Welcome to the first edition of Bronny’s Bookshelf. In these posts I’ll be picking a handful of children’s books from my home bookshelf and sharing my thoughts on them. Today I’ll be discussing three books of which are very near and dear to mine and my child’s heart.
Felix and Alexander: Written & Illustrated by Terry Denton
Felix & Alexander is a fantastic and cute children’s book from Australia. It follows two characters which give the books its title. Alexander is a young boy who lives in the city with his talking and walking stuffed toy dog named Felix. The story begins with Alexander leaving for his regular afternoon walk, but once he fails to return by nightfall, loyal little Felix goes out looking for him with a torchlight. One of the features of this story that really stands out is the two or three panes of illustration when Felix is wandering around in the dark, and the houses of the urban streetscape are personified as grim, scary faces with eyes and mouths. A happy ending ensues when the two are re-united, and find their way home by following the stuffing that leaked out of a tear in Felix’s stitching.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea: Written & Illustrated by Judith Kerr
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a classic English children’s book about a tiger who drops in on a mother and her daughter Sophie as they are about to drink tea. The tiger is harmless and no-body seems concerned by its tiger-ness as it knocks on the door and asks if it can join them for tea as it is quite hungry. The friendly tiger then proceeds to clean out the family’s supply of fresh baked goods, tea from the pot, the dinner cooking on the stove as well as food in the cupboards and water in the bath tub. At the end the mother and daughter buy more food at the shops including some tiger food in case their orange friend decides to drop in again…
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch: Written & Illustrated by Ronda and David Armitage
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch is a great and different children’s story, particularly because it doesn’t feature any children. The characters include Mr. Grinling – the lighthouse keeper – his wife Mrs. Grinling and a flock of a hungry seagulls. Each day Mrs. Grinling fills a basket with her husband’s lunch and sets it on a cable from a window by their house on the coast, and sends it over the water to Mr. Grinling in the lighthouse. However, the scrumptious meal is soon raided by the flock of hungry seagulls en route! Some unique traits of this book that make it particularly special are the water colour artwork which creates a very warm blend of colour and compliments the oceanic scenery, as well as the speech bubbles of the hungry seagulls which are very humorous.
Stay tuned for the next edition of Bronny’s Bookshelf!
You can purchase these books at:
Felix & Alexander – http://www.amazon.com/Felix-Alexander-Terry-Denton/dp/0395486610/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379382099&sr=8-1&keywords=felix+and+alexander
The Tiger Who Came to Tea – http://www.bookdepository.com/Tiger-Who-Came-Tea-Judith-Kerr/9780007215997
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch – http://www.bookdepository.com/Lighthouse-Keeper-Stories%3A-Lighthouse-Keepers-Lunch-Lighhouse-Keepers-Picnic-Ronda-Armitage/9781407105789
