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Deakin Newsletter March-April 2010Reviews written by Dr. Andrea Deakin Picture Books
Filomena is known far and wide for her beautiful wedding dresses. As she sews and listens to the brides' dreams for their wedding, she attaches bows and rosettes, collects fabrics and laces, and dreams of sewing her own dress. Next door lives Rusty, a mechanic, who dreams of Filomena and finally plucks up the courage to ask the question. Now Filomena can start working on her own dress and use all the ideas that she had when she sewed for other brides. Unfortunately she does not choose, she incorporates all into her gown which becomes a "blizzard of white". No one can see Filomena, including Rusty, and Filomena cannot see beyond the inside of her veil. The guests begin to laugh and Rusty sees only a "walking mountain of material". Afraid, he flees on his scooter. When Filomena realises Rusty has gone she hitches up her skirts and runs after him, and, as she runs, she leaves pieces of her dress behind until she is wearing a simple shift. Now Rusty knows her for who she is and returns with her to be married. There are several things happening here. We have Filomena's dream of being a bride in a magnificent dress, but she has dreamed and sewed for others so long that, when the time comes, she is unable to choose , but incorporates all her dreams in this one dress. In doing this she turns herself into an overwhelming person who frightens the shy Rusty. He cannot find his Filomena, not only that, there is the unkind laughter of the guests, and he is driven away. Only when Filomena, scattering her bows and flounces as she runs, becomes the woman in the simple shift, does Rusty feel confident again. Her dreams and frustrations, played out in the over-elaborate dress, almost defeat her happiness. Yes, this is a funny book, but it also a sad one - still often the best humour comes from sadness overcome, and the insensitive guests do come to acknowledge Filomena's simplicity as the finest wedding dress. However most children will see the fun in the situation, even if they might feel a little uncomfortable. Anna Laura Cantone's bright illustrations, packed with Italian and English words, and her portrait of a very down-to-earth couple, blend drawing, painting, lace and flowers , in a glorious mixture of colour and texture, emphasize the everydayness of the couple setting them in contrast with the lively mess of ideas and trimmings that is Filomena's wedding dress. This is a vigorous lively book with a poignant understatement. A child said to me," It serves her right for getting fancy ideas," to which my reply was, "No, she had dreamed dreams for so long that , in her happiness, she forgot reality. She made a mistake, but she made it right, she needs our sympathy as well as our laughter."
Chester, in his third outing, is getting a little more aggressive. The sub-title of Chester's Masterpiece is "with NO help from Melanie Watt", and we cat owners recognise that tone of purr. Even the publishing information at the beginning has been doctored, reading, in capitals of course, THEY ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT CHESTER IS A GENIUS!!!. Well, that remains to be seen. Little yellow sticky notes on each page give Melanie Watt's comments, grumbles, and advice - but , at least to begin with, Chester commands all. To make sure he does, he has made off with Melanie's "stuff" - as her yellow protest notes inform us. His attempts at storytelling, and his disastrous illustrations, badly need the intervention of Melanie, and the mouse. At last she admonishes him, "Chester, that's enough! It's the same kind of rude, unhappy ending!" To which he replies,” its artistic expression!" While children will enjoy a hearty laugh over the conceited cat's efforts they will quietly learn something about the creative process. As for adults - insist that you have to read it to the children, it will be an enjoyable, relaxing task!
This engaging little tale is ideal for very young children. Big Rabbit persuades a reluctant Small Rabbit to go for a walk. Outside it is very windy, indeed the wind howls so much that when Big Rabbit calls out to Small Rabbit the words are blown about. "Try to keep up," she calls, but Small Rabbit hears, 'Jump in the mud", so he does. "Stay with me please," becomes "Roll in the leaves", so he does. Page by page the little one misinterprets the instructions, and the game, for small readers, will turn into guessing what Small Rabbit hears next. It is a gentle and funny tale that lasts just long enough, the author times her joke perfectly. Tim Warnes' illustrations capture the scene, an apparently simple picture finds in line and colour the mood and character of the rabbits - this is a delicate portrait, even in its boisterous moments. They and their setting are perfectly expressed.
The Red Scarf was originally published in French as L'Echarpe Rouge by Les Editions Les 400 coups in 1999 and was winner of the Governor-General's Award for Children's Illustration (French Language). It has just been published in English by Tundra Books. One day a taxi driver, Turpin, finds that a passenger has left a red scarf in his cab. Eager to return the scarf, Turpin follows his fare into a circus tent, and so into a raft of wild adventures, chased by a bear on roller skates, caught up by a hungry lion and isolated in the centre of the circus tent while frogs and elephants, artistes and monkeys and a tightrope walker make the scarf more and more difficult to rescue. At last it returns to its owner who promptly gives it to Turpin. He has earned it. The lively tale is told throughout in Anne Villeneuve's energetic pictures in what is a captivatingly funny tale, all the more appealing for the sympathetic portrait of the obviously obliging and courteous taxi driver caught up in this unfamiliar new world. You feel his apprehension as he is chased by that bear on roller skates, his relief at being rescued from the lion's jaws by the annoyed lion tamer, and his desperation, lost in the maze behind the main circus tent. Humour, drama and a final sense of comradeship sees him make off to his cab, the scarf a gift wound round his neck, only for him to be chased by a little green performer, waving his forgotten "taxi" hat.
It is spring and a very new kitten explores his world. "Morning hums, kitten listens" and a small child can pick out the humming bird and the wasp whose sound fills the springtime garden. As the day goes and kitten explores, Eugenie Fernandes gives us one spring tableau after another: chickens scratching, ducklings hatching, a new lamb wobbles in a field while, hidden in the grass, kitten watches until evening brings him home to sleep. Ms Fernandes' combination of clay, acrylic paint and collage adds texture and vitality to her illustrations. The duckling's feathers rough new texture contrasts with the smooth down of the mother duck, and the owl dominates the barn in one of the most effective illustrations. Small children will feel that they can touch the birds and animals while they follow kitten's day, while the book's size makes it ideal for lap-time reading. Fiction
Melina Marchetta is an Australian writer who made a notable debut with her novel, Looking for Alibrandi, and whose Jellicoe Road was a Michael L. Printz Medal Winner. Finnikin of the Rock is her first fantasy novel . It won the 2008 Aurealis Award for the best Young Adult Novel and the 2009 ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children. Finnikin, the son of Trevanion, Captain of the King's Guard, has grown up as a close friend of the heir, Prince Balthazar, and the Prince's cousin, Lucian of the Monts. The three lads frequently found the youngest Princess, Isaboe, tagging along with them. The peace and tranquility of the kingdom is suddenly shattered by "the five days of the unspeakable" when the royal family is murdered by a usurper. People known as the Forest Dwellers are burned in their homes, Trevanion is arrested, and the leader of the Forest People screams out a curse as she dies at the stake. Half of the people have fled, half are trapped by the curse, hidden within the walls of the kingdom. Finnikin has been carried away to safety and brought up by the King's First Man, Sir Topher. When the tale proper begins they are seeking out refugees from their land, trying to find a place where their lost people can settle. Then the High Priestess of Lagrami contacts them with news of a novice, Evanjalin, who is able to walk through the sleep of others, and who claims that Prince Balthazar still lives. Sir Topher and Finnikin meet with her and set off for the kingdoms of Sorel as part of their search. Here is a vivid portrait of a dispossessed people, scattered throughout the surrounding kingdoms. People whose country has been betrayed, attacked and cursed, people driven to the four winds into exile. Refugees, frequently unwanted, living a life of bleak misery and suffering, many their spirit broken, these are the people that Finnikin and Sir Topher must gather together, seeking for lost leaders, trusting in Evanjalin's promise. Yet amongst these devastated survivors the three find leaders. Hope, passion, and a vigorous desire not only to survive but also to restore if possible, if the promises are true, these fuel the determination to return home -- the courage of a growing band led by the three plus a rescued Trevanion, and a restored spiritual leader. Finnikin of the Rock is a gripping story based on a universal experience of people thrust from their homes and driven to be refugees in a strange land. It is a beautifully written and compelling fantasy.
Julia Golding's new book, Wolf Cry, is set in the mid 9th Century at the time Ohthere, a Viking trader and explorer, travelled to the farthest north. Vikings had been trading into Europe, Asia and North Africa by now, coins from North Africa have been found in sites in Sweden. They traded in ivory, animal skins and specialized craft items, pushing their way into what is now Russia- to which they gave its name. Rus was the Slav name for the Viking raiders and mercenaries that pushed their way towards the Mediterranean. Rosemary Sutcliff's Blood Feud covers this time. Much of Viking North African trade was in slaves, which explains the place of Enno in Wolf Song, he is slave to Ohthere. Freydis is Ohthere's daughter, a gentle quiet and loving girl, much loved by her brother, Toki, but ill-used by her father. When Ohthere is on an expedition his bitter enemy, Sulke, raids his settlement killing all he sees, taking Toki prisoner and leaving Freydis for dead. When Ohthere returns he sets off to recover his son and punish Sulke, taking the injured Freydis and putting her in the care of his African slave, Enno. Julia Golding always spins a highly readable tale, her characters alive and real, the story intriguing. She is also skilful at imparting a sense of time and place. Her Nordic adventures ring true, giving readers a vivid and accurate sense of the past. In Wolf Cry we meet not only the Vikings but also the Sami (Lapp) people with a culture and tradition different from the warlike Vikings, but whose care, in the story, for Ohthere's family and people, win his respect. There is adventure and there is a quiet sense of courage in duty in both Freydis and Enno, who fall in love. The story is realistic, tragedy does happen as the 9th Century Vikings are vigorously brought to life. Wolf Cry has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2010.
Jean Little tackles the early days of the Second World War in Canada as Charlotte begins the diary which will record her thirteenth year. It is June 1940. At this time children from Britain were being shipped to Canada for safe keeping. Her parents tell Charlotte that they have applied to take in a War Guest child. Skillfully Jean Little weaves in the miracle of Dunkirk, the volunteering of the young men Charlotte knows, and, when Jane and Sam arrive, the first awkwardness, the different vocabulary, the uncomfortable adjustments until the children settle in. Her little observances bring reality and ring true - Charlotte hates the way paper doll's clothes keep falling off and thinks there must be a better way than fold over paper tabs on the shoulder. I laughed, remembering my own frustrations. In 1940 I was seven and paper dolls were scarce in wartime Britain - which made it all the more frustrating! The sinking of the City of Benares, which was bringing more children to Canada in September 1940, has a powerful effect on everyone and so infuriates Charlotte's brother George that he leaves the University of Toronto to enlist. The emotional effect hits Charlotte hard when she learns that they have found a few survivors from the City of Benares in a lifeboat. "BUT SO MANY DIED" she exclaims in capitals in her diary. There is talk of collecting metal for aircraft and bones to make glue, there are stories of saving and making do, and there are portraits of the War Guests who learn to adjust, to even relax and enjoy until something is reported or happens and, as Charlotte comments, 'Sometimes laughing feels like crying." This is a vivid picture of the time, indeed reading the book brought back many memories. Jean Little has captured all the stress and fear of the time, yet shown how the compassionate response of Charlotte and her family made an enormous difference in the War Guest's lives. For Charlotte this year is the year of growing up.
In the Southern bayou there is a run-down shack tipping towards the ground. In that house there is an ugly evil man, under that house there is an old injured hound dog, chained to the porch and half-starved. Into that place comes an abandoned calico cat, her family dropping her off as they set off for a new life in which she has no part. But the cat is a resourceful cat, a compassionate cat who hunts for the dog as well, keeps well hidden from the man, and, eventually, has two silver kittens, Puck and Sabine. One of the kittens ventures out from beneath the porch, from the safety of the Underneath, and changes their lives. The fierce old man, the hound and the cats are not the only inhabitants of the bayou. Under the failing limbs of an ancient tree a jar is coming loose. Trapped in the jar for a thousand years is Lamia, who, for ten thousand years before, had been swimming the seven seas in her shape as a great black serpent; and she has things to settle. In the mud of Bayou Tartine lies the Alligator King, waiting, waiting. Three separate stories come together in a tale of realism and mysticism, tragedy and passionate hope. It is lyrical in its portrayal of love and loss, evil and good, the mystical and the real. It is a powerful, ugly and beautiful expression of power, love and hope.
Fiction-Young Adult
When Jem looks at people she sees numbers. As a small child she would recite them off until her mother told her to stop it; but, when her mother died of an overdose when Jem was seven, the numbers in her mother's eyes were gone. Jem found her. She knew. Suddenly she realized that the numbers she saw were the date of a person's death. Jem is passed from foster home to foster home. At least her present foster mother cares, but Jem has been through too much to respond easily to anyone. She feels trapped, with no interest in school or her fellow students. Then Spider shows up. He is thin, six feet four and black, spends little time in class, but connects with Jem. His white grandmother, who has brought him up, connects with Jem too, sensing there is something very different about the girl, and encourages their friendship. How long will that friendship be, however? Jem reads the date above Spider, but for now they have made a connection. Together they go off for a day in London, and are queueing for the London Eye when Jem realises that the dates above the people in the queue are all the same - something is about to happen. She takes hold of Spider and they run from the area just as behind them there is a great explosion. CCTV cameras catch the pair running from the scene and now the authorities are after them. Just witnesses or potential terrorists? On the run their relationship develops while all the time Jem knows Spider will soon be dead, unless she can change the date. Desperately Jem thinks, "Without me, would the numbers exist?". This is an interesting concept developed with intelligence and compassion. The plot advances with logic and yet with surprises and the minor characters are skillfully fleshed out- they are very real. It is an unexpectedly gripping tale from a first-time author. Rachel Ward has made a striking and moving debut. Numbers was short-listed for Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2009.
In The Book of Margery Kempe, considered the first autobiography written in English, the author, at one point, tells the story of her pilgrimage to Rome. Whenever anything went awry Margery blamed the maidservant, and this made Rebecca Barnhouse consider what the maidservant may have had to deal with. So here is The Book of the Maidservant, turning the story somewhat on its head. While Margery may be able to feel, or so she declares, the anguish of the Virgin Mary, she is incapable of considering the sufferings of those around her, and for Johanna, taken unwillingly on this journey too, they are many. Not only must she clean, fetch water, cook, and otherwise care for her mistress in the most difficult of circumstances, but look after, she being the only servant, the whole company of pilgrims as well - or so they state. When Margery finally turns her back on her fellow pilgrims she abandons not only them, but her servant, Johanna, as well. Alone in a strange land and without resources except her own courage, Johanna must find her own way to Rome. Rebecca Barnhouse tells a vigorous and entertaining tale while bringing the period, its society, foods and smells, hardships and injustices, fully to life. Johanna is a courageous and interesting character who makes us care very much about her and her survival in a harsh land.
Green was left behind that day. It was her younger sister's turn to go into the city and help sell the produce they raised. Green was not there when the Hoard attacked. She watched when the sky was darkened and the cinders fell. Her garden was covered with chalk and ashes and the countryside lay under cinders and grey ash, remnants of the destroyed city and murdered inhabitants. It is a year later, the garden has begun to flourish again, but Green is still dealing with loss. No longer able to hold her sister and parents close to her, grief clouds the memories of all she loved. Eventually she reaches a moment when she realises that all that loss and grief must give way to action, and she decides to collect the stories of others, especially of a small group of women known locally as "witches". Each woman has learned to cope in their own way and Green wants to record their stories and find their strengths. Green's journey from grief, aided by these stories, brings her eventually to the ability to move against the destroyers and turn at least part of that into a new beginning for all the survivors, but especially for her. This is a thoughtful book, appreciative of grief and loss, but remarkable in its portrayal of Green's journey from disaster to hope of recovery for the world around her.
Poetry
Dance, song and ritual are part of the powwow, a living tradition and celebration of life. David Bouchard and Pam Aleekuk express a mother's dedication to her roots and her wish, through dance, to convince her child of the vital need to appreciate his culture and identity. It is the child who remembers his mother's desire. For him, her joy in the dance and her expression of her tradition in costume and in this dance, brings longing and memories. "Iskewsis, sweet butterfly, you're here in flight Your chin is still high; your eyes are still bright" The memories are so fresh and vivid, the love and pride so real, that the poem becomes not only a celebration of the powwow, but a bringing to life of the mother's soul. Leonard Paul's illustrations colourfully depict costume and, in a central double page, give us a feeling for the power of the dance. The accompanying music on the CD is by Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Non-Fiction
This entertaining and informative look at the brain describes the various areas of brain activity, explains what they are responsible for, and how they function. A clear text and excellent diagrams are enlivened with amusing drawings and a series of experiments to try - aspects of illusions, experiments in perception, all of them cleverly designed to explain and elabourate on various brain functions - how we perceive shapes, interpret other's emotions, understand connections - all brain games with a purpose. Throughout there are short accounts of people with outstanding perceptions - Mozart and music, Leonardo and design and interpretation, Champollion and a gift with language. Einstein and Darwin, Mary Anning and Marie Curie are all examples of people whose natural inclinations and capabilities were developed through originality and hard work, all "working with the brain". A considerable amount of information is supported by lively presentation and lots of opportunity for young people to test their perception and capabilities through playing with numbers, words and concepts. The whole is an intriguing and inviting way to discover the capabilities of the human brain.
A close-up photograph within a circle is accompanied by an invitation to "Look very closely. What do you see?". The following double-page shows a photograph of the whole creature or plant, a short description of it and its habitat. All around the pond one can find a box turtle, a mallard duck, a water lily, and many other plants and animals. The invitation to recognise and explore is extended to younger children in a direct and engaging way and the colour photography creates a clear and inviting statement.
This book shows a collection of flying creatures from the time of the dinosaurs. John Bindon's portraits put each flier into its natural setting of sedge, sea or forest; the pictures making clear the physical features which helped the fliers adapt to their environment. A short description brings out the main features of each - the long stiff tail of the Eudimorphodon which helped it keep steady in flight, the Ctenochasma whose 400 teeth drained water from its bill leaving small creatures behind to be eaten, and the Dsungaripterus, whose pointed bill " was perfect for prying open crabs and other shellfish". The dramatic and colourful illustrations and short descriptive texts that accompany each flier make this an intriguing introduction for younger readers to prehistoric fliers.
AwardsThe Waterstones Children's Book Prize
Featured Websites
Joanna Carey talks to Inga Moore about her determination to illustrate a classic of children's literature http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/06/inga-moore-illustration-wind-willows
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