FOR MARITSA, WITH LOVE by Enid Richemont. Reviewed by Ann Turnbull

     I loved this story. Gypsy girl Maritsa, nearly thirteen - a bright, streetwise child - separates herself from the other youngsters in her family and spends a few days alone in Paris just before Christmas, living in the Metro subways. She's enchanted by the sparkling, brightly-lit city with its buskers and street traders and stalls selling freshly-made pancakes.

     Maritsa, with her skilled patter and thieving ways, is cunning and knows how to manipulate people, but she comes from a close-knit community and she's very aware of others around her on the margins of society. Instinctively kind and caring, she makes friends. One of these is Rose, a cantankerous old woman - a former school teacher fallen on hard times - who contributes much to the pleasure of this story. She and Maritsa fulfil deep emotional needs in each other.

     But the glittering city has a dark underside, and Maritsa is a vulnerable young girl. It soon becomes clear that she is drifting into danger, lured by promises of a screen test from a sinister couple who befriend her. And there are others, also watching and following her. All these details are woven into the apparently random events of Maritsa's few days in Paris. In the climax the whole truth is revealed - and this reader didn't see it coming.

     This is a story that pulls no punches. It's grim in places. But we also see Paris through the eyes of the young girl with her love of bright colours, twinkling lights and sugary food - a child who revels in making new friends and is eager to learn. The writing sparkles with life and colour - and the ending is satisfying.




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ZERAFFA GIRAFFA by Diane Hofmeyr illustrated by Jane Ray. Reviewed by Adèle Geras

First of all, the usual disclaimer: I  know both the writer and the illustrator of this book. As I've explained before, I've been around for a lot longer than I care to think about and know a great many of the creators of the books I review. You will have to take my word for it that I would only  review books that I genuinely believe readers of this blog would enjoy reading.

This book also confirms a  strongly - held opinion of mine which run counter to the prevailing thought among many publishers. For many the received wisdom is that texts have to be ultra short.  Frances Lincoln, happily,  don't agree. They  publish, for example,  the beautiful books produced by Jackie Morris which I reviewed here last time,  and are not afraid of text. By this I mean: they are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the parent of the child whose book it is  (yes, I'm happy to read  a slightly longer story at bedtime) and also to the child (yes, I can sit quiet and listen for more than two minutes at a time if the story is interesting enough).

This tale is a true story. It's about the bringing of a very young giraffe from Africa to Paris and the effect this has both on the giraffe and the people who catch sight of her on her way over the sea and the desert and the countryside to her home in the Jardin des Plantes.

Hofmeyr has a very beautiful, poetic and evocative way of putting things, but the lyricism is never overdone and it's always in words that the youngest child can understand. The last page reads: "Then they stood in silence and looked out over the lights of Paris. And on those evenings, when the air was particularly balmy, all three turned their faces southwards and on the warm air they felt the kiss of Africa."
This is quite a complicated thought, but one that's easily explained. The reader has seen and experienced Zeraffa's journey and can see that she might miss Africa and that  the wind coming from the South reminds both the giraffe and her owner that the South was where they came from; where their journey began.

The story is exciting, too. Zeraffa becomes a sensation. Women style their hair to copy the animal; and everyone comes out to see her in her enclosure, La Rotonde. Atir, who brought her on her journey was still with her when she died, many years later and the whole tale is a touching demonstration of love and devotion and care.

The illustrations are typical of Jane Ray's work. Richly coloured, humorously detailed (Zerafa's orange cloak is lovely!) and laid out on the page in a way that brings out what Hofmeyr is saying, they are very beautiful. As a reader, you turn each page expecting another  sumptuous surprise and every time, your heart lifts to see that Ray has done it again. The spread which recounts how Paris fell in love with Zeraffa is very funny too. Those giraffe-shaped biscuits, especially, look delicious. I learned from Twitter that there were giraffe-shaped biscuits at the launch of the book, which I believe the author baked herself.  

All in all, this is another delightful book from this publisher. Maybe Hofmeyr and Ray can come together again. They are a very good combination. I'm sure this will be a very popular book and one that teachers and parents will be happy to read aloud over and over again.

Title: ZERAFFA GIRAFFA
Written by: Diane Hofmeyr
Illustrated by: Jane Ray
Publisher: Frances Lincoln hbk: £11.99
ISBN: 9781847803443



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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

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