Pompeii

Ah Romans.
Romans, Romans, Romans.

For an empire that fell a pretty long time ago now they don't half exert a lot of influence over the Primary School curriculum.

Bill 'did' them last term. We made a mosaic together and I bought and got out of the library various Improving Books about Roman culture. The most popular of these from Bill's point of view was obviously the least outwardly 'improving': 'Diary of Dorkius Maximus' by Tim Collins and Andrew Pinder, an unashamed homage to Wimpy Kid which does a nice line in incorporating Horrible History-type Roman factoids into an enjoyable tale of the tribulations of ancient middle school. There's a sequel just come out and a third due next year and Bill will want to seek them out.

He'll especially want to seek out the third- 'Dorkius Maximus in Pompeii'. Romans are good and all, but Romans combined with explosions, death, destruction and metres of raining hot ash are SO much better. As soon as Bill heard that there was an exhibition all about Pompeii featuring REAL bodies (well real body cavities technically but who's fussing) he was very keen to go.

So off to the British Museum we went last week to explore 'Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum'. It was great, but from Bill's point of view undoubtedly heavy on the Life-side rather than the Death. He hadn't quite taken the point that most people were interested in what the eruption had managed to preserve rather than what it had destroyed. However we were all affected by the sight of the charred baby's crib and the small domestic details like a blackened loaf of bread or pile of figs. The dormouse fattening jar was pretty good too...

We also spent a long time looking at the items found with the bodies at Herculaneum- an insight into what people had chosen as their most precious possessions to run with. The melted, twisted keys were poignant. I asked the boys' what they'd have picked up. Bill went for the cat and his money and "Probably my sticks Mum. They're pretty special to me."

In the gift shop afterwards we bought Usborne's Young Reading 'Pompeii' by Karen Bell, illustrated by Emmanuel Cerisier. This takes the approach of fictionalising the stories of the different inhabitants of Pompeii as imagined from the artefacts they left behind. Bill enjoyed reading about Terentius Neo, the baker and his wife whose fresco we'd seen in the exhibition.

But by FAR the best book on the eruption- and actually one of the first non-fiction books that has really, properly engrossed Bill is an out of print volume we got out of the library called 'The Secrets of Vesuvius' by Sara Bisel. Sara Bisel is the archaeologist specialising in bones who was the first to examine the skeletons discovered at Herculaneum in the 1980s. The book is a beautiful balance of the painstaking science of excavation and the imaginative insights into real lives that excavation can reveal. Archaeology is COOL! It's written in a very accessible style- almost like a murder mystery, again with fictionalised sections-but with plenty of good science and good history within. Plus it has a lot of full colour photos of skeletons. Worth seeking out in your own library.

Because you're going to be doing the Romans too.

a trio of Roman recommendations

Absolutely regulation mosaic. You don't want to mess with our lantern-jawed Caesar

'The Secrets of Vesuvius' by Sara C. Bisel (OOP) pub. Hodder Headway, isbn 0-340-54352-3

'Pompeii' by Karen Ball, illus. Emmanuel Cerisier, pub. Usborne, isbn 978074606832-8

'Diary of Dorkius Maximus' by Tim Collins, pub. Buster books, isbn 978-1-78055-027-5

Dixie O' Day

'Dixie O'Day: In the Fast Lane' written by Shirley Hughes and illustrated by Clara Vulliamy.

Honestly, if you have any interest in children's books at all, I shouldn't need to write any more than that in this review. You should've already turned away from the screen, grabbed your wallet and keys and headed out the door to your nearest bookshop. In your pyjamas is fine in this case. Scoot.

Because a new book by Shirley Hughes AND Clara Vulliamy? Their first mother/daughter collaboration? Their first early chapter book? Come ON you can't tell me that's not jiggle-up-and-down-smiley, wave-small-flags, do-special-happy-dance-while-juggling-chocolate-muffins-in-the-sunshine kind of news?

I'm not alone in being excited. Dapper driver dog Dixie and his best pal Percy's first adventure has already been selected as Children's Book of the Week by the Sunday Times and (ooo escalation) Book of the Month by Waterstones. There's a bit of a buzz there is. I was practically camped by my letterbox whilst I waited for my copy to arrive.

But y'know buzz shmuzz, Sunday Times Shmunday Shtimes, Waterstones Shmaterstones...there's only one opinion that counts in this house and many are the mighty who have supplicated before him and been spurned.

I speak of course of the exacting standards of Fellow Reviewer Eddie, who like a Roman Emperor, will thumb up or thumb down a book with scant regard for reputation or social nicety.

My review of 'In the Fast Lane' is that is a little gem. A gorgeous, small but chunky hardback; just the right size for the new independent readers it's designed for. Vintage vehicles, plentiful biscuits and ice cream sundaes, a Proper baddy (never trust a woman who has a specially designed motoring hat) and a race of twists, turns and escaped sheep make for pages that demand to be turned. This book will make you smile; it bubbles with the joy and warmth of its makers. Never have the words 'made with love' seemed more appropriate.

And Eddie's opinion? Well, when Eddie likes a book there's only one thing he's going to do. Read it, and read it continuously. Out loud from start to finish with voices and brooking no interruptions. On about his third go round, I put the camera on and filmed him surreptitiously and I want to give you a little snippet of his pleasure in the book here. He's mid flow when he turns the page and finds some illustrations that bring him up short and demand his attention. It's a nice little vignette of how beautifully text and pictures can weave together a complete, immersive reading experience. Author, illustrator and reader are ALL in perfect harmony.

Look! A cow in a motorcycle sidecar! Ain't life grand?

'Dixie O'Day, In the Fast Lane' written by Shirley Hughes, illustrated by Clara Vulliamy, pub. The Bodley Head, isbn 978-1-782-30012-0

Holiday Vital Statistics

Back from a rather lovely two weeks in the Austrian Tyrol where I came over a bit Julie Andrews-

Some Holiday Statistics: 

1. Different ways we took ourselves up hills: funicular railway, cable car, chair lift, or even (with Haribo help) on foot.

2. Different ways we hurtled down hills: slide, waterslide, waterslide on a rubber tube, waterslide with whirlpool rapids, grass toboggan, chair lift, cable car, paraglider, zipwire, rolling on our tummies, on foot.

Bill demonstrates hurtling

3. Different schnitzels eaten: pork, chicken, turkey, with added cheese, with added ham, with added mushrooms.

4. Different cakes eaten: sachertorte, grape sponge, pineapple sponge, apple and almond sponge, strawberry mousse sponge, apple strudel, nut strudel, pear strudel, apple and nut strudel, pear and nut strudel, unidentifiable but still delicious strudel.

5. Number of Traditional Tyrol Parades of random motor vehicles, traditional crafts, sundry animals, and marching lederhosen-clad Brass Bands seen: 3

a goat with impressively long horns

6. Number of Traditional Tyrol Parades which did not also throw sweets and therefore were too many for Bill: 2

7. Conversational Topics which preoccupied my children: Electric fences. Electric Shocks. Electric Chairs. Cannibalism. Foreign Crisps. German Spongebob. The possible Housing Arrangements of the Singer Gary Numan. The order of all Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson songs and the life, times and changing skin colour of Mr. Jackson generally. Foreign Haribo. Foreign Sausages. Foreign Ice cream.

8. Number of sticks that Bill wanted to bring home: 8

9. Number of sticks actually brought home: 4

10. Number of stones that Bill wanted to bring home: 15

11. Number of stones actually brought home: 4

12. Souvenirs chosen: Bill- an authentic bearded and uniformed nutcracker named 'Colonel Nut', Eddie- a snowglobe featuring mountain, climber, alpine chalet, goat, cow, bell and marmosets with 'Wildschonau' written on in black felt tip a bit bunched up at the end.

13. Books read: Some. Mainly more Percy Jackson for Bill, David Sedaris for me and Alice in Wonderland for Eddie.

14. Games played: More. endless Uno. Top Trumps and the best discoveries of this holiday- Forbidden Island and Dweebies. These games made by Gamewright are as close to a review as this post is going to get. They were a nightly treat. Forbidden Island is a co-operative game where you either all win together or lose together. It takes some mastering but I highly recommend it. Eddie won't play any game where he might lose- he's not a bad loser- he's a total game refusenik who generally just chooses to spectate. He was persuaded to play some Forbidden Island and got quite into it. It has mini plastic trophies with mystical powers to collect which always helps. 

The only other review of this post is obvious I hope: Austria is an excellent place to have a holiday if you like schnitzel, strudel, goats, hills and Haribo. And WHO doesn't like those things? Back to the books next post. I have a cracker for you...

Holiday report- week 1

7 days in of nothing to do and nowhere to be and all going well so far. Here's the summary of Summery action to date.

diy escapology

preparing Issue 1 of The Nosey Crab Comic

claybombing tree

waterbombing  brother

live stunt action

Occasional moments of quiet contemplation

diabolo practice and more diabolo practice

messing about without boats, trousers optional

the hazards of messing about without boats

And books? Bill's recommendations of the week would be The Simpsons comic, The Phoenix (as ever) and 'Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief'. Eddie is all about 'The Guinness Book of Records', Doctor Who A-Z and Shirley Hughes' and Clara Vulliamy's divine new collaboration; 'Dixie O' Day'. Review of the latter will come- but first I need a bit of a sit down and a cup of tea or two...

Hope you're having fun too.

Shhh! Don't wake the Royal Baby

Yesterday morning I was woken early on the day of the full moon by thunder and torrential rain. The three weeks of glorious and settled summer stuff weather we've had was coming to its muggy, stormy end. I turned to my husband and told him in my best wise-woman-gnomic-utterance-ex-midwife voice that I expected the Royal Labour to commence any moment now. Then I turned on the radio and found myself like TOTALLY right and was insufferably smug for a little while.

I was right.

I was so totally right.

I am a baby predicting genius in fact.

(we'll ignore the fact that I said it was definitely a girl because she was so sick in the early weeks)

Now let's get out of the way the various things that need be said:

PoorpoorKateLuckyluckyKateIt'sonlyababyWhocaresaboutthebabyanywayDevotingthismuchspacetoababyisRidiculous2000babieswerebornintheUKyesterdayandalotofthemwillnotinheritanythroneOthernewshappenedtooyouknowThemonarchyisallveryexepensiveandsillyanywayTheycostustaxpayersinsaneamountsofmoneyWhathappenedtoalltherealtellylastnightIwantedtowatchLongLostFamiliesShouldntwejustallshutupgoawayandleavethemaloneEnoughnowreallyenoughyoucannotcarryonanymorerollingnewsaboutlookingatapieceofpaperonaneaselITSJUSTABABYFORCHRISSAKE

etc.

Okay. With that all in mind let's look at a book about the baby...

'Shhh! Don't Wake the Royal Baby' written by Martha Mumford and illustrated by Ada Grey is an unashamed surf on the wave of Royal Baby fever. There is no real need for this book to exist and it may offend you that it and plenty of other similar titles have been rushed out this summer. BUT-

It did make me snort out loud with laughter.

The Royal Baby just keeps crying and although various members of the Royal Household find inventive methods to soothe him other members WILL keep waking him up again. The story is bouncy and familiar enough for all to enjoy but the irreverent and playful illustrations might make even disapproving Republicans giggle.

We have the Queen parachuting in a royal onesie, Kate wearing a fascinator At All Times (as I type the news has turned to fevered speculative sightings of the Royal Hairdresser entering the Lindo wing...), Pippa in pink roller skates serving canapes and corgi chaos everywhere. I liked the golden dummy and crown shaped cot too.

I appreciate this book will not be for everyone but you know what: If you want to get a souvenir of what broadcasters seemed to be constantly referring to in breathy tones last night as, "A Moment in History" then what better than a picture book? It will give plenty more enjoyment than any of the dubious chinaware or tea towels we're about to be blinded by.

Lots of fun.

'Shhh! Don't Wake the Royal Baby' written by Martha Mumford, illustrated by Ada Grey, published by Bloomsbury, isbn 978-1-4088-4463-2

Disclosure- we received our copy by kindness of the publisher; our opinions are our own.

and just in case I wasn't clear enough-
I WAS LIKE SO COMPLETELY RIGHT.

Eddie and Dog

We're delighted this morning to be helping celebrate Little Tiger Press' Summer releases, on their 'Reading Rocks!' Blog Tour.

Everybody loves a book which features their very own name and the Fellow Reviewers are no exception. As their names are straightforward enough to be shared by both Royalty and the Archers' troublesome Grundy brothers I'm glad to say they've always had a few titles to choose from.

'Eddie and Dog' is the first book written and illustrated by Alison Brown and it's a cracking addition to our shelf of name books. Eddie ("He's like me! But with different hair," says my Eddie with pinpoint accuracy.) lives by an airport and dreams of adventure. Loitering by the baggage carousel one day he meets fellow free spirit, Dog and the two form an immediate bond. Eddie's mother is less certain that there is room for a dog in their lives and sets about trying to find him a more suitable home. But however far she takes him, dog is determined to return to Eddie. Can Eddie and dog find a way to be together forever?

There are shades of' 'Lassie' here  (if Lassie knew how to scuba dive and was a dab hand with a pair of topiary scissors). Eddie and dog are soulmates who Must Not Be Parted. The illustrations are warm and expressive, with just the right amount of inscrutability for the slightly mysterious dog. But this is more than a story about the value of pet ownership. It provides a gentle reminder to parents that our children are individuals who will make their own independent, and sometimes not altogether convenient, choices.

For all of us can expect 'dogs' brought into our lives when we have children and we all must learn the art of compromise to live with unexpected visitors. The author Alison Brown was good enough to respond to my musings on this theme:

"The working title for Eddie and Dog was "The Arrival", and it could apply to many kinds of new or unexpected happenings, both pets and babies being among them!
I'm a mum of two...we don't have a dog - yet - but I think that's likely to change quite soon!

The idea for Eddie and Dog really did come to me in an airport. My family live in Northern Ireland so I pass through airports quite often. On one trip, I was watching the people in the arrivals hall, and I thought it was funny how everyone stood so silently and expectantly focused on that little hatch where the luggage comes out. I wondered what it would be like if something truly exciting appeared.

We all naturally sit somewhere on the spectrum between adventurousness and practicality. I wouldn't call myself adventurous, but I'm quite optimistic, and believe that when something unexpected happens, things usually work out in the end!"

Some of the 'dogs' in our house have been things; the 20 or so muddy sticks for instance that must litter the ground floor at all times and will always find their way home no matter how often I try to  repatriate them outside. Or those Very Important Constructions made from cereal boxes and toilet rolls and a lot of sellotape that must be preserved unchanged for eternity. But my Eddie has mainly  put me on a very similar journey to Eddie-in-the-book's mum in trying to learn to embrace those of his enthusiasms I don't altogether share.

Buses for instance. Buses in fact very specifically at the moment. Eddie has been learning every bus route in London and also has ambitions to travel on them all. Any journey with him involves a complex negotiation of exactly how many different routes we can incorporate and exactly how far out of my way I am prepared to travel with him for the sheer JOY of it. The spectrum between 'adventurousness and practicality' has never been so charged as when faced with a pair of eyes pleading with you to go on 5 different buses from Cockfosters to  Elephant and Castle.

But just like Eddie-in-the-book's mum, I find if I can take the time and make the leap of faith and compromise, there are rewards to be had. This face of rapture mainly.

'Eddie and Dog' by Alison Brown, Published by Little Tiger Press, isbn 9781848956568; perfect for lovers of adventure AND their parents who may need reminding of its delights.

Please do stop by the other blog tour participants for other great Summer picture books.

Disclosure: We received our copy of 'Eddie and Dog' by kindness of the publisher. Our words and opinions are our own.

Time for Bed, Fred!

Apologies for the long delay ("Did you miss me? Did you miss me? Did you  miss me?" *leaps up and down like an excited puppy and licks readers all over their faces*). I was finishing writing my book again before the Summer holidays begin and my every waking moment becomes Full of Boys.

Anyways. Whilst I was writing, a few kind publishers have been sending me good things to read in pieces-of-cheese-from-the-fridge breaks and it's time I caught up and shoved a select few under your noses.

For someone writing a children's book blog, I'm not sure how picture book literate I actually am. I mean I LOVE picture books and will fight with swords for their importance and relevance and all that but if I'm honest, my head is probably more in a texty/wordy sort of space. I suppose I can recognise the cleverness of a nicely put together sentence and plot in a more considered way than I can analyse exactly  what works and what doesn't about an illustration.

The husband is a cartoonist and occasionally people 'edit' his cartoons or reposition them on a page and it drives him totally INSANE. Then I drive him even more insane by looking at the two versions and saying I can't really see the difference. I'm shamefully a bit sort of 'I know what I like' about it all.

Which is all a long preamble to say I REALLY like 'Time for Bed, Fred!' by new writer/illustrator Yasmeen Ismail. Even my visually untrained eye can see that this is something rather special. A simple picture book that flows with perfectly controlled colour, movement and energy. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

Naughty dog Fred isn't ready for bed and is going to cause some chaos getting there. It's familiar stuff really but told in a light and funny way that will make toddlers giggle I'm sure. I took this book in for my Beanstalk year one kids to read and they loved it; an easy text that they could perform in a great 'teachery', exasperated, telling off  voice. Everyone loves to pretend to be an authority figure after all.

But it is the glorious energy of watercolour zinging off the page that really bring Fred to life. He gallops through the pages with wonderful  doggy expressions. You almost expect to get spattered with colour yourself when he shake his coat out. Beautifully observed.

'Time for Bed, Fred!' by Yasmeen Ismail, published by Bloomsbury, isbn 978-1-4088-3701-6

With thanks to the publishers for our copy, our opinions are unsolicited and our own.

Incidently to read reviews by someone who really can analyse how pictures make a story work, check out the always thought provoking and rigorous blog at www.didyoueverstoptothink.wordpress.com. This post is a lovely example.