This Easter, there is only one chick worthy of the spotlight. He has enough attitude to need no back-up vocals. Little Chick, by Amy Hest, illustrated by Anita Jeram, is a curious, wayward, striding fledgling who is learning about life from a calm hen (that's why I thought he should lead the way in this round-up). Forget fluffy. There is nothing sentimental about him. Chick and children are schooled in the importance of compromise. And the book's sweetly executed intention is also to teach that most difficult of lessons and not only at Easter how to wait. (2 up)
Don't Want to Go! by Shirley Hughes , about a toddler's insecurity is marvellous. (Hughes is such a phenomenon this is as good as anything she has done.) Anxiously resistant Lily is compelled to bivouac with family friends for a day (her mother is down with flu).
Faces are brilliantly observed. I particularly love the mutinous downturn of Lily's lower lip (and the eye-rolling toy dog with its own agenda). But I consider Lily lucky to end up under lovely Melanie's roof. She tirelessly entertains her reluctant guest, even getting down as Hughes might in the same situation to some sticky collage work. (2 up)
It's a Dog's Life by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Patrick Benson. We meet Russ the sheepdog as he wakes up, deliciously warm, in front of a pale green Aga. We follow him through his day, which contains several canine triumphs (expert herding of sheep and cows) and final disgrace: the theft and consumption of his owner's birthday cake.
This truthful, affectionate and amusing book will delight and convince dog-lovers of all ages (and perhaps warn anyone rash enough to be thinking of acquiring a dog). Patrick Benson catches the dog's agility and compulsive greed beautifully. (3 up)
The Snake King of the Kalinago. This is a stunning one-off the retelling of an east Caribbean myth. It is the captivating work of children from Atkinson school, Bataka, in Dominica. Bakwa is a magical snake, the "diamond-crested guardian of the Kalinago people". He slithers in jewelled majesty across a white page, ascends to a mountain cave and acquires a golden crown. When war breaks out (magnificently painted bellicose figures against furious scarlet and black squiggles), this snake sleeps on, his rest symbolic he will not wake until peace is won. (4 up)
The Django by Levi Pinfold. This is an unusual book with jazz as its inspiration. Its hero is a pensive Gypsy boy who has visitations from a quirky manikin, by the name of Django, with designs on his dad's banjo. What makes the book special is its painterly qualities: take, for example, the picture of the caravan, standing in summer grass, next to a shed of stained corrugated iron. The caravan is hung with magic lanterns, the sky is smudged with pink clouds. It is a fully imagined world. I liked, too, the fierce, lived-in authenticity of the father's face. It will be relished by sophisticated children and jazz-loving adults alike. (5 up)
Angelica Sprocket's Pockets by Quentin Blake. Angelica Sprocket must be a first cousin to Blake's Mr Magnolia and Mrs Armitage she is as dotty and deliciously half-baked as they are. But she is more resourceful. She is a woman of many pockets. These contain all the necessaries and some unnecessaries (dormice, alligators, motorhorns). I admired the dynamic frenzy with which Ms Sprocket produces a fine assortment of umbrellas as soon as rain starts to fall. She looks like a woman inventing the first steps for a new dance. (3 up)
Cloud Tea Monkeys, by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, illustrated by Juan Wijngaard This is a beautiful story, set in an Indian tea plantation, that introduces a job description I'd not previously encountered but approve of: deputy chief tea boiler. Tea is a matter of the utmost gravity in this tale. But tea-picking is not easy for Tashi, working for a brutish overseer and with a sick mother at home. Happily, a miracle occurs: friendly monkeys harvest celestial tea cloud tea from the dangerous mountaintop, a kind deed that saves Tashi and her mother too. Intricately told with painstakingly detailed, radiant illustrations this little treasure of a book is, naturally, best read at teatime. (4 up)
Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett. First impressions of this chameleon: a bitter drama-queen who is blue in every sense. But life looks up when the chameleon imitates other colours, inspired by a banana, a cockatoo, a snail and a dashing western boot. The chameleon even gets audaciously to work on a white page. But it will only learn the rainbow route to happiness when it meets another chameleon. Gravett's illustration has confidence, clarity and character. Readers of all ages will be charmed by the chameleon's changes of heart and hue. (2 up)
