Emily Gravett

Cyril and Pat - Emily Gravett Gravett's work always delights me, and has again.
 
I love the art: Cyril and his friend look rather alike, that's a requirement for the whole plot. But they look believably alike: not just as if they had been drawn to look alike, but as if they really are.
 
I also love that Pat is never gendered.
 
And maybe it's just me, but I can't help noting that while I think of Cyril as an upper-class sort of name, Pat evokes Ireland and the stereotypes associated with show more Ireland in England. It doesn't matter if it's deliberate or pure accident or some combination of the two. The association makes the story visceral for me in a way picture books about squirrels usually don't.
 
Loved it.
 
Library copy. show less

Milo's father is the ferryman who takes the souls of the dead from the island of Merlank to the Island of the Broken Tower. While Milo has expressed an interest in his father's work, he's deemed unsuitable for the job because he's too sensitive – the ghosts of the dead are dangerous, and their look and touch will kill. But when the lord of Merlank's daughter dies, events spiral out of control, and Milo must find his courage if he's going to survive.

This is a very strange book: while it's show more suffused with loss and grief, there is also Milo's story arc filled with warmth and hope, and finding one's courage and purpose in life. Frances Hardinge's beautiful and imaginative prose is the thread that weaves the story, and Emily Gravett's lovingly detailed and atmospheric illustrations support the narrative and help to build an image of a world very different and at the same time very similar to ours. Wonderful. show less

The perfect picture-book selection for toddlers, Emily Gravett's Orange Pear Apple Bear takes four words (the ones in the title), some adorable illustrations, and an innovative approach to storytelling, and delivers a book that is both informative and entertaining. Without ever seeming to teach, the narrative demonstrates how meaning can change, simply by switching around the order of the words, and the punctuation used to separate them. Thus "Orange Bear" gives us an orange bear, but show more "Orange, Bear," gives us our ursine friend consuming a citrus treat.

The 'lesson' here is conveyed simply, without any fanfare - young readers probably won't even notice that there is a lesson - making it the ideal concept book for the very young. The artwork (watercolor, I think?) is cute - I loved the apple and pear-shaped bear butts! (because obviously toddlers aren't the only ones at the right maturity level for this one) - and the painting to page ratio isn't overwhelming (lots of blank page), giving this a very 'clean' and simple feeling. Recommended to anyone looking for creative picture-books for the younger set, and to Emily Gravett fans. show less

Meerkat mobs tends to stick together - playing together, eating together, even sleeping together - and Sunny's family, living in the hot, dry Kalahari Desert, is no exception. Deciding one day that they are a little too close, and that he would like to live somewhere else, Sunny sets off to find the perfect place, assuring his family that he will stay with relatives along the way. And so begins a journey that will take him to a variety of homes - some too small, others too exposed - and a show more plethora of places - some too rainy, some too itchy (life in a termite hole can be a challenge!) - none of which are just right. Chronicling his travels through postcards home, Sunny wanders far and wide, becoming increasingly dissatisfied, until eventually he finds his way to a place where he truly belongs...

This sweet tale of discovery, of journeying to find something, and then returning home to it at last, was one of the August selections, over in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "traveling." As with the other Emily Gravett books I have read, I found the artwork here charming - her meerkats are adorable, and her lurking jackal suitably sinister - and I also appreciated the innovative design, in which Sunny's postcards are attached to the page, making a "lift-the-flap" experience for readers. I liked the way in which Sunny's evolving feelings about home, and about where he is when writing each postcard, is reflected in the address he uses to mail them. All in all, an engaging little tale, one ideally suited for young children who dream of exploring the wide world, but still need the reassurance that home will always be there. show less