Venice has long been a favourite setting for children’s books and if they happen to have an element of magic then so much the better. This fabulous book delivers on all levels and takes us into the world of a charming and very resourceful heroine.
Chicken House, 9781912626106
Aribella has been brought up by her lace-maker father after the death of her mother ten years previously. Their lives are poor and Aribella’s father is still grieving for his wife and takes little notice of his daughter. The day before her 13th birthday Aribella is out fishing with her friend Theo when a dark fog comes down and fishing become impossible. The local fishermen think it is a bad omen and seek to blame Aribella, as females are bad luck on ships! When an older lad Gian gets into a fight with Theo and Aribella she is horrified to discover that flames shoot out of her finger ends. What follows next takes Aribella into a secret world that she had never heard of and leads her to discover what had actually happened to her mother. It appears that she is a Cannovacci, a person who holds special powers, and she needs to discover what this means and how to control the powers. Not only this, but she has to try and rescue her father from prison and save Venice from a dark and threatening danger. All of this adds up to a thrilling and fast paced adventure story that will have the readers totally engrossed by the plot and wanting more.
This is a magical story in several senses of the word. The author has managed to really imbue the book with a feel of the city and the the atmosphere that surrounds the waterways. At its core this is a story about the meaning and importance of family and friendship, as Aribella is torn between the various calls on her loyalty and has to decide who she can trust. It is also a story about people’s craving for power and what they will do in order to achieve their ends, even betraying their friends and colleagues.
She pulls in some of the things that make Venice so individual, especially the masks, which are central to the way that special powers are controlled. These masks appear in several stories about the city and everyone knows them from Carnival, in fact they have become popular style icons around the world. A quick search online reveals a fascinating history and I have added a couple of links that might be of interest. The term canovaccio, which is a close relation to the title Cannovacci actually refers to the performances by the “Commedia dell’ Arte” and seems to basically describe the outline of the performance. In order to circumvent the censorship laws the actual script was not written down, so the artists were able to ‘ad-lib’ within the basic frame work. I would be interested to know whether there was an intentional connection when the name of the group was chosen.
Anna Hoghton
Anna Hoghton is a poet and filmmaker and is also a graduate of Bath Spa University and its outstanding MA in Writing for Young People Course. This is her first published novel and I very much hope that it will not be the last. She really has put together a work that connects the characters with the audience, but also gives us that desire to know more about the magical city that they inhabit. What a brilliant start to this part of Anna’s career!
Thank you to Chicken House for providing this excerpt from the book to whet your appetite.
http://magicofvenezia.com/history-of-venetian-masks/
https://www.italymask.co.nz/About+Masks/History+of+Venetian+Masks.html
“The Snow Dragon” by Abi Elphinstone and Fiona Woodcock. What a truly magical story with totally dreamlike illustrations to bring the story to life. Phoebe is the final child living at Griselda Bone’s orphanage and longs to find her forever family but she did not reckon on her snowman turning into an ice dragon and taking her off on an adventure to see the northern lights and other wonders she had only seen in books. There are glorious illustrations and an ending that will give everyone a very seasonal glow.
preparing for Christmas, but Sunny has been reading about the ‘perfect’ holiday and decides that the Kalahari Desert is not the place for a real Christmas. He sets off to find the perfect ingredients: snow, singing, tree, presents and dinner, but nowhere has all of them. When Sunny falls asleep on Christmas Eve it is Father Christmas who grants him the wish he really wants – to be home with his family. One again Emily Gravett has produced a glorious book that I absolutely loved and which should be in everyone’s’ Christmas collection
“Frida Kahlo” by Lucy Brownridge and Sandra Dieckmann is a wonderful evocation of the artist’s life and art, aimed at younger children. I have loved her work for a long time, but seeing the exhibition about her life at the V&A in 2018 really brought home how amazing she was. This book mentions her health issues but does not go in to tremendous detail, rather it focuses on her development as an artist and the influence she has had outside Mexico. Sandra Dieckmann has done a tremendous job with the illustrations, bringing her own touches to the work whilst also paying ‘homage’ to Kahlo’s own style. This will make a tremendous addition to any primary school.
delightful look at coping with a fear of the dark. The young hero finds that he is a ‘bit’ afraid of the dark because of the shadows and various sounds that he cannot identify. So when his father takes him on an overnight camping trip he is really worried by the idea of the dark. However he has a revelation when it is truly dark; for it is then that he can really see all the stars in the night sky. This is a story of finding the beautiful and positive in something that we are not sure about and it is great for young readers. There are lovely illustrations and a really imaginative use of cutouts in many of the pages, which brings everything to life.
“The Usborne book of Night time” by Usborne and Bonnie Pang is aimed at younger children, perhaps up to lower KS2. It takes the concept of night and then gives us a double page spread to look at the various elements that make up the night. There are factories and cities, the sea and the sky, nocturnal animals, northern lights and different parts of the world; all of these are working while we are sleeping. This is a great introduction to understanding our world and can lead on to some really fascinating discoveries for the young readers.
collection of poetry, but importantly it is an A-Z of shape poetry. I think most of us find writing poetry quite challenging, so to find that these poets have created stunning work and all in the shape of various animals is quite amazing. The layout of the book and the simple use of colour really helps the words and shapes stand out but it is the imagination of the writers that really makes this book so stunning.
“Boy oh Boy” by Cliff Leek and Bene Rohlmann is a look at 30 men, both living and dead, who have had an impact on the way that we look at men and our expectations of them. Many of these people are household names, but others have not made headlines outside their immediate areas, yet they have had an effect on the way that people think and behave and they have even changed the laws of the land. These people are from around the world and from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, which shows that everyone has the potential to be great. The illustrations are very bright and strong and are somewhat 1950s in style, making the work stand out from others. After so many books about strong females recently it is good to see a book that looks at broadening the range of biographies.
and gives us a double page spread of ‘big thinkers’ in that area and then it looks at the development of our knowledge. Subjects covered vary from the periodic table, animal classification, and astronomy to computers, big data, and renewable energy. Whilst this does not have an index it does have a good glossary which will help the readers understand the new terms thy come across.
“The Golden Cage” by Anna Castagnoli and Carll Cneut can only be described as a stunning piece of art, but it is also a salutatory lesson in how not to behave towards humans and birds. The story itself is a cautionary tale of a very nasty princess who loves collecting birds, but kills off servants who don’t bring her exactly what she wants. This is very much about what happens when there are no rules, because Princess Valentina is totally spoiled and no one tells her that there are limits on what is possible. The illustrations are amazing; they are vibrant, sophisticated, full of emotion and bring the story to life. There is a very limited colour palette and the strong use of the colour yellow highlights the title of the book and the importance of the ‘golden cage’ as the place where her most treasured acquisition will be held captive. The ending of this fairy tale has been left open, so that we can imagine a variety of plots, to suit our mood. Somehow this reminds me of the Brothers Grimm and I think it will be a great read with older children despite the small amount of text.
heartbreaking. The young hero Yazan loves going to the park to play but life suddenly changes and he doesn’t know why. He gets bored not going to school, not meeting his friends and not going out to play, so one day he decides to take his bike to the park; but nothing is as it should be and thankfully his father finds him before anything happens. The illustrations often have a darkness about them that reflects the reality of life that the family are living and Yazan is shown as being a very young child caught up in a dangerous world. This thought provoking book really adds to the collection that is developing and which helps young children understand what it has been like to live in some of the war zones around the world. It will also hopefully help them develop their empathy with those who have lost their homes and had to move to another country.
“Julian is a Mermaid” by Jessica Love is a delightful story about being true to yourself and about others accepting that we are all different. When Julian is walking home with his grandma they see a group of ladies dress as mermaids and Julian decides that he want to be one too. At home he finds an assortment of clothes to help in his transformation and even put on some make-up. His Nana reacts in a very supportive way and gives him a bead necklace to finish his look and then they go off on a walk. During this stroll they see a range of very individual and vibrantly dressed people and finally they start to see lots of mermaids; much to Julian’s delight. This is actually a carnival and people are allowing themselves the pleasure of dressing up.It is a delightful way to show the way that a wide range of people can live in harmony and enjoy life.
“Somebody swallowed Stanley” by Sarah Roberts and Hannah Peck is a very unusual but very relevant look at plastic waste and the effect on the sea. Stanley is a striped plastic bag and he finds himself blown into the sea where he is in turn swallowed by a Whale, Seagulls and a Turtle; luckily they were able to free themselves, but the Turtle need the help of a young boy. The boy then tells Stanley that he should not be in the sea, because creatures think he looks like a jellyfish. The boy then turns Stanley into a kite which is much more appropriate. This is a very simple story but it acts as a perfect introduction to looking at our environment as well as being a great story.
“Clem and Crab” by Fiona Lumbers is another story that helps us look at our environment and in particular the issues that we find along our beaches. Clem loves visiting the beach with her sister and fishing around in the rock pools, searching for wildlife. One day she finds a small crab and although she puts it back into the water, it somehow manages to get caught in her clothing and end off back in the city. Clem would love to keep her new friend but knows it must be returned to the beach; but how can she help make that a safe place for the crab? This is a lovely book at friendship and helping others and would be fantastic if you were planning on visiting the seaside.
wants everyone to believe that he is a tiger. The absurdity of such a claim becomes apparent as he wanders along and meets a wide range of animals, none of which are correctly identified; this leads them to be sad and frustrated as they try and make this small creature understand who they are. In some ways this has the feel of the Gruffalo as the mouse is walking though the landscape and is telling ‘stories’ to the animals he sees. It is also a story about identity and perhaps about not being limited by our physical appearance. Most of us know who we are but often like to imagine that we have a different persona. I am delighted to find that a follow up called “I am not an Elephant” is scheduled to be published early in 2020, I can’t wait to read this as well.
“Walk on the Wild Side” by Nicholas Oldland is the third in a series of adventures featuring Moose, Bear and Beaver. In this story they decide to climb a mountain, but find that it is much harder than they had imagined. After lots of danger and obstacles they discover that the only way to succeed is by helping each other, and then they finally achieve their objective. I love these very simple, humorous stories that each give a very strong message and look forward to many more adventures for the intrepid trio.
residents of a block of apartments discover that a family of rats have moved in to their building.The bunny children are the first to find out and they are looking forward to going and meeting their new neighbours. But as they tell more people, mainly adults, we see attitudes change as people believe the stereotypes they have heard in the past. Thankfully when they finally meet the neighbours they realize that they are just the same as everyone else. This is a charming story with a strong and very important message about not listening to gossip and not judging people because of their backgrounds. As always Sarah McIntyre’s illustrations are colourful, energetic and funny and it is a great story for reading aloud.
suddenly he has a friend to share adventures with; however we can see that Pat is actually a rat, not a squirrel. Eventually the other creatures tell Cyril the truth and Pat is forced to leave the park, leaving his friend alone again. The story does have a happy ending and the two are able to resume their friendship despite being different. Emily Gravett has given us a wonderful story of friendship, acceptance and empathy. It is full of humour but also has its fair share of pathos; it is a wonderful tale.
“Flat Stanley” by Jeff Brown and Rob Biddulph was first published in the UK in 1968 and since then it has become a perennial favourite with young children. They love the quirky and imaginative story of a young boy who is squashed flat, but then goes on to have amazing adventures. In this version Stanley saves the museum from robbers and is flown as a kite, however he has to cope with people being mean because he is different. Luckily his brother comes up with a solution and Stanley is pumped back into shape with a bicycle pump. This version of the story is illustrated by Rob Biddulph with his characteristic
sweeping up dead leaves, but what do we do when they become too many for us to cope with and begin to effect those around us? Luckily a wind comes along and blows away his bad mood and he learns to think twice before allowing it to take over again. This is a very dynamic book with energetic illustrations which really help us visualize the issues that Ed is facing. The story is very simple but absolutely gets its message across; it will be great for helping young children come to terms with their own emotions as well as those of others around them.
philosophical look at our world and how we seem to always want more space, yet this book reminds us that there is always room for all of us; this includes humans and animals. At a time when there are refugees across the globe, forests are being cut down and housing seems to be at a premium, perhaps we need to remember some of the ideas in this story. The illustrations are sophisticated and get also naive but manage to convey the meaning of the text in a way that we can readily relate to. I am sure this will find its place in the discussions about our world and the way we all live.
told introduction to the life of Mary Shelley (as she became) and how she came to write one of the most enduring stories in English Literature. The illustrations are a tour de force by Julia Sarda and the sophisticated and highly stylized images really bring the text to life. This would make a really good introduction to the young reader who is about to read the story itself; it also works as a good basis for learning about ‘Gothic tales’ and their popularity at the beginning of the 19th Century.
“How Winston delivered Christmas” by Alex T Smith is an absolutely delightful story told in “twenty four and a half chapters”. It is about how a young mouse called Winston discovers a letter to Father Christmas, on Christmas Eve, and decides he will try and make sure that the letter is delivered. This is a glorious story full of Christmas spirit and one which is bound to become something of a festive ritual in many homes.
sharing. When frog mis-reads his map and ends up on the opposite side of the world from his Christmas hotel he is helped by Bear, who does everything he can to make the holiday memorable. This proved an absolute winner when I read it to six classes on one day and it leaves you with a warm glow.
“Grandpa Christmas” by Michael Morpurgo and Jim Field. This is a heartwarming story with a strong message for all of us. Mia and her family read a very special letter from her grandfather every Christmas, just after they have opened their presents. In this letter he talks about the need to care for our world and to make sure that we do our best to make it a good place for our descendants and for the creatures that we share the world with. So thought provoking and magical.
“Silent Night” The illustrations are bright and simple and can be enjoyed by children of all ages. The book also explains how the carol came to be written. It is a really delightful way for children to learn this song on the lead up to Christmas.
to make enough presents for Christmas. The illustrations are full of jokes will keep young readers amused for hours; it will also keep the adults chuckling as they read the story.
most beloved writers and illustrators. this is one for both home and school and you will dip into it year after year.
“POG” by Padraig Kenny is a magical stand-alone story about two children (and their father)who move to their mother’s childhood home after her death. They are struggling to come to terms with their grief and find that the appearance of a small very hairy individual might help them. There is a very subtle underlying theme which has the story coming somewhat ‘full circle’. It is an extremely thought provoking read.
