Have you ever wondered about the lives of gnomes – or aliens, for that matter? Two wonderful new books from Pushkin Children’s Press offer a joyful anthropological study for young humans, whose curiosity will be instantly piqued by the offbeat protagonists and the bright illustrations.
In The Gnome Book by Loes Riphagen, translated from Danish by Michele Hutchison (£12.99, 3+), our guide to the underground world of gnomes is Kick, a miniature Moonchild and collector of small things. Riphagen gives us a gorgeously detailed introduction to Kick’s life, as we watch him travelling by bird to school, crafting useful tools from found objects and ingeniously disguising himself from predators.
In X. Fang’s We Are Definitely Human, meanwhile, three strangers arrive at the Li house and try to explain themselves to the kind resident family, who are determined to help the lost strangers get back to their homeland. The quirky picture book takes similarity rather than difference as its focus, offering an effortlessly gentle lesson in acceptance: it turns out that aliens are not so different from us.
The Watering Can by Julien Baer, with illustrations from Marie Dorléans (NYRB Kids, £12.99, 3+), is translated from the French by Selene Bright, but this whimsical story about the power of daydreaming will resonate with any child, anywhere, looking to entertain themselves on a dull afternoon. “On the street the possibilities are endless”, young Nina discovers on her way home one day, when a discarded watering can reveals itself to have magical powers of transformation. From the gigantic to the knee-high, Dorléan’s illustrations offer shifting perspectives on familiar domestic scenes, with playful, amusing effects that are certain to fire a young imagination.
Like Nina, Sophie in Letters to a Monster by Patricia Forde, illustrated by Sarah Warburton (Bloomsbury, £7.99, 3+) demonstrates some wily, outside-the-box thinking when she writes a letter to the monster under her bed, hoping to persuade him to move on. It turns out Monster is trying to deal with some fearsome creatures of his own. Forde’s story is driven by the logical impulses of a child’s thought processes, and the results are heartwarming and hilarious, providing parents with an inventive and playful approach to dealing with bedtime jitters too.
Three new middle grade novels for young readers meditate on environmental issues in novel ways. After by Pádraig Kenny (Walker, £7.99, 8+) is set in a chilling near future, and in the opening pages of this compelling cli-fi thriller, Father sets out a short history of the world’s demise. “People destroyed their own habitat and the habitat of other animals,” he explains to his daughter, Jen, who loves stories, even one this grim. “This was the slow method, a method so gradual that humanity as a whole didn’t notice at first. And when eventually they did notice they chose to ignore it.” Father and Jen’s journey across the decimated wasteland of what’s left is one of survival. They have to find food, and hide from the Scavengers who are similarly starving. They also have to protect Father from those who fear him: he is a machine. But does that mean he isn’t capable of feeling? Kenny is a brilliant world builder and he writes with a clarity that belies the complexity of ideas in this gripping novel. More sensitive readers may find the themes and tension a bit challenging, but After is highly recommended for everyone else.
Wildlands by Brogen Murphy (Puffin, £7.99, 10+) puts a more positive spin on the future. In Murphy’s utopian vision, the world has been rewilded, returned to its former glory. Astrid’s mother – a biologist of world renown – is partially responsible for the survival of the rare plants and animals that now populate the Wildlands, which stretch across the whole of middle England. Astrid refuses to be impressed. When she gets stranded with her sister in the vast wilderness of her mother’s creation, however, she must channel some of her mother’s fearlessness, and also come to terms with the idea of ethical compromise. Murphy’s family drama is set against a backdrop of bigger issues, and the environmental and domestic concerns are neatly interwoven. The idyllic setting, meanwhile, offers a narrative of hope: there are things that humans can do to control and save the world, on both the micro and macro level.
Cornelia Funke’s The Green Kingdom (DK, £7.99, 10+), written in collaboration with celebrated ethnobotanical writer Tammi Hartung, is set in present-day Brooklyn. There are no big environmental messages here, but this heartwarming story about 12-year-old Caspia, uprooted from small-town Maine to the big city, is enriched by a historical mystery that transforms the urban landscape into a vast garden for exploring: “an enchanted forest made of bricks and eccentric people.” The plot is anchored by the discovery of a set of old letters and structured by 10 riddles which see Caspia start to put down roots despite her homesickness, as she makes new friends from all generations and ethnicities. The Green Kingdom showcases the masterful storytelling of the German author, with Hartung’s nuggets of botanical detail adding subtle layers of learning to this page-turning book.
