CHILDREN’S
Next Thursday is World Book Day, when thousands of children will trot off to school dressed as their favourite storybook characters. They’ll be given a £1 book token they can exchange for titles written especially for the day, or use the token as a discount against a full-price book.
And if you’re looking for inspiration for fancy dress, you’ll find plenty in these picture books . . .
THE PIRATES OF SCURVY SANDS by Jonny Duddle
(Templar £11.99) Feisty heroine matilda is going on holiday with her swashbuckling friends the Jolley-rogers. At Scurvy Sands, however, the other warty, ragged pirates don’t think landlubber matilda, with her white teeth and good manners, is a proper buccaneer, and they list all the things she won’t be able to do.
But shiver me timbers if matilda doesn’t outwit them by finding hidden treasure.
This is another raucous romp from Jonny Duddle, full of positive messages, ridiculous rhymes and glorious artwork that will have you yo-ho-ho-ing in your bedtime bunks.
A LION IS A LION by Polly Dunbar
(Walker £11.99)) WHAT if a lion, carrying an umbrella and singing doobiedoobie-doo, were to walk through your door? Would he still be a lion if he eats up his greens and dances you around the floor?
or, underneath the smile and the friendliness, could he still gobble you up?
This deceptively simple and funny book carries a subtle, gentle reminder that not everyone is as harmless as they may appear, and that standing up and shouting can see off a wolf in sheep’s clothing . . . or a lion in a rather fetching hat.
CAKE by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet
(Macmillan £6.99) When a plain sponge cake is invited to a party for the first time, he’s desperate to rise to the occasion. His friend the fish, who is unimpressed by Cake’s various outfits, suggests a hat instead.
luckily, Cake finds the perfect style, complete with icing and candles, and he’s a big hit . . . until the party draws to a close, the Happy Birthday singing starts and — oh crumbs — what will happen to Cake?
The authors’ wonderfully anarchic humour is perfectly pitched in this scrumptious story that has a very witty sting in the tail.