Hey, Tabby Cat!; Here Comes Tabby Cat; Winnie Plays Ball; Winnie All Day Long; Monkey Business; Monkey Trouble
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Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by Fangorn is taken from Brian Jacques’ Lord Brocktree (Hutchinson, 0 09 176877 2, £12.99), the thirteenth title in the internationally best-selling Redwall series. Salamandastron, the ancestral home of the Badger Lords, is under threat from Ungatt Trunn, an enemy whose power would seem to be absolute and whose evil knows no bounds. The only hope for survival is the badger Lord Brocktree who is drawn to the fortress by an undeniable sense of destiny. Brian Jacques' masterful storytelling as always spins a web of high adventure that will enthral the reader from the first page to the last. Thanks to Hutchinson Children’s Books for their help in producing this September cover.
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Hey, Tabby Cat!
Here Comes Tabby Cat
Illustrated by Katharine McEwen
Winnie Plays Ball
Winnie All Day Long
Illustrated by William Benedict
Monkey Business
Illustrated by Scott Nash
Monkey Trouble
Why does Walker Books, publishers of high quality picture books, many of which are appropriate for beginning readers, feel the need to resort to producing a series such as this? These packs, two featuring a cat, two a dog and two a monkey, each contain four eight-page picture books with a single line of text per page and with the same useful general advice for adults on helping a child to read inside the back cover. If, as I do, we view books as mediators of messages about what reading has to offer, what is there to excite and engage in the mundane prose of these books? An example:
'This is Winnie's ball./Winnie catches her ball./ Winnie rolls her ball./Winnie kicks her ball./Winnie chews her ball./Winnie's ball is yucky./Winnie buries her ball./This is Winnie's NEW ball.'
Where are the opportunities to develop visual literacy in the flat, uninspiring pictures which accompany the words? This seems to be reducing reading to a thankless, mechanistic exercise rather than a stimulating and rewarding activity. Are these really the sorts of literary experiences we want young children and their parents to be sharing? 'Brand New Readers WORK' proclaims the blurb on the back of each pack... 'I want a proper story' was the response of one of my five-year-old readers when his mum tried to interest him in one for his book bag.
