a job. A straightforward little plot with gentle water colour illustrations by Belgium illustrator Carla Grillis.   It is certainly a beautiful addition to my children book collection.

The harvest

Maggie

The Dutch version

The German version

Daddy Lost His Head by Quentin Blake & Andre Bouchard

Loved this book, Daddy Lost His Head, before I even read the first page. What kid wouldn't pluck this one right off the shelf?  I found the book very amusing.  If your Dad lost his head you would fashion him a new one of course. Newspaper, paint and a potato for a nose and voilà...there it is a new functioning head with many advantages. You see, he doesn't snore or shout, he readily agrees with you and is quite happy to do the vacuuming. Even better, take him shopping and he will buy anything you ask for. But...will Daddy ever find his real head and just how did he lose it in the first place? This is certainly a very absurd story but also very inventive and funny.

The Stolen Mealies Lesley Whitwell and Mario Sickle

The Stolen Mealies  is an African folk-tale retold by Lesley Whitwell and illustrated by Mario Sickle. This book was published in 1989 in Cape Town and tells the tale of Squirrel who works hard to grow mealies (corn). Unfortunately his field is discovered by an unscrupulous hare who deviously manipulates others into believing he is the owner of the new harvest. However, justice prevails. This a great book to teach the values of honesty and integrity to students. The double page colourful linocut illustrations by Mario Sickle are both detailed and exquisite. It is one of the most beautifully illustrated book in my children' collection. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for his other books The New Fire, The Hare's Rope, Sangura's Tug of War and Love David.

First Light by Gary Crew & Peter Gouldthorpe

First Light by Gary Crew, is a great book to explore with middle or upper primary students and deals with a father/son relationship. The main character who is referred to only as "the boy" until the second last page of the story, is quiet and shy and enjoys constructing model planes in the privacy of his bedroom. The reader is given the impression that he does not normally spend much time with his father and he is often harshly judged by him. One morning before the first light of the day, his father takes him on a special fishing trip, maybe as an attempt to break the distance and silence which has grown up between them. His father obviously means well but is off-hand and gruff towards his son. It is only after a scary experience that the reader senses a change in the father's attitude. It is a subtle tale, poetically written and beautifully illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe showing  evocative scenes from above and below the waterline.

To learn more about this well-known Australian author click on the link below:
http://www.thelitcentre.org.au/author/gary-crew

Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

Bink & Gollie is something entirely different to the picture books I have been reading lately. It is somewhere between a picture book and a graphic novel and has three stories in it; two of which are interconnected through the symbol of a brightly striped sock which makes and appearance on the top of an imaginary mountain peak at the end of the second section. The stories involve two precocious girls who disagree on quite a few different things and who are trying to work out their relationship. Bink is an irrepressive blonde with unruly, spikey hair and half the height of her friend Gollie, who is tall and thin, but no less adventurous than Blink. The stories involve buying socks, visiting the Andes and the advantages and disadvantages of owning a pet, namely a goldfish. The amazing graphics by well-known animator and illustrator, Tony Fucile, drive the story along with their gentle wit. This book has been followed up by Two for One and Friends Forever.

Below is a link giving a preview to the first book in the series.

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl

True to Dahl's witty style and brilliance, this book doesn't fail to entertain. One day, a young lolly shop aficionado called Billy sees an old sweet shop, The Grubber, which has been recently sold. Whilst standing goggled-eyed and wishing it had been him who was the lucky purchaser, a porcelain lavatory comes flying out the window, followed by a kitchen sink and an empty canary cage. The reader is engaged immediately. As it turns out the building is being renovated by a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey; a very unlikely trio. They are however, a very enterprising window-cleaning team and it seems that one of the richest men in Britain requires their services. The Duke cannot believe what service this team has to offer; a giraffe with an extendable neck is one marvellous thing but their criminal-foiling abilities is quite another. They are simply indispensable and so who will look after The Grubber in their absence? Quentin Blake comes to the party as always with his comical sketches adding greatly to the eccentric and bizarre characters who inhabit the books of Dahl. This is a short novel which will be quickly devoured by primary school children as well as being appreciated by adults. 

Add caption

You can listen to the unabridged version by Hugh Lorry:

Belinda in Paris by Amy Young

As you can see from the cover, Belinda has rather large feet for a ballet dancer, and it is precisely this which drives the action in the book. You see, Belinda's pointe shoes (ballet shoes) have gone missing in transit; they are on their way to Pago instead of Paris. Belinda is concerned and nervous about dancing in Paris despite her notoriety and the excitement her visit has generated in the city. What shoes is she possibly going to wear? She visits La Danse store which specializes in ballet shoes but alas they do not have her size. This results in her trekking around Paris trying to problem solve. She visits shoe maker Monsieur Luc who has never seen such large feet and then it's on to see Madame Sophia about silk fabric. The plot also strangely involves a baguette which becomes a part of the solution. So, do the ballet-loving citizens of Paris get to see Belinda perform?  The illustrations are exquisite and showcase many of the well-known sites and buildings of Paris including the Eiffel Tower, the Golden Gates and the Jardin de Luxembourg. This is an usual topic for a children's picture book but it will surely appeal to aspiring ballet dances three years and plus.

Great Creatures of Mystery by Jan Fortman

Great Creatures of Mystery by Jan Fortman was published in 1977, and although some of the information is a little dated, it is still an interesting read. The opening chapter focuses on the San Clemente Monster  which apparently fishermen first sighted off  the island of San Clemente, off the Californian coast around 1900. It then briefly introduces the topics of the preceding chapters, animals of mystery: lemmings' mad race to nowhere,  the great salmon journey, whales who beach themselves, insectivorous plants, and finally, the great caribou migration.

The San Clemente Monster

There are illustrations by James Warhola, Lynn Sweat and illustrations courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History.  

Black and white, and colour  photographs are also scattered throughout the text.

Beached whales

The Fly by Petr Horacek

Imagine a picture book where the fly is the main character, and you get a humorous story buzzing with action.  "Two goggly eyes, six hairy legs, two transparent wings...It's me! The House Fly. But people don't like me being in the house." The swish and the sudden  flap of the fly swat moves this unusual but entertaining story along until its witty finale. The reader is taken on a journey of the arduous and dangerous day in the life of a much maligned fly, from his food sources, through his daily exercise regime, to his favourite smells. The book has beautiful paintings overlaid with collage and potentially splattering flaps. The the large crayon speech bubbles which dominate the pages constantly emphasize the fly's tiny presence. The entire book consists of double page spreads which is visually appealing and gives the poor fly a larger landscape on which to eke out his otherwise frugal existence. The end covers add a nice touch. Designed primarily for the infant school market, this book also has great appeal to older children too.

Petr's blog is worth visiting and has a couple of animations on it based on two of his other picture books:
http://www.petrhoracek.co.uk/

The Great Wungle Bungle Aerial Expedition by Jill Arkell, Wayne Talbot and Greg McKee

A great swirling willy willy carries Wendi Wallaby off into the Australian outback skies and thus begins the Wallopa Wallaby's quest to track her down. He enlists the aid of Ranger Bugwatch and together with the talents of Snuffle and Trundle Echidna, Bluey, Bindie and Scribble the Kola Brothers, Wentworth Pelican, Felicity Flossy Fleece the flying doctor, and Ulinga, an indigenous boy, they build a pedal-powered flying machine from recycled materials. This is the first on many  inventions they make in their quest to travel the skies in search of Wendi. There is the giant boomerang, the 18 footer sky boat, an airship, a satellite but all have their own limitations. The detailed and humorous illustrations by Greg McKee and Wayne Talbot are awe inspiring and will keep children poring over them for hours. McKee is a man of many talents with a background in industrial design, zoology, illustration and animation. To read more about him and the illustrations in this book follow the link below; it is well worth your visit..

http://www.mckeewildthings.com/Illustrations.htm

Braithwaite's Original Brass Band by Peter Stevenson

This wacky picture book by Peter Stevenson focuses on Braithwaite's Original Brass Band, which is supposedly the best band in the land. The band is comprised of a very odd looking group of heavily-moustached men who are clones of each other. One day whilst endeavouring to practise for the Oswaldtwhistle International Musical Championship, their instruments malfunction and  their notes float away into the sky. So they adventure into Outer Space to retrieve their music. They find themselves on a planet inhabited by little pink monsters and thus begins the  negotiation with the Maetstro (a conductor who collects the best bands in the universe) to regain their lost music. I really love the twist at the end when Great-Grandfather's old instruments from the attic are given a new lease of life. Author/illustrator Peter Stevenson has quite a number of books under his belt and his website is worth visiting. He has also written his first book in the Welsh language entitled Oes Ben Tylwyth Teg.  http://peterstevensonart.co.uk/books.html

Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes illustrated by Kate Greenaway

This is an enchanting, stitched,  little hardback published by Chancellor Press. The late eighteenth century style illustrations by Kate Greenaway do justice to these traditional nursery rhymes. Greenaways paintings were reproduced by chromoxlography, a process which was popular from the mid nineteenth to the early twentieth century, by which colours were printed from hand-engraved wood blocks. This is a beautiful facsimile of the original 1881 edition filled with over forty famous nursery rhymes. It is a welcome edition to our poetry section in the Little Library of Rescued Books in our classroom.

The contents page  and one of the first rhyme of the book

I Spy Transport in Art selected by Lucy Mickleethwait

An interesting concept and a great way to introduce children to well-known pieces of art, Lucy Micklethwait's selections take the reader on a journey through the modern world of art. Apparently, children helped with the selection of the art works. Art works include Batmobile from DC Comics, Kandinsky's Birds and Salvador Dali's La Table Solaire, along with ten others. All have to do with different forms of transport, hence the title of the book. Whilst finding the different modes of transport is no where near as hard as the challenge thrown out in the Where's Wally series, it is indeed a great vehicle for talking to your children or students about art.

Ben's Dream by Chris Van Allsburg

Ben and Margaret pedal quickly to make it to their respective houses before the rain pelts down. Both have to study for an upcoming geography test on great landmarks of the world. Ben arrives home to an empty house and settles down to study. However, the steady rhythm of the rain lulls him to sleep. Only seconds later, the house shakes violently and his finds himself drifting past some of the great landmarks in the world such as the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to name just a few. Chris Van Allsburg's book will enthrall and mesmerize with the detailed ink drawings, and after reading the end, many readers will be forced back through the book in order to study the drawings more closely and to look for further clues. Many of Allsburg's books switch between the waking and the sleeping worlds and between reality and fantasy.

His amazing website is well worth visiting where you can incidentally watch an animated form of the book
http://www.chrisvanallsburg.com/home.html

The following website also has some excellent teaching ideas:
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/thepolarexpress/tg/bensdream.shtml#plot

The Bunyip Cage by Jill Eggleton

The Bunyip Cage by Jill Eggleton, first published in 1993, is all about  three little aussie children who have their sights set on catching a bunyip down at the local billabong so they can take it to the zoo.  They build  a wooden cage and imagine how it is all going to work out. However things don't pan out as they expected. They do indeed catch an animal but it is a far cry from the mythical bunyip of their imaginations.. The cover really doesn't do justice to the beautiful illustrations by Jeff Fowler enclosed within the book. The first page in the book would have made a striking cover. I just love the Kellogs Cornflakes box which sits on the table in the second illustration of the book. Product placement maybe?

Illustration from The Bunyip Cage by Jeff Fowler

Illustration from The Bunyip Cage by Jeff Fowler

Arnold the Prickly Teddy by Kym Lardner

Prickly fur is definitely not a teddy bear's best asset, it endears you to no-one, so it seems. Arnold sits day after day gathering dust  in a toy shop in the midst of the fast-selling pink and softer variety of ted. Despite a price reduction, he still doesn't sell and finds himself unceremoniously tossed into a rubbish skip. Luckily, after almost two days of lying among broken toys and wrapping paper, a small had reaches up and liberates Arnold, and his life suddenly takes a turn for the better. This is a heart-warming story that really illustrates the power of love. Kim Lardner has a straight-forward engaging writing style and his huge, detailed and very colourful drawings bring the text to life. 

Kym spends a lot of time touring around and entertaining children with his story-telling, illustrations and songs. He came to Illawarra Primary School a few years back when I was teaching there, and I think I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed another performance as much as his.

If you would like to hear Kim Lardner and appreciate his sense of humour, click on the following link:

http://www.summerreadingclub.slq.qld.gov.au/archive/src08_09/listen_to_kym_lardner

Australian Verse For the Young by Bindi-Bindi and Lynne Wilson

Poetry at its best,  the book Australian Verse for the Young, written by Bindi-Bindi and beautifully illustrated by Gympie artist Lynne Wilson, offers a fresh and engaging look at some of our Australian animals and landscapes through its verse. Rhyming couplets are a big feature. There are poems about a crocodile and a snake, a bilby, a dolphin, a cassowary and many other well-known Australian animals.. The settings for these poems are typically Australian, the iconic sandy white beach, the Australian Bush and  the outback. There is also a celebration of the Aussie barbecue and one of our great national parks, Kakadu. The book has a handy contents page and also an informative glossary at the back which gives an excellent summary of each of the animals making an appearance in the book. This book is a welcome addition to the poetry bookshelf in our classroom. Finally, a message from the author Bindi-Bindi:

We hope you'll enjoy this book of verse,

Some poems are wordy. others quite terse,

But our fauna is there for you to enjoy,

So come and meet them - don't be coy.

And whenever you open this picture book,

And at each of these creatures, you take a look,

Make them your friends, and you will find,

That animals, like people, will respond if you're kind.

That's Dangerous by Pittau & Gervais

This is a subversively humorous book which explores the dangers toddlers and small children face with the simple descriptor at the end of each possible self-harming activity stating THAT'S DANGEROUS! It looks at things that kids are notorious for doing such as pulling a cat's tail, stinking fingers into a fan, playing with scissors, through to the more life threatening but  less likely behaviours such as using a hair dryer in the bath, or playing with a gun. As the book progresses, the text gets bigger. For sure, some people may be offended by, or critical of such a book,  but it is just something different, and very  tongue in cheek. It's probably not something you would read to your toddler of Kindergarten child. Middle and upper primary students enjoy its bizarre nature. Let's face it, these are things that kids do. The drawings are minimalistic, simplistic but colourful. If you or your child  has a twisted sense of humour, then you will definitely enjoy this book. Francesco Pittau studied painting and carving at Ecole des Beaux-Art. He has written and illustrated many graphic novels and now has turned his skills to producing books for children. Bernadette Gervais was born in Belgium  studied painting  at Ecole des Beaux-Art in Paris and now illustrates books for children and adolescence. They live in the outskirts of Paris with their children and have collaborated together on some forty books.