A is for musk ox by Erina Cabatingan and Matthew Myers

I dare you to pick this one up and read it aloud... with a serious voice and poker face. Never gonna happen...

This is a read aloud with gusto and verve and panache. You will need a couple of voices - either yourself, or with a friend - to truly bring the energy required of this book.

You will need one to be an overwhelmingly pushy / try-hard musk ox (Joseph)... and one to be a put-upon and sarcastic zebra... Most of the text is carried by the musk ox - who manages to make almost every-single-letter fit with the theme of 'musk oxen'... (And, even with those he doesn't use a directly-related-to-musk-oxen-word for... has a link, tenuous, but a link, nonetheless.)

It is funny, and irreverent... it is a perfect read for word lovers. Older children will appreciate the wit and silliness of the whole thing...

So - next up, make up your alphabet about whatever you like, a la A is for musk ox.

Other great alphabet books are... Z is for moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinksy; G is for one gzonk by Tony DiTerlizzi; Alpha oops! by Alethea Kontis and Bob Kolar; The dangerous alphabet by Neil Gaiman and Gris Grimly.

Check out this book trailer...

~ Reviewed by Aud Selene.

The quiet place by Sarah Stewart and David Small

When you were a child, didn't you sometimes want somewhere to escape and be in your own world? Maybe you had somewhere - your own quiet place...

Have you ever moved and had to settle in a new community? What about a new country? A new language?

Did you grow up with a loving and supportive family? Those in your house, and some further away?

If any of these things sound familiar, then you will identify with Isabel, newly immigrated to America from Mexico. Isabel sends letters to her favourite aunt, Lupita, keeping her up-to-date with the family's new life.

This is a lovely story by a pair who work well together and create some heart-felt picture books for older children. Look for their other collaborations: The friend; The gardener; The journey; The library and The money tree. Most of them have a historical bent, and feature young girls growing and learning new things / new communities.

You could also track down: Tea with milk by Allen Say, about feeling displaced; The Arrival by Shaun Tan, a 'wordless' book about immigration; Dear Daddy by Philippe Dupasquier, in which a girl writes to her father, who is at sea.

~ Reviewed by Aud Selene.