Knock, knock ...

Front cover

Keeping with Anthony Browne, I thought I'd feature a lesser known picturebook, which was written by Sally Grindley and illustrated by Anthony Browne.  Knock, Knock, who's there? was Browne's tenth picturebook, first published in 1985 - it was republished in 2010, so still available through The book depository and cheaply through the second hand book market at Amazon. 

It's a fun little book, featuring a little girl snuggled up in bed and waiting for her daddy to come and say goodnight.  While she waits she is visited by all sorts of scary fairytale creatures, in a repetitively visual romp. 

The front cover shows us one of the creatures from inside, a freindly looking dragon, comically holding a sign with the title of this picturebook, "Knock, Knock, who's there?"  His plaid slippers look incongruous at the bottom of his bright green scaly legs. These slippers appear consistently throughout the book. They feature on the title page...

Title page

Typical of Browne's characters, this little girl has a fringe down to her eyes and dark hair.  She's peering over at the recto page, at the door which is about to open.  

Opening 1

There are two visual clues to help us guess what will come through the door: we can just see the black fingers holding onto the door and there are bananas interspersed between the pink roses on the wall paper. Guess what's coming ...

Recto of opening 2

"I'm a great fat GORILLA with fat furry arms and huge white teeth." The gorilla fills the doorway, and his plaid slippers look very silly!  "When you let me in, I'm going to hug your breath way!"  We turn the page again, and the little girl denies entry... 

Opening 3

"Then I WON'T let you in!" We can see her imagining the gorilla squeezing her breath away. Even teddy is squeezed. Thus we are set up with this repetitive refrain which comes another five times after the question "Knock, knock, who's there?"  Look carefully at the recto in opening 3, what creature is coming next?  The tip of a pointy black hat pushes its way through the door, and there are black cats between the roses. 

Recto of opening 4

This time the little girl will be turned into a frog if she lets the witch in ... there are those slippers again.  Next she is visited by a ghost, who says he will "spook" her!  A ghost with "chains that jangle and clank", and slippers of course. Little ghosties sit between the roses in the wall paper. Next is the dragon we saw on the front cover.  We can see smoke through the door before it opens and there are firey flowers between the pink roses on the wallpaper. A cool green dragon, who stands hand on hip, confident in his slippers!  He will eat the little girl for tea ... so she doesn't let him in. 

Next is my favourite of fantasy creatures, there's a spiked club nestling between the roses on the wallpaper ... What could it be? 

Recto of opening 10

"The world's tallest giant, with eyes like footballs and feet like a football pitch", clad in plaid slippers of course!  And he is going to tread on the terrified little girl. 

Opening 11

She won't let him in of course. Finally we hear the last "Knock, knock!" - pink roses sit between pink roses and we can see pink fingers clutching at the door in the recto of opening 11. 

Recto of opening 12

It's daddy ... "big cuddly daddy with a mug of hot chocolate and a story to tell." Of course she lets him in, and we see a triumphant little girl (in a very cool nighty), stand with her arms open, welcoming her daddy. 

Opening 13

She recounts everything that happened and then confirms that she knew it was her daddy really, and we finish with the same plaid slippers we started with ...

Last opening

Younger primary children will enjoy looking for the clues in the wall paper, and calling out, "KNOCK, KNOCK. Who's there?" and "Then I WON?T let you in!" And you can play games matching the different deeds the fairytale creatures promise they are going to do.  You could even play around with 'going to' for intention if you wish! 

But mostly what's so nice about this picturebook is the way the visual is so predictive and this will help the children pick up chunks of language and successfully help you retell the story. Don't forget to leave it in their class library so they can peer closely at the wall paper and find those clues. 

What does it mean to be a Huey?

Front cover

The Hueys in The new jumper is Oliver Jeffers' latest picturebook, and by the title it looks like there's going to be a whole series of them - and the back cover confirms it, "An irresistible new series from award-winning picture book creator, Oliver Jeffers." 

The Hueys ... I remember seeing the blob-like creatures on Jeffers' website, on some design work he had up there, but I went back today and they are gone.  They are great little characters, which is amazing when they are just blobby, bouncing-beanie-kind-of-things with stick legs and arms.  Their penis-like noses hang between two dots for eyes and not all of them have mouths. Yet they are as full of expression as anything. Jeffers has pulled a biggie this time. Here's the promo film, which is up on Youtube.

Simple, no minimal, is probably the best word to describe what Jeffers has done in creating the Hueys.  They are simple little creatures, black and white, making a black and white kind of book.  There are none of those lovely watercoloured pages like in Lost and found or the collaged creations found in The INCREDIBLE book eating boy, but the insertion of a powdery blue page or a delicate pastel green remind me of The great paper caper, which  uses these colours, as does Stuck!  But this minimalism works really well.  

Front endpapers

When we open the book (I have the hard back edition, and it's still not available in paperback) we are presented with five Hueys, parading across the front endpapers. 

Copyright and title pages

The title page omits the orange from the front cover, cleverly emphasizing the dullness that monotony and black and whiteness can bring to life. Even the blobs are bored saying, "bla bla blabity bla" "mm hmm" ... 

I was surprised, when I turned the page, that Jeffers' characteristic hand written font didn't continue into the body of the book ... it does as we'll see later, but as the Huey voices. That's kind of nice.  So this (is it Times Roman?) font represents that voice over we heard on the Youtube video, like the nice man's voice we hear on children's programmes; a matter of fact sort of BBC-kind-of-voice, can you hear it?

Opening 1

My photos aren't good, but you can just make out that the recto page is beige. First one Huey, then two, the beige background accentuating their minimal form and sameness. Then turn the  page again and ...

Opening 2

It's confirmed, "There were many, many of them..." and they are all the same.  They all look the same, think the same (they all think about drinking tea!) and they do the same things (hang up pictures!), that is until our special Huey "- Rupert was his name -" made himself a jumper. 

Opening 5

Here's where the orange returns, bright, in fact quite stark against the muted pastel and white.  A slashing dash of colour and Rupert looks the bee's knees, though "Not everyone agreed with his taste..."  Look at how a simple line across the nose makes a Huey look uncertain, or just moving the willy nose across makes a Huey look secretive. And Rupert is whistling away, very proud of his new jumper. Keep looking at those Hueys faces.  

Opening 6

These Hueys just don't understand Rupert, the thing that united the Hueys was their sameness.   Rupert found his freind Gillespie, who "thought being different was interesting." So he knitted a jumper for himself, just like Rupert's. 

Opening 8

Now Gillespie was different too, and Rupert didn't look quite "so strange anymore".  Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and soon lots of Hueys were making jumpers so they could be different too. 

Opening 11

And before you know it, each and every Huey was different. The message being given to everyone makes a mockery of their being different! "Do you like our new jumpers?"  Is this Huey speaking to the rest of the Hueys or is he asking us, the reader? 

Then thank goodness for Rupert, who, true to form, made a mind blowing decision...

Opening 12

He decided to wear a hat! Look at Gillespie's face! "And that changed everything ..." But that's not the end, turn over to see the back endpapers, please!

Back endpapers

Wow the Hueys have gone wild!  Don't they look good?  

So is this picturebook for little kids?  Yes, I htink it would work nicely with early primary, but it would also be a wonderful starting point for discussion with a group of teens or young adults.  If taken at a deeper philosophical level we are looking at how we see identity; just how unique are we and what are the consequences of our actions?  Are we leaders or followers?  Just how important is it to be different and who decides what's different anyway? Oooh!  This simple little book is loaded! 

What's more, these Huey guys are going to be all the rage (mark my words!). You can already make your own Huey here, and there are fun activity sheets here.  Primary children will love these, and so will you, it's such fun!  Here's my Huey ...

From http://www.makeyourownhuey.com/

The Hueys are being marketed, like no other Oliver Jeffers character yet. There'll be Huey t-shirts and Huey mugs.  Watch out! The Hueys are here!

Rain, please rain.

Front cover

I've chosen Rain by Manya Stojic to celebrate recent rainfalls here in Portugal.  We've gone for nearly five months without any rain, and things were looking parched, plants were small and shriveled and the local farmers could be seen in huddles shaking their heads as they looked at the ground under their feet.  Some parts of Portugal had been rained upon, but not my bit, then a couple of days ago a great storm raged through the night and left everything humming and smelling delicious.  We all sighed happily.  I remembered this lovely picturebook, Rain, a gift from Opal Dunn, who has introduced me to so many picturebooks over the years. 

Rain was Manya Stojic's debut picturebook of over a decade ago.  The illustrations are bright, visibly made with large paint strokes that give the whole book a  feeling of immediacy and joyfulness.  The arm waving baboon on the front cover initiates the frivolity, you can almost hear him calling out happily, "Rain! Yeah!"

Each page and spread is painted right to the edges, this draws the reader into the narrative, and with every page turn we are carried out into an African savannah and feel the animals emotions as they sense the coming rain. 

Title page

Not only are the illustrations bold and bright in this picturebook, but it's a print salient picturebook - the verbal text is also big and bold.  Here on the title page we are shown an adult and baby baboon (the dedication above the illustration reads "In memory of my dad Lyuba with whom I enjoyed watching thunderstorms") and the words shout out at us, big and black.  This page we have to read, "Rain, written and illustrated by Manya Stojic"  What a great opportunity to talk about special picturebooks, created by one person. 

Opening 1

Turn the page and we see heat, sizzling heat.  The yellow grass is painted as though flickering flames and the sun in the top verso corner radiates across the pale blue sky.  Big black letters spell out "It was hot." 

Opening 2

On the next spread we are shown and told how the first of the animals sense the rain is coming. Thus begins a cumulative crescendo... "The rain is coming! I can smell it.  I must tell the zebras."  

Opening 3

Warning of rain comes with a flash of lightening, and the repetitive refrain, "The rain is coming!" (...) Porcupine can smell it. We can see it.  We must tell the baboons." 

Opening 4

With the roll of thunder, the baboons hear it and so our crescendo grows.  "Porcupine can smell it. The zebras can see it.  We can hear it. We must tell the rhino."  Notice that the animals in the three illustrations I've featured are shown in part, close up and even upside down. I really like this minimalist way of illustrating, and it doesn't stop children from understanding. 

Next we see a rhino, with large drops of rain - he feels it. "I must tell the lion."

Opening 6

Onto the lion, who lounges across the spread, tongue out. He can taste it.  

Lots of lovely repetition, which we can encourage children to chorus with us as we tell and retell. And then it rained and rained, black font against a painterly blue background. And what does rain bring?  

Opening 8

Lots of green, and even though the rain has stopped everything continues to grow, and so begins a second repetitive refrain beginning with the lion and going back through all the other animals: "I can't taste the rain now" ... "but I can enjoy the shade of these big, green, leaves." 

Opening 10

Lovely "cool, soft, squelchy mud."  Each animal reappears and delights in the results of the rain.  

Opening 11

The baboons eat fresh juicy fruit; the zebras have a refreshing drink, and the porcupine reminds us that even though he can no longer smell the rain, it will come back. 

And our narrative comes full circle, the sun dries everything up and ...

Verso back page

Wonderful in its visual representation of landscapes and animals, this picturebook is also especially good for young children who are beginning to notice print. Truely great for sharing.