Mr Birdsnest and the House Next Door, by Julia Donaldson. Reviewed by Saviour Pirotta

Children's laureate Julia Donaldson needs no introduction. Her picture books sell by the truckload. Her mega-successful Gruffalo spawned a mini industry of soft-toys, plays and even a television film.  Mr Birdsnest and the House Next Door is aimed at 5 to 8 year olds with a reading ability of 6+.

Published by Barrington Stoke in their Little Gems series, this is a  reworking of a 2005 titled called The Jungle House. It's a witty and gently anarchic story told from a child's point of view. The unnamed narrator's family are forced to move when Granny starts getting too confused to live on her own.  The narrator and her brother, Elmo, are keen on taking up residence in a decrepit property they nickname The Jungle House.  Their parents plump for the boring house next door. But then the kids find a key to the back door of the Jungle House and set about turning into their own adventure playground.

Things get complicated when a man with an enormous grey beard moves into the house and the children are accused of trespassing.  Then Granny goes missing and the kids are sure Mr Birdsnest is holding her prisoner...

 Donaldson's text is reassuringly simple and a delight to read.  The story, divided neatly into four short chapters,  moves at a rollicking pace.  The book is a joy to hold, its flaps yielding jokes and instructions on how to draw a bird when lifted. Hannah Shaw's cartoony pictures compliment the words perfectly. The family are mixed race, which will be welcome in many schools and homes around the country. And the eccentric Mr Birdsnest seems to be modelled on that other master of mild mayhem, the real-life author Philip Ardagh. Have a look at the picture below and see what you think.

Details:

Title: Mr Birdsnest and the House Next Door
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Hannah Shaw 
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
First Published: 2012

Saviour Pirotta

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Jack and the Flumflum Tree by Julia Donaldson, Reviewed by Tamsyn Murray

Jack has a granny and his granny has spots. Not any old spots, either - she's covered from head to toe in enormous purple lesions and the doctor's prognosis is grim. There's only one cure for Granny - she needs the fruit of the flumflum tree and she needs it NOW. Otherwise it's curtains for the old dear.*

Instead of packing her off to the mercies of the NHS, intrepid Jack builds a boat and sets sail for the only place where the flumflum grows - the remote and dubiously-named island of Blowyernose. With him are his hastily-assembled crew of Stu and Rose, who I suspect were chosen for their conveniently lyrical names - they're certainly not much help on Jack's quest and get him into all kinds of difficulties. Luckily, he has a sack full of seemingly-useless-but-actually-quite-handy household objects to ensure the success of the mission. I won't spoil the ending but let's just say there's one less flumflum fruit in the world.

This is another pretty much perfect picture book by story-teller extraordinare, Julia Donaldson. Teamed with David Roberts' distinctive illustrative style, the rhyming text bounces along at a cracking pace. There's the kind of wordy repetition that little ones adore, plenty of glorious detail in the pictures and fun galore in Jack's adventures on the way to Blowyernose. You may wonder whether the danger-filled journey is all in Jack's head; I couldn't possibly say but I can't help noticing that Granny recovers from her illness suspiciously fast. What I do know is that I've set sail for Blowyernose with my fourteen month old son approximately 345 times in the last week and it's still our most popular destination.

So, Jack and the Flumflum Tree gets a big thumbs up from us. Did you ever doubt that it wouldn't?

*OK, he doesn't actually say she's going to croak but it's definitely implied.

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