Paula Benson-Gamble reviews children's picture books.
Poetry can be difficult because it's often more easily read to the very young (who can't get up and walk away) or children old enough to make sense of what they're hearing - even then it usually requires quite a bit of revisiting.
Some of these poems are too long for young children, while for others a lot of thought, reflection, and explanation will be needed.
But if your child enjoys silliness and rhyme, and you have the patience to help them along, then I'm sure you will both enjoy this book. Captivatingly illustrated by David Elliot.
Suitable age: any.
In THE LITTLE YELLOW DIGGER AND THE BONES, by Betty and Alan Gilderdale, (Scholastic, $18.99, pbk), heavy rain washes away a hillside, creating the need for an assortment of diggers to clear rubble from the road.
As the Little Yellow Digger goes about his job he discovers a cave which reveals bones of long ago. The digger and his driver are then invited to a party at the museum where they find out who the bones belonged to.
This could easily have been written about a true life episode somewhere near Otago Peninsula (I'm sure it wasn't but even the illustrations seem familiar).
A wonderfully illustrated well-written story, with a lovely rhythm to it.
Suitable age: 2-5 years.
TINY MISS DOTT AND HER DOTTY UMBRELLA by Michelle Osment and Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson (Scholastic, $18.99, pbk) is a great story about what people get up to in their daily lives, although this tale is based on the adventures of an umbrella.
Miss Dott takes her umbrella to work in case it might rain and then leaves it outside by the door. Unbeknown to her the umbrella is then borrowed by a customer who visits another shop and leaves it outside that store, where it is borrowed by another person who leaves it outside another store. And so it goes on until eventually the umbrella ends up back where it started.
Children of all ages will enjoy the wonderful rhythm of this adventure which has a clever twist and extremely appealing, colourful and glossy illustrations.
Winner of the 2008 Joy Cowley Award.
Suitable age: 2-7 years.
In GREEDY CAT AND THE GOLDFISH by Joy Cowley and Robyn Belton (Scholastic, $18.99, pbk) Katie is confident she will be able to look after her grandmother's goldfish while she's away on holiday, but Greedy Cat has plans to turn the goldfish into supper.
This gets Greedy Cat into all sorts of trouble. Eventually Greedy Cat gets his fish - just not the type he was after.
A humorous tale with lovely expressive words for animated reading. Most of this story has an enjoyable flowing rhythm to it, but it feels as if it gets lost just before the end.
Very cute and appealing illustrations.
Suitable age: 3-7 years.
COWSHED CHRISTMAS by Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop (Random, $24.99, hbk) is a Christmas story with a New Zealand twist.
All the farm animals come bearing gifts for little baby Jesus by the cowshed door: the cow with a pavlova, the dog with some gumboots, the hens with a rugby ball, the lambs with jandals, the ducks with a toy kiwi, the pigs with a chocolate fish and a hokey-pokey ice-cream, and the cat with some pohutukawa tree blossoms.
A very simplistic repetitive story that grows on you the more you read it.
Illustrated by Gavin Bishop.
Suitable age: birth-18 months.
OLD HU-HU by Kyle Mewburn (Scholastic, $18.99, pbk) is a stunningly beautiful, poignant book (in words and illustrations).
Old Hu-Hu (a huhu beetle) dies and goes up to heaven, leaving behind an empty shell. Little Hu-Hu-Tu can't understand where Old Hu-Hu has gone so he goes off to search for him, and makes a surprising discovery.
This is a remarkable story about life and death, written in a very sensitive way. It should be on every bookshelf for that difficult time when a young child loses someone special to them (introduce it well before then).
This story is also available in te reo Maori as Huhu Koroheke by Katerina Mataira. Have a box of tissues nearby (you will need them).
Superbly illustrated by Rachel Driscoll.
Suitable age: any.
In TALIA by Catherine Hannken, illustrated by Trish Bowles (Mallinson Rendel, $25, hbk) the heroine receives a culture shock when she visits Samoa with her father for the first time.
The trip sounded exciting when it was talked about at home, but now that Talia's there she isn't so sure.
This is a lovely story about a father taking his daughter back to Samoa, the land of his birth, to visit her relatives.
Cultural differences between Samoa and New Zealand are nicely woven throughout the story, along with how Talia reacts to them.
The book contains a short glossary of Samoan words at the back.
Appealing illustrations by Trish Bowles.
Suitable age: 5-8 years
E3 CALL HOME by Janet Hunt (Random, $24.99, hbk) is a true story about two bar-tailed godwits.
E3 and E7 were tagged with satellite transmitters by scientists who wanted to know where they flew when they left New Zealand in autumn each year.
The scientists knew they raised their chicks in Alaska in the northern spring, and they also knew in the southern summer they lived around the coasts of New Zealand and the South Pacific, but what route do they take and what dangers do they face along the way?
An attractive book packed full of interesting information and wonderful photos and diagrams. A very great book for bird-lovers, budding scientists, or any child who's interested in nature.
Contains a section at the back with websites for further discovery.
Suitable age: 7-12 years.
PIGGY POGGET by Scott Tulloch (HarperCollins, $18.99, pbk) has Piggy Pogget desperately wanting to eat corn for breakfast instead of porridge and peas.
When Farmer Pants forgets to shut the gate Piggy Pogget is able to escape and explore the big wide world for the first time.
Will Piggy Pogget be able to find some corn, and will he find his way back home? The overall flow of this book doesn't excite me - to the point where I enjoyed the illustrations far more than the story itself.
There's a lot of build-up of suspense/anticipation but you know what's going to happen because it's always right there in front of you.
I think this would be better suited as a flap book where you lift up the flaps to expose something exciting.
I'm also not keen about having to look around the page to see where the story line continues (not for a beginning reader).
Suitable age: 3-6 years.
WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE WOTWOTS by Martin Baynton (HarperCollins, $16.99, pbk) is a picture book based on the TV2 television series The WotWots, created by Martin Baynton (who also created Jane And The Dragon) and Richard Taylor (Weta Workshop).
Two creatures from outer space, SpottyWot and DottyWot, have come to explore planet Earth in their steam-powered spaceship. We join in their adventures as they land at the zoo and discover some fascinating animals.
I envisage this book will be looked at by infants and toddlers who quickly flick through the pages on their own before they crawl off to do something far more exciting (like watching the actual programme!).
I'm not a fan. There's so much written text it's hard to tell if the book was written for adults or children.
Toddlers and young children are sure to love the pictures though.
Suitable age: 2-4.
TOP SECRET. . . PASS IT ON! by Jaqualine Chapman (Longacre, $16.99 pbk) is a light-hearted narrative about two boys, Stevie and Joeli, who get around a no-talking rule at school by passing notes to each other in class.
The book consists entirely of their notes to each other and the letters of apology they must write when they are caught passing them.
I was initially puzzled by this book so I did a bit of research. I found out, through the Longacre Press's website, that Chapman specifically wrote it to encourage reluctant boy readers to read.
I think her idea will work - very short sentences, short snappy notes, and short chapters.
The author and illustrator (Rebecca Cundy) make a great team as their weird sense of humour shines throughout the text and illustrations.
Suitable age: around 7-11.
• Paula Benson-Gamble is a Dunedin mother and kindergarten teacher.
