BIG and Small
written by David Bedford and illustrated by Leonie Worthington
(Little Hare, 5.99)
This is a simple concept that really works. We are shown ways in which a big bear and a small mouse can help or play with each other, as well as shown the physical differences between the characters. 'BIG's steps are big and slow. Small takes small, fast steps.'
Here we have a picture of the bottom part of the bear's legs (the rest of him is off the top of the page) and the whole of the mouse's scampering body. They are each leaving different-sized footsteps behind them. Fold-out novelty flaps are also used where it is right to do so.
On the hide-and-seek page we don't need a flap to tell us where mouse is hiding - his tail is poking out of the end of a flowerpot, and we can just enjoy Bear's perplexed expression. Mouse can be strong, as you will see when you fold out the four page flaps and turn the book upside-down. It looks like the tiny creature is holding Bear above his head.
The artwork is photographed fur and felt collage, and the characters really do leap out of the page.
Van Gogh's World of Colour by Julie Aigner-Clark (Scholastic, 4.99) This is an ambitious board book. It has the trappings of being a simple concept colour book, with its six different-coloured index tabs running down the right-hand side and large word labels rendered in matching colours inside. But that is where the similarities end.
Van Gogh paintings are reproduced alongside some simple exploratory questions. For example, children are challenged to point out the sections of the paintings that have the colour red in them, and later yellow. This colour-spotting game could easily grow into a far more complex discussion, depending on the ability and interest of the child.
The title of Van Gogh's painting 'Wheat Fields with Reaper at Sunrise' will not mean much to a young child, and once the child points out the dominant yellow wheatfields and the bright yellow orb of a sun above, you might think you are finished. But look more carefully for the reaper among the wheat, camouflaged in greeny-yellow overalls. The quotes from Van Gogh provide discussion ideas that go beyond the basics of colours and matching, and move into the realms of motivation and emotion. When you read the painter's words accompanying 'The Starry Night', 'I often think the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day', you can then admire how vibrantly he has rendered the night sky in his painting.
On the Farm and On the Move
by Benedicte Guettier
(Zero to Ten, 4.99 each)
These big board books with a cut-out circle running through every page feature bold and black lines with bright colours inside. After the first novelty of a child putting their face up to the circular hole, which is amusing, you may find it awkward to use these books fully as toy and story combined. The card pages are quite heavy to hold for the storyteller, and if the child is putting their face through the circle, they can't see the pictures.
On the Move is an imaginative survey of the different kinds of ways the 'I'
in the story could reach 'your' house. The ways include buying a ticket and going by bus, or jumping on a bike and pedalling really fast.
On each spread there is an associated sound for the transport types, which children can join in with. On the Farm follows a similar format, with animal sounds for children to make.
My World, Your World and My Flower, Your Flower
by Melanie Walsh
(Picture Corgi, 5.99 each)
Beginning with differences and ending with similarities in tastes and manners, the creator offers us five themes: clothes, greetings, table manners, transport, and homes.
The simple, accessible text avoids being dry, and centres on small narratives around the featured young children. So, for the clothes theme we have, 'Kavita wears a colourful sari to school.'
And then we have, 'Jacob wears a warm jacket and snowboots. But...' and the thing they share is wearing trainers. The greetings theme has Georgie saying 'hello', Luc saying 'bonjour', and them both saying 'hee hee' when tickled.
The illustrations succeed in always focusing on the key element (for example, a bowl of rice or a plate of food) without making the book feel one-dimensional. It has a satisfying ending, too.
There is a companion title about flowers and trees called My flower, Your flower, which adopts the same format of first pointing out differences and then finding similarities.
