Review Picture Books For The Very Young

Essay, Research Paper

Picture books for the very young Egg Drop by Mini Grey (Cape). Age: 3+ There is a pleasing simplicity about this dotty story of an egg which longs to fly. Dreaming of joining the aeroplanes and birds up in the sky, the egg hits on the only possibility – climbing up high. Going up is one thing but, as the egg soon finds out, coming down is quite another; and falling is not the same as flying, as the satisfying Humpty Dumpty crash proves. But all is not lost – for the reader, at any rate – as the egg is not wasted. Mini Grey’s illustrations, with their varied perspectives and bold use of space, are exhilarating. We’re Going on a Picnic! by Pat Hutchins (Bodley Head). Age: 3+ Devotees of Hutchins’s classic Rosie’s Walk will be delighted with this new story about Rosie the Hen, this time joined by Duck and Goose. This tale sees the three set off to find the perfect picnic spot, blissfully unaware that they are travelling in a circle, and being followed by a squirrel, a rabbit and a mouse. The brief text gives little away, letting the pictures tell the real story.