#365PictureBooks 35. Worries go away! by Kes Gray, illustrations by Lee Wildish

Gray, K., & Wildish, L. (2014). Worries go away! London, UK: Hodder Children's Books.

ISBN: 9781444900163
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 3 stars

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When a young girl is worried, she has a world of her own where she can escape to.  A place where nothing and no one can reach her.  At first it is full of all the nice things like cakes & cola, flowers and trees.  But soon her worries follow her and she can't escape them.  Only her family and friends can help her, but can she get back to them?

Told in rhyme this book gets a powerful message across in a gentle and sensitive way.  The language is appropriate for the age group it is intended for - pre-school and early primary school students.

Wildish's illustrations add to the gentle and sensitive message.  The illustrations are very bright and colourful.  The little girls imagination is depicted with pink unicorns, delicious giant ice-creams & cakes and cute little animals.  Even when the 'worries' start to intrude in the little girls special place they are done in hues of gold and pink - depicting the 'monster' but not in a way that is terrifying to the reader.

The final pages get the message across of family, friends, love and kindness being the place to go when your worries start to get to you.  

I only wish that the character had been 'changed out' every few pages to a young boy, and maybe characters of different ethnicity.  The illustrations would work with both boys & girls.  I'm just thinking slightly older children are starting to get a bit "oooh I'm not reading a book about girls" when the message is so important to all children, regardless of sex or ethnicity.      

This is such a beautiful book about a serious topic relevant to so many children (and adults).  It would work really well as part of the new-year-at-school introduction when schools, our school especially, do a 'You, Me, We' topic starter.  Another book it would work well with is A Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside.

I'm loving the very last page:

I feel so much better,

Not lonely or down.

And as for my worries?

They've upped and left town!

The next time I'm troubled,

There's a place I will go.

Not a world of my own.

But to someone I know.

I got my copy of Worries go away! from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.

#365PictureBooks 30. Tortoise and the Hair by P. Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea

Crumble, P. (2014). Tortoise and the Hair. Gosford, Australia: Scholastic.

ISBN: 9781743625286
Pages: 24
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 4 stars

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Tortoise's big day has arrived.  He's going to be a singing superstar,up on stage with his guitar.  But oh oh!  Tortoise has lost his favourite wig!  Can Hare help him get his hair back in time for the big gig?  

Crumble has given new life to the classic Tortoise and the Hare tale in this rocking and rhyming story with an Elvis twist.  The tale is told in an easy to follow hilarious rhyme.

Tortoises' self-doubt is clearly evident with the constant refrain "I'll never win now, it's just not fair!", while he hunts for his missing hair piece and slowly gives up hope of ever finding it.

Then we follow his wig's escapades as it travels from animal to animal after Bear's foot is tickled by something on the floor of the bus and is eventually found by Hare. 

Shea's bright and bold illustrations are fantastic.  They add beautifully to Crumbles' rhyme, while giving more depth to the story.  You can see Tortoises' absolute sense of impending doom as he slowly makes his way to the concert.  There are all sorts of awesome things in the images to spot, and the looks on the animals faces are gorgeous.  I quite like the business mouse talking on his bug phone, and Miss Hippo strutting her stuff in a lime green dress, shoes & painted toenails ... with Tortoises' wig!

This is a fantastic book to add to your collection.  Great for pre-school and early primary children.

I got my copy of Tortoise and the Hair from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.

#365PictureBooks 27. What If ... ? by Anthony Browne

Gurney, P., & Webb, P. (2010). Kiwi Corkers: A Kiwi Christmas Carol. Auckland, New Zealand: Scholastic.

ISBN: 9780552565196
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Book
Rating: 4 stars

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Joe has been invited to his first big party.  Unfortunately he has lost the invite.  He knows which street he lives on but he can't remember the house number.  As he and his mum set of in search of Tom's house Joe's imagination starts to get the better of him and he spends the whole journey worrying.  Each house they pass brings another set of worries as they pause to peer inside and find some surprising sights.  Will they find Tom's house?  And will all of Joe's worries be real? 

Full of the repeated refrain "What If ...? and the worries of many children of dealing with a new situation (and adults if I am to be honest), Anthony Browne (former Children's Laureate) leads us on a journey of self discovery and how our imagination can make us blow things out of proportion.  

In typical Browne fashion his illustrations are extremely thought provoking, and yet entirely appropriate for the story.  There are two types of illustrations.  There is Joe and his mother done in a combination of blue-tones that depict the worry and self-doubt they feel and their continuing discussion which moves seamlessly between images.  These images are predominantly in sequential graphic-novel style boxes.  Then there are the full colour pages that display the house from the outside and what they can see.  Followed by an amazing two-page spread of what is happening on the inside of each room they look into as they pass.

The concept behind the story is fine for younger children and they will enjoy the full-page colour illustrations.  However I think that older children will get more out of this book.  Not just because the illustrations are so sophisticated.  I believe that older children will 'get' the issue of self-doubt more-so than younger children and be able to relate their own experiences to it (and maybe build some confidence of their own in their understanding!).  Hence I have classified it as more of a Middle Childhood 7-12yrs read.

What a fantastic way to discuss with children how their worries can often make things seem so much worse than they really are.  And if you didn't want to read it for the story-line, then Anthony Browne's artwork is a-may-zing to look at and spend hours pouring over.  A fantastic book to add to your collection.

I got my copy of What If ... ? from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.