To market! To market!

Set in the hustle bustle of an Indian market, this story of a little girl who sets off with some pocket money to spend is told in rhyme with strongly coloured illustrations depicting her meandering through the closely packed stalls. She thinks of things she might buy: ‘A face-mask, odd and weird?/ A false moustache or beard?/ A ball? A pot? A basket? Or a bun?

The double page spreads that follow each depict an area of the market and her imaginative play within it, accompanied by a short rhyming text on the opposite page. For instance: ‘Jangle Jangle Jangle I’m a bangle-holding stand’. The first three repeated words of each spread are variously sized and placed on the page and printed in shades of grey. When she’s at a stall with mirrors, the words are reflected in mirror writing. While I admire the intentions, clever typography cannot make up for lack of narrative drive and it has to be said that the illustrations are more captivating than the text. Each picture is saturated with colour (on some pages, quite deep, dark colours) – so much so that everything in the scene is to the fore. This lack of light and shade is rather harsh on some pages – the eye is not drawn in to notice the details. One certainly gets the feel of the market as a crowded, busy place full of multifarious delights! I am in two minds about this unusual landscape format book. The size and format I rather like but what is missing is an absorbing narrative.