Judy Allen

A tired witch wonders where it is best to bed down for the night in this rhyming picture-book from English author Judy Allen and Italian illustrator Philip Giordano. Ignoring her feline's good advice—"A bed is the best," said the witch's cat, Matt. / "It's cosy and warm, and you can't beat that."–she flies hither and yon, trying out all manner of sleeping arrangements, until she finally discovers that, in the end, there's no place like home (and one's own bed)...

An engaging little show more bedtime confection, The Catnapping Cat pairs a fun tale told in rhyme—one with plenty of silly sleeping suggestions on the witch's part—with cute and colorful artwork. Young listeners will enjoy being "in the know," realizing along with the witch's cat Matt that home and bed are best, and being led by each repetition of the feline's refrain to consider the appeal of their own comfy beds. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for some witchy fun, or for entertaining bedtime tales which lead readers and listeners on an adventure, only to return them to the familiarity of their own beds. show less

A odd, perhaps I should say, quirky book. I wasn't sure I understood the rather sudden ending and will have to read it again to make sure I was right about what was going on. It's a quest-style book, with 3 young protagonists with different, well-drawn personalities. It seems a rather long wait for anything to happen but it was interesting enough for me to be patient and wait for the action.

Lonely, excruciatingly shy, and oppressed by the bleak, ""heavily vandalized"" British New Town to which his family has recently moved, Mike is drawn to the ""vitality and character"" of the City Center now rising over an old well shaft that reveals itself during the construction. The well, Colin learns from an intense (disturbed?) older boy deeply into Sacred Geometry, is the ""dynamic center of spiritual force of the whole town,"" and one day a fall into the shaft brings Mike a vision: he show more sees a dazzling ""sun king"" on a white charger and a beautiful pale silver lady in a bower--the positive and negative forces Mike perceives to be locked in a cosmic battle which he believes he's been summoned to settle. ""Choosing"" the king, Mike wakens to reality and is later gratified by the energy that begins to throb through the whole town--even through the youth group which he has diffidently joined. But energy turns to aggression and violence, and so in another vision Mike chooses the lady, cool and soothing--only to see the town's subsequent peacefulness lead to apathy and depression. Guided through the experience by the Civic Center's aged architect, Magnus--also a magus and self-revealed Lord of the Dance (for it is, Mike learns at last, a dance and not a battle), Mike comes to realize that it is not for him to disturb the balance of the universe. show less

Are You a Ladybug?
Judy Allen, illustrated by Tudor Humphries
Kingfisher, 31 p.
Paperback nonfiction picture book
2003
4-8 years
This funny and informative book shows young readers around the life of a ladybug by putting them in the ladybug's shoes: "If you were a ladybug, you would..." hatch from a tiny egg, eat aphids, shed skin as a larva, metamorphose, and develop a hard red shell. Then the book takes a silly turn, explaining that if your parents are humans, you are not a ladybug but a human show more child - you don't eat aphids and can't fly! Detailed, engaging watercolor illustrations realistically depict the life cycle of the ladybug, and then show children and parents who are not ladybugs (although they might wear a red and black shirt and costume wings!). This would be a fun read-aloud for kindergarten. show less