Zoo train by Sally Sutton; illustrated by Daron Parton (2015)

[Published by Walker Books]

Last month in Auckland a seal made his way into a city car wash and stubbornly refused to leave. He drew a huge crowd and was quite the hit with the locals.

In Zoo train it’s an enclosure escape that provides all the entertainment. A crowd of excited zoo-goers chugga chugga and thugga thugga their way around, delighting in the animals on the way. “Wind blows round the big cats. Fanning the giraffe. Glad I’ve got my warm hat. Where’d I put my scarf?”

After they pass by the monkeys, a series of strange events unfold, from odd bursts of rain, to disappearing items of clothing. How on earth did the tiger end up wearing a belt? It’s all very mysterious, unless of course you’ve been paying attention to the wonderful illustrations along the way.

This lovely bright, bubbling picture book will provide much entertainment for your young audience. You will find yourself keeping a much closer eye on the monkeys at the zoo in the future!

Check out Zoo train at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy Zoo Train from Fishpond.

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood; illustrated by Meg Hunt (2015)

[Published by Chronicle Books]

I will admit to a small amount of nervousness when I picked up Interstellar Cinderella. I’m not sure why but I had an uneasy feeling that at some point it might go horribly wrong. Humble apologies Deborah and Meg, this book delighted me at every turn.

All the classic Cinderella elements are there, from the wicked stepsisters, to the prince, fairy godrobot and the mouse. And plot-wise? That’s where the genius begins.

“Once upon a planetoid,

amid her tools and sprockets,

a girl named Cinderella dreamed

of fixing fancy rockets.”

Cinderella is desperate to attend the Prince’s Royal Space Parade. Imagine all the space machinery goodness for a girl to feast her eyes upon! With no room in the family spaceship, her wicked stepmother suggests she could fix the broken ship in order to attend. Enter the all-essential fairy godrobot. Some nifty mechanical skills get the spaceship flying in no time and off Cinderella zooms to the space parade.

When the prince’s royal ship spontaneously bursts into flames, Cinderella is there to lend a helping socket wrench. A beautiful friendship is born based on a mutual admiration for rocket ships. Eventually Cinderella disappears and the prince determines to track her down,

“The prince sent a transmission

to the farthest edge of space.

“I’ll search the cosmos for her.

How I wish I’d seen her face!”

While Cinderella is trapped in the attic, the evil stepsisters desperately struggle to repair the prince’s spaceship. Assisted in her escape by Murgatroyd, the robotic mouse, Cinderella and the prince are reunited. I don’t want to give the whole plot away, but I can assure you, Cinderella’s response to the prince’s marriage proposal is the perfect fit.

There is so much to love in this picture book, I’m thinking a teaching unit on modernising fairy tales might be in order. There is no better example than Interstellar Cinderella.

Check out Interstellar Cinderella at Auckland Libraries. [Electronic only]

Or buy Interstellar Cinderella from Fishpond.

Monty’s magnificent mane by Gemma O’Neill (2014)

[Published by Templar Publishing]

The opening endpapers of this lovely story invite us to perch on the end of Monty the lion’s nose, the best vantage point for admiring his mane. “Yes, Monty, you’re right, that is one spectacular ‘do you’re sporting.”

Monty, as you can tell, is very proud of his long, curly, colourful mane. Compliments descend upon his locks from all over the jungle. His friends the meerkats are allowed to play in his orange hair, but their tugging and tickling starts to annoy Monty, so he attempts to roll them off. A giant crash later and Monty finds himself and his mane covered in dirt. The meerkats try to help by flossying things up a little, but Monty is not impressed with the feathers, so he shakes them off and stomps off to the waterhole to check himself out.

A creature at the waterhole with tiny twinkly eyes joins Monty’s fan club and heaps compliments upon the mane. Flattery, as so often is the case, turns Monty’s head and he leans closer to allow the small creature a better view. As always, I don’t want to ruin the excitement, so all I’ll say is that Monty does indeed earn the title of magnificent.

The illustrations in the story are visually delightful, I loved the extreme close-ups. And Monty the lion? Well with a mane like that, who wouldn’t love him!

[No longer available at Auckland Libraries.]

Or buy Monty’s magnificent mane from Fishpond.

Follow me by Ellie Sandall (2015)

[Published by Hodder Childrens]

She’s another top-to-toe beauty today. From the majestic parade of lemurs inside the front cover to the mound of sleepy beauties at the end, you will find yourself falling in love with these stripy-tailed primates.

“It’s time to wake up! Come down from the tree.

Follow me, follow me, follow me!”

This refrain repeats jauntily through the story, until a giant crocodile crosses the lemurs’ path. Never fear, some deft arm-work and they’re off again.

A beautiful story to share with preschoolers.

Check out Follow me at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy Follow me from Fishpond.

You can’t take an elephant on the bus by Patricia Cleveland-Peck (2015)

[Published by Bloomsbury]

I was on a bus once with a bunch of chickens, but elephants? Not so much. The animal vehicle pairing in today’s picture book is hugely entertaining.

“And don’t hail a taxi if the driver’s a seal…

With such slippery flippers, he can’t grasp the wheel.

The taxi will slither and probably swerve,

then throw everyone out at the very next curve.”

What is most impressive is that our very clever author comes up with a nifty solution to the animal-transportation problem. Loads of fun.

Check out You can’t take an elephant on the bus at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy You can’t take an elephant on the bus from Fishpond.

A river by Marc Martin (2015)

[Published by Viking Books]

Wow. Let’s be honest for a second. I have immersed myself in picture books for the past almost year, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if I was starting to feel a bit jaded. But I can truthfully say that I am still sometimes floored by the amazing magical beings I hold in my hands.

A river has the most wonderful cover. The image doesn’t do its tactile wonder and depth of colour justice. We are welcomed into the pages with a double page spread of a bedroom in which a small girl sits. From the bedroom we escape through the window and down the river which flows from the city, through the countryside into the jungle and back again. I couldn’t wait to turn the page and feast on each new vista. 

“It slides into the hills and valleys, and I can hear the murmuring of running water…

that grows louder and takes me tumbling down a waterfall taller than any building.”

The imagery, language and illustrations in this book are just very very wow. Highly recommended.

Check out A river at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy A river from Fishpond.

The sea tiger by Victoria Turnbull (2014)

[Published by Templar Publishing]

Oh you wonderful endpapers, I felt a slight prickling of the eyes when I noticed the change from the opening to the closing images of this glorious story.

The Sea Tiger and Oscar are best friends, and together the world under the sea is their oyster. “And sometimes, for no particular reason, we hitch a ride to the surface… and sit looking at a sea studded with stars.”

The Sea Tiger is not so sure about the exclusivity of their friendship, and that’s when their lives change, for the better.

Children with huge imaginations will fall in love with these two lovelies and their mesmerising ocean adventures.

Check out The sea tiger at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy The sea tiger from Fishpond.

Queen Victoria’s bathing machine by Gloria Whelan; illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (2014)

[Published by Simon and Schuster]

My mind was officially blown when I discovered the photograph in the back of Queen Victoria’s bathing machine, it’s an actual thing!

Through rhyming verse, we learn of Queen Victoria’s desire to swim. A swimming queen is not an easy accomplishment as revealing more than her hands and face to her subjects would have been disgraceful.

Luckily, Prince Albert is a very clever man, and he works on an idea that will make ocean-time possible for the Queen. After a lot of designing and tinkering, the bathing machine is born.

“Once out on the porch the curtain will hide you,

While your lady-in-waiting hovers beside you.

You climb down the steps in perfect repose,

into the ocean right up to your nose.”

Full of hilarious historical information, wonderful illustrations and excellent rhyme, Queen Victoria’s bathing machine is an absolute delight.

Check out Queen Victoria’s bathing machine at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy Queen Victoria’s bathing machine from Fishpond.

The crocodile who didn’t like water by Gemma Merino (2013)

[Published by MacMillan]

I’m fairly sure that being a third child has left me with the ridiculous habit of saying yes to everything just so I don’t miss anything good. There is nothing worse than feeling left out.

Little crocodile hates the water and because his brothers and sisters spend all their time swimming he never has anyone to play with. Determined to make it work, he buys a rubber ring and gives it a go. “But he couldn’t play ball. Or swim underwater. And although climbing the ladder was fun, he just didn’t want to jump.” Poor little guy. After a particularly embarrassing experience, something strange happens, and the reason for his water hatred is revealed with gusto.

It was only on my second reading of this sneaky wee number that I realised I’d missed a vital clue as to where this story was headed. Keep your eyes peeled!

Check out The crocodile who didn’t like water at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy The crocodile who didn’t like water from Fishpond.

Wolfie the bunny by Ame Dyckman; illustrated by Zachariah O’Hora (2015)

[Published by Little, Brown and Company]

I was familiar with the concept of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but a wolf in bunny’s clothing? That’s a new (and hilarious) one.

When the Bunny family discover a baby-wolfy-bundle outside their door, the only one not fooled by his cuteness is Dot, “He’s going to eat us all up!” Mama and Papa bunny are so smitten, their obliviousness to danger knows no bounds.

Wolfie grows steadily and begins to eat the family out of carrots. On a trip to the carrot patch to replenish supplies, Dot is forced to take Wolfie with her. When a hungry bear enters the scene, it turns out Dot is more of a protective big sister than she realised.

Dot is awesomeness personified. I love everything she says, “I’ve got my eye on you, Buster!” Every inch of this great book is beautifully illustrated. It really is all of my favourite things!

Check out Wolfie the bunny at Auckland Libraries.

Or buy Wolfie the bunny from Fishpond.