Ghostly Goulash; Serpent Soup; Goblin Stew; Fairy Cake
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Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Monkey Puzzle. Written in rhyme, this agreeable story has butterfly helping little monkey to find his mum. Scheffler’s distinctive, entertaining and strongly characterised illustrations make good use of the page as little monkey meets lots of jungle inhabitants before being reunited with his mum. Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for their help in producing this July cover.
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Ghostly Goulash
Illustrated by Colin Paine
Serpent Soup
Illustrated by Colin Paine
Goblin Stew
Illustrated by Colin Paine
Fairy Cake
Illustrated by Colin Paine
Jake's Granny has a magical cookbook and a selection of amazing ingredients, so when they cook together anything can, and does, happen.
For newly-independent readers, these books are liberally illustrated with suitably comic pictures, and the stories are told with vitality and good humour. The solidity of the relationship between Jake and Granny provides a counterbalance to the daftness of their adventures, and there is much invention as well as some Dahl-esque touches. A 'cook-it-yourself' section at the back of each book provides a simple, and safe, versio of a relevant recipe.
I found it frustrating that though the books from a sequence, they are not numbered, but that is easily remedied - I think they will be enjoyed by 7-8 year-olds in many classrooms.
