- The Guardian,
- Saturday May 10 2008
Oliver Who Was Small But Mighty, by Mara Bergman, illustrated by Nick Maland (Hodder, £10.99). Age: 3+
Oliver is small but wishes he were tall and mighty. Bathtime begins in a thunderstorm; small and frightened, Oliver longs to be brave enough to face it without fear. As the storm rages, Oliver in the bath begins his imaginary journey across the sea. It starts calmly, as seahorses and seals gambol by the boat, but when he has to see off a ferocious pirate crew, it gets seriously frightening. Through the terrific rhyming text and bold illustrations, Oliver discovers that, though small, he is indeed mighty as he lives through his fears in this glorious, rollicking work of imagination.
Look Out, Suzy Goose, by Petr Horacek (Walker, £9.99). Age: 3+
Searching for peace away from her honking friends, Suzy Goose sets off into the cool, dark quiet of the forest. While she enjoys the deep peace, readers will enjoy knowing that she has attracted a tail of undesirable followers who all have one intention - to eat her up. Silly Suzy Goose! But there's someone else in the darkness and his unexpected screech scares off Suzy's followers and makes her suddenly long for company. Suzy returns to the flock wiser, or at least more thoughtful.
The Witch's Children Go to School, by Ursula Jones, illustrated by Russell Ayto (Hodder, £10.99). Age: 4+
Wherever the witch's children go, they unintentionally cause trouble. This time it is school, a place where very big trouble can easily be caused. Trying to help Gemma, a small and terrified new girl, to overcome her fears of going to school, the witch's children turn her into an ogre. The results go from bad to worse as the witch's children try to improve the situation by creating a fairytale world for the whole school. The big problem is that the witch's children can do spells but, for the life of them, they never know how to undo them. Luckily, Mum turns up just in time - and she knows what to do.
