The Purrfect Carpet; I Am a Frog

I've chosen these two as represntative of a whole batch of books sent recently under the David Bennett logo called 'Paperbacks'. The first is one of a set of 'Paperback Sparklers'. These are fiction stories, all in the same livery, but varying quite alarmingly in quality. This one, a variation of a traditional Indian story, is attractively told and illustrated. It's about a poor but resourceful cat who gets to marry the cat princess by his clever answer to ths task her suitors are set. Another in the batch, Barnyard Bash, is of similar quality, two are so-and-so and two, Bed Bugs and The Boy Who Ate the Sun, are nastily vulgar.

The second book is also under the 'Paperback' imprint but this time one of a set of simple non-fiction about the habits of well-known animals. You have to be able to like the jokey cartoon-style of the pictures but the facts and the bold, clear text are useful. These would be attractive to very young children wanting to know a little about the lives of rabbits, ducks or butterflies. All in all, these books just underline, yet again, that titles must be judged on their individual merits and that uniformity under one logo is no guarantee of a consistent standard.