Recommendation nº 4: We're going on a bear hunt

Front cover

We're going on a bear hunt is a classic, one my own children grew up with, as it was first published in paperback in the early 90's.  It's also a picturebook  I use over and over in my pre-school English classes. It's been recommended by Caroline Swettenham, an English teacher from the British Council in Italy.  A great recommendation! 

We're going on a bear hunt is a traditional campfire chant, and has been adapted and rewritten by the magical Michael Rosen; The illustrations are by Helen Oxenbury, wonderful illustrations alternating between spreads of watercolour  and black and white sketches.  Helen Oxenbury doesn't have a web site, but there's a nice little film on www.guardian.co.uk, which gives you a taste of her work, and shows you what she looks and sounds like.  She's a wonderful watercolourist and looking closely at her illustrations again for this post has been a delight. I'm learning how to use watercolour and so I appreciate her skill, I've got a long way to go! I love her water and grass ...

So, the picturebook.  The front cover shows us four of the six protagonists, a father figure and three children.  There's an older girl (or possibly the mother?) and a black and white boarder collie on the back cover.  The covers create a whole image and it's the same as the title page illustration.  The characters are joyfully leading us into the picturebook, skipping and smiling, off we go. 

Front endpapers

My paperback edition, now nearly 20 years old, is battered and the corners are worn but it has the endpapers, and they are really very special.  The front and back ones are different, depicting a passing of time.  The front endpapers show a sandy beach, with rocks and seagulls and the sea and sky meeting in a hazy horizon.  This illustration has always puzzled me, as the sea itself does not feature in the story, except very briefly across the muddy flats that the family have to cross as they look for their bear.  Intriguing! 

Copyright and title page

Here are those front and back cover characters, they are skipping along, eager to find their bear.   The illustrations that follow come in pairs, first a black and white illustration, then a colour one. The first presents the physical problem, the second shows how it is overcome. 

Opening 1

The first black and white spread, begins the alternating sequence. These sketches are completely delicious, so enjoy them as you read the rhythmic words: take in those careful outlines, contours and smudges. I love the way the dog is almost lost in the grass.  The rhyming text is repeated through out the book and goes like this: 

"We're going on a bear hunt.

We're going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day!

We're not scared.

Uh-uh! Grass!

Long wavy grass.

We can't go over it.

We can't go under it. 

Oh no!

We've got to go through it! "

Opening 2

And turn the page to bright colour and a sumptuously grassy hill. What fun they are having! The text is two onomatopoeic words representing the grass as we move through it.  "Swishy swashy!"  

The next geographical hurdle is a river, possibly an estuary if we are near the sea. The characters are studying the water, we see their backs only, but it's clear they are contemplating what to do.  Same rhyming text ...

Opening 3

Opening 4

And "Splash splosh!" as they go through the water. 

So you've seen the grass and the water I like so much!  Pretty brilliant don't you think?

The family keep going through mud, "Squelch squerch!"; through a forest, "Stumble trip!"; through a snowstorm, "Hoooo woooo!" and then they find a cave.  

Opening 11

The dog looks a bit worried and the baby definitely doesn't want to go in. But they do ...

Opening 12

Brilliantly visual emotions shown here: this family is frightened.  The font on the text on recto gets bigger, and kids love to chorus loudly, "WHAT'S THAT?"  Gulp ... 

Opening 13

The words are on the verso, and we read them first, but we've already seen the illustration, we know it's a bear and the suspense as we describe his nose, his ears and his eyes, makes the discovery even more exciting and we can all chorus together ... "IT'S A BEAR!!!!"  

And then the previous pages are re-traced, in rapid succession, the bear is seen following the family as they race home, super quickly. 

Opening 14

And we have to say it all very quickly too, out of breath and panting as we get to the swishy swashy grass, but the bear's still there. Oh no! The family get into the house, through the front door, which they forget to close, so they have to go back and close it, just as the bear is coming up the path.  Oh my!  "Back upstairs. Into the bedroom. Into bed. Under the covers."

Opening 16

"We're not going on a bear hunt again." A big pink eiderdown covers them all, even the dog.  The baby seems quite happy, holding his bear, perhaps he wasn't so frightened after all.  

Don't forget to turn the page and show the back endpapers ...

Back endpapers

It's the beach we saw earlier, the sun is going down, but the dark snow storm clouds are still visible.  The bear is walking away from us, back to his cave - back into the story.  Ask the children how they think he feels.  

Caroline highlights the children's joy in joining in with the repetition as she tells the story and their "smiles, laughter and surprise.  And of course 'Again!'" Oh yes!  "Again!" All children chorus this as you close the book.  I haven't come across a pre-school group who haven't wanted this wonderful picturebook again, and again, and again! Caroline says she encourages the children to act out the story, which is an excellent way of supporting their memory of the sequence followed in the narrative.  

A collection of activities can be found here, including this link to Michael Rosen telling the story on Youtube. Well worth watching.  He's such a great performer, and it'll give you ideas for how to use the story for a storytelling session! 

A big thanks to Caroline for recommending this classic.  BRILLIANT! 

My oh my, Tiny Little Fly!

Front and back covers of Tiny Little Fly

Tiny Little Fly is written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Kevin Waldron. Rosen is famous for his rhymes and poems, and true to form this large-sized treasure is in rhyme.   Kevin Waldron is yet another award winning Irish illustrator, (see posts about Oliver Jeffers, Chris Haughton and Niamh Sharkey).  Together they make a great team, though it is unlikely they ever actually met!  The illustrations are stunning and the extra large format, with a spectacular pull out quadruple page, are real child pleasers! 

As you can see from the main image above, the front and back covers are part of one large illustration.  It represents one of the visual sequences to be found inside, though the actual illustration is unique to the covers.  The largeness of the tiger is accentuated by the fact that parts of him don't fit the cover and he contrasts brilliantly with the tiny fly who we notice as we following the tiger's one-eyed gaze.  

Inside of front cover and half title page

As ever I have the paperback edition, but the inside of the front cover has a lovely old fashioned wallpaper look to it.  This printed patterned look is subtly repeated through the book, and you can see two of the flowers on the half title page, below the fly, who seems to have appeared from nowhere! 

Copyright and title page

... and there's no stopping him, look at how the fly zooms across the copyright page and is ready to fly into the book. I like the way we are told the words are by Rosen and the illustrations are by Waldron. Take  a peek at the dedications, on the copyright page:  Can you guess why there are three elephants on MR's dedication? 

Opening 1

There's no stopping that fly, as we begin with Rosen's rhyme.  "My oh my, Tiny Little Fly! Tiny Little Fly sees great big toes...".  Typical of an unfinished sentence and half an illustration we all want to TURN THE PAGE! So we do!

Opening 2

Ohhh, that is an annoying fly, he buzzes all over and "... sits on Elephant's nose."  

Opening 3

"Great Big Elephant winks one eye, says to himself, "I'm going to catch that fly!" 

Opening 4

"Great Big Elephant winks the other eye. TRAMP! CRUSH! TRAMP! But off flies fly!" ... and we can just see the tiny fly zzing off towards the right edge of the recto page. 

And this sequence repeats itself two more times. Fly meets a hippo, grey with delightful pinky markings. We are treated to the lovely repetitive rhyme, with fly settling on Hippo's ear.  Then ... "Great Big Hippo winks the other eye. ROLL! SQUASH! ROLL! But off flies fly!" Cool  image of Hippo in the mud ...

Opening 8

Next fly meets a tiger, that lovely big orange one we saw on the front cover. Fly settles on his claws, though we actually only see paws. Same repetitive rhyme and ... "Great Big Tiger winks the other eye. SWOOP! SNATCH! SWOOP!  But off flies fly!"

And now things take a turn for the theatrical.  All three animals thrash around... 

Opening 13

TRAMP! CRUSH! TRAMP!ROLL! SQUASH! ROLL! SWOOP! SNATCH! SWOOP! Great sounds, which children will love saying ... and then, open out those flaps and  ...

Opening 14

All three animals are floundering in the dust and mud.  That pesky fly has got the better of them!  Fold those big flaps back in, and turn the page. Fly is off, leaving the dusty trio behind him. "Tiny Little Fly, winks one eye ..."

Back recto and inside back cover

"See you all soon. Bye everyone, bye!"  And there he is winking his very large fly eye!  Wallpaper flowers have returned, and if you look closely at the inside back cover, can you see the fly on the wall? He, he, he!

Great picturebook!  And Kevin Waldron's illustrations are just fabulous. Big and bright and very enticing.  Pre-school children will love them, and so will early primary.  The repetitive  rhyming text will have the whole class chorusing along with you in no time.  

If you go to Waldron's  web site and scroll down to his January 2011 post, you can see just how big the book is, as well as see some of his sketches and ideas.  Hippos are my favourite of animals, (after dogs), so I love this little number ...

From www.kevinwaldron.co.uk

A bit lost: a psychedelic delight

I've just come back from a wonderful two week holiday, despite only managing to spend a couple of hours in a large Exeter Waterstone's, I came out triumphant and heavily laden with picturebooks.  Treat of treats to be able to pull them off the shelves, whiff them, flick through them and hug them... living in Portugal means I don't get to do this often with English books.   One of my prize purchases is the focus of this blog, A bit lost by Chris Haughton.   

Front cover

I'd seen this picturebook referenced in several places and Haughton was recently nominated one of UK's best new illustrators by Book Trust.  But some things just don't seem obvious until you have them in your hands. A bit lost is completely obvious, and I can't believe I didn't buy it from The Book Depository earlier, but hey... better late than never!

I've discovered that Chris Haughton started using colour in his work quite late, he said he just didn't seem to get it right. After looking through A bit lost, it's difficult to imagine he ever had difficulties, it's so full of rich colours - in fact it's the very colour which makes it such a great treasure.  Oranges and lime greens  and blues and purples are predominant, all brought together in a flat style that imitates simple prints.  From what I've gathered Haughton first sketches then uses the computer to finish his illustrations.  They are stunning and after looking around his website you'll really enjoy revisiting a style he has perfected and the humour that naturally oozes from his illustrations. 

Like all good picturebooks,  each bit of peritext has things to look at and associate with the story, which is about a sleepy owlet, who falls from his nest and is helped by a chatty squirrel to find his mum again.

The cover introduces us to our owlet, all alone and lost, against a background of olive green, a predominant colour in the illustrations. If you look at the back cover there's an illustration of mummy owl looking very upset, as her owlet is nowhere to be seen.  

Inside of back cover

As usual I have a paperback edition and the inside of the front and back covers show a cool foresty scene.  

Page 1

Walker Books enjoy having a page for the owner to write their name, and this is no exception: there's an entertaining page, showing our lost owlet wondering at the large notice above his head.  

Copyright and title page

And the copyright and title page is completely delicious. Olive green and orange with the specially designed font, created by Haughton, sitting boldly above a sinking sun.  The visual format on this doublespread continues on the first opening, where owl and her baby are placed on the verso page.  

Opening 1

Haughton has used darker colours for the two owls and their multi-story tree home.  They leap out at us as we turn the page.  It's a wordless spread, with a halfpage flap for the recto.  The recto flap slowly wafts up as the book lies on the table, and gives us the impression that the owl is moving...

Opening 2

The words are simple, "uh-oh!" then...

Opening 3

"Bump... Bump... BUMP!" The same colour pallet here with the addition of a deep, purply blue base.  We don't know it yet, but on returning to this page we'll see the other characters peering from the forest, a bear, frog and rabbit in verso and the chattery rabbit in recto.  Can you see them?

Up till now we've had double spreads oozing colour, set within a white frame.    For most of the remaining spreads, white plays a more predominant role and we see versos and rectos either as full colour, right to the page margin, or with brightly coloured cameo illustrations against the stark white.  There's a rhythm to these pages too, which you can see in the next set of pages:

Opening 4

Opening 5

Opening 6

This visual rhythm is repeated three times, with a repetitive verbal text aswell. Owlet describes his mummy, "She's VERY BIG. Like THIS!" or "My mummy has POINTY EARS. Like THIS!" or "My mummy has BIG EYES. Like THIS!" The illustrations show us owlet miming these physical features followed by, '"Yes! Yes! I know! I know!" said Squirrel. "Follow me ...' Squirrel rushes off, with owl close behind.  Can you see mummy owl on her perch in the orange forest, in spread 5?  She is shown in three different positions as squirrel takes owlet to see different animals in the forest. He shows Owlet a large bear (a wonderful illustration of an unassuming bear plonked right in the middle of the recto page in opening 6), a rabbit with long pointy ears and a small frog with large eyes.  '"No! No!" Said little owl.  "That's not my mummy"' is the repeated refrain upon each encounter. Until finally it is the frog who saves the day.  "Follow me. Your mummy's looking everywhere for you."

Opening 11

Great illustration of the three animals in siloute, and there's mummy not far ahead. "Is this your mummy?"  Of course it is!

Opening 12

Just the owls, no background, and mummy owl has a tear in her eye.  She must have been so worried.  

Mummy is so grateful she invites squirrel and frog for a biscuit, '"Yes, please," said Squirrel.  "Biscuits are our favourite thing."' They sit together in the multi-storied owl tree, high above the treetops. It's now evening and everything is a luscious orangey pink. 

Opening 14

Careful now...

Back verso

"Uh-oh!" and we are back to where we started!  Now isn't that a feast for your eyes?  Delightful, so simple and worthy of a very large "Again!".  I've not used it with any pre-school kids yet, but when I start storytelling in my classrooms in January (once my thesis is done and dusted) it will be one of the first picturebooks I share.  I know it will be a great success. 

I've done  a bit of research about Chris Haughton.  He's a really interesting chap from Dublin, who has done some wonderful work with a fairtrade organization called People Tree.  Do check out his website and sit through a 30-minute presentation, which starts slow, but gets really interesting as he describes how he started and where he got all his ideas from.   Finally Chris Haughton has a blog, and he has written a post about the making of A bit lost. Well worth a peek!

Somehow knowing more about a picturebook creator, makes the book different.   Enjoy!

• Chris Haughton's website
• Film about Chris Haughton
• The making of A bit lost.
• People Tree, a fair trade clothing network

Recommendation 3: On the road with Mavis and Marge

Front cover 

Niamh Sharkey  is an Irish author illustrator, and her award winning picturebook, On the road with Mavis and Marge,  has been recommended by Ana Rasteiro, a primary English teacher who works with me here in Portugal. 

I am familiar with one or two of Niamh Sharkey's picturebooks - I've got  I'm a happy Hugglewug, and The Gigantic Turnip.  The latter has been recommended by another colleague in Spain, so I'll write about it another day!  Her illustrations are fun and colourful, but change quite a bit between picturebooks, the three titles I've mentioned here are all different.   On the road ... mixes occasional collage with an illustrative style you might associate with cool sets of coffee mugs - I think the illustrations were originally painted with oil, at least in an interview Sharkey says that's her favourite medium. She's also an admirer of Tove Jansson's The Moomins . 

Thelma & Louise 1991

But let's get back to On the road ... Mavis is a cow and Marge is a chicken, and together they go where no animal has gone before!  They have great adventures, but eventually decide that home is the place to be.  On the front cover Marge the chicken reminds me of Louise, in the film Thelma and Louise  with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis - those sun glasses and her polka dot head scarf are almost the same! 

As usual I've got the paperback edition, and there are no endpapers as such, though the inside of the front and back cover is red with little white dots, just like Marge's headscarf on the front cover.  

Copyright and title page

On the copyright and title pages the mass of writing drew my attention to the font, called Kingthings Trypwriter. As we go through the picturebook its quirky hand typed letters mix nicely with some hand-written font.  You'll notice that the lower case f, i, and n have little shadows. Fun illustrations on the copyright page too... And once again we see Mavis and Marge, no ordinary cow and chicken for they have handbags and books under their arms. 

Opening 1

The first opening introduces our characters:  Mavis is shown in the verso illustration, looking eagerly out at the world, Marge is busy reading a book.  The words on the recto tell us that Mavis is "different to other cows" and that Marge is "smarter than your average chicken", if you go back to the verso illustration, you'll see the other cows and the average chicken in the back ground!  Great image of Mavis and Marge on the collage mountain top. 

Opening 2

The second spread uses multiple cartoon-like frames, giving us a sequence of events to see and read about.  "They knew there was a world out there waiting to be explored" say the words, and the picture shows us that Marge has discovered this in her book.  So they take the bike from the barn and off they go! The next spread is a wonderful double page illustration, of the two friends on their adventure.  Marge is giving directions!

Opening 3

Can you guess what happens? In comic strip fashion we are taken through the sequence of events that leads them to their encounter with Clarence, a friendly rabbit, "out for a spin in his car."

Opening 4

Off they go with Clarence, and we see another double spread of the three of them tootling along happily. Then another spread with separate shots of the different places they visit, going "uphill ... downhill... through puddles ... over bridges ... through the forest ... all the way to the ocean."  My favourite is this little cameo, using a map of somewhere in Ireland (yep, I checked the name, it's from County Antrim, N. Ireland) 

Close up from opening 6

And so they arrive at the ocean and crash, they hit a bollard, but "What luck!  They landed in Benny's boat!"   "Welcome aboard!" say's Benny!  And off they go … in a tiny yellow boat.  Mavis is green, but Marge has great sea legs! Where are they going can you see? 

Opening 8

The South Pole of course! Home of penguins and in particular Albert, who's an adventurous penguin about to fly to the moon!  "Ready? Stead?  Blast off!" Mavis and Marge, Clarence, Benny and Albert arrive on the moon, where they bounce around with green faced aliens, and all's well, until ... 

Opening 12

They look to into space and see planet Earth, blue and green in all its glory.  "I want to go …" "HOME!" say Mavis and Marge. "Hmmmm?" says the alien, what is this thing called home? And so they all went home, from the moon  back to earth and Mavis and Marge say "Goodbye" to their new friends and cycle back to the farm. 

Opening 14

And what a welcome they get!  Mavis and Marge both agree that "Home!" "It is the best place to be!"  If you look at Opening 1 again you'll see that the farm is called "Home Farm"! But that's not the end, turn the page and you'll see they have a visitor!  He's come to find out what "Home" is!

Back verso

Ana discovered this picturebook at a book fair in Lisbon.  She was playing with transport words with a group of pre-school children and it was the theme that caught her attention, as well as the fun illustrations and the fantasy storyline.  She didn't do anything special with the picturebook, she just read it to the children several times.  But that is special, and very often overlooked!  Children need to be read to for the sake of being read to, forget the linguistic focus or pre- during- and after- storytelling activities! Just enjoy the sharing of a picturebook together. She described the children's responses as they saw the different types of transport and they were able to call out the names in English.  They loved the bizarre occurrences and the trip to the moon, and of course they all empathized with Mavis and Marge when they realised that home was the best place to be. And as I've mentioned in previous posts, the children recognized the speech bubbles as visual representations of the spoken word and wanted them to be read.  And they all enjoyed saying "Hello" with the alien at the end!  

Thanks to Ana for recommending such a fun book, loved it! And don't think it's just for pre-school, primary aged children learning English as a foreign language, up till about 8 years old, would enjoy this picturebook I think, and if you go to this link, you can download some fun activities: cut out and colour Mavis and Marge, write a postcard, complete an alien, colour a space rocket. 

Blending in

Halibut Jackson is a book I came across by chance and I’m much taken by the illustrations, done by David Lucas, who is both author and illustrator of this lovely book.  It was his first picturebook and won instant acclaim. 

Close up of illustration

There’s something unfinished about the illustrations, though to be honest I can’t work out why, as each page is packed full of pattern and design - it’s like walking into an Aladin’s cave, all bright and sparkly with loads to look at.  It also reminds me of a page of tattoos, again not sure why, maybe it’s the inky outlines? Look at this close up of one of David Lucas’ sketches, found on the back verso page of my paperback edition.  It’s got a lovely scratchy feeling to it, I suppose from the quality of paper he uses.  It absorbs the ink - I love it. 

The front cover presents our protagonist, though we’d not see him if it wasn’t for those scratchy lines, his yellow suit blends in with that jewel-like sun.  A nice contrast to the patterned foreground, covered in wild flowers.  Goodness, even the birds wear decorated hats! 

Open the book and you are greeted by a flowery set of endpapers ...

Front endpapers

... flowers from another world, leading our eyes towards a yellow archway, and there’s Halibut Jackson again, can you see him?  He’s the colour of the sky.

Copyright, dedication and title pages

On the title page, he's blending in with the bricks in the wall.  I love the decorated frame, like cut gold.  We already know quite a bit about Mr Jackson don't we?  He likes blending in and seems to have a lot of different suits.  I wonder if he makes them himself? Let’s see shall we?

Opening 1

Can you see Halibut Jackson?  He’s leaning against the wall in his red brick suit, and what a lot of movement all around. It’s such a dramatic illustration, all that red, and Mr Jackson is in the middle of it all.  Great composition. And from the words we learn that …

“Halibut Jackson was shy.

Halibut Jackson didn’t like to be noticed.

Halibut Jackson liked to blend into the background.”

We'd picked up on that hadn't we?  Poor chap, can't be easy.  He has a suit for all the different places he visits. Before we turn the page I'd like to talk about the way many of the double spreads in this picturebook work visually.  In almost all the illustrations there is a frame, which contains some of the objects, but not all.  From the left verso objects either rush out of or rush into the frame.  In Opening 1 there are objects rushing out. It’s an interesting technique and gives the illustrations a surreal feel to them - there’s an impossibility to Halibut’s world, we are neither in it nor out of it. 

Back to the story, but look out for those frames! Turn the page and we can see some of his different suits.  He has  a suit for the park, a flowery suit. Can you see him?  

Opening 2

Keep turning.  He has a suit for the supermarket which blends with the red apples; a suit for the library, that blends with the books.  Each spread is full of things to look at and each spread contains that in and out framed composition.

“But mostly Hallibut Jackson stayed indoors.”

Opening 5

This is a wonderfully decorated spread, the perspective is all out and the yellow carpet acts as the frame, outlining the room, keeping Halibut safe, and the highly decorated furniture on the verso page is tumbling over the line.   Can you see his photo on the table?  He really is shy!

Then one day Halibut Jackson received an invitation to a "Grand Birthday Party" at the Palace.  How wonderful. But Halibut Jackson is shy and he “Certainly didn’t go to parties.  What a shame.”

As in all good stories it came to him in a dream - He’d make a suit, not just any suit, "a suit of silver and gold, covered in jewels."  People won't notice him for sure, for palaces have lots of gold and silver and jewels! 

Opening 9

But how wrong he was, it was a Palace Garden Party.  Yikes!  Poor Halibut. And of course everyone noticed him.  

Opening 10

He looked so very fine. So fine that they all wanted suits of their own!

And so Halibut made a suit for the Queen and the King, for everyone in fact. He opened a shop, a clothes shop of course, and filled it with suits of all kinds.  Can you see some of them?  And even though he was still very shy, it didn’t matter. He had lots of friends and was always very busy.

Opening 12

And when we turn to the endpapers, we see those extravagant flowers again, and the same yellow arch, but Halibut Jackson isn’t blending in, he looks quite different to his surroundings in a smart blue and white striped suit.  It’s Ok to be noticed after all.

Back endpapers

What a wonderful picturebook.  The illustrations are terribly detailed, so it wouldn't work too well in a large class, but if you leave the book in the class library children will be able to browse and scrutinize, and come to all sorts of understandings about what they see. 

Halibut Jackson's suit is always the same shape, so a nice activity would be to create an outline for the suit and have children draw Halibut blending in pictures, with Halibut in different scenes wearing his special suit.   What would he wear at school? At a football match? To the beach? To a wedding? At the school canteen? 

A Halibut Jackson hat competition would be fun too.  He's got some pretty amazing ones in his shop.  

And of course there's the message about being shy. It's OK to be shy and Halibut shows us how we can overcome our shyness.