Dem Bones
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Cover Story
The cover of this issue is a design incorporating illustrations from four books illustrated by the subject of our Authorgraph, Ian Beck. The top left illustration is from Five Little Ducks (Orchard), the top right from Poppy and Pip's Picnic (to be published Autumn '97 by HarperCollins), the bottom left from The Owl and the Pussy-cat (Transworld) and the bottom right from Home Before Dark (to be published September '97 by Scholastic). Ian Beck's Picture Book (Hippo) is reviewed in this issue.
Beck talks to BfK's interviewer, Julia Eccleshare, also in this issue. His distinctive decorative style with its sensitive pen line and cross hatching has a nostalgic but sometimes also a surreal quality - he describes it as 'a look that is floating, strong and wistful all at the same time'.
Thanks to Orchard, HarperCollins, Transworld and Scholastic for their help in producing this composite cover.
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Dem Bones
This is a highly original mixture - a well known African American spiritual, Dem Bones, used to convey non-fiction information targeted at the younger end of the primary age range. Each double page contains a line from the song ('Toe bone connected to da foot bone/Foot bone connected to da ankle bone') accompanied by facts about the human skeleton ('The twenty-two bones in your foot support the entire weight of your body'). The illustrations are vibrantly coloured and have been created by the increasingly popular use of torn and cut paper. However, this book works better as a sing-a-long than as a piece of non-fiction. The illustrations are eye-catching but not clear enough to inform properly. It is only at the end of the book that the bones are labelled. I was left with a feeling that although it is possible to combine non-fiction and fiction for the very young, it does not always work.
