Book Review: Chipo and the Mermaid

Chipo and the Mermaid by Grace Ashley is subtitled An African Fairytale and it is certainly also a mermaid story with a difference. Chipo and her father, Mukoko, lived in a little village in the savanna plains of Africa. Chipo’s mother died in childbirth and Mukoko, realising he would need help raising his little daughter Chipo, so named in memory of her mother, decided to marry a beautiful young woman he had fallen in love with: Nakai. Chipo’s stepmother was angry that Chipo and her father were so close. Later a daughter, Tino, was born to the couple, but things did not improve because Mukoko did not show as much love to Tino as he did to Chipo. Nakai visited a powerful wizard for a potion to change Mukoko’s feelings towards his daughter … and it worked. Chipo became practically the family skivvy, doing all the work, while her sister, Tino, lolled about, doing nothing. One evening Chipo went down to the river to fetch water and met the mermaid of the river. The mermaid felt sorry for Chipo and decided to take her to the cave where she lived in the bottom of the river. How Chipo’s life changed after that!

I loved this story and laughed out loud at the end when lazy Tino and greedy, vengeful Nakai definitely get the “reward” they so richly deserve. There are so many lovely lessons embedded in this delightful tale that it’s hard to know where to start. Family love is highlighted, along with caring, consideration, respect for others, and putting others first. As also are being careful to avoid being jealous, not being rude to people, not being demanding, and to be mindful of what you do in life and how you treat others because you never know what repercussions can happen. This is both a fairytale and a fable in a unique setting that is sure to get youngsters both wanting the story read out loud to them again, and wanting to find out more about Africa. In case you don’t think it is possible, mermaids are well known in African culture.

I loved the illustrations that are simple, bold, and beautiful and perfectly depict the setting and the characters. The bright, vibrant colours will attract and keep young readers’ attention, and they will also enjoy picking out the other visual elements that enhance the story. This is a Cinderella style story with a difference and one that both teaches and entertains. It’s the kind of book that can lead to great further discussion between an adult or teacher and young readers, with many points to ponder as well as sparking youngsters’ curiosity to learn more about Africa, the culture, and the animals. I would recommend this to parents, teachers, and caregivers for that “something different” to pique young readers’ interest.

Book Review: Curious Mary and Esme the Bunny

Curious Mary and Esme the Bunny by Dr. Julia E. Antoine is the third book in the very entertaining Too Clever book series for youngsters. This story revolves around a young girl called Mary whom readers will have met in Too Clever book 1. Mary is a curious young girl and thus earned the nickname ‘Curious Mary.’ Ten-year-old Mary lives on the tiny island of St. Lucia, one of the Caribbean islands. Mary lives in the city with all its modern conveniences that most of us take for granted. However, she just loves visiting her aunt and uncle’s farm in the country where life is simpler, albeit a lot less comfortable – no telephones, electricity, or running water. But Mary doesn’t mind; she enjoys the outdoors, nature, and the many varieties of flowers growing there. She enjoys spending time with Aunt Edna, Uncle Nathan, and her two cousins, Timothy and Aaron. Life on the farm is never boring because there is always something to do. Besides, Mary has a special little friend on the farm. A bunny called Esme, named after Mary’s best friend who had moved away. But Mary learns of a terrible fate in store for Esme on Easter Sunday! What can Mary do to save her best friend from being dinner on that day? Animal lovers will endure some nail biting moments as Mary racks her brains to come up with a plan to save Esme.

I really enjoyed learning about the island, and this is a wonderful way for teachers and parents to get kids interested in the geography, culture, the types of plants and fruits on the island, and a life style that will be quite novel to them. Youngsters will also enjoy reading about someone their own age that lives in another country. The author manages to include such a wealth of interesting details with facts that just slip so naturally into the narrative. The photographs are beautiful and show a positively paradisiacal countryside filled with the most beautiful flowers, as well as images from the village and surroundings. Young readers will also learn about a lifestyle that involves hard work by the family members. Chores on the farm take up a lot of time, but everyone pitches in.

Life on a farm is very different to life in the city, where we go off to the supermarket and more than likely never think of how food is grown or produced. On a farm, animals are generally raised for eating, which Mary learns, to her horror, from her older cousin Timothy. Young readers will enjoy reading about life on a farm. There are good discussion points in the narrative that teachers and parents can use to get young readers thinking. These include the differences between city and country life: how one can survive without gadgets and mod cons and become self sufficient on a farm. So many lovely themes are covered in this enchanting story - going that extra mile for a friend, thinking of solutions to a pressing problem, trusting in people, trusting in God to help one find an answer when there seems to be none, as well as enjoying the simple pleasures that many times we forget about in the hustle and bustle of modern life. Young readers will adore the photos of the farm and the animals, and Esme’s ‘pawtrait’ of herself in a blue ribbon is just adorable.

Book Review: In the Dog House

In the Dog House by J.R. Poulter is a rambunctious tale for young readers about an odd family, but in fact, as one reads on, it’s not such an odd family at all. There’s Uncle Murgatroyd, Pop, his Aussie nephew, Ma, Pog, the dog, and young BC (Bang Crash, for obvious reasons!). They all live at Gaul Stones, a crumbling family pile. Uncle Murgatroyd is irate and for good reason. An inherited suit of armour, worn by an illustrious ancestor at the battle of Bog’Nall, is not only stuffed with lolly-papers, but it’s now on fire because someone has used it as an ash tray. Mayhem ensues as family members try to put the fire out. They didn’t have to go far to find the culprit. Chip (a smoker!) and Berga, Pop’s “rellies” from Down Under had not only ensconced themselves in the house, but seemed to have already outstayed their welcome. How can the family get rid of these unwelcome guests? Put them in the attic for the night seems to be the answer. However, the attic is already occupied by an inhabitant that doesn’t take kindly to Chip and Berga. Interestingly, nature takes its course in the way only Mother Nature can…

Illustrations by Terry Hand make the story come alive, in fact, almost so far as to leap off the pages. Large fonts every now and again for emphasis on actions are the kind of thing that young readers will love in this comic book style layout. The illustrations make one think of Gaul Stones as a kind of Fawlty Towers with a lot of ‘fawlty’ antics and upheaval. This story is all about action and each page is vibrant, energetic, and captivating. There’s a lot of youngsters to enjoy. I loved BC’s bookshelf with his interest in mummies and pyramids. The dinner table fiasco as Pog (Pop’s pooch who had been banished to the dog house) takes a flying leap to get at the “something yumshous” (Ma’s Spaghetti Bolognaise) is wonderfully chaotic and is a visual feast in itself. Young readers will love this story and the style of action contained in the illustrations and text. This is the kind of story that boys who are not keen on reading will love.

Book Review: Max's Hallowe'en Adventure

It was the loveliest summer afternoon, perfect for a relaxing snooze... especially for a cat. Max was in the middle of a most pleasant dream involving being fed strips of smoked salmon by a very pretty girl when he smelled smoke! Smoke? Gasp! That meant fire! Fire? That meant danger!!! Maybe lives must be saved. Where was everyone? He had to save the book, the book that had started the whole series of adventures, with the twins’ parents becoming lost in the mists of time, trapped in the pages of history. He couldn’t let the book be destroyed, because then Mum and Dad would be gone forever. However, when he plunged (not very) bravely into the smoke, he found himself back in the past, in 1644 to be exact, and he just knew that somehow this involved another very uncomfortable adventure that he hadn’t asked for!

A snarky cat called Berry was waiting to take him back to a tumbledown old cottage that seemed strangely familiar, and in fact, he’d already been there in a previous side adventure of his own (Max’s Christmas Adventure). The whole place was quite spooky, and there was a weird old woman called Goodwife Clowes, who insisted he was necessary to help rescue her sister from an evil man. Combined with this rude cat’s annoying attitude (or should that be cattitude?), Max just longed to go home. Then the weird old woman told him that the evil man was a witchfinder and that’s why he was needed to rescue her sister. Witchfinder? Max asked himself (as did I) was that even a job? In a nutshell, the Witchfinder General (the man had even given himself a title!) was going from village to village, rounding up women who might be witches, or who people had accused of witchcraft. Many innocent people in the village of Mistley Thorn would suffer if Max didn’t help. Can he muster up the last remnants of what passed for courage to lend a hand?

Max has the unfortunate tendency to be thrust into situations that require great bravery and feats of derring-do when this is entirely not in his nature. Once again, he’ll have to pull out all the stops. A brief and memorably nasty encounter at the local jail reveals the enormity of the situation and the truly evil nature of Matthew Hopkins, who specialised in sniffing out witches, or in fact any old lady (like this one), with a broom and a beady stare. Lovely details place young readers right into the setting of All Hallows’ Even (which we know as Hallowe’en), with a suitably eerie atmosphere and an uncomfortable amount of danger. But the peril is too great, the Witchfinder and his men can’t be overcome by two mere cats, even talking ones. Inevitably, Max is sent back to his own era, to plan and return to defeat the Witchfinder. Now Max has the reassurance of Jemima, Joe, and brainy Charlie on his side as reinforcements! Watch out, Witchfinder. Max will be back!

Author Wendy Leighton-Porter, as always, has a treasure trove of extra detail for avid young fans of the series and this fifth mini adventure in Max’s side forays. The origins of Hallowe’en and the pagan festival of Samhain are explained, as are local suspicions of the time and details of why people were blamed for natural disasters and diseases. Lovely word play ensues as well with Max getting quite confused about names, although given the stressful situation, this is quite understandable. Max’s Hallowe’en Adventure is a delightful and deliciously scary prelude to the next adventure (the tenth) for Jemima, Joe, and Charlie, entitled The Shadow of the Witchfinder. It has a wonderfully spooky cover and I can’t wait to read it!