MOLLY AND THE NIGHT MONSTER
I'm sure many of you will have seen this book before - but if you haven't do!
It's a very simple but delightfully clever story that takes the fearful imaginings of a small child and resolves them with heart-warming humour. Chris Wormell's atmospheric illustrations will chase the nightmares away...
(Gabby Dawnay - mum of Jemima aged 6)
MEDIKIDZ
MEDIKIDZ
How do you explain serious illness to a child?
Or why someone behaves in a way that seems strange or confusing?
Everyday ailments, like colds and coughs, chickenpox and headaches, are easy. They may be painful, itchy or annoying, but you take a little medicine to feel better and they quickly pass. OKIDO tackled Bugs and Microscopic things in issue 5 and we hope it was funny, informative and simple to understand. But what about when things are more serious or complex? When you really don't know how to explain a condition to your child that may have a far wider impact on all your lives? Or something that just makes you feel uncomfortable to talk about?
Well now there's MEDIKIDZ, a lively range of visually stimulating comics that aim to help kids learn about health and disease in an exciting, positive and non-threatening way.
The Medikidz are a group of cartoon characters that live on the planet Mediland, which is shaped like the human body. These medical superheroes take children on an adventure in each themed edition, which helps to explain the chosen medical condition. These conditions range from Food Allergies, Autism and Epilepsy, to cancer and HIV.
Medikidz tackles straightforward questions like, Why do people loose their hair when they are getting treatment for cancer and will it grow back? But the comics also look at some far more complex questions, using language that is easy to understand without being patronising. Setting these issues within the framework of a story that children can relate to, as well as taking them on a fantastic voyage, means that the information has a good chance of sticking. A team of doctors create the stories so the contents are always accurate, as well as entertaining.
By removing the fear of the unknown, Medikidz empowers children with information and encourages them to question and learn about the disease or condition that they or a family member or friend might be suffering from. These comics are perfect for 7 years upwards; my 9 and 12 year-olds were initially skeptical but then they were gripped, and really seemed to grasp the concepts they were presented with.
Perhaps most important of all, by normalising things that sometimes make us adults feel uncomfortable or afraid, we all benefit from the clear, engaging explanations that Medikidz comics offer.
Check out the Medikidz website for games, activities and further information: http://www.medikidz.com/
Part of the proceeds from the sale of each Medikidz comic are donated to children%u2019s charity Medikidz International, set up to assist kids in developing countries with medical education and supplies.
A Necklace of Raindrops
Necklace of Raindrops
By Joan Aiken,
Illustrated by Jan Pienkowski
This is one of the books that shaped my childhood, and its re-appearance has a particularly emotional resonance for me.
A Necklace of Raindrops, followed by The Kingdom Under the Sea, are both collections of modern fairytales written by the esteemed Joan Aiken, that had fired up my imagination and inspired me as a child, not only to write somewhat macabre stories myself, but also to mimic in my own drawings, Jan Pienkowski's now signature silhouette style.
How I loved these strange tales with their exquisitely vivid illustrations! My original copies were paperbacks that gradually dissolved with time and over-enthusiastic thumbing, so it was with both pleasure and perhaps slight trepidation that I received this new edition, rather in the same way as one might meet a dear, old friend, knowing not what effects time might have had on them. Now re-published as a smart hardback, but not too big or heavy to read at bedtime, I found to my delight, that not only did I enjoy the stories just as much as the memories they evoked, but also that a further dimension was added by my five year old daughter loving them, too. We read one a day (sometimes rather greedily more), and were in turns, charmed, amused and thrilled by the weird and wonderful characters and their enchanting, enchanted stories. There is something magical indeed about these books, as my daughter and I were snuggled up reading 'A bed for the night' one Sunday morning a few weeks ago, with Radio 4 gurgling in the background, I became aware that it was none other than Jan Pienkowski on dessert island discs talking about the very tale we were reading. How's that for synchronicity? (And what a total dude he is, too)
One more wish -please may you now re-publish The Kingdom Under the Sea, Random House?
Gabby Dawnay for Okido
The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey
The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey
Told from a leftfield and very humorous perspective, this is the adventurous love story of the Dish and the Spoon, and what happened when they ran away together (after the Cow jumped over the Moon and the Little Dog laughed). Where the traditional and beloved children's rhyme stops, this tale begins...
Setting the scene in a romantic, Chaplinesque, pre and post War America, Mini Grey uses simple, clear prose and lively cartoon illustrations to create a funny, thrilling and utterly charming story. The reader is immediately drawn to the central characters, and finds themselves desperately hoping for a happy ending!
But I don't want to give too much away.
I laughed out loud reading this, and my five-year-old was absolutely enchanted. Furthermore, the book comes with a delightful cd read by League of Gentlemen actor Mark Gaitiss, and supported by an original yet familiar score.
Highly recommended!
Review by Gabby Dawnay.
