Reviews

There are so many incredible books available at the moment that it is impossible to read them all, no matter how hard I try! Here are my thoughts about some of the books I have read and how I think they could be used in school as well as Q and A sessions with authors and illustrators.

Graphic novels, Adventure, Humour Sue Wilsher Graphic novels, Adventure, Humour Sue Wilsher

Happy Hills: Attack of the Giant Danger Kittens

When Ace the unicorn gets lost, he stumbles on Happy Hills, a place where anything can happen. Soon, all the residents are keen to share their own version of The Legend of Happy Hills whilst ‘the hills are alive with the sound of Giant Danger Kittens’! But in the end, Ace decides to stay with his new friends in Happy Hills.

Packed with Sophy’s amazing illustrations and zany humour, ‘Attack of the Giant Danger Kittens’ is bursting with fun and energy! Each character is full of personality! From the exuberance and perkiness of Mimi to the feather-fearing Duckie, children will quickly identify with their favourite and no doubt have fun both creating their own new characters and more adventures. Sophy’s how-to guides for drawing Mimi and Ace at the end of the book are perfect for helping with this.

These quirky characters, colourful comic strips and zany humour offer the perfect mix of nonsense (in a good way!) and fantasy, which Sophy Henn’s magic touch turns into a fantastically enjoyable read! Children will be counting the days until the next book appears…

Happy Hills: Attack of the Giant Danger Kittens

Sophy Henn

Simon and Schuster ISBN: 978-1398524606

You can read my review of Pizazz vs Perfecto here and Pizazz and Pizazz vs the New Kid here and Pizazz vs the Demons here.

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Bath Children’s Literature Festival 2023

Bath is a gorgeous city with so much to see and enjoy and every year since it started (with the obvious exceptions!), I have joined many other book lovers at the Children’s Literature Festival held there every autumn. Always a wonderful occasion, so many wonderful poets, illustrators and authors take part in this joyful event, making it a pleasure to return year after year!

My festival adventure this year started with a drawing session with Nadia Shireen and Sophy Henn, compered by Steven Butler. Full of fun and fabulous drawings, the illustrators were challenged to create pictures inspired by words selected from the audience. There were giraffes in space, secret agents doing karate in the woods with a goose side kick, scientist rabbits and secret agent guinea pigs! Sophy and Nadia rose to every challenge whilst Steven constantly challenged them with extra details!

The audience were also encouraged to draw along and it was amazing to see just how creative and inventive they were too! It was a brilliant way to start the day…

My next event was with Nikita Gill who was sharing her new book, ‘Animal Tales from India: Ten Stories from the Panchatantra’ (review here). These are stories that Nikita grew up with, told to her by her grandmother, and her love of them was very evident! It was a joyful session of storytelling.

Loving myths, legends and traditional tales, I knew that ‘Mythical Adventures of Greeks and Gods’ was also going to be a session I would really enjoy. Joanna Nadin was talking to Tom Holland about his book, ‘The Wolf-Girl, The Greeks and the Gods’ (review here) - and he was absolutely fascinating! He took his young family to Greece with him for 6 months to be able to visit all the locations and immerse himself in the story, using the character of Gorgo to keep his young daughter engaged on their travels.

Rocket is one of my favourite picture book characters so it was a joy to hear Dapo Adeola (again!) as he read the latest story, ‘Speak Up!’ (review here) and taught us all how to draw Luna the cat. The children in the audience were excellent with their answers in the quiz and also asked some great questions. Dapo gave lots of good advice, reminding children that ‘there is a lesson in every drawing’ and encouraging them to persevere and have fun!

After drawing with Dapo, I was fired with enthusiasm for my next event, ‘Heavy Metal Badger’ with Duncan Beedie. Having listened to the story, the rock music generated the perfect atmosphere for creating some heavy metal band names and designing their logos. Some of the adults in the audience got even more carried away than their children at this point!! Duncan then showed everyone how to draw Badger sliding on his knees, loving the heavy metal!

My time at this year’s festival finished on an absolute high. Ana Sampson is responsible for gathering the poems for the most amazing collection, ‘Gods and Monsters: Mythological Poems’ (review here), which has been brilliantly illustrated by Chris Riddell. This has very quickly become a favourite of mine and it was a joy to listen to Ana (and Chris!) whilst Chris drew constantly. There was a battle of the monsters as the audience were asked to vote in a number of rounds to discover which monster they thought would be the winner! It was the perfect way to end the day.

Today is the last day of Bath Children’s Literature Festival 2023- and I’m already looking forward to next year!

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Non-fiction, Animals Sue Wilsher Non-fiction, Animals Sue Wilsher

Lifesize: Baby Animals

Sophy Henn’s ‘Lifesize’ series has a new addition! ‘Baby Animals’ introduces the reader to some of the world’s most incredible baby animals- lifesize! The interactive nature of the book is highly engaging - sure to encourage discussions about size, ordering and comparing as well as about the animals!

As with the two previous books, every time the word LIFESIZE appears in capitals, the reader knows that they are face to face with an illustration reflecting the real size of the animal- sometimes only the part of the animal which can fit on the page! Each creature is accompanied by concise snippets of information written in a chatty, accessible style which is sure to engage and spark interest. There are even fold-out pages which reveal the size of a baby African elephant for children to compare themselves to!

This lovely book is perfect for using in school for work on animals and also for introducing maths concepts such a ordering, comparing and measuring. Sophy’s stunning artwork is so appealing and the range of creatures included is impressive. At the end of the book, there is a spread showing all of animals and how they compare to each other- and how many copies of the Lifesize book they measure. The tiny dot on the page is actually a daddy seahorse whilst the adult blue whale is a staggering 100 Lifesize books long! There is so much to love and learn in these pages!

Lifesize: Baby Animals Sophy Henn

Red Shed ISBN: 978-1405299497

Published 7th July 2022

Make sure you read the other Lifesize books too! You can read my review of Pizazz here and Pizazz vs Perfecto here. I reviewed Pizazz and the Demons for Reading Zone.

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Fiction, Younger readers Sue Wilsher Fiction, Younger readers Sue Wilsher

Pizazz vs Perfecto

Being super is not easy…

Pizazz is 9 1/2 (finally!), super (in terms of being a super hero) and she still is not at all keen on this role. She finds being super super un-super and her *eye roll* super power SUPER embarrassing. On top of this, she has to deal with super villains- like Perfecto. Being younger, she should be no match for Pizazz, but then Perfecto is…well, perfect. Perhaps Pizazz just needs to beat her at her own game and hatches the perfect Perfecto plan to be perfect in every single way…

The third book in the series, ‘Pizazz vs Perfecto’ is every bit as enjoyable as the previous books. Overflowing with Sophy Henn’s fabulous illustrations, the story is told through the perfect balance of text, comic strip sections and illustrations, making it an accessible and entertaining read.

Sophy has an amazing talent for being able to capture situations and emotions and bundling them up in appealing stories which make them excellent for initiating discussions and developing empathy. In her ‘Pom Pom’ books, for example, she explores the ‘grumps’, what happens when we don’t always win and finding our talents in a way which children (and adults!) can both relate to and sympathise with. Although ‘Pizazz vs Perfecto’ is brimming with humour and Pizazz’s eye-rolling take on life, Sophy also gently makes the point that being ‘perfect’ is like trying to achieve the impossible all the time. Not only is it exhausting, it actually makes you miss out on all the fun bits of life and causes you to feel anxious. Pizazz might not be ‘perfect’, but her good-natured, big-hearted, slightly chaotic self is loveable just the way she is. Comparing yourself to others- whether friends or siblings- is never going to make you feel good about you!

Pizazz is extremely popular with children in my class. Initially attracted by the bright covers and dynamic illustrations, they quickly become engaged with Pizazz as a character, enjoying her battles with baddies and her struggles with being a super. One child recently declared that these were ‘the best books ever’ and is already looking forward to the next one!

Although appealing to early readers, these stories should not be underestimated. In addition to encouraging empathy and exploring feelings, work based around these books could encourage children to create their own comic strips/ graphic novels and develop their own characters. The books also lend themselves to plenty of drama and writing in role- and there is plenty of fun that could be had exploring how Sophy uses grammar and punctuation (yes, I know some people will think this is a contradiction-fun/grammar- but it’s all about how you do it!).

The ‘perfecto’ story!

Pizazz vs Perfecto Sophy Henn

Simon and Schuster ISBN: 978-1471194177

Pizazz’s first two adventures are ‘Pizazz’ (978-1471193989) and ‘Pizazz and the New Kid’ (978-1471194153). The stories do not need to be read in order as Pizazz is very good at filling the reader in with what’s happening in her life!

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