‘One of the best children’s books I’ll review this year’
Having just returned from a week in my home county of Dorset, it occurs to me that wherever you are, you pick up all sorts of ragbag knowledge without expecting it, writes children’s book reviewer CAROLINE FRANKLIN. For instance, a chat with the farmer who also ran the local village post office meant I came away knowing that his young relation won the sheep shearing championships in New Zealand with an incredible record time of 40 seconds. This scrap of information is now tucked away in the over flowing files of my mind and can be brought out if ever future discussions turn to sheep – or the conversation flags!
What has this to do with books? Just that in reading any book you pick up information unnoticed and it sits in the back of your mind where, one day it just might be useful. One of the books I have chosen this month is based around the tragic sinking of the Titanic. As well as the fictional part of the story being a very good adventure, there is much of the detail which is true. This is a book which may inspire the reader to become interested in finding out more about the ill-fated ship and if this or any other story makes the reader want to know more, then that is a very good thing.
So let’s get on with children’s summer reading.
The Tale of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carroll is, without doubt, one of the best books I shall review this year. Now available in paperback this story of two girls has many different threads woven together so successfully that readers aged nine and upwards will never want it to end.
Polly, whilst swimming in the year 2032, discovers a door handle giving her access to a sunken village which was flooded in the winter of 1952 because people living in towns needed more water.
Nellie, an orphan and expert swimmer, lived in the village at that time and is devastated to hear that soon all will be under water and she will have to leave the home and the carthorses she loves. However, she is determined to achieve her dream, but will Nellie’s ambition to swim the English Channel become reality? To succeed in trying, she first has to swap places with Nate, who has been chosen by the authorities to do the swim.
Alternating between the lives of the two girls, the excitement builds to a thrilling climax – the Channel swim - and finally what happens to Polly and Nellie ends this gloriously thrilling and absorbing tale. A must for a child’s bookshelf.
Published by Faber at £7.99 (PB)
When young Nabil goes to a French zoo on holiday, he comes away with something he didn’t bargain for. Pierre, a small penguin is fed up with eating fish in Nabil Steals a Penguin – he tells Nabil, they share Nabil’s lunch – biryani rice – and Pierre LOVES it.
“Au revoir!” he cries to his penguin chums as he jumps into Nabil’s bag – and that’s the start of Nabil’s problems because, as you will understand, it is not easy to keep a penguin out of sight of the rest of the family. Various tricky situations have to be overcome and eventually Pierre is discovered – but what will Nabil’s Mum say?
Told in rhyme, this brilliantly ridiculous story with its child-friendly full of colour illustrations will have young listeners laughing their socks off.
Published by Nosy Crow at £12.99 (HB)
Based on fact, but interwoven with a fictional story, Lindsay Galvin’s Call of the Titanic is a fascinating, absorbing read for the nines-plus. The fictional part of the tale features a young steward, Sid, proud to be working on the greatest steam liner ever built and Clara a young girl who has run away to sea by stowing away on another ship, the Carpathia.
It is whilst in hiding that Clara meets Rigel, a giant bear of a dog, who eventually proves to be a hero by rescuing Sid. Is it possible that Clara really has caught a glimpse of an extraordinary sea creature who, in the end, might have answered a call to help the brave dog?
The book is punctuated by the United States Senate Inquiry into the sinking of the ship in which a young steward was called to give evidence. The Titanic set sail on April 10 1912 and sank on April 15 at 2.20 am with the death of 1,496 passengers. The Carpathia was the first ship on the scene.
The fact that it is based on the experiences of real people makes this excellent story even more enthralling for those who will be avidly reading it from cover to cover.
Published by Chicken House at £7.99 (PB)
You couldn’t get a simpler book for the very young than Rod Campbell’s My Stand-Up Farm Animals.
Six pop-up pages each show a cow, horse, sheep, etc, together with a little information.
The pop-ups are sturdy enough to withstand poking from inquisitive fingers, the artwork is bright and attractive and the thick board pages will ensure that it is a book that has staying power. A perfect book to introduce tinies to the joy of reading.
Published by Macmillan at £6.99 (HB)
The Big Amazing Poetry Book is exactly that. Chosen by Gaby Morgan and illustrated by Chris Riddell, it would enhance the bookshelf of any home.
With no fewer than 364 poems written by 52 poets about a multitude of things including dragons, fish, school, nature, magic and football, there’s a chance to enjoy a different poem on each day of the year. And enjoyment is guaranteed.
If any child ever thought that poetry was not for them, this is the book to change their mind. Treat the family to it, give it as a present, it’s great.
Published by Macmillan at £9.99 (PB)
Richard Pickard’s Son of the Sea is the story of Casper, a boy who has a fixation with the sea. He wants to be in it, to swim, to enjoy it – he can’t get enough of being in the water – any water. (He also has webbed feet, something he hides from everyone.) One other thing, like Nellie in The Tale of Truthwater Lake, he wants to swim the English Channel.
His parents are anxious to keep him away from the sea, but when they are injured and have to go to hospital Casper is sent to live with his grandmother, Ida, who (hooray!) lives near a beach. However, even Ida seems strangely loth to let Casper near the water and when he does manage to slip away for a swim he nearly drowns.
He is saved by Beryl the Bazooka, a famous swimmer and tells her his ambition. Can she help him? Will he actually manage to swim the Channel? And why do people keep him away from the sea? Finding out the answers and enjoying all the humour in this gently funny story of ambition will please readers of 9 plus.
Published by Chicken House at £7.99
