Olly and Me

Hughes is a prolific author and illustrator whose work people either love or don't. Her latest collection of 14 poems deals with the day-to-day life of Katie and her little baby brother Olly. The poems chug along nicely with no great surprises. The artwork evokes an old-fashioned childhood world of ballet classes, pancakes and farm animals and uses pastelly tones. It strikes me as quite a nostalgic view of English childhood which, not being English and working in a town library, I find hard to recognise. But then I tried some of the poems out on a parent and toddler group and toddlers recognised themselves in the poems and enjoyed the safety of the rhyme schemes. If nothing else, its presentation will make this book stand out amongst others aimed at the Early Years sector. But for me it isn't the first book I'd reach for if given a choice.