October Picture Book Round UP – 100 Dogs – Not Yet a Yeti – The King That Banned the Dark

100 Dogs by Michael Whaite

100 Dogs is fun rhyming book, with vibrant humorous pictures, which is an easy read-aloud book to share. With pages bursting full of dog of every shape, size bread and personality type, it groups them together by way of rhyme that slips of the tongue and poses the question, which dog is like yours? Funny and full of dog traits that all dog owners will find funny, it also poses as a great books for learning your phonics, with so many rhymes. But primarily it is just a funny book great to share at bed time.

Not Yet A Yeti by Lou Treleaven and Tony Neal

George is the youngest of a family of yeti’s and he anxious as to why he is not a yeti yet. So he asks his family members why he’s not yet a yeti,, and they ask him if he can do essential yeti tasks, like leaving big footprints in the snow to scare people, or being capable of luring hikes to their doom. None of these staple yeti activities really appeal to George, and it’s only when his Mum ask him if he really wants to be yeti, that George realises his vocation if very different. George soon realises he can be what he dreams, and with the acceptance of those he loves, he finds his own role within the family, and finally becomes the happies and truest form of himself. Not Yet A Yeti, is fun and colourful tale of self-acceptance and family love.

The King who Banned the Dark by Emily Haworth-Booth

What would happen if a king was scared of the dark? He’d ban it of course! And so begins Emily Haworth-Booth’s lovely yearn, accompanied by muted and exquisite illustrations. Of course the King’s advisors are aware that banning the dark could cause the kingdoms people to revolt, so they cunning spread rumours about the dark so’s to fuel the people desire to ban it. When the people are ready, a huge artificial sun is hung above the palace, and the whole kingdom rejoices, until they become weary and sleep deprived. And so, the people decide action is needed, and their treachery payback as they save the Kings celebrations, and in doing so teaches him a valuable lesson. The King Who Banned the Dark is modern fairy-tale, akin to The Emperor’s New Clothes, told with sophistication and paired with extraordinary beautiful illustrations in monotones, juxtaposed with vibrant yellow.

Review – AdoraBULL – Alison Donald & Alex Willmore

Tom and Alfred are inseparable, they are as close as a boy and bull can be, spending all their waking hours together. However all things must end and when Tom has to go to school Alfred pines for his friend. Alfred’s loneliness is made worse when he hears Tom ask his parents for an adorable pet. 

Envious and lonelier then ever Alfred uses Tom’s Dad’s phone to look up the meaning of adorable, and upon finding oodles of images of tea-cup dogs, and cute cats, tries his hand at being adorable too. However no matter what Alfred tries his efforts are met with ridicule and laughter, as he faces the fact that bulls just aren’t adorable. Just as Alfred has given up, Tom swoops in with a surprise, one adorable pet, to keep his best-bull-friend company when he’s away at school.

AdoraBULL is funny, charming and crammed full of lovely messages about loneliness, friendship and faith. It is also beautifully illustrated by Alex Willmore’s earthy soft images which really work exquisitely with Alison Donald’s text. 

But what really makes AdoraBULL stand out is that it has had the courage to do something that is truly rare in picture books, by including modern technology. Most picture books are free of new-fangled tech, staying firmly in a nostalgic pre-internet world. But with AdoraBULL, we see Alfred actually using a smartphone, and the internet. But far from detracting from the story, this little snippet of the 21st century sets up the jokes and laughter, as well as mirroring the readers own world, (when was the last time you looked up a word in a dictionary?)

AdoraBULL, is a funny, relevant and charming books, a future classic.