A selection of recent children's books

Juliet Townsend

Usually the books I request for review arrive slowly and at intervals. This year they are descending on me with the relent- less profusion of Milton's autumnal leaves in Vallombrosa, which means that I shall be practising the art of the précis rather than what is now known as 'creative writing'.

Anyway, there is nothing particularly creative to say about two books for very young children. Threadbear by Mick Inkpen (Hodder, £7.95) is the story of a battered, overstuffed teddy whose squeaker has never squeaked. There are lively illustrations, and children who like active participation can enjoy punching the real squeaker in the final picture. Sitting in My Box' by Dee Lillegard (illustrated by Jon Agee, Faber, £7.99) is a simple story with large print and satisfying repetition, which make it good for learner readers as well as fun to listen to. Children will enjoy the vivid pictures of all the wild animals squeezing into the carboard box with the little boy. Those who prefer imaginary monsters to real animals will be amused by Looking After your First Monster by Frank Rodgers (Scholastic Publications, £6.99), an invaluable and witty handbook on monster care. The section on potty training is particularly endearing.

Highly recommended among picture books for children of five to eight is The Queen's Goat by Margaret Mahy (illustrat- ed by Emma Chichester Clark, Hamish Hamilton, £7.99). Here one finds that elusive balance between text ' and illustration which so few children's books achieve but which marks out classics like Winnie the Pooh and Peter Rabbit. The young Queen longs for a pet to take to the show and adopts the gardener's goat, Carmen, who ends up by taking her. Any- one who has been dragged along by a goat on a chain will know that the pictures of the Queen being whirled through garden after garden leaving chaos in her wake by a goat 'like a hairy rocket' is only a slight exaggeration. 'Luckily the Queen was sur- prisingly strong for such a small monarch' and she lasts the course and triumphs at the show. Emma Chichester Clark also illustrates Beware of the Aunts by Pat Thomson (Macmillan, £6.99). This is a humorous catalogue of the aunts and their offspring, including the unspeakable Rodney who 'wins medals for ballroom dancing. He is always. clean and neat. He likes being with grownups and handing round tea on the lawn'. On the Aunts' annual Christmas invasion, 'Dad says we should put down Aunt powder . . on the other hand . . . you can't have too many aunts at Christmas!' Perhaps one will arrive armed with this book.

Emma Chichester Clark's characters have manic round eyes with pin-point pupils which would excite the suspicion of the doziest drug enforcement officer. The heroine of Belloc's poem Matilda (illustrated by Posy Simmonds, Cape, £7.99) also has mad round eyes, but hers give fiendish sidelong glances and bulge like those of her pug, who is left mourning over her charred remains like the cats in `Harriet and the Matches'. Posy Simmonds' excellent illustrations and the attractive type face are the ideal accompa- niment to this ever-popularcautionary tale. Cape have also reprinted Belloc's The Bad Child's Book of Beasts (£7.99) with sprightly monochrome illustrations by Tony Ross. It is interesting to compare this with Bizarre Birds and Beasts by James Marsh (Pavilion, £7.99). Marsh's rich, sometimes surreal, illustrations, are strikingly original, and one can almost feel the frog's moist rough tongue, but his verse suffers in comparison with Belloc's. Here they are on the friend- ship of frogs: Belloc:

No animal will more repay A treatment kind and fair.

At least so lonely people say Who keep a frog (And by the way They are extremely rare).

Marsh:

A frog in a pond I am bound to say Is a friend in every way.

Normally he's kind enough To he polite and not hop off.

Another classic re-issued with new pictures is The Wind in the Willows by Ken- neth Grahame (illustrated by Graham Percy, Pavilion, £12.99). This is a hand- some edition with pictures in muted colours which perfectly capture the atmo- sphere of life on the river. If you prefer your nostalgia unadulterated, A Treasury of Flower Fairies (Warne) brings together some of Cicely Mary Barker's best loved pictures and verses. With 60 beautifully reproduced colour plates, it is excellent value at £9.99.

My favourite of the reprints is the fac-

simile of The Adventures of Rupert (£12.95), first issued in 1939 and lovingly reproduced by Daily Express Publications with meticu- lous attention to detail — the thick grainy paper and red and black Alfred Bestal] illustrations will make this a collector's piece one day. And how wonderfully cosy and reassuring the doggerel is: After a series of hair-raising adventures, involving several brushes with death, Rupert recounts his experiences to his admirably placid mother:

Then Mrs Bear hears all they've done, And says 'Well, what a good day's fun!' .

Old stories in new clothes are told by Marcia Williams in Greek Myths for Young Children (Walker Books, £9.99). The comic-strip format, with a simple narrative beneath and racy colloquial speech bubbles make the stories instantly accessible to children, even those who are not yet fluent readers.

Two novels for nine to 12-year-olds con- cern cats in danger. Sophie's Cat by Billi Rosen (illustrated by Carol Birch, Faber, £8.99) is set in a village where the children suspect the sinister Farmer Stone of tortur- ing and killing animals, including the moth- er of Sophie's cat, Tooth and Claws. Then T.C. himself vanishes as does the old man Jones, and the angry villagers converge on Stone's farmhouse, but all is not as it seems.

The cat persecutor in A Christmas Cat by Robert Westall (illustrated by John Lawrence, Methuen, £9.99) has no redeem- ing features. The revolting housekeeper, Mrs Brindley, bitterly resents Caroline's presence in the vicarage and rules her uncle, the weak though well- meaning vicar, with a rod of iron. The story is set in the industrial north of 1934 with a grim background of depression and un- employment. Caroline makes friends with Bobbie, who is eagerly awaiting the Red Revolution when he can string the toffs up from the lamp posts. Then the Christmas cat seeks sanctuary to have her kittens in the vicarage harness-room. Robert Westall tells the story vividly through Caroline's eyes, and John Lawrence's line drawings, rather in the manner of Edward Ardizzione, are delightful. Strongly recom- mended.

Finally, if you just want .to keep the children busy over the holidays, 101 Things to Make by Juliet Bawden (Simon & Schuster, £6.99) will keep the six to 11- year- olds in a state of permanent Blue Petery, making everything from papier mache' armour to marzipan monsters. Older children with an interest in the Ancient World or simply a love of codes and secret messages, will enjoy The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Fun With Hieroglyphs by Catherine Roehrig (Heine- mann, £12.99.) This package includes a book, 24 rubber stamps, an inkpad, puzzles and games all based on Egyptian hiero- glyphs.