kids – Picture Book Dragons

Mae’s First Day of School by Kate Berube

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Siobhan

Mae's First Day at School by Kate Berube book on a colourful rug, the book cover shows a nervous little girl stood outside the school gates, she's worried about her first day of school

It’s been a while since I’ve been in formal education, but the start of the academic year in September still feels like the “true” New Year to me, in a way that January 1^st never has. This year is an especially big one in our house, as the youngest human in the house will be starting reception class, so we’re sailing toward September on a heady mixture of excitement and fear, and naturally picture books about starting school have been a big part of addressing and managing those big feelings.

Mae’s First Day of School, written and illustrated by Kate Berube, is a great way in to conversations about starting school. It’s Mae’s first day of school, but Mae isn’t going. Her parents focus on the fun things that will be at school like class pets, big libraries and exciting play times, but Mae isn’t convinced. She’s worried about making friends, not being able to write, and missing her parents and decides that she won’t go. While her mother is distracted talking to the other parents of new starters, Mae squirrels up a tree and refuses to come down.

Before long, Mae hears a rustling and another little girl appears. Her name is Rosie, and she’s not going to school either. They share the biscuits from their lunchboxes and talk about their fears about starting school for the first time, and as they do, they hear another rustling. A tall lady climbs the tree, and she’s pleased to hear that Mae and Rosie aren’t going to school, because she’s not planning to go either. She’s Ms Pearl the class teacher, and she’s worried about the children not liking her, spelling words wrong on the blackboard and missing her cat…. More biscuit eating and chats about the big feelings ensue, but happily all three decide to come down from the tree and go in together by the time the bell rings.

Two little girls sit on a tree branch, they are frightened about starting school, one offers the other a cookie — Rosie and Mae making friends on their first day of school – they are both worried about starting school

My kids love this book. I think it speaks to something in human nature that it’s easier to reflect on the fears and weaknesses of a character or another person than your own, and the beauty of Mae’s First Day of School is that Mae’s character is believable and her fears are so relatable. When the children see Mae’s fears being echoed by Rosie, and even the class teacher, they get a sense that these are things that we all worry about, and that we’re all in the same boat. It’s cathartic without being heavy handed, and like Mae, they feel a little bit better about starting school at the end of it.

Two little girls and their teacher go happily into school to start their first day — Having overcome their fears about the first day of school together, the friends go happily into class

Inspector Penguin Investigates by Eoin McLaughlin

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Siobhan

Inspector Penguin Investigates: A Penguin with a nose for fishy goings on

You know the frustrating feeling when a book you expected to love lets you down? I’ve recently had the opposite experience when a book which I had zero expectations for proved a smash hit with my children.

I bought Inspector Penguin Investigates by Eoin McLaughlin and Ross Collins in a hurry when the cashier at Blackwells pointed out I was one book off getting a 3 for 2 deal after the children chose a picture book each, and if you’re going to grab a picture book from a table, then the one with a penguin dressed in the manner of Sherlock Holmes is an obvious choice. They both agreed that it should be their bedtime story that night instead of the books they chose themselves, and they’ve been asking for it as their bedtime story with an alarmingly high frequency ever since. I can even tell when their father is reading it as their bedtime story from the squeals and giggles that come out of them.

Inspector Penguin Investigates opens with the disappearance of the Diamond del Mondo from Baron von Buffetworth’s top secret and completely secure mega safe in an impenetrable castle. A detective is called in to investigate, and even though the penguin who arrives at the door doesn’t look like an inspector at first, they provide him with a hat and a magnifying glass and tell him to go off and find some clues. Inspector Penguin isn’t very good at finding clues, but he does have a finely-honed talent for finding fish while the young readers spot a series of clues which lead to the culprit on each page. Remarkably enough, Inspector Penguin does solve the crime at the end of the book, but who’s to say whether that’s because we’ve underestimated his talents, Columbo style, or whether it’s because there’s a large barrel of fish near the final clue.

Inspector Penguin Investigates is an uproariously funny book to read with young children, especially those who fancy themselves as great detectives. It’s great fun to appear absolutely baffled about what’s happened to the diamond, and the children take great pride in pointing out all the clues their silly parents have missed and explaining how the crime went down. I’m excited to check out Eoin McLaughlin’s other books, The Case of the Missing Cake and Secret Agent Elephant.

Funny Stories

I Am An Artist by Marta Altés

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Siobhan

Marta Altes I Am An Artist Book Cover against a colorful rug. The cover shows a small boy surrounded by paint which has splashed on the floor, while crayons lie all around. His pet cat looks at a drop of paint which is about to fall from his brush while the boy looks proudly at the title I AM AN ARTIST that he appears to have painted on the wall. — The perfect book for a little artist who likes to scribble on walls!

Kids who push boundaries are challenging for parents, but they make for the most joyous picture books. One of my absolute favourites is I Am An Artist by Marta Altés, which sees a little boy lament his mother’s lack of artistic vision. Where he sees himself pushing his creative boundaries, experimenting with texture, colour and form; his mother sees a little terror causing chaos. Our young hero decides that his mother must be feeling neglected by his focus on his art, and decides to create something truly special to show how much he loves her.

The first time I read I Am An Artist by Marta Altés to my daughter I was giggling too much to be able to read coherently. I know we’re not meant to use the word as parents, but it was the sheer naughtiness of the boy’s creative experiments combined with his art critic narrative analysis that got me. His calmly oblivious ponderings as his mother runs around trying to save their home from destruction. That and the look of shock and awe on my daughter’s face when she saw the final artwork. It definitely puts my own children’s experiments with wall scribblings in perspective.

If you’re looking for a picture book for a young artist, or a child with a sense of mischief, then I think this is one of the funniest picture books in the world. It’s short enough to be manageable for the most rushed bedtime, and like some of the greatest picture books, the illustrations tell as much of the story as the words themselves. Parents will especially enjoy the son’s assessments of his mother’s own artistic experiments…. The whole book is filled with wicked good humour and I wouldn’t be without it on our shelves.

A photograph of a page from I Am An Artist by Marta Altes, the young boy who has drawn an artist's moustache on his face looks on proudly at an open fridge filled with plants in pots which he has called Spring In Winter. The food from the fridge is spilled on the floor with mud from the pots. — Everything inspires this little artist! He’s just so creative…. his poor mother, and their poor cat!

Big Feelings

The Grumpy Fairies by Beth Stevens

Posted on January 30, 2022January 27, 2022 by Siobhan

I often think the best picture books for kids are the ones in which they recognise themselves, so I think The Grumpy Fairies by Beth Stevens has something for all children and their carers, because the little fairies in this book are proper grumpy. Or as Beth Stevens puts it “I mean foot-stompy, frowny, bottom-lip-sticking-outy kind of grumpy. I mean ‘it’s just one of those days’ grumpy.”

Yes, these little fairies are so grumpy that they don’t want to help with their fairy jobs. They stomp noisily through the woods, and are far too busy being grumpy to help the mouse gather acorns for its burrow, take the snails for a walk or help clean up the hedgehog poo! But living in the woods is a goblin, and his favourite food is fairies – not the syrupy sweet sickly good and helpful fairies, but the sweet and sour grumpy fairies – and it’s not long before our grumpy little friends are forced to confront their own behaviour!

It’s the classic face plant of grumpy despair that gets me with this

It came as no surprise to me that Beth Stevens won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Best Illustrated Book 2021 with The Grumpy Fairies. The pictures of the fairies are guaranteed to make anyone with a slightly grumpy on occasions small child giggle, from the stamping feet to the face plant on floor tantrum, the poses are highly recognisable, and the lack of co-operation is gently poked fun at with a huge amount of warmth and good humour.

I like to pick out The Grumpy Fairies as a bedtime read on days when the terrors have been particularly uncooperative – I mean come on guys, I was only asking you to put the pen lids back on, it’s not like I was making you clean up hedgehog poo!