Book Review: THE ADVENTURES OF GERALDINE WOOLKINS

Title: The Adventures of Geraldine Woolkins
Author: Karin Kaufman
Publisher: Createspace
Pages: 142
Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I read this charming book back in 2018, when my kids were quite young, but I never got around to posting the review. Back then, I had read it aloud to my kids, known on my blog as La Niña and El Niño, and they both enjoyed it thoroughly. Before long, they had become the characters, La Niña was Geraldine, and El Niño was Button, and by extension, I was Lily and the Husband was Nigel.

Geraldine Woolkins is a little mouse who lives with her father Nigel, mother Lily and brother Button in a hole in a tree.

In time she learns the importance of remembering the lessons from her past, how eating too many dandelions had caused her stomach to do flip-flops. Her parents teach her to enjoy nature in all its forms, squishy and scratchy. 

After a fire burns their tree down, Lily reminds her daughter, We can always start again… as long as we’re all together.

Geraldine wants to be brave. But she is small and quivering. A dreaded fox, Quinton Thrasher turns into her protector for the kindness shown by her father to him, a reminder that no good deed goes unrewarded.

There isn’t a real plot. But things happen, and the characters do what they do.

The Book of Tales is their wise book from which lessons are taught and passed on. The book contains stories of other animals that Geraldine and Button can learn from.

 

So many useful lessons within its pages. This is good advice for little mice and little humans too. How the paths we walk have been made by mice who lived before us and how we should learn from older folk and their experience. How you can’t know everything at once, knowledge takes time. When you’re a mid mouse, you’ll know these things. About the seasons and the regularity of nature, the mice learn, Nothing that God makes is taken away forever. The need to show gratitude before one partakes of a feast. Grace first, spoon down.

There are other lessons about not clinging to the past or chasing after the future. Lessons that could be easily extrapolated to the human condition.

Geraldine reflects on the things her parents tell her. Sometimes she has to think a lot before things make sense.

And what an endearing name for God, Very Very Big Hands, who can hold the world together and still care for the wellbeing of very very small mice.

When I read aloud that Geraldine’s mother wiped her hand on a leaf, La Niña said, in awe, “She has so many handkerchiefs,” unwittingly learning a lesson about the abundance in nature. Both kids talked about how it felt to have this book read aloud to them, like being enveloped in love and comfort.

This story was just brimming over with lessons. When Geraldine says that she does not like not-happy endings and when she and Button are impatient to reach the end of the story, Mama scolds them, The story takes as long as it takes, and no less. She adds, You must learn to let a story be… It ends when it ends. Not before and not after.

Geraldine also learns that Not all adventures are happy from beginning to end… Sometimes the very best adventures have sad parts. She believes, True stories were the best stories.

 

There are lessons everywhere and Nigel and Lily are wise parents, using the Book and every opportunity to share their values. Echoing Ecclesiasticus, Papa tells Geraldine, There’s a time to stay near the hollow, and a time to leave it. He warns, Don’t gather so many berries, you can’t carry your backpack.

Life can be full of dangers, especially when you’re a little mouse, but Papa says, There’s no adventure without peril. He also tells her not to be boastful, that the best she can do is try.

I liked the way the author described the manner in which Geraldine’s father opened the Book, wide, like the juiciest of walnuts. And Geraldine loved the very sound of the stories’ words and the way she felt when Papa closed the book and all was well.

This book is a treat for young kids.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.) 

Book Review: BRITFIELD AND THE LOST CROWN

Title: Britfield and the Lost Crown
Author: CR Stewart
Narrator: Ian Russell
Publisher: Devonfield Publishing
Pages: 361
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐

The book reminded me of a modern Oliver Twist, in so far as its beginnings were concerned. Like Oliver, 12-year-old Tom, the hero of this novel, is an orphan, one of many who are given a measly meal and assured of shelter in exchange for working hard in a factory that the owners of the orphanage own. For the Grievous family, the orphanage, Weatherly, is a good way to be assured of cheap labour to run their factories while getting a good subsidy from the government.

One day while smuggling out a book from the Grievous family library, Tom comes to know that his parents may be alive. He is determined to find them, but he won’t leave without Sarah, his best friend, who is in solitary confinement.

Staging a daring rescue of Sarah and a subsequent escape, Tom and Sarah escape in a hot-air balloon. They head to London in search of his family, armed with just one clue, Britfield.

They discover soon enough that the name Britfield is no longer welcome in England today. There is a dangerous history attached to it, and the danger is very much alive.

As they travel through Windsor Castle, and Oxford University, and a church, they depend upon the kindness of strangers to escape notice. And strangely, many go out of their way to help them. But Inspector Gallowstone (or is it Gowerstone?) is hot on their trail as is Speckle, a cruel supervisor from Weatherly. Will Tom and Sarah find out the truth about Britfield? And will they find his parents?

 

This was my third audio book. The best part of this book for me was the narrator, Ian Russell. He enlivened this book so much that I didn’t even miss reading for myself. His voice was pure magic. He succeeded in pulling off so many voices, including a Russian accent for a small piece of dialogue. 

He even managed to hum and sneeze while remaining in character. The only parts at which I cringed were when he tried to speak for Sarah. It made Sarah come across as slightly dim-witted and annoying. A fact not helped by the fact that she wasn’t coming up with too many great ideas on her own and seemed to depend on Tom.

The book is filled with a colourful cast of characters, including Speckle, the supervisor, Mr and Mrs Grievous, Inspector Gallowstone and Professor Hainesworth.

 

I liked the way each chapter ended. It was also good to see the solidarity and the banter between the orphans. It was also good to see Tom getting over his claustrophobia and Sarah her fear of heights in order to plan their escape. There’s a positive lesson for kids right there.

But I wasn’t so sure about the hot air balloon escape. It was unbelievable that a hot air balloon might be available just like that, and that the kids would figure out how to use it, as if it were the easiest thing in the world, just by fiddling around with the levers and the knobs. 

Unbelievably, it’s also running on a full tank, so they don’t need to re-fuel either. They spend the whole night in the balloon and come out unscathed, not needing to use the bathroom even after they land.

The fact of Tom’s identity was so obvious but nobody seemed to catch on.

Generally, I don’t mind cliffhangers, as long as they are tastefully done.  But here, I felt more than a little disappointed. The author has been saying that this is the first of seven books. I can’t imagine that there would be six more books before resolution comes.

The only reason I enjoyed this one was the narrator. 

(I read this book through NetGalley. Thank you, NetGalley, the author and the publisher.)

Book Review: MIA MARCOTTE AND THE ROBOT

Title: Mia Marcotte and the Robot
Author: Jeanne Wald
Illustrator: Saliha Caliskan
Publisher: Jeanne Wald
Pages: 180
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mia Marcotte is a third grader who dreams of becoming an astronaut, and of being the first human to land on Mars.

At school, her science experiments tend to flop, and that poses a problem. Ms Perkins, their science teacher, has announced that all those who present great science projects at the science fair will go on a special field trip to the science centre. There is nothing that Mia would like more than to go on the trip.

The problem is that the science fair is just three days away and she has no idea what do for her project. Best friend Ella receives help from her physicist mom but Mia’s parents, an architect and an accountant, can’t help her.

Her aunt Serena, who is an engineer in Paris, is supposed to come down and spend the summer with the Marcottes. But then she is delayed and it turns out that she won’t arrive until after the fair. Aunt Serena sends her baggage ahead of her, and Mia’s Dad warns her not to touch Aunt Serena’s stuff.

Desperate to come up with some idea for the project, she improvises on the failed experiment to make a rocket. When her makeshift rocket lands in the guest room, Mia has to get it back. She decides to just pick up the rocket and leave. But then while she is there, she hears a strange sound. It turns out to be her aunt’s robot, Aizek, a French- and English-speaking robot.

With no one to rely on except herself and her pet parrot, Martian, will Mia be able to come up with a great project?

The story is charming and the illustrations designed to appeal to children and grownups alike. The chapters are short, a quick read.

Of the minor characters, Ms Perkins is the sort of woman who could encourage the scientific temperament in kids, given her infinite patience. We need more people like Ms Perkins if girls are to be encouraged to take to STEM careers.

 

There are some interesting quotes: I wonder if science is real magic, and grow-ups just hide it from us is a great quote to describe the spirit that imbues this book.

 

The Marcottes are immigrants, and the book calls attention to that fact too. 

There was just one error I found. In one place, prey was spelt as pray. I hope the author makes the change.

All in all, a charming book about the magic of science and the power of persistence and imagination. 

 

My 12-year-old daughter who read the book enjoyed it. She especially appreciated the fact that a girl was being shown working on a science project.

She liked the fact that Mia teaches Aizek about the power of the imagination, that the robot tries to draw and keeps trying until he gets perfect. That when Mia is disappointed, he shows her the drawings that weren’t quite good. It’s a reminder, she said, that you have to practice if you want to get better at anything. 

(I read this book through NetGalley. Thank you, NetGalley, the author and the publisher.)

Book Review: THE BOOKSHOP GIRL

Title: The Bookshop Girl

Author: Sylvia Bishop
Illustrator: Poly Bernatene

Publisher: Peachtree Publishing Company

Pages: 144

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I can never resist books about books or bookshops or the writing process. And so, I naturally gravitated towards this one, and it helped that this charming story was a treat and the illustrations were beautiful.

It is the story of a five-year-old girl whose parents forget her in a bookshop, the White Hart, owned by Netty Jones and her 10-year-old son Michael. The Jones treat her kindly and make her part of their family. And because she is somebody’s lost property, she is named Property Jones.

When the story begins, Property is 11 years old, and we come to know of a dreadful secret, one that Netty and Michael have never suspected, and that secret is that Property cannot read.

It is at this time that the family comes to know of the Object of Wonder, a contest run by Albert H Montgomery, the owner of the Great Montgomery Book Emporium, the biggest bookshop in Britain, and probably in the world.

The Joneses go on to win the prize, which includes a very surly kitten, named Gunther, who is as far from a pet as you can imagine. You might think that it would be the beginning of a happily-ever-after for them. But that is not the case. 

There is no story without conflict, and it is the same here. A huge challenge threatens, forcing the Joneses out of their Book Emporium and even out of the White Hart Book shop. It will be up to Property, with a little help from Gunther, to save the day. But how can a little girl who doesn’t even know how to read go about saving the only family she has?

The pace is breathtakingly fast as Property works hard to win back her family home.

The book was originally written in German. The English translation was sweet and quaint and the illustrations a total delight.

The book conjures up amazing visual delights, not unlike the world created by Roald Dahl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I’ve always imagined Paradise to be crammed with books from floor to ceiling, similar to the library in the Beauty and the Beast, but the Book Emporium has a device that ups the ante, adding ambience to enhance the effect.

Another delightful aspect of this book was the friendly manner in which the narrator addressed the reader, talking to us in the second person.

The book evokes so many of the feelings that are close to a book lover’s heart, the smell of the books, how we love them even when they are old and yellowed, the sound of pages rustling. I also liked the fact that this book makes a strong case for abilities, in the face of inabilities, pointing out that every skill has its significance. The importance of the family is underscored here, as being the people that care about you, no matter what.

We don’t get much backstory about Netty and Michael, nor about Property, and we don’t care. It is this adventure that concerns us. Even so, the few details that we gather are enough to make us care for this family of Joneses.

I liked Michael. He loves dictionaries. I do too. On winning the Great Montgomery Book Emporium, Michael’s face lights up at the thought that they will have every book in the world. What a treasure that must be!

Property has amazing powers of observation; she can tell a lot about books even though she cannot read. She can figure out the genre of a particular book by the cover and the thinness of the paper alone.

My daughter and I both enjoyed this book very much.

(I read this book through Edelweiss.)

Book Review: THE CURSE OF THE CHEESE PYRAMID

Title: The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid (Geronimo Stilton #2)

Author: Geronimo Stilton

Publisher: Puffin

Pages: 128

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

I first came to know of Geronimo Stilton only when a book from the series was gifted to La Niña. It was the first book that she began to read on her own. Prior to that, she enjoyed reading but preferred to be read to, claiming that it left her free to exercise her imagination.

It was the formatting of this series, complete with words in different colours and fonts, text in various sizes, and numerous small illustrations scattered throughout the pages, intermingled with the text, that invited her to read for herself. She hasn’t stopped reading since.

Geronimo Stilton is the editor of The Rodent’s Gazette, a popular newspaper on Mouse Island. When his grandfather, William Shortpaws, a notorious cheapskate and the founder of the newspaper, decides to cut back on the expenses, Geronimo discovers that he is in for a most terrible time.

Grandfather William fires all the employees and orders Geronimo to do all the work, including writing, printing, and being general errand boy. Geronimo’s sister Thea is named the Page Three correspondent, while his cousin, Trap, who cannot hold a job, is appointed Grandfather’s personal cook. Geronimo’s nine-year-old nephew, Benjamin, is named Grandfather’s personal assistant.

The elderly mouse sends Geronimo off to Egypt to write a special report on the pyramids. But the flight and other arrangements that have been made are so cheap and dubious that the young hero wonders if he will ever return alive. 

Instead of a seat belt, there is a piece of string. The windows are broken and passengers are urged to buy overpriced parachutes and lifebuoys. To make matters worse, when he wants to visit the washroom, he is given a bedpan, and the plane runs out of fuel in mid-flight.

Once he lands in Egypt, he discovers that Prof Alrat Spitfur has invented a new way to create energy using camel dung. The professor invites Geronimo to visit the pyramid of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Cheops.

Geronimo will be kicked at and spat on before this adventure is over.

La Niña loved the book. She loves to draw and paint and was entranced by the colourful illustrations.

The characters have such evocative names as Sammy Slickpaw, Alrat Spitfur, ‘Crash’ Ratjack, Ted Simplesnout, Miss Sally Skinnyfur, Daniel E Deadfur etc, all guaranteed to amuse kids. The locations in the book are Mouse Everest, the Great Mousewood Forest.

The figures of speech, Quick as a water rat doing the pawstroke, I looked like a tired lump of mouldy green cheese and Like a cat with a fur ball stuck in its throat etc and other expressions Slimy Swiss balls, Holey Cheese, Crunchy Cheese Chunks etc are all examples of regular expressions adapted to the mouse world.

Along the way, young kids get a not-quite-authentic (since the pharaohs are all mice) but still thoroughly entertaining lecture on Egyptian culture.

(I read this book through NetGalley.)

Book Review: ANNIE

Title: Annie

Author: Leonore Fleischer, Carol Sobieski
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Pages: 192

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The novel by Leonore Fleischer is based on the screenplay of the 1982 film by Carol Sobieski. I had watched the film as a young kid. I had a mop of curly hair then and imagined that I was some kind of an Annie myself.

Annie is one of 60 orphans at the Hudson Street Home for Girls. The keeper, Miss Hannigan, is mean and mistreats the girls, reserving all her love for her gin. But Annie is unperturbed. She has a Dream that someday her parents will return to fetch her. They will claim her and the proof of recognition will be the halves of a locket they and she have.

When she is invited to live with billionaire Oliver Warbucks for a week as part of a PR exercise to make him appear human, she quickly endears herself not only to the staff members and Grace Farrill, Warbucks’ secretary, but also to Warbucks himself.

So much so that that Warbucks even wants to adopt her. But Annie won’t have it. She still pines for her parents. To fulfill her dream, Warbucks offers the windfall of $50,000, a bumper amount, to the parents. But will Annie find her loving parents or is there foul play in store for her?

What I liked about the book, apart from the rags-to-riches story, was the historical, political and social context that made the story real. Set in 1933 at the height of the Depression, preceded by a time when everybody was having a wonderful time, doing the Charleston on the brink of a volcano.

The writing was indulgent towards all the characters, even the villainous ones, even in the midst of the caricaturing. There was a generous dose of sensitivity and humour.

The world of communications, we are interested to observe, is just about opening up, and radio is hugely popular.

The introduction of Sandy, the dog, and his first, in hindsight, fortuitous, meeting with Annie is beautiful.

The author paints such a realistic picture of life during that time, complete with the action on the street in New York.

Of course, in keeping with the times, Asp and Punjab are created with the greatest excesses of ostentation, complete with mystique and magic, but they fit in the luxurious world of the billionaire.

There’s even a chapter devoted to Warbucks and Annie’s meeting with President Roosevelt, which allows us to see a marvelous invention, the helicopter, in action. It is an invention which will play a crucial role later on in a thrilling rescue sequence.

Book Review: THE LITTLE RED WOLF

Title: The Little Red Wolf
Author: Amelie Flechais
Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors
Pages: 80

The Little Red Wolf by Amelie Flechais turns the familiar story of Little Red Riding Hood, the one we grew up with, the one that reinforced our mistrust of the Stranger as somebody to be wary of, against itself.

In this retelling, it is the Little Red Wolf who is naïve and innocent, and the Hunter and his Daughter, as blonde as in the original Little Red Riding Hood, who are the predators. They are cruel, even though they appear nice.

The Little Red Wolf is sent by his mother with a little basket containing a rabbit to his grandmother’s. Grandma is old and cannot hunt, hence, the gift. But Mother tries her best to warn the Little Red Wolf about the dangers lurking in the forest, the hunter and his daughter who prey on little wolves like him.

And so, Little Red Wolf sets out. At first, he is careful, but by and by, he forgets his mother’s warning. Hungry, he eats the rabbit, bit by bit. When it is gone, he is upset at the thought of what his mother will say to him. 

Caught at his most vulnerable, he is befriended by a young blonde girl, who tells him not to worry. She has a lot of rabbits at home and he is welcome to take one of them to his grandmother.

Things take a sinister turn for him, predictably for us. What will happen to Little Red Wolf? Will anyone heed his cries for help? Or will it be his little head mounted on the wall of the hunter’s cabin?

La Niña and El Niño enjoy it when I read to them, particularly when I modulate my voice to sound hassled and angry and frightened, in keeping with the emotions of the characters.

As I read this story, La Niña winced at the descriptions of the cruelty of the humans which was put on display in their home: the various body parts of dead animals that they had stuffed and displayed on their walls. And it was with an audible gasp of relief that she reacted to Little Red World being rescued by his father.

I was happy to hear that sound of relief.

Children need to learn to be sensitive to the troubles faced by those that aren’t like us, and to denounce the actions of the offenders, even when the offenders are people like “us.”

“My country, right or wrong” was a belief that GK Chesterton warned against. I was happy to note that this retelling helped La Niña to think about the plight of the Little Red Wolf, caught in a situation not of his choosing. 

While the book is 80 pages long, most of it is taken up by the beautifully intense illustrations, which helps us breeze through the book. 

Of course, the book is not so much a retelling as a flipping of the characters on the scale of good and evil. The rest of the story from danger to rescue is predictable.

(I read a Kindle edition of this book through Edelweiss.) 

Book Review: CHATUR AND THE ENCHANTED JUNGLE

Title: Chatur and the Enchanted Jungle
Author: Subhash Kommuru
Publisher: Kommuru Books
Pages: 32

Chatur and the Enchanted Jungle is a delightful tale that kids could enjoy as well as grownups.

The story is simple, but told so well, and the adorable illustrations add to the charm, enlivening the book still further.

Chatur and his friend, the talking donkey, Gadhu, travel together in search of work. As they travel to the next town, they have to pass through a jungle to get to the next town. Chatur thinks it would be faster to go through the jungle, rather than go around it.

Before long, they are lost. As they settle in for the night, Gadhu resting on the grass and Chatur under the shade of a bargad tree with abundant foliage, the latter wishes for a cold drink of water. Miraculously, a pot of refreshing water appears before him. Emboldened, Chatur asks for something to eat. As each wish is fulfilled, Chatur realizes that this is an enchanted jungle and his greed increases. He keeps asking for more and more.

But then his greed gets the better of him, and he ends up asking for something that ends up undoing all the good he has going for him.

There’s a lesson for kids right there: Greed never pays. But the beauty of this book are the values hidden in plain sight all through this book.

Chatur is always in a hurry to get to places, while Gadhu, more laidback, gently chides him, Ya gotta take it easy, man.

Haste makes waste, we were told as kids, but this is such a delightful way of teaching kids to enjoy the journey. My kids enjoyed repeating Gadhu’s pet phrase. I just hope they don’t make it their motto, or else it will become ammunition to lob at me.

La Niña and El Niño were equally amused by the characters' names. In Hindi, Chatur means clever and smart, while Gadhu is an endearing twist on Gadha, Hindi for donkey, an animal that is almost universally derided as stupid. Yet her, Chatur shows himself to be not-so-smart, while Gadhu turns out to have the last laugh.

Figuratively speaking, of course. Gadhu is too sweet and gentle a soul to laugh at anyone.

The Bargad (banyan) tree is highly venerated in the context of Indian culture and mythology, and I think this book also teaches us a wider truth about all that trees do for us and our world and about the significance of cherishing them, not destroying them.

Wish fulfilment is a fantasy that appeals to children of all ages, and both the kids and I were delighted at the thought of a jungle that had the potential to make wishes come true. The possibilities for fun and adventure were endless, but the author takes this story in the right direction, including within it the right dose of entertainment and values.

Both kids enjoyed reading about the adventures of Chatur and Gadhu. I hope the Kommurus have many more in store.

(I read a Kindle edition of this book through NetGalley.)

Book Review: THE SNAKE WHO WANTED TO BE A HORSE

Title: The Snake Who Wanted to be a Horse

Author: Valerie Harmon

Illustrator: Carol Stevens

Publisher: Wantstobe.com

The Snake who wanted to be a Horse by Valerie Harmon is a sweet and unlikely story about a snake whose belly is sore from all the crawling that he has to do. He sees a horse, an animal whose stomach is so high above the ground that it never touches the ground. What’s more, Horse has such long legs that he doesn’t need to crawl either. 

And so, Snake decides that he wants to be a horse.

He asks Horse for advice. Horse first tells him to eat grass for a week, and then when that fails, to neigh and whinny all through the day for a week. Both courses of action produce hilarious results.

La Niña and El Niño, who listened eagerly as I read this book aloud, laughed the loudest when these parts were read.

And then Horse recommends that Snake move from one place to another by lifting his body off the ground. You can imagine the challenge inherent in that advice for someone like Snake.

But Snake is determined to become a Horse, and will put himself through any amount of pain.

The illustrations by Carol Stevens are adorable and they give a good push to the imagination.

El Niño wanted to know why Snake wanted to be a Horse and nothing else. I had to remind him that it was a Horse that he had seen when he was dissatisfied with his own lot. From there, he wondered briefly what would have happened if he had seen an elephant, for example, or a peacock. He also thought a tiger would have been far better.

In the end, I wondered if Snake’s goal was realistic. Of course, I tell my kids that they can be anything they choose to be. But could a Snake change magically into a Horse? 

Could you alter your genus? Trump your genes and become something totally impossible to achieve?

Snake does ultimately become a Snorse, part Horse, part Snake, ready to tackle the adventure of life with his friend, Horse, by his side to show him the way.

And as the kids clamour for an encore, I realize they’re too young to think about the unreasonableness of Snake’s desire.

It is the size of the dream that counts, and the size of the fight in the dog, as they say.

Here Snake wants to be a Horse with all his heart, and in the perfect world of children’s fiction, that is what he becomes.

Book Review: HARRY HIPPO AND THE WISHING POOL

Title: Harry Hippo and the Wishing Pool
Author: Tara Star
Publisher: Princess Star Tara Publications
Pages: 25

The only reason why I picked this book was because the main character was a hippo. A hippo was among the few animals that my kids, La Niña and El Niño, learned to identify when they first started learning the names of animals. For the same reason, Gloria in the Madagascar films series was also one of their favourite characters.

So when I saw that this book was about a hippo, I knew they were bound to like it.

Harry Hippo is a hippo with huge self-esteem issues. He thinks he is too ugly and admires other animals for their physical attributes. A toucan offers to help him become as pretty as the other animals, and directs him to a magical watering hole which offers a swimmer one wish. Harry Hippo wishes to be pretty and his wish is granted. 

But it isn't always nice to have one's wishes come true, and Harry Hippo discovers that soon enough. How he comes to realise the importance of accepting and loving oneself is the crux of this story.

The book is peppered with photographs and cute illustrations of animals. The illustrations are a mix of simple line drawings and artistic renditions of what a lush, tropical forest in the Serengeti, in Tanzania, thickly populated with animals, might look like. 

The font and the point size alter on different pages of the book. I thought that some standardisation would have helped, not only in the use of the font and the point size but also in the pictures. Either photos, or simple drawings or artistic illustrations would have served much better, rather than a mix of all three.

Also, there is a factual error that I discovered when I looked up the meaning of toucan. Apparently it is a brightly coloured tropical American bird. This book transplants it into Africa.

Of course, this kind of nit-picking is what we adults do. My kids loved the story, from start to finish, and gushed over each of the images, imagining themselves in the centre of some of the most beautiful illustrations.

La Niña particularly took the lesson to heart. So well did she make it her own that when, some days later, she wanted to click a picture with me, I, notorious hater of my own photographs, refused, saying that I wasn't photogenic enough, and that my hair always looked bad etc.

That's when she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Mamma, haven't you learned anything from Harry Hippo?"

Some lessons we all stand in need of.

Thank you, Harry Hippo. I hope La Niña and El Niño never forget what you taught them.

Book Review: DANIEL THE DRAW-ER

Title: Daniel the Draw-er

Author: SJ Henderson

Publisher: Createspace (Self-published)

Pages: 142

Daniel the Draw-er is a charming book for children that holds appeal for grownups too. Written as the first person present tense account of Daniel, the book is sure to appeal to readers.

Nine-year-old Daniel is a remarkable voice. He has just the right mix of naiveté and the ability to see through the pretense of the adults around him. He makes observations about adults, how they are supposed to be smart, but aren’t always. How they are always making pronouncements about what is or isn’t healthy for children.

Even as he speaks of big things, he remains a child, his childishness seen through the little details, the way he drinks straight from the carton and wipes his milk moustache on his sleeve.

Still childlike enough to want a superhero’s cape, he is still mature enough to fight his own battles, although from the grownup’s point of view, he can be difficult at times. Set fire to one kitchen and everyone freaks out.

Daniel has only one friend at school. Annie.  Even as his mother pesters him to make new friends, he insists that Annie is the only friend he needs. Annie, his best friend, smells of peanut butter and wears her brother’s old jeans. Immediately you get a word picture of the character. You don’t need any extensive descriptions after that.

Daniel has a great imagination. He draws machines with awesome powers. One of his creations is a robot named Pi-zzabot who bakes a pizza and does your Math homework too. Or a bear with octopus-like tentacles on the lower half of his body.

When the tip of his pencil breaks off, he begins to draw with a pencil he finds in the attic. What he doesn’t know is that this pencil is magical, so anything he draws with it comes alive.

His find is so awesome that Daniel cannot bring himself to share it, not even with Annie. And so there is a rift in their friendship. Annie moves on to other friends, and Daniel is left to mull over and regret his selfishness.

Of course, it is a children’s story, and everything works out well in the end, with assorted fantastical characters joining in the good fight against big bully Bucky Thomas on behalf of Daniel.

And of course, the magic pencil also has a magic eraser attached to one end, so some troubles can just be erased out of existence.

The characters, as seen through Daniel’s perspective, appear eccentric and amusing. Young Daniel describes Tommy, his sister Lila’s latest boyfriend as having just enough hair on his chin to make it look like he’s super-glued a caterpillar there and smelling of microwave burritos and cat litter.

Daniel’s observations on most girls are amusing. He has a delicious tone of irony when Lila corrects his English and he tells us that Tommy needs the correction more. After all, it is Tommy who refers to Daniel as a draw-er, when artist is the right word.

He expresses a wry opinion on his mom’s cooking skills, particularly her infamous meatloaf, Dad’s toys in the attic, and Lila’s crazy attempts to make herself look pretty.

About Dad, who is officially least favourite parent, he says, Never mind him. We both know Mom’s the one in charge.

I read this story out loud to La Niña and El Niño  and both gave it a delighted thumbs up. They giggled through the reading, particularly when Pi-zzabot and Mr Whiskers, the cat, came on the scene.

Of course, I exercised parental discretion when reading Daniel’s observations out loud, toning them down suitably to suit the ears of my wee ones, and omitting passages that might shock them. Or give them ideas.

There was one place where Daniel rolls his eyes on hearing his mother’s words. 

That sort of behaviour, fellow-parents, you will agree, must be nipped without mercy.