Children's books for Christmas
Juliet Townsend
he writers of picture books for children always have the problem of keeping a bal- ance between the text and the illustrations. It is curious that almost every illustrator seems to feel that to knock off a few lines of narrative is something that anyone, including themselves, can do with ease. There is a huge number of children's pic- ture books with excellent illustrations and incredibly feeble stories, The Beatrix Pot- ters and Kathleen Hales, where text and pictures are both of high quality, are few and far between. One modern example is Shirley Hughes, who has written and illus- trated Enchantment in the Garden (Bodley Head, £9.99). This is a high-class produc- tion, although I felt that the story had probably been invented to enable Shirley Hughes to make full use of all the sketches from her holidays in Italy. Certainly her loving evocation of the Italian gardens and the grand seaside hotel perched above the Mediterranean are entirely convincing and the storm at sea is powerfully drawn. This is the story of the lonely little girl, Valerie, who finds a friend when one of the statues in the garden comes to life and Cherubino, the dolphin boy, becomes her unconven- tional playmate.
Another picture book, for children of five to seven, which gives a sense of time and place is Our Field (Collins, £8.99), a retelling by Berlie Doherty of Mrs Ewing's story with the excellent pen and water- colour illustrations by Robin Bell Corfield. His splodgy picture on the opening page of 'The Dog Who Nearly Drowned' is so real that one can almost smell its wet coat. The children are drawn from real people and move through an idyllic English landscape in this slight but charming story of 100 years ago (Hutchinson, £9.99). For very young children Bearobics by Vic Parker, illustrated by Emily Bolam (Hod- der, £9.99) is a vividly illustrated animal counting book, written in verse to a disco beat. It would read well aloud. For little children who prefer actions to words, Big Blue Engine and Little Green Tow Truck, both by Ken Wilson-Max (David Bennett Books, £8.99), have plenty of levers to pull and wheels to turn as carriages are coupled and uncoupled and trains and trucks travel across the page. Moving up the age range to story books for those who have just learned to read a full-length text, The Fox Gate and Other Stories by William Mayne, illustrated by William Geldart (£9.99), is one of a Hod- der series described as 'short novels by fine writers for younger, confident readers'. It is invitingly set out, with large, well-spaced type and short paragraphs, and consists of a collection of animal fairy tales told in William Mayne's simple but poetic prose. The story called 'The Smallest Present' tells how the mouse, Befana, is accidentally trapped in a sack of rye and finds herself in a camel's saddlebag on the way to Bethle- hem.
The Kings were happy about their journey. They were getting near their destination. `Just taking presents to someone,' said the camel. 'Why they can't stick a stamp on like anyone else I don't know.'
Margaret Mahy's The Five Sisters, illus- trated by Patricia MacCarthy (Hamish Hamilton, £9.99), is another short novel by a fine writer who also has an excellent sense of humour. The five sisters are paper cut-out dolls with linked hands and the exotic names of Alpha, Cathabelle, Elodie, Icasia and Zamira. Led by the extrovert Alpha, with her heartening cry of 'absoluto magnifico', they are blown from adventure to adventure, narrowly escaping death by a lawn-mower, incinerator and trampling feet, and bring inspiration and success to the people whose paths they cross. Two retellings of old stories which are well written and well illustrated are Robin of Sherwood by Michael Morpurgo, illus- trated by Michael Foreman (Pavilion, £12.99), and Moby -Dick by Geraldine McCaughrean, illustrated by Victor Ambrus (OUP, £12.99). Robin Hood and his Outlaws (or Outcasts in this book) merge into the foliage of the greenwood. They are literally 'of Sherwood', part of the forest. In Moby-Dick the dramatic pictures of the great whale are thrilling — but does any whale have a jaw and teeth like this? Those who enjoyed the film Babe may be interested to know that the Dick King- Smith's original story, The Sheep Pig, together with Doggy Dogfoot and Ace, have been reprinted by Gollancz under the title Babe and other Pig Tales, illustrated by Mary Rayner (£11.99). It is a well produced volume which should bring the well loved characters to many new readers.
An excellent present for a 10-14-year-old who likes history, and well worth £19.95, is The Young Oxford History of Britain and Ire- land (OUP). It is a substantial volume packed with information on both social and political history from the Ice Age to the Computer Age and is generously illustrat- ed. An equally vivid introduction to recent history is The Usbome Illustrated Atlas of the 20th Century (£9.99) which gives a clear and lively outline of the story of our centu- ry throughout the world.
It seems fashionable at the moment for children's writers to look on the ancient world in a rather joky way. Typical is the comic-strip approach adopted by Marcia Williams in The Iliad and the Odyssey (Walker Books, £9.99). The text beneath the pictures tells the story in a straight- forward way, while the cartoon characters converse in more racy terms. 'By thunder, this is a good bash!', as Jove puts it, or, as he adds in the heat of battle, 'You don't mess with the mighty.' Poetry this is not but it is fun and guides one painlessly through the convolutions of a story which we all think we know better than we do. The doyen of the classical world strip-cartoon heroes must be Asterix and it is good news for all his admirers that the first new title for five years has just appeared: Asterix and Obelix All at Sea (Hodder, £9.99). The Greek News and The Roman News by Anton Powell and Philip Steele (Walker Books, £9.99) also provide a light-hearted look at the Ancient World, mixed with a lot of solid but palatable information. The newspaper format, complete with articles ('Greece in Peril', 'Our Brave Boys', 'Xerx- es Crushed'), problem page and advertise- ments ('New Slaves just in . . . strong barbarians from Germany and Britain') is very easy to read and shows some pleasing touches of humour. Another book seeking to make education attractive is The Great Grammar Book by Jenny Maizels and Kate Peddy (Bodley Head, £12.99). It has doors to open, tabs to pull and some elaborate pop-ups in vivid colours. The only problem seems to be that by the time a child is taught grammar (if this blessed day ever actually arrives) the time for funny animal pop-ups is probably past. Not many six- or seven-year-olds could tell you the differ- ence between a preposition and a conjunc- tion, but perhaps this book will encourage parents to bring grammar into the nursery rather than leaving it for the classroom.
This is a good year for anthologies. The Quentin Blake Book of Nonsense Stories (Viking, £14.99) is the companion volume to his Book of Nonsense Verse. It is beauti- fully produced and wittily illustrated, with a rich cast of characters from such eccentric continentals as Dr Strabismus (Whom God Preserve) of Utrecht and Baron Miin- chausen to the home-grown but nonethe- less exotic Maggie Mcwhistle and Professor Branestawm. The Professor also figures in Collins Christmas Treasury, selected by Stephanie Nettell and illustrated by Ian Penney (£14.99). This contains a wide selection of Christmas prose and verse, including some Christmas scenes in unusu- al and harrowing circumstances; the 1914 Christmas truce in the trenches, for instance, or Darwin in Patagonia, or the pathetic celebration of pioneers in the American West, trapped in Death Valley. There is also plenty of fun and festivity. Mr Pooter's Christmas dinner ends with ebul- lient Mr Moss kissing all the ladies, much to Mr Pooter's disgust. 'Oh, he's not much more than a boy,' says Carrie. 'I said that he had a very large moustache for a boy'. Other entries include Escoffier's Christmas Menu for 1906 — in French with 30 dishes. Presumably such delights as 'Becassines rosees au feu de sarments' or `Sterlet du Volga a la Muscovite' are largely incom- prehensible to children, but they exude an air of exotic luxury, and it is flattering to be thought to be so sophisticated.
The New Oxford Book of Children's Verse, edited by Neil Philip (£17.99), appears at first sight to be a curious collection. There are no poems dating from before the 18th century and there is an unusually strong bias towards contemporary verse. On read- ing the introduction one understands the reason for this. The book is a collection of verse specifically written for children, not of verse which is widely enjoyed by chil- dren. This accounts for the lack of early examples and for what sometimes seems a capricious choice among the works of indi- vidual writers. Neil Philip is also anxious not to trespass too extensively on the pre- serve of the Opies' Oxford Book of Chil- dren's Verse or Donald Hall's Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America, which means that many old favourites are missing. That said, the collection is full of new discover- ies. I enjoyed A. E. Housman's 'Purple William or The Liar's Doom'. William was punished for falsely claiming to be purple.
And he was purple. With a yell His mother off the sofa fell Exclaiming 'William's purple! Oh!' William replied 'I told you so.'
His parents, who would not support The pungency of this retort, Died with a simultaneous groan. The purple orphan was alone.
Finally, one stocking-filler if you know a six-to-seven-year-old who likes to be fright- ened. One of the best and most neglected children's books has been reprinted after many years by Wordsworth at £1. It is the terrifying Knock Three Times by Marion St John Webb. The inexorable grey pumpkin rolls after its victims — its touch means dis- aster: deformity, blindness or worse. Never faster, never slower, up hill and down dale it comes, and it is no use taking refuge in a house; the pumpkin just knocks three times and all doors open. It is sad to miss the atmospheric Margaret Tarrant illustrations, but the text will still do its deadly work, especially if read aloud. Happy Christmas.
Previous page
