Mohinder's War by Bali Rai, reviewed by Dawn Finch

First the blurb...
Thirteen-year-old Joelle Breton stumbles across Indian-born RAF pilot Mohinder Singh when his plane crashes in occupied France and it's up to her and her parents to hide him from the Nazis. After all, her parents are brave members of the French Resistance and will do everything they can to help get Mohinder back to Britain. But when they are betrayed and tragedy strikes, Joelle and Mohinder will have to act fast if they are ever to evade the enemy.

Mohinder is a young RAF pilot who crash-lands in France at the height of the war. To all appearances, Joelle is just a regular girl going about her business and helping her parents in the bakery, but appearances can be deceptive and Joelle and her family are part of the French Resistance. Joelle's family risk everything to protect Mo and are determined to keep him safe and see him home. Mo isn't a victim though, he's a fighter and being rescued is just part of his story. When death and danger come to Joelle's family, it's Mo who bravely honours his oath to them all with a daring plan to save Joelle's life and escape.

The story is thrilling and I was on the edge of my seat reading it. At one point I realised I was holding my breath and willing things to go right for Mo, and for Joelle and her family. The book has all the expert crafting that I've come to expect from Bali Rai's work, and it has been condensed into a very fine little book indeed. A glimpse into a war from a perspective that is new to me, and I'm sure will be new to many other readers.

Published by Bloombury as part of the Flashbacks series, this is another of their books written to give young readers a glimpse into a period of history that is outside their personal frame of reference. The series is excellent and the books written by some of the finest writers for children. There is a risk that books marketed as being "perfect for introducing children to historical topics" might only be found in the classroom, and that would be a great shame because books like Mohinder's War really should have a much wider audience.

Mohinder's War is written by Bali Rai and published by Bloomsbury
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mohinders-war-9781472958372/

Reviewed by Dawn Finch
Dawn is the current chair of the Society of Author's Children's Writers and Illustrators Committee (CWIG) and Trustee for the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)
@dawnafinch

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

PHOENIX YARD BOOKS by Adèle Geras

Phoenix Yard Books is a new publishing house, and a winner of the IPG Award for Best Newcomer Publisher. Its speciality is books in translation. They have published some British writers, such as Geraldine McCaughrean and........... but in general their output is from abroad. They do bring out fiction for younger readers, such as the delightful ARTHUR series by Johanne Mercier, translated by the redoubtable Daniel Hahn, and are set to publish more in future, I believe. I'm concentrating on three picture books, because in this field and for those who are unfamiliar with illustration styles in other countries, their list is an education. To a British eye, even one trained up in graphic innovation by artists such as Lauren Child, the look is one of utmost sophistication and also subtle difference from our output in this field. The images in the three books highlighted below are beautiful. Whether they will suit children who are used to prettier, less edgy fare I'm not clear about, but I loved them and thought it worth while bringing the whole list to your attention.It should be said that one characteristic of these three books is that they are for really rather older children and their parents and not the very youngest readers. Phoenix Yard Books have a website, which is well worth a visit.

First up is MR.LEON'S PARIS by Barroux, who's responsible for both text and pictures. Sarah Ardizzone is the translator. The endpapers in themselves are marvels. The whole of the inside front cover is scribbled over with Parisian street names. If you had a magnifying glass and knew the city at all well, you could spend many happy hours looking for places you might recognize. There's not a scrap of white space anywhere to be seen. The inside back cover is a beautifully-drawn map of the city with the (real) streets Mr Leon visits highlighted in red. In between, Mr Leon takes strange people - the Devil, lovers, angels, ordinary mortals from all over the world - to appropriately-named streets. Henry the Handyman wants to go Hammer Yard and Jeanette the hairdresser lives in Scissor Row. The journeys might be real or maybe they're imaginary or symbolic or six of one and half a dozen of the other. What Barroux is saying is: Paris encompasses the whole universe, real and imaginary and there are many kinds of people in it, from every corner of the globe. The end of the book is enigmatic. Mr Leon stops driving his cab and sets off in a ship to Liberty Street and possibly the moon. His last passengers are angels. Does that mean he's dead? Or simply retired? It's not often a picture book can generate a philosophical discussion but this one will. Through the windows of the cab, as it drives through Paris, we get tantalizing glimpses of the streets. Just the thing, this book, for anyone older than about 8, setting out for a holiday in the French capital, who enjoys maps, magic and unusual journeys.

Next comes HAPPINESS IS A WATERMELON ON YOUR HEAD by Stella Dreis from Brazil. Daniel Hahn is the translator and he's done a grand job of expressing a mad, colourful, whirling dervish of a text. The pictures explode in colour and movement all through the pages and the cartoon-like people are outlandish, strange, and manage to be both beautiful and ugly at the same time: a winning combination. It's the style we're somewhat familiar with in certain advertisements on television,(Lloyd's Bank, eg) and they're either your thing or they're not but in this context, they work very well indeed. It's worth going to a well-known online books website to take advantage of the LOOK INSIDE facility in the case of all these books.

Then we have I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE A CHILD by Alain Serres and translated by Sarah Ardizzone.

This book is intended, say the publishers, to be a resource for discussion but it's a lot more than that. It outlines the rights of children and illustrates them most beautifully. Of all the books I've discussed, this is the one most likely to appeal visually to most people. The colours are rich, the illustrations have a touch of the Jane Rays about them and every spread is worth lingering over and looking at and thinking about. Amnesty International endorses the book's message, that of course children have rights and they must be upheld in every country. I think this book should be there on every school library shelf and in every possible home. It's a tremendous piece of work and congratulations to Phoenix Yard books for this and the rest of its chic, unusual and interesing output.

ALL THREE BOOKS: Published by Phoenix Yard Books in pbk.

MR LEON'S PARIS: £6.99

ISBN:9781907912085

HAPPINESS IS A WATERMELON ON YOUR HEAD: £6.99

ISBN:9781907912054

I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE A CHILD: £7.99

ISBN:9781907912115

Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE