Pamela Allen - Bertie and Mr McGee

Bertie is the latest offering from Pamela Allen.

Bertie is a 2-sided book; one side shows a happy Bertie. Flip the book over to see a grumpy Bertie.
Bertie's mood influences that of his family and dog in a simple story about the impact our emotions have on those around us.

The illustrations and family of Bertie will be familiar to those fans of 'A Lion in the Night' and 'Bertie and the Bear'. (As an aside, I wonder if 'Ordinary Albert' is the story of grown-up Bertie, or if Allen just has a thing for the name?)

Mr McGee was first published in 1989 and is a fine example of Allen's fun, rhyming style that has the won over the hearts and minds of so many Australian children.

This book demands to be read aloud. It delights young children from start to finish. I've had groups shriek out loud as Mr McGee floats away. Then clap their hands with joy when he lands on his head in his bed!

I mentioned in an earlier post about this year's CBCA shortlist how books can change and blossom in a way not predicted as soon as you read them out loud to a group of young children.

All of Pamela Allen's books fall into this category.

Perhaps it's her trademark cause and effect device that is so powerful.
Combined with her dance-like language, it's difficult not to add your own sound effects and actions, to create a storytelling experience that is highly personal and individual.
I guess that is why so many of her stories have been converted into stage productions and plays.

Mr McGee has been such a popular character, that he has spawned another 7 picture books.

Friday Flashback hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies is a new meme that encourages us to remember a book we read over 5 years ago that is still in print and that we haven't blogged about previously.

Again! by Emily Gravett

It's no secret that I enjoy Emily Gravett's books, it's just that some are better for reading aloud than others. This is one of those.

The whole premise is about a parent (dragon) reading aloud a bedtime story to the little one again...and again...and again! I wont give away the delightful and slightly startling ending as one tired, cranky little dragon doesn't get its way.

I read it out loud to my 2 story-time groups this week and they loved it. You can have a lot of fun with just one simple word and your voice & body language.

I suspect I will be reading this book again!

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

I've already declared my love of books by Oliver Jeffers, so you will not be surprised to see his latest book here.  

This time we have a little boy whose kite gets stuck in a tree. To try and get it out he throws his shoe up...which also gets stuck, followed by his other shoe, another toy, the family cat and so on.
Every time the object thrown into the tree gets a little bit bigger and a little more absurd!

This book is silly and quirky and appeals perfectly to the young child's sense of the ridiculous.

I recently read 'Stuck' out loud to my storytime group to popular acclaim. And it seems to be the kind of story that gets stuck in a child's imagination as I have had several families come back saying their child is now obsessed with the book. High praise indeed!

Wolf Wont Bite by Emily Gravett

A new picture book by Emily Gravett is something I look forward too.
Her last book, The Rabbit Problem, was one of those difficult books to categorise - adults loved it, but it failed to appeal to young children. The humour and details went over their heads. But the cleverness and quirkiness appealed to adults nostalgic for their own childhoods.

Wolf Wont Bite harks back to the deceptively simple repetition and rhyme of Monkey & Me, but combines humorous, clever illustrations with a moral - a leopard doesn't change it spots! Usually the wolf is the bad guy in the story of the 3 pigs. However, by the time we see this wolf jumping through circus hoops for the 3 pigs half way into the story, we sympathise with him so completely, that we delight in the turn around at the end of the book.

I can't wait to read this one out loud.