Review: Five picture books to help young ones make sense of big feelings
Reviewed by Dionne Christian
Titles featured:
Pearl in a Whirl, Tōku Whānau Rerehua My Beautiful Family, Jungle Jazz, Raraku ki to hari, kei te pai Strum a Tune when you're happy, kei te pai and Ah Choo!
Pearl in a Whirl: How one fluffy cat braved the floods by Catherine Robertson and Fifi Colston (Picture Puffin, $21.00)
For those of us who weren’t directly impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, watching the scenes that unfolded in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti Gisborne was shocking enough. It is hard to comprehend how terrifying it must have been for those who, not expecting the storm to be that bad, suddenly found themselves having to shelter on rooves as floodwaters rose ever higher. Eight people died; livelihoods, homes, possessions and local landmarks vanished in a matter of hours.
Talking to young children about what happened, helping them start to process their emotions, requires care. Pearl in a Whirl: How one fluffy cat braved the floods is a gentle but honest picture book which will help to open up conversations but also show that while things can be frightening and changeable, there is cause to feel hopeful about the future.
Based on a real story about a cat called Pearl who was separated from her family, and eventually reunited with them, Robertson captures a sense of what it was like to be trapped, scared and in need of rescue. She tells the story lightly, almost quietly, but doesn’t shy away from what happened: ‘It BANGED! It SMASHED! It WHOOSHED and it WHIRLED!’ It’s a straightforward and sensitive approach, never patronising or dismissive.
This requires a fine balance, which also comes from Fifi Colston’s nuanced illustrations. Colston gets real emotion into the faces of Pearl’s fleeing family and leaves no doubt as to the damage done by mud and debris flowing into homes. There’s deft touches of lightness in her drawings, too. A nod to one of her previously published books (the wonderful Masher), cats welcoming Pearl to a shelter where she meets a wary dog, reporters “interviewing” her, a home surrounded by onions.
Every copy sold raises funds to the ongoing Cyclone Gabrielle recovery effort.
Tōku Whānau Rerehua My Beautiful Family by Rauhina Cooper and Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Oratia, $22.99)
This is a thoughtful story, told in te reo Māori and English, with a quiet power to change the way you feel about the world. Huia, a primary school pupil, is studying family. Along with the rest of her class, she has to bring in a photo of her family and talk about the people in the picture. Huia, for reasons not revealed until the end of the story, is reluctant to and even goes so far as to deliberately “forget” to bring one in. Then her mum turns up with it, anyway.
Isobel Joy Te Aho-White’s drawings of Huia’s school, her classroom and her expressions – from fear, puzzlement, realisation and bravery – are instantly recognisable, which will help young readers see themselves in the story. As her schoolmates, reflective of multicultural classrooms across Aotearoa, share stories about their families, they are encouraged by their teacher, whaea Hera, who tells them, ‘what a beautiful family.’
Rauhina Cooper’s descriptions of the emotions Huia experiences are fitting - ‘As soon as Huia heard her name her heart pounded like an enormous drum’ – while the character of whaea Hera demonstrates the importance a compassionate and understanding teacher makes to young lives. It’s a kind and considered story, attentive to the smaller things in life which can make a big difference to those around us.
Jungle Jazz by Jo van Dam and Deborah Hinde (PictureBook Publishing, $21.99)
It’s never much fun when you want to join in and do what a group of others are doing – because it looks enjoyable and they’re kind of cool – and you can’t because you feel you don’t have the skills or ability. That’s how it is for snake in Jungle Jazz, where a cougar, howler monkey, armadillo and bear are in a band called Dung Beatles which rocks the South American jungle. Snake can’t play any of the instruments so, when he can stand it no more, takes his revenge.
But feeding the green-eyed monster within gives him no satisfaction. That comes when the other animals forgive him and find a way for snake to join their band. So, it’s ostensibly about feeling different and out of place, envy, forgiveness and recognising everyone has a special talent. However, the best picture books have multiple layers of meaning so Jungle Jazz can also be read as a book that revels in the power of music to unite while celebrating the joy it brings to those who make it.
It’s deceptively clever, using adjectives and verbs that are more advanced than your average picture book, and Jo van Dam tells the story in a funny and funky way that harmonises nicely with Deborah Hinde’s lush jungle illustrations. Spoiler alert: snake stuffed full of instruments is quite a sight. There’s a bonus surprise at the end of this well-conceived and told tale.
Raraku ki to hari, kei te pai Strum a Tune when you're happy, kei te pai by Rebecca Larsen (Bateman Books, $21.99)
The power of music, especially the way it can show different emotions, is at the heart of Rebecca Larsen’s bilingual story where a pūkeko, kiwi and hōiho get their musical instruments out to express how emotions are real. As Larsen says, books for children about emotions can be quite serious but setting them to music – in this case, When You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands – makes that far less staid.
This is her fourth book and it’s a polished, professional effort with care and attention given to all the different aspects of a story where music plays a leading role. The illustrations are vibrant and the use of colour to represent various emotions – yellow for happy, blue for sad, red for mad – is a clever touch, with the birds using instruments and playing them in a way that also expresses these. Larsen captures changing expressions on their faces well, too, and has chosen instruments that many youngsters will be familiar with.
She worked with translators Justin Kereama and Tania Solomona on English and te reo Māori – good to see the te reo at the top of the page, too – while Kereama and musician Richard Larsen have made a song version of the story in both languages. That comes as a bonus CD with the book.
Ah Choo by Angela Walker and Ross Hamilton (Bateman Books, $21.99)
Difference – or, more accurately, the ways in which we are similar despite apparent differences – is central to Angela Walker’s Ah Choo! Max wants a friend to move into the vacant house next door and is delighted when Jun, a boy about his age, shows up. But when Jun sneezes and says ‘HAKUSHON’ instead of Ah Choo, Max is a little thrown and decides he might not want to be friends after all.
Searching for a friend just like him, Max picks up a fluffy feather to make other kids in the neighbourhood sneeze so he can hear what they say. When Max finds no one says ah choo like him, he decides sneezes and people are alike – different, but the same, and friends can be that way, too.
There’s heart and humour in the story and Ross Hamilton’s illustrations as Max finds friendship is nothing to be sneezed at.
Reviewed by Dionne Christian
