Lola's Modern Classic

Charlie and Lola have a very special space on the Evie's Books bookshelf. Over the years I've found myself captivated by the two children, first from the TV series and then from the books. Whenever there is a Charlie and Lola book in the house, it's always top of the reading pile for both girls.

I have a particular fondness for Charlie. Yes, Lola is cute and funny and charming but Charlie is a really great big brother. I love that he has so much compassion for his sister, and that he finds gentle solutions to problems, even if he gets quite cross at first. I will not ever Never eat a Tomato is Charlie's solution to getting Lola to eat her dinner; faced with a long list of foods that Lola won't eat, he comes up with the trick of making the food exotic and tempting. Mash is cloud fluff, peas are green drops and carrots are orange twiglets from Jupiter. It's siblings without (a lot of) rivalry; it's fantastic to have a role model of an older sibling for Abigail who really struggles with being the big sister. Maybe she should adopt the mantra, 'what would Charlie do'!

Both girls are captivated by Charlie and Lola books, and especially love finding the little treats that Lauren Child hides in her illustrations. There are always squeals of delight when the see the pea with Lola's eyes, and they have great fun counting through the list of food that Lola won't eat. Abigail would like every one to please note that Lola will eat cucumbers, because cucumbers ROCK.

I'm always fascinated by the way that the words are laid out in a Lauren Child book. The words come in different sizes, some words are in bold, some are not. Sometimes the words wind round the pictures instead of sitting by themselves in a block in a corner or at the bottom of the page. I spend a great deal of time over-analysing what this could mean. I won't go on about it for hours, but I will say this: anything that makes language vibrant and alive for both adults and children is a good thing. For a child like Abigail who just is not keen on reading, seeing her follow the words around the page and engage with them in a way she never does with school reading books is a pure joy.

Long live Charlie and Lola.

Princesses and Firefighters.

This week was a bumper crop for books, having gone *slightly* overboard last week on ordering books. I'd read an interview with Dashka Slater about her book Dangerously Ever After and had to have it. I have a real disliking to 'Princesses' and all the Pink Passiveness that comes along with them (because all your problems will be solved waiting for your Prince to come, right?) so a book that could knock that idea on the head had to be in our library. The turnaround time was quite long on these from Amazon, so I got in touch with Dashka through her website. It turns out that only only one of her books has a UK publisher, and sadly for me, it wasn't the one I was looking for. Not prepared to wait for weeks, I worked some google magic and less than a week later there's not one, but two Dashka Slater books on our bookshelf.

Dangerously Ever After is the story of Princess Amanita, who loves dangerous things, especially the dangerous plants that she grows in her garden. They are all spikes and stings, wonderfully illustrated by Valeria Docampo, who balances so well her drawings of the Princess - being a fan of dangerous stuff doesn't mean she has to be boyish, you can still wear dresses and have a pet cat you know. This Princess is just herself. I like that. Abigail decided to ask me at this point why the Princess liked dangerous stuff, 'it's just like you like zombies and Jack [the Pumpkin King]' I told her. To which she replied, 'but I don't like zombies, they're scareeeey!'. This from the girl who keeps asking if there is a My Little Pony 'Zombies' episode...
We got back to the book, and enjoyed following Amanita meeting Prince Florian, who was more than a little confused by Amanita's 'nice sword' reply to his complimenting her flowers. A misunderstanding folllows, and Amanita sets off to find the young Prince. She gets lost and scared, as Princesses often do, but she uses her instinct and finds her way to her neighbour's castle. Amanita and Florian form a friendship where they both appreciate their differences. No-one has to change who they are to be friends, and that is a great lesson.

The second book we read was Firefighters in the Dark, this time illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli. Abigail's Granda Dave is a firefighter, so I think she was sucked in from there. A little girl lives opposite a fire station and tells us all about the firefighters do and the fires they fight. Any grown-up who is a fan of magic realism (I'm have to declare I'm a card-carrying Angela Carter Fan) will enjoy the fantasy of the girl's dreams mixed with the visits she has had to the fire station in real life. Kids will enjoy the fantastical dreams and the wild imagination of the illustrations. There are fires started by dragons and little boys who have jumped so high they have to be rescued from space, all told with a dash of humour. Dashka integrates this with the real bravery and seriousness of a firefighter's job in an informative but not frightening manner. She also has male and female, black and white firefighters, done in the best way you can, by just presenting it as normal. Abigail really loved this book it's a definite keeper for her. And me? I loved it too because it lets a little girl dream of being whatever she wants to be.

It's a real shame that these don't have a publisher in the UK. It's our loss.