That it is not easy being different is the common theme in this current crop of picture books, which present the ugly-duckling-into-swan syndrome in a variety of guises - a rare species of parrot, a loner who does not conform, a bad-tempered princess, and a toad that revels in its slithery, odorous state.
For younger readers, You're Somebody Special, Walliwigs! by Joan Rankin (Bodley Head, £9.99 in UK) opens to a sequence of double-page spreads of muted shades of greens, browns and blues. The scene moves from the docklands to the open sea as we see a baby parrot, whose scatty mother has made her nest in the funnel of a steamer, being whisked away to sea. Through a variety and range of design formats the story gathers pace, with oval shapes floating on airframes on some pages, speech-bubbles and italic writing on others, and text-free images carrying the narrative on yet others.
The ship's boy climbing to the top of the funnel takes up the left of a picture while the story moves on in two different levels alongside. An adoring mother hen adopts the baby parrot and, blind to his differences, introduces him to a hen-coop and fowl diet. A two-page sequence in which Walliwigs adapts to life on the shelf results in him swinging upside-down, squawking "Look at me, Ma!". This utterance is also printed upside down, compelling the reader to turn the book around and thereby share in this bird's-eye view of the world.
Is Walliwigs a misfit or is he special? The arrival on the scene of an ornithologist soon settles that dispute, to his proud mum's delight. The design gives us different levels of engagement - with sometimes the narrator's voice, sometimes the characters speaking, and occasionally the opportunity to eavesdrop on conversations. The style is sketchy, fluid and characterful.
Toad by Ruth Brown (Red Fox, £4.99 in UK) is the tale of a monstrous toad. From endpapers through title page to the final pages of the story, this slimy creature oozes his way through swamps and ponds, leaving tracks and blotches of brown and green. The language is as textured as the illustrations ("a muddy toad, a slimy toad/a clammy, sticky, gooey toad"), and the story squelches to a satisfyingly triumphant resolution. Please, Princess Primrose! By Vivian French, illustrated by Chris Fisher (Walker Books, £4.99 in UK), introduces us to as disagreeable a young madam as can be found. Princess Primrose scowls and stomps her way through her birthday - demanding, complaining and ranting at her over-indulgent parents until she meets resistance and her match in the cook's boy. Chris Fisher's loose and sketchy style, with lots of detail and visual humour, makes the most of the text and is reminiscent of the work of Babette Cole. The overall design, too, is varied, with text occasionally incorporated into architectural features, picture frames or oven doors. A lesson concerning manners and the pleasure of playmates over possessions is delivered in the gentlest and wittiest of fashions.
Weslandia by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Walker Books, £9.99 in UK) is aimed at the slightly older age-level of seven- to 10-year-olds. Wesley just doesn't fit in. A loner who does not like pizzas, fizzy drinks or shaving half his head, he is tormented for his non-conformity by schoolmates. As the story begins, school is out for the summer and Wesley decides that he will found a new civilisation in his back garden. Through magic, imagination and endeavour, he creates his new world with its own food, clothing and language - and all in the back yard of a street in a "suburb of two styles of housing - garage on the left and garage on the right". With wonderful improbability, we leave Wesley returning to school, followed now by his former tormentors-turned-disciples.
The colours used throughout are bright and opulent, with jungle-like textured pictures in vibrant hues. The particular typeface used gives the book a quirky feel entirely appropriate to its content. This is a truly artistic book. The illustrator betrays his American origin in pictures that show the influence of artist N.C. Wyeth and illustrator Maxfield Parrish. And the message? Dare to be different.
Pat Donlon is currently Sandars Bibliography Reader at Cambridge University and is writing a history of Irish children's literature