Remember me? The intrepid Book Elf despatched from the North Pole days before Christmas by Santa Claus on a mission to source great books for discerning younger readers? Okay, so you’ve forgotten all about my labours… I see, well never mind, Santa’s elves don’t in fact disappear until Christmas looms into view. We are on duty all-year round, only in a more undercover, out-of-season sort of way. Anyhow… it appears that my investigative talents have been acknowledged by no less than the Easter Bunny who has invited me to offer some spring reading suggestions (I guess that makes me a literary consultant) and behold the fruits of my research:
1. Hoot Owl – Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien (Walker Books, £11.99)
He is the latest superhero, well perhaps he’s not exactly heroic, but he could be…he is suave, sophisticated, a touch delusional yet his eccentricity is sustained by a poetic sensibility and a sense of drama: “The darkness of midnight is all around me. But I fly through it as quick as a shooting star.” Hoot Owl looks a bit like a flying egg; he is really sweet with wonderful big eyes, the presence of a matinee idol and a crazy sense of self-importance. Beware, he is hungry. Off he goes in search of prey: “The night has a thousand eyes, and two of them are mine…” His methods are unusual and include disguising himself as a carrot to lure a rabbit. It goes wrong; unperturbed, he attempts to fool a lamb; foiled again and then he becomes a bird bath by holding it over his head. The pigeon flies away. Finally, Hoot Owl dresses up as a waiter and pounces on an unsuspecting pizza. His tummy full, the world is safe until the next meal-time beckons.
This is an exciting book. The illustrator Jean Jullien, comes from France and has also made animated films. He obviously understands Hoot Owl’s complex personality, uses bold, matte colours in creating gorgeous characters with expressive faces. Sean Taylor has written many picture books: this one is a delight. His witty, engaging text is brilliantly matched by flamboyant, original, slightly Japanese woodcut-like illustrations. Hoot Owl is a knight of old, on an urgent quest, now read on. For 3 years and upwards. Be warned, my copy is mine!
2. The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine by Akiyuki Nosaka, illustrated by Mika Provata-Carlone and translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori (Pushkin Children’s Books, £9.99)
These are remarkable stories from Japan about the horrific effects of war and the courage and hope which somehow manage to flourish at such times. Each of the seven tales carry the date ‘The 15th of August 1945’, the day Emperor Hirohito in a recorded radio address broadcast across Japan announced the surrender of Japan to the Allied forces. It is as if that very day is a mantra, a memorial. The stories are not about victors or losers; they are about the innocent victims, the ordinary people who suffered. They are dark but so beautiful, so profound; subtle and elegant. It is a book that will last all your life. One of them, The Cake Tree in the Ruins, made me think of Oscar Wilde’s fairy tales.
3. The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-Mi Hwang, translated by Chi-Young Kim (Oneworld, £7.99)
Sprout is a little hen living in a nasty coop in Korea. Her life is very unhappy; she is expected to lay eggs for the mean farmer’s wife. But now she is tired, too weak to make yet another thin shell and all she wants is a chick of her own to mother. When the farmer decides to get rid of her, Sprout escapes with the help of a friend, a depressed wild duck. In time Sprout finds an egg and guarding it with her life, she hatches it. This is a beautiful book; Sprout is a true hero, (a lot braver than Hoot Owl.) She is teased and dismissed by bullies; the haughty prize hen is too selfish to allow her any space in the barn; the farm yard ducks aren’t friendly. A weasel is constantly poised to carry off any unsuspecting creature. It is a story and is also about so much more, particularly loneliness, endurance, determination, hope, love and courage – but all without sounding forced or preachy. It might make you cry…but that is not a bad thing. Readers of The Little Prince will love it. The language is simple; clear and direct, while the beautifully simple illustrations are by Nomoco, the London-based designer and illustrator Kazuko Nomoto.
4. The Umbrella by Ingrid & Dieter Schubert (Book Island)
This lovely, old-fashioned volume from the Netherlands-based German husband and wife team is a perfect first book for baby boys or girls. There are no words, only colourful pictures ready to inspire an endless number of stories. Yet again Book Island from New Zealand has identified an imaginative European treasure. A little black dog is out walking with his friend, the cat. It is a windy day and the dog discovers a red umbrella abandoned beside a tree.
Of course he opens it, why wouldn’t he? And whoosh, suddenly the wind lifts him and the umbrella high into the sky, far away from home. And all the cat, suddenly a tiny speck far below, can do is gaze up at his pal. Oh dear. What happens next? All seems well, as the little dog strolls along over the clouds, happily managing the umbrella which is about the same size as he is. Then the scene changes, he is sailing over Africa, close to a waterfall, and the wild animals below look really interested.
Next moment our hero is fending off a bask of crocodiles (watching wildlife programmes taught me that they were crocodiles, not alligators and that a group of them is called a bask) and a snake but an elephant comes to the rescue by tossing him up in the air. And the little dog aboard the umbrella flies away, to the cheers of the elephant mother and child. Next stop the umbrella is a ship on the ocean and it doubles as a submarine so the dog can watch the busy fish underwater. Back on the surface he meets a whale. Then whoosh, he passes the Galapagos Islands and is saved from further dangers by a passing pelican. The world is a big place and he entertains sea lions on the South Pole and whizzes past polar bears in a North Pole blizzard (I know all about snow storms in the North Pole). But the little dog is getting sleepy, the umbrella is also worn out, it needs to be repaired. It’s time to go home. The cat puts the umbrella away, until the next time.
5. Dot & Anton by Erich Kästner, translated by Anthea Bell (Pushkin Children’s Books, £7.99)
“Miss Andacht went to Dot’s room to collect Dot and the dog. She arrived in the middle of a theatrical performance. Piefke was lying on Dot’s bed, with only his nose showing. He was playing the part of the wolf who has eaten Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. He didn’t know the story, but he acted his part quite well. Dot was standing beside the bed wearing her red beret and with Berta’s shopping basket over her arm. ‘Oh, Grandmother’, she was saying, ‘what big teeth you have.’”
The German writer Erich Kästner remains most famous for his first children’s book, Emil and the Detectives (1929). It was very successful but once the Nazis came to power, his books were burnt. But he never left Germany. He has a way of being very funny while also making a serious point. Dot, the clever little girl in this book, is good at amusing herself but is also very lonely. Her father is busy making money and her bored mother is only interested in shopping and pretending to have headaches. The family is wealthy. Dot’s only friend, Anton, is poor and his widowed mother is ill. Their lives are difficult. Dot has a very odd governess named Miss Andacht who has taken up with a dodgy boyfriend given to shouting at her. Exactly why does Miss Andacht bring Dot with her at night to sell matches? Why does the nasty boyfriend want a map of Dot’s family’s apartment? Why does Anton make a phone call? And what part in all of this intrigue does the family cook who doesn’t like the rain play? All of this and Walter Trier’s witty drawings are waiting to be discovered in a book in which our heroine Dot remarks of those dreadful creatures known as grown-ups: “They expect us to be able to do everything, arithmetic and singing, going to bed in good time and turning somersaults, and they don’t have the faintest idea how to do it themselves.”
Signing off until the next time, the Book Elf.
