PICTURE BOOKS
THE WOLF, THE DUCK & THE MOUSE by Mac Barnett Illustrated by Jon Klassen
(Walker £12.99) BARNeTT and Klassen are an award- winning writer/ artist combination and this latest outing should also scoop a fistful of prizes.
When a mouse is gobbled up by a hungry wolf, he finds the dark tummy already occupied by an enterprising duck who has made himself comfortably at home with a bed, kitchen and record player — and is happy to live the fullest possible life in his safe haven. ‘I may have been swallowed but I have no intention of being eaten.’
So when a hunter threatens their security, the contented pair come out fighting…
This surreal adventure is gloriously funny and Klassen’s illustrations — with his signature animal eyes full of expression — lift this already wonderful fable into the category of modern classic. Perfection on a page.
KEVIN by Rob Biddulph
(HarperCollins £12.99) SID GIBBONS is not only a badlybehaved child — he’s also a fibber, blaming all his misdemeanours on his imaginary friend Kevin.
Kevin is ‘as strong as a gorilla and has lots of pink spots on a fur of vanilla’. Banished to his room, Sid escapes through a hatch in the roof into another world where Kevin materialises, in glorious technicolour, to befriend the isolated little boy.
From Kevin, Sid learns a valuable lesson about friendship, loyalty, truth and kindness as an antidote to loneliness.
Biddulph, author of the Waterstones prize- winner Blown Away, has created another beautiful, imaginative tale to warm the heart.
OI CAT! by Kes Gray Illustrated by Jim Field
(Hodder £12.99) THeIR previous titles, Oi Frog! and Oi Dog! are among my all-time favourites, but can Gray and Field’s funny formula sustain a third outing? A resounding yes! Cat, condemned by dictatorial Frog’s new rules to sit only on gnats, has a badly bitten bottom so is demanding a new perch.
But, says Frog, rules are rules and all other rhyming words he could sit on are occupied already. What if, suggests the helpful Dog unwisely, Cat changed its named to Kitty or, better still, Mog?
You may see what’s coming but it’s still a sheer delight when it unfolds in a lift- the- flap ending. This brilliantly illustrated rhyming adventure is a rollicking joy from start to finish, as the Frog, yet again, triumphs without even trying.