J.K. Rowling has written a book for children — and you know what? It’s a charmer. The Ickabod (Hachette, £20) was created for her own children between the Harry Potter books (how does she do it?) and was stashed away until the arrival of Covid, when she found that children were stuck indoors without much to do. So she published it online initially and invited illustrations from her young readers. Now it’s a proper book, with some of those pictures.
It’s not a bit like HP. It has some of the elements, including fabulous eatables, but it’s more of a fairy story. Think A.A. Milne’s Once Upon a Time crossed with Eva Ibbotson’s The Abominables with a bit of Fattipuffs and Thinnifers and you’re there. There’s a terrifically vain king, Fred, abominable courtiers, feisty child heroes, Bert and Daisy, and a monster who is, well, I can’t really say, can I?
For small children, Honey for You, Honey for Me (Walker, £14.99) is Michael Rosen’s take on nursery rhymes, written to be chanted aloud, with adorable pictures by Chris Riddell. Some are tweaked for contemporary sensibilities, but children won’t mind. Riddell is an illustrator with an exquisitely fine line and a strongly individual style, who turns from political cartoons to story books with astonishing ease.
He has now taken on the big challenge: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Macmillan, £25). As with all his pictures of children, Alice is huge-eyed and delicate, but his cartoonist’s eye means he does a lovely Gryphon and Mock Turtle. This is quite a hefty hardback. Actually I think the unabridged Alice is best for older children. For young readers, a good bet is Lewis Carroll’s own shorter version with Tenniel’s pictures, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: The Little Folks’ Edition (Macmillan, £9.99).
Tiger Tiger Burning Bright (Nosy Crow, £25) is a pleasing anthology — ‘an animal poem for every day of the year’, illustrated with bold, evocative images by Britta Teckentrup, and chosen with an eye for brevity by Fiona Waters.
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