rhyme – Page 6 – Aussie Reviews

Watermelon on My Plate, by Paddy Dewan

The pages of this slim volume are filled with poems on a range of topics – from natural features such as clouds, to animals including mice and roosters, to fantastical creatures such as dragons. The poet, Paddy Dewan, takes interesting angles on things such as paintings hanging on walls, which can ‘tell a story’ or ‘reflect past glory’, encouraging young readers to stop and think about the topics.

Some of the best poems in the book are the shape poems, which young readers will enjoy because words and pictures come together to create a whole, so that in the poem about a bicycle wheel , the lines of poetry are spokes in the illustrated wheel and the reader needs to figure out where to start reading. In ‘Cloudie’ the poem drifts through pictures of clouds.

Other poems are rhymed and, although some of the rhymes seem forced (such as the phrase ‘stare your eye’, used to rhyme with ‘piled up high’), the topic and perspectives are interesting, and the black and white illustrations on every spread are really endearing. The book’s size and cover are unusual, being small format with a glossy softback cover, giving it a slightly historical feel in keeping with the traditional nature of much of the poetry.

Watermelon on My Plate, by Paddy Dewan, illustrated by Ros Care
Papyrus Publishing, 2011
ISBN 9781875934676

Rudie Nudie, by Emma Quay

This is a book that youngsters will giggle at and will want read over and over – but, be warned, they’ll also want to mimic the rudie nudie fun. And why wouldn’t they?

One, two Rudie Nudie,
Rudie Nudie in the bath.
Squeaky clean and splishing, splashing, sploshing –
Rudie Nudie laugh.

So begins this delightful celebration of being naked (nudie!) and delighting in the freedom of childhood in the time between bath and bed. Two young children (the older seems to be a girl and the younger a boy) bath together, then, before being dressed, escape their towels and run and romp over different surfaces including the smooth floorboards, the furry carpet and the slightly prickly doormat. The pair jump and pirouette and run for cuddles before finally allowing their parents to catch and dress them ready for bed.

Rudie Nudie is a celebration of childhood and of freedom. The children’s nudity is natural and presented in a way that leaves nothing for anyone to complain about – there are no genitals on display, for example. This is a book that youngsters will giggle at and will want read over and over – but, be warned, they’ll also want to mimic the rudie nudie fun. And why wouldn’t they? This pair is having fun, and is warmly nurtured by a pair of parents who watch and support the fun.

A book about living.

Rudie Nudie, by Emma Quay
ABC Books, 2011
ISBN 9780733323355&

This book is available from good bookstores, or online from Fishpond.

Bom! Went the Bear, by Nicki Greenberg

Bear loves to play his big bass drum. He marches along happy to be making music – and noise. Other animals soon join in, loving the music

BOM! went the bear on the big bass drum
Ting-ting-a-ting-ting-a Strum strum strum.
Giraffes hit the high notes, turtles sing low
Clarinet quick-quick, saxophone slow.

Bear loves to play his big bass drum. He marches along happy to be making music – and noise. Other animals soon join in, loving the music. But Bear isn’t so sure that there are room for all these other animal musicians in his band, especially when they start telling him to look out!

BOM! Went the Bear is a wonderful celebration of music, and noise, and silliness, with the pages full of bright, humorous animals singing and dancing and having fun. The text is perfect for reading aloud and simple enough for youngsters to join in. With repeated readings they will quickly learn the whole story. Illustrations are bright mixed media,with collage touches , particularly for the instruments, adding an element for children to explore, and even replicate with their own art and craft projects.

BOM! Went the Bear is perfect for the very young and for the early childhood classroom.

BOM! Went the Bear, by Nicki Greenberg
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742376714

This book can be purchased in good bookstores, or online through Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

The Carousel, by Ursula Dubosarsky & Walter Di Qual

This a book which makes for repeated oral readings, particularly by adult readers to children, who will love the rhythm of the words and the magic of the horses – real or imagined.

One winter’s day my dad and I
Went down to see the carousel.
We stood and watched as round and round
The little horses rose and fell.

This enchanting rhyming picture book begins with the protagonsit,a young girl, watching the carousel with her father before she, too, gets to ride on one of the painted horses. On the ride she is transported, imaging herself galloping free as the wind far from the carousel. But, when the ride slows, the girl feels the horse’s sorrow that it can never be free to leap and bound, to wander in the wilds. So she makes a wish that all of the horses will be free – a wish that she believes come true, with the sound of hooves in the night and the horses running free ever after.

The Carousel is a magical tale of imagination and freedom, told in rhyming verse which scans with a rhythmic echo of the rocking of the horses as they canter free. Most spreads have just one four line stanza, allowing the illustrations to dominate the text. And what illustrations they are – mixed media renderings of the magic of the carousel, and of the horse galloping across red earth, through blue water and against purple night skies.

This a book which makes for repeated oral readings, particularly by adult readers to children, who will love the rhythm of the words and the magic of the horses – real or imagined.

The Carousel, by Ursula Dubosarsky & Walter Di Qual

Viking, 2011
ISBN 9780670074624

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online from Fishpond

Lazy Daisy, Busy Lizzie, by Mary Ellen Jordan & Andrew Weldon

One by one, in rhyme, the reader is introduced to the animal occupants of a farm. But few of these animals behave quite as might be expected.

This is my cow,

she’s called Daisy.

She should eat grass,

but she’s too lazy.

One by one, in rhyme, the reader is introduced to the animal occupants of a farm. But few of these animals behave quite as might be expected. There’s the lazy cow, who’d rather be spoon fed jelly; the hen who prefers dancing to laying eggs. Alternate double-page spreads introduce the animals and what they ‘should’ be doing, with following spreads detailing their preferred activities. But despite their un-farmlike activities, there is something they all do well, and the narrator suggests that on balance their combined life is a good one. Illustrations are pen and watercolour, in cartoon-style. Front endpapers show the farm in daytime, end endpapers show the farm at night.

From the outset and from the title, it’s clear that Lazy Daisy, Busy Lizzie is a book about playing with language, playing with sounds, and encouraging the reader to do the same. The illustrations include many other details and reader and child will easily be able to conjure up names, words and activities for further occupants of this farm. Readers will engage with the language, be tickled by the illustrations and come away with a sense of just how much fun it can be to play with words. And all this wrapped in delightful package of silliness. Win-win. Recommended for pre-school and early school readers.

Lazy Daisy, Busy Lizzie, Mary Ellen Jordan Andrew Weldon Allen & Unwin 2011 ISBN: 9781742374291

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond.

The Pout-Pout Fish, by Deborah Diesen & Dan Hanna

Deep in the water
Where the fish hang out
Lives a glum gloomy swimmer
With an ever-present pout.

I’m a pout-pout fish
With a pout-pout face,
So I spread the dreary-wearies
All over the place.

Blub Bluuub Bluuuuuuub

Poor old Mr Fish! Destined to be gloomy and glum and to spread the gloom to everyone he sees. Casual comments, jovial suggestions, grumpy commands to cheer up all meet with the same response from Mr Fish. That he is a pout-pout fish and he has no choice but to look grim. He must be, there is no one around him who looks or acts like him. But then along comes a newcomer. The story is told in rhyme, with repetition which will encourage young ‘readers’ to join in. Illustrations are cartoony and colourful with some pages divided to provide extra frames. This sea is very full with some recognisable and less familiar sea-dwellers.

The Pout-pout Fish is a simple story about destiny and when it just isn’t. Mr Fish has accepted that he is the way he is and that he has no choice to be different. Despite his gloominess, he seems to have many friends, even if those friends are imploring him to change. Then a chance encounter makes him see himself in very different way. He is still who he is, but he’s much easier to have around. There are many little sea creatures to find in each image, and unusual plants too. Children will enjoy finding the same creatures on each page, and looking at what’s different. Recommended for 4-6 year olds.

The Pout-pout Fish, Deborah Diesen & Dan Hanna
Scholastic Australia 2011
ISBN: 9781742830063

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

This book is available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

Snug as Hug, by Marcia Vaughan & Pamela Lofts

Joey is sleeping curled up in Mum’s pouch.
Koala is resting on a limb like a couch.
Turtle is dreaming far out in the sea.
Cockatoo is yawning high up in a tree.

This wonderfully Australian offering is a delightful bedtime book which will appeal to parents and children alike. Snug as a Hug is a rhyming offering which visits the Animals of the bush as they settle down for the night before focussing in on the child also settling down for the night, with the parent-reader’s reassurance that they’ll be close by all night.

The illustrations, in the soft tones of the night time bush show the animals settling down, with the final spread showing soft toy versions of the animals on the child’s bed.

Perfect for children from birth to preschool, this is sure to be a favourite bed time offering.

Snug as a Hug, by Marcia Vaughan & Pamela Lofts
Scholastic, 2010

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

There's a Goat in My Coat, by Rosemary Milne

Wriggle and Giggle
Wriggle your fingers
And wriggle your toes
Wriggle your hips
And wriggle your nose
Wriggle your bottom
And wriggle your head
Wriggle and giggle
And jump out of bed!

There’s a Goat in My Coat is a picture-book sized, hard cover collection of poetry from the author of the ‘Playschool’ song ‘There’s a Bear in There’. The opening poem is about getting out of bed, and the final poem rounds off the collection with the same poem, re-jigged for going to bed. In between, there are poems to reflect a wide range of days. Some are nonsense narrative poems like ‘Bouncy Bear’ and the more realist ‘Round and Round the Roundabout’. Others are about slippers and socks and rolling down hills. The title of the collection comes from a poem called ‘I’m a Walking Zoo’, a nonsense rhyming poem. There are long poems and short ones and following around the page ones. Illustrations range from real to absurd and are loose watercolours and pencil.

It’s clear from the outset, that There’s a Goat in My Coat is going to be a fun collection for young children. It’s silly and funny and perfect to read out loud. The content is styled to make the listening to the individual words and lines as much fun as the poem itself. There’s a mixture of poetic styles too, with rhyming poems, rhythmic ones, and others that employ repetition to good effect. There are poems that ask to be acted out, poems for counting, observational poems, something for every taste. The illustrations add to the humour and fun. Some are full colour, others are set in white space. Front endpapers are set on the same sunny yellow as the cover, while the end endpapers reflect the going to bed of the final poem. A perfect collection to give away as a gift, or to keep to share with your own young children.

There’s a Goat in My Coat, Rosemary Milne, ill Andrew McLean
Allen & Unwin 2010
ISBN: 9781741758917

Reviewed by Claire Saxby Children’s book author.
www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Aussie Legends, by Tom Baddley

The story of Australia is full of wondrous facts,
Of men and women, young and old, and their amazing acts.
But there’s one name that seems to stir opinions good and bad
Ned Kelly – wild bushranger – was he marvellous or mad?

Australia’s non-indigenous history is very short, but is peopled (and horsed) by some memorable characters. Before books were widely available and affordable, many stories were circulated by oral storytellers. Rhyme was also used by some of our most famous storytellers like Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson to capture the stories of Australia. And Tom Baddeley has chosen rhyme to tell the stories of six Australian legends. Each story begins with a map showing where the legend lived and is accompanied by full page illustrations. Aussie Legends is a sturdy hardback, with a green and gold cover.

History is fascinating, but it’s not always accessible to younger children. Tom Baddeley has combined history with poetry to bring stories to new generations of children. These stories are teasers, tasters. The stories are an introduction to non-indigenous history and will hopefully inspire further reading, further curiosity about other times and other people. The illustrations show the times as well as the legends. Stories like those of Phar Lap and Don Bradman also reflect the nationalism and pride Australians felt for their heroes. Others, like the story of Ned Kelly, talk about the continued challenge of deciding whether Ned was hero or villain. Recommended for primary readers.

Aussie Legends, Tom Baddeley ill Tracey Gibbs
Fremantle Press 2009
ISBN: 9781921361609

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

this book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Hairy Maclary, Shoo, by Lynley Dodd

STOP this shemozzle,
this hullabaloo!
Scarper,
skedaddle,
BE OFF WITH YOU –
SHOO!

Hairy Maclary is enjoying some quiet time with his friends until a delivery van pulls up – and the van door is left often for a moment. Soon Hairy Maclary finds himself far from home, exploring shops, schools and gardens, creating chaos wherever he goes. All he wants is for someone to show him the way home – and, lucky for him, he is found by Miss Plum.

Fans young and old of Hairy Maclary will be delighted to see him in yet another of his trademark adventures, getting into mischief even without trying. As always Lynley Dodd’s rhyming text is seamless, rolling off the tongue, a pleasure both to read and to listen to. Her illustrations, too, bring Hairy to life . Hairy Maclary, Shoo is a treasure.

Hairy Maclary, Shoo, by Lynley Dodd
ABC books, 2009

this book can be purchased online from Fishpond. buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.