Adventures in creativity for children

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Four new books for children from Tate Publishing reviewed by a specialist team

The last few months have seen the appearance of a rich variety of children’s books published by Tate to add to the temptations already to be found in Tate bookshops for readers (of all ages) of books about the visual arts.  What is impressive, as well as the variety of formats and content aimed at all ages, is that all these books offer high quality production values whilst remaining affordable.  In order to give Cassone readers a sound overview of these publications, an infant teacher, a children’s librarian, and two children of primary school age have also made their own contributions to this review.

Mr Benn – Red Knight, by David McKee, was first published in 1967, and will be familiar to TV viewers as well as readers from that era who will surely be delighted to see it again, and to share it with younger readers.  This was the first Mr Benn story to be published, establishing the format for the popular series, where Mr Benn’s adventures start when he tries on costumes in the shop kept by ‘a strange little man, with a moustache and an odd hat’ who appears ‘as if by magic’ when he enters the shop. For adult readers, text such as this evokes the voices and music of the TV programmes, while, as the dust jacket claims, bringing ‘the glories of a golden age of children’s book illustration and story-telling to a new generation’. One of the strengths of the publication of Red Knight and another of the Mr Benn books by Tate, is the way it puts more recent children’s book illustration into a contextual time-line for those interested in the subject.  McKee’s illustrations are a mix of highly detailed line drawings and coloured pictures, often over a two-page spread, and the integration of text and illustration is perfect for shared enjoyment of a delightful story.

Noisy Neighbours  is a first book by artist and designer Ruth Green.  Both the format and the illustrations give the book what my librarian reviewer called a ‘retro’ feel, something that is very fashionable at the moment: there are certainly echoes of popular design from the 1950s and ’60s in Green’s illustrations.  An illustration of fruit and vegetables in the allotment particularly appealed to one young reader, and all the illustrations offer plenty to talk about.  The use of different background colours for each pair of pages adds to the visual attraction of the book.  This would be a comforting, gentle and simple bedtime book, especially as it ends with a party after which all the animals ‘get so tired out, they fall asleep, one and all’.

Both Mr Benn – Red Knight and Noisy Neighbours are hardback editions clearly intended for repeated readings but also to keep and treasure.  Other recent publications are produced with a slightly different kind of book experience in mind.  All Around the World, by Géraldine Cosneau, is a very high-quality sticker book that would make a great present for 6–7-year-olds.  Eight fold-out panoramic scenes are bound into the book, each with a different theme, ranging from the Sahara desert to the Arctic, but also including more familiar countryside.  Each has a page of related stickers, and a particular pleasure for young wildlife enthusiasts is the fact that the animals included go beyond the generic ‘lions and tigers’, or ‘cows and sheep’ of supermarket sticker books, to include specifically-named creatures from all around the world, such as monarch butterflies and poison dart frogs.  Once completed, the panoramas can be detached from the book and wall mounted. Alternatively, the stickers are reusable, though adult help may well be needed as they proved rather difficult to ‘unstick’ once in place. Also, some of the stickers, such as scorpions and lemmings, are very small and intricate, and therefore quite tricky for little fingers.  The pages are backed with outline drawings for children to colour in. The teacher reviewing these found them rather prescriptive, though one of the younger reviewers turned the wolf into a princess rather quickly, so they may still offer scope for the imagination.

Finally, The Book with a Hole, by Hervé Tullet, proved to be an instant hit with everyone who saw it, the only note of regret being that it would not really be durable enough as a library book.  It is a large-format book with a hole at the centre of the spine, which becomes something different, or opens up different possibilities for creative play, at every turn of the page.  The infant teacher who helped review these books thought it would have great immediacy if brought into school when meeting a new class.  It is an activity book that would offer something different every time it was used, and would lend itself to interactive discussion and language development.  For the younger reviewers it was, simply, ‘fun’.

What is especially heartening is the commitment the publishers have made to extending their range in so many ways with these new additions, covering classics such as Mr Benn, new work such as Ruth Green’s, and high-quality activity books.   All have the potential to stimulate and extend children’s imaginative lives through text and illustration.

Mr Benn – Red Knight  by David McKee, 2011. 42 pp. fully illustrated, £8.99. ISBN 978 1 85437 990 0

All Around the World  by Géraldine Cosneau, 2011. 8 fold-out scenes, 400 stickers, £8.99. ISBN 978 1 85437 976 4

Noisy Neighbours  by Ruth Green, 2011. 32 pp. fully illustrated, £6.99. ISBN 978 1 85437 942 9

The Book with a Hole  by Hervé Tullet, 2011. 96 pp. fully illustrated in black & white, £8.99. ISBN 978 1 85437 946 7