Billy and the Baby
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Cover Story
This issue's cover is a photograph of Anne Frank whose diary is discussed by Michael Rosen fifty years after its first publication. Following the arrest of the Frank family and their companions, the secret annex in Amsterdam where they had been in hiding was locked up and everybody forbidden to enter it, since Jewish possessions became Nazi property and were carted away. Before this happened, the young woman, Miep Gies, who had provided those in hiding with food and who had a second key to the annex, risked herself once more by entering it. Miep retrieved Anne's diary from the devastation together with the Frank family photograph album.
Thanks to Penguin Children's Books for help in reproducing this cover.
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Billy and the Baby
Illustrated by Lynn Breeze
A picture book about a child adapting to a new baby in the family which has a nice twist - while Billy is apparently paying no attention to all the drama that is happening around him he is quietly preparing a special present for the new baby. There have been quite a few books recently on the new baby theme but this one was enjoyed by all the children who assessed it although it did not receive 'rave' reviews. Perhaps this was because it concentrates on positive feelings rather than exploring the deeper emotions involved and therefore did not evoke such strong feelings in the readers; or it could simply have been that the children reviewing it were not in the throes of experiencing the arrival of a new sibling. With its bright cheerful illustrations, this comfortable book will help children in this situation although other new baby titles should also be offered.
