Lucy Willow by Sally Gardner illustrated by Peter Bailey

This is a book with so many plot twists I found myself gasping over and over again. Lucy Willow lives with her mum, dad and baby brother (Lucy names him Stench but his real name is Zac) in a train carriage. They had been living in a high-rise apartment building but mum wanted a garden and dad didn't like heights. Dad also loved trains so when he saw an advertisement to buy a real train carriage which had been fitted out like a house it seemed like the perfect solution. Of course, things are never that simple and when the family move in the train is still running but they are able to work around the train timetable and Dad can get to work in the city and Lucy can go to school in the little village of Maldon-in-the-marsh. 

Luckily for the family the train is sold which means it no longer moves back and forth between Liverpool Street Station and the village but the new owners need the family to move the train carriages off their track. Just as all of this happens dad loses his job so now they have no money.

Meanwhile in her class, Lucy and the other children are growing sunflowers. Lucy discovers she has a magical gift with a mysterious sounding name of green fingers. No her fingers are not green but any plants that she touches seem to grow extraordinarily quickly. Naturally because she is a child, a mere eight-year-old girl, no one will listen to her or believe her. But they do need to listen because dad now has a part time job at the local garden centre as an accountant and there is a big wedding coming up in the village with a famous football (soccer) player and the rival garden centre is run by crooks who will stop at nothing to stop the Peppercorns and their nursery supplying the flowers. 

Meanwhile there is a delicious extra thread in this story featuring the nasty and corrupt school principal Mrs Sparks. Spoiler alert - when Lucy saves the day it is wonderful to see this horrid woman get her just desserts. 

Here is the book seller blurb: 'There were three things that marked out Lucy Willow as different. The first was that she lived on a train. The second was that she had a snail called Ernest as a pet. And the third, the most important of all, was that she had green fingers.' It's Lucy's green fingers that save the day when Silverboots McCoy the famous footballer and his girlfriend Blossom B order flowers for their wedding - for Ricky Sparks, who runs the rival garden centre, will stop at nothing to get the contract for himself. ... Lucy Willow has all Sally Gardner's soaring imagination, enchanting humour and great heart, and is rich in scenes and characters that readers will adore and remember.

My friend asked me to read this book, which was published in 2006, to decide it she should keep it in her library. We have both read and enjoyed other books by Sally Gardner (see below). I am always thrilled when asked to read a book for two reasons. Firstly, it means she trusts my judgement and that's a huge honour and secondly it means I read the book a little more carefully knowing I have to make informed comments.

You can see I have given Lucy Willow five stars because as an adult reader I really enjoyed this story but I am going to say this book could move out of the library now partly because it is a little old-fashioned and very English (some of the references might be confusing for an Australian child). The children who use this library are aged 4-7 and with 214 pages this book might seem a little too long. There are twenty-nine very short chapters and the story does simply rock along at a perfect pace rather like an old steam train but it has not been borrowed for over four years. The copy is not in very good shape and, as with most older paperbacks, the pages are no longer white. My copy has the purple cover which is perhaps also not especially appealing. You can preview parts of the text here. 

Here are some review comments:

'A great read. In 29 short chapters we escape to a world saved by a triumphant young horticulturalist and her eccentric and likeable family. Bailey's simple sketch illustrations, lightly sprinkled throughout the book, help to depict the rich array of characters.'

'a delightful story, full of juicy characters... the warm style'

'lively and intriguing... A rollicking read, with lots of twists and turns that will thrill younger readers.'

I do have some good news. This book is available as an ebook and also as an audio book (you can hear chapter one) and I do think, even though it is very English, it would be enjoyed in a family as a nighttime read aloud or on a car journey where you could all enjoy the audio version.

Here are the perfect companion books:

I previously talked about The Boy with Magic Numbers and The Boy with Lightning feet by Sally Gardner from her Magical Children series:

Read more here

Operation Bunny

Meet the illustrator Einat Tsarfati

Blurb: As a young girl climbs the seven stories to her own (very boring!) apartment, she imagines what's behind each of the doors she passes. Does the door with all the locks belong to a family of thieves? Might the doorway with muddy footprints conceal a pet tiger? Each spread reveals-in lush detail-the wilds of the girl's imagination, from a high-flying circus to an underwater world and everything in between. When the girl finally reaches her own apartment, she is greeted by her parents, 

who might have a secret even wilder than anything she could have imagined!

Read the Kirkus review and more details in this review. 

Kinderbookswitheverything on the topic of building sandcastles I came across an unfamiliar name - Einat Tsarfati. 

You can see a portfolio of her work here. Here is her website.

Here is her bio from the publisher Simon and Schuster: Einat Tasrfati is an Israeli author-illustrator. A graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, she works as a freelance editorial illustrator in addition to creating her own picture books books, including the international bestseller Neighbours, Sandcastle, It could be Worse and It Could be much Worse. Her latest published book, I'm a Mess, is a witty and insightful commentary on the beauty and potential found in life's messiness. Through this work, Tsarfati champions the idea that chaos can be a source of creativity and resourcefulness, In all her books, Einat illuminates the diverse tapestry of human experiences, often highlighting the beauty hidden in life's imperfections.

Little Nina will not go to bed. Not when the adults are having so much fun in the other room without her! Before her exasperated parents can catch up, Nina escapes her bedroom and races through the house, sampling cakes and just generally stirring up trouble. With Nina on the loose, a cordial family party becomes a wild good time, as her aunts and uncles join in the riotous fun. Finally it’s time for the guests to leave, and it is bedtime at last—not just for Nina, but for the entire exhausted family. Illustrated with stylishly appealing three-colour art, this is a loving, funny portrait of family life—and of what bedtime is often really like. Here is the Kirkus review and read more here. 

One day at the beach, a little girl builds a sand castle. A real castle with domes and turrets and a crocodile moat. And a sea view. Pretty soon, the royal visitors arrive. Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses all descend on the palace to admire the sandy architecture and partake in the grand party in the Ballroom. But in the morning, the troubles begin. "There's sand in my almond strudel!" "There is sand in my suit of armour!" "There's sand in my bath!" In fact, there's sand everywhere. Is there any way to appease the royal guests? And what will happen when the tide inevitably comes in...   Read this review from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. 

As a pair of shipwrecked sailors float on what’s left of their ship, Albertini is none too happy. The rain, he observes, is unfair enough. Then the flying fish appear overhead – the ones with the sick stomachs. And the singing mermaids, leaving infernal earworms in their wake. There’s the ghost ship full of pirates and the ark teeming with ravenous beasts. But no matter how bad the situation seems, George, cheerfully playing his harmonica, reminds his friend it could always be worse. Ahhhh! But hang on ... is that a giant whale with an overpowering case of tuna breath? Delightfully detailed illustrations add visual comedy to a meditation on tough times that shows that even the worst days can turn around – especially with friends.

Starring Walter Pigeon by Suzanne Houghton

 

Walter Pigeon knows he is different. He loves movies and hopes to be a star one day. He spies a poster for a movie starring Walter Pigeon entitled Ace detective Jack Parker. Yay - he is in a movie! Walter assembles his kit and sets off to solve a mystery. Greer, a meek little pigeon, explains she has lost her laugh.

"Greer couldn't explain what it looked like ... 'but I know what it feels like ... It's like the tickly fizzy bubbles from a glass of lemonade ..."

"My laugh makes me heart light up and brightens my day."

"My laugh turns my frown upside down. It makes me tingle all over. My laugh makes me feel happy."

How will Walter ever solve the mystery of the missing laugh?

Adults will also enjoy the name choice - Walter Pigeon (1897-1984) was an actor who was "known for his "portrayals of men who prove both sturdy and wise".  There is also a fun visual twist on the last page.  I discovered this book (which is sadly now out of print but might be in some Australian school libraries) because my friend sets out fabulous book displays every week or two. This book was part of her pigeon books display and three borrowers took it home in June which is why she regularly displays her books so that borrowers can find them!

Here are a set of discussion questions to use with Starring Walter Pigeon. This is the first book by Australian author/illustrator Suzanne Houghton. Here are some of her other titles and you can see her work on Instagram:

Where are all the Christmas Beetles; Life in a Hollow

Companion books:

The Case of the Missing Tarts

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

"We need a place ... just for us. It would be so secret we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it ... It might be a whole secret country ... 

and you and I would be rules of it."

"Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any direction, and it was blown to bits."

You are probably familiar with this famous book so I thought I would share a few text quotes:

"It was May Belle who came to tell him in the bean patch that people were moving into the old Perkins place down on the next farm. Jess wiped the hair out of his eyes and squinted. Sure enough. A U-Haul was parked right by the door. One of those big jointed ones. These people had a lot of junk. But they wouldn't last."

"Miss Edmunds, the music teacher. She was the only one he dared to show anything to, and she'd only been at school one year, and then only on Fridays. Miss Edmunds was one of his secrets. He was in love with her. Not the kind of silly stuff Ellie and Brenda giggled about on the telephone. This was too real and too deep to talk about, even to think about very much. Her long swishy black hair, blue eyes ... Lord, she was gorgeous. And she liked him too."

'We just moved in,' ... 'I thought we might as well be friends ... There's no one else close by.'

Girl he decided. definitely a girl, but he couldn't have said why he was suddenly sure. She was about his height - not quite though, he was pleased to realise as she came nearer. 

'My name's Leslie Burke.'

She even had one of those dumb names that could go either way ...

"Jess drew the way some people drink whisky. The peace would start at the top of his muddled brain, and seep down through his tired and tensed-up body. Lord, he loved to draw."

'We've been away for many years ... How do you suppose the kingdom has fared in our absence?' 

'Where've we been?'

'Conquering the hostile savages on our northern borders ... But the lines of communication have been broken, and thus we do not have tiding of our beloved homeland for many a full moon.'

How was that for regular queen talk? Jess wished he could match it."

"They took turns swinging across the gully on the rope. It was a glorious autumn day, and if you looked up as you swung, it gave you the feeling of floating. Jess leaned back, and drank in the rich, clear colour of the sky. He was drifting, drifting like a fat white lazy cloud back and forth across the blue."

"Somehow this year May Belle needed something special. She was always moping around. He and Leslie couldn't include her in their activities, but that was hard to explain to someone like May Belle."

"Later that afternoon Leslie gave Jess is present. It was a box of watercolours with twenty-four tubes of colour and three brushes and a pad of heavy art paper. ...'It's not a great present like yours,' she said humbly, 'but I hope you'll like it."

"They smiled at each other trying to ignore May Bell's anxious little voice, 'But Leslie,' she insisted. 'What if you die? What's going to happen to your if you die?"

Awards:

• 1977 ALA Notable Children’s Books
• 1977 School Library Journal Best Book of the year
• 1978 Newbery Medal
• 1978 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
• 1981 Janusz Korczak Medal (Poland)
• 1981 Silver Pencil Award (Netherlands)
• 1986 Le Grand Prix des Jeunes Lecturs (France)
• 1986 Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award

I have begun reading children's classic books - I picked up a few at a recent charity book sale. These are mostly books I have read previously - in most cases decades ago. Bridge to Terabithia was published in 1977 so I did not read this when I was in Primary school. I think perhaps I read it some time in the early 1980s. Re-reading this over the last day I had forgotten most of the plot details and even though I did remember the tragedy of this story I did cry on the train yesterday when I reached the final chapters. I had totally forgotten the relationship between Jess and his little sister May Beth and in my memory there was a funeral but I think I mixed this book up with another tragic story - A Taste of Blackberries.

Book seller blurb: Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

Read the Kirkus Star review from 1977. It is interesting reading this 2013 review from Kids' Book Review which is an Australian site - the reviewer had never read this classic book prior to her review. I am not sure Bridge to Terabithia should be used as a class novel (I do know this happens in lots of schools) but if you have some time to think more deeply about this book take a look at these notes and questions. 

Eight Memorable Facts About ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ (source Mental Floss)

• Before writing Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson wanted to be a missionary in China.
• Bridge to Terabithia was inspired by a real-life incident.

When Paterson’s son David was just 8 years old, he had a best friend named Lisa Hill. The two frequently hung out near a creek bed in Takoma Park, Maryland. Tragically, Lisa died after being struck by lightning.

• The name Terabithia came from another book.

“I realized when the book was nearly done, that there is an island in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis called ‘Terebinthia.’ I’m sure I borrowed that unconsciously, but, then, so would Leslie who loved the Chronicles of Narnia. And, by the way, Lewis got Terebinthia from the biblical terebinth tree, so it wasn’t original with him either.”

• Paterson thought Bridge to Terabithia would be “too personal” to succeed ...
• ... And her son found it hard to read.
• Bridge to Terabithia is a highly controversial book.

The book often lands on the American Library Association’s list of banned library books

• There won’t be a sequel.
• Bridge to Terabithia has been adapted twice as a movie 1985 and 2007

I have added some other books by Katherine Paterson to my 'to re-read' list - The Great Gilly Hopkins, Flip Flop Girl, The Same Stuff as Stars and The Field of Dogs. 

The imaginative play in their world of Terabithia and the life tragedy also made me think of this old Australian book Swashbuckler.

Here are some books by Katherine Paterson that I have explored on this blog:

Bread and Roses too

My Brigadista Year

Got to Get to Bear's! by Brian Lies

The snow is falling but the note from Bear is urgent - 'Please come at once' - so Izzy sets out towards Bear's house. Luckily her friends are able to step in and help her - firstly Scritch, a squirrel, takes Izzy across the tree tops from branch to branch, then Bingle a goose offers Izzy and Scritch a ride in the sky but with the blizzard they cannot see and crash into a snow-covered roof. Luckily Snaffle the raccoon is able to help with the final part of the their journey and eventually they all reach Bear's house. Spoiler alert - Bear has a terrific surprise for Izzy - Happy Birthday!

Bookseller blurb: Bear never asks for anything. So, when she sends a note to Izzy urgently requesting her presence, Izzy can’t refuse! But a blizzard begins and slows Izzy's progress.  As the snow accumulates, so do her friends, helping her on her way to Bear’s place. 

Notice the word bear's in the title - the forest animals on the front cover and heading to the home of their friend Bear. You need to read this book with your preschool group or young reading companion to find out why.

I love the character names and their little knitted clothes especially Bingle's ear-flap cap with the camel decorations. Notice the letter on the first page was deliver par avian! and do take time to look closely at the half title page and the title page because these two scenes form the start of the story. 

I think we need a name for stories like this one where the main character is heading somewhere, he or she meets friends along the way, the friends all have a secret, and the destination is a surprise birthday celebration. There is always a sense of urgency about journey and the protagonist has no idea that a wonderful surprise is waiting for him or her at the end created by their very special friends. Take a look at this post. You could create a fun mini unit for a preschool or Kindergarten class on the topic of Surprise Birthday Parties. 

A beautifully illustrated and gratifying story of woodland-creature comradeship and determination. Kirkus

Got to Get to Bear's was published in 2018. You might find it in a library and I think new copies are available but the price here in Australia will put this book well beyond the reach of your library budget sadly.

I previously talked about More which is illustrated by Brian Lies. 

You can see other books by Brian Lies here.

Escargot by Dashka Slater illustrated by Sydney Hanson

"Bonjour! I see you are staring at me! I don't mind. My name is Escargot, and I am such a beautiful French snail that every stares at me."

Did you see my post about the Eric Carle exhibition featuring books that 'break the fourth wall'? That's where I saw this book mentioned and so this week I borrowed two from the series (actually there are three) and I fell in love with cheeky little Miss Escargot.

I love the way she speaks directly to the reader:

"Right now, I am traveling to the salad at the end of this book. It is a beautiful salad, with croutons and a light vinaigrette. You should come! I just need a little push to help me start."

She even invites you to give her a little kiss! 

And she explains why she should be your favourite animal. Also you do need to know it is very important to never put any carrot in a salad. Oh no by the end of the book you and Escargot do arrive at the salad with a few croutons and a light vinaigrette but oh no it contains carrot!

Watch out for the slime covered end papers! Read more on the author web page. There is a plush toy of little Escargot - it would be such fun to own this in your preschool or prep library. A couple of the titles are also available as Board Books. 

The spare but cheekily charming prose will make children and parents smile, and the refined watercolor illustrations will easily draw in readers. Everything is very chic and understated, as is befitting this continental French snail. Once you finish, children will want it read again, giving you the perfect chance to refine your French pronunciation. The Children's Book Review

This book begs to be read aloud - I wish I had been able to do that in my former school library. It was published in 2017 but the good news is all three books are still available. 

These books should be added to your library shelves - they are sure to be SO popular or if you see one of these in library grab it quickly and take it home to share with your young reading companions. 

I am not surprised to see that Escargot won a Wanda Gag Read aloud award. I said there are three books in this series but I now discover the fourth book - Escargot and the search for Spring. I am not sure if it is available yet. Here is a lesson plan for using Escargot to talk about persuasion. 

REVIEWS

Love Escargot "Breaking right through the fourth wall, the stylish snail encourages readers to embrace their snail selves . . . Sweet art means that when Escargot winsomely tells readers, 'You can kiss me if you like,' it’ll be hard for them to pass up the chance...  Though love and snails rarely go together, it’s easy to be won over by this mighty mollusk." Kirkus

The boy who drew cats by Arthur A Levine illustrated by Frederic Clement

Avoid large places at night - keep to small

"Now it happened that there was a large and wealthy temple high at the top of a nearby mountain, where for months not a soul had entered or left. Villagers whispered that a terrible Goblin Rat, possessed of a magical sword and a fearsome tail, had claimed the temple as his own."

Kenji is the youngest son of a poor farming family. He is sent to train with the local priests but the oldest monk casts him out because Kenji spends his time drawing and day dreaming. In the next village Kenji walks up to the temple - he has no idea about the Goblin Rat. While he waits for the priests to arrive, he paints a set of huge white screens with cats in honour of his old friend the monk named Takada.

"he painted powerful cats with broad majestic shoulders. Sleek cats with sharp claws and quivering whiskers. Alert cats with twitching tails and watchful eyes."

Have you made a connection here. Kenj has painted cats and the evil goblin is a rat! Kenji grows tired and so he climbs into a small cupboard to sleep. Remember those words "keep to small".  In the morning the scene has completely changed. The screens he painted are shattered, the cats are all gone and best of all the Goblin Rat is dead. 

You can read the full story plot here. I would love to find this audio version read by William Hurt. I you have a class studying Japan this book would be perfect. It would also be a terrific addition to your folklore collection and a perfect book to share with any budding artists. 

I picked up this book from a recent charity book sale for just $2. It is an American book but it looks very Japanese. The illustrator is from France. It was published in 1993 and my copy is in mint condition. 

"According to Japanese legend, the famed fifteenth -century artist Sesshu Toyo created in drawing of animals that were so vivid they could come alive."

The text originally came from: Hearn, Lafcadio, translator. Japanese Fairy Tales: The Boy Who Drew Cats. Tokyo: T. Hasegawa, 1898.

Here are some other editions of the same Japanese folktale:

The Six Swans - a fairy tale by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

I borrowed a copy of The Six Swans (illustrations by Dorothee Duntze) from a school library last week. Now I am so confused. As a child my favourite fairy tale was The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen. I had this amazing copy with puppet photos and a 'hologram' cover (see below). Now I discover another fairy tale called The Six Swans by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.  The two stories are SO similar. 

Using Wikipedia here is my comparison:

The Wild Swans

In a faraway kingdom, there lives a widowed king with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry, but marries a wicked queen who is a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into magnificent swans who are allowed to temporarily become human only at night and forced to fly by day.

The Six Swans

A King gets lost in a forest while hunting for game. An old witch promises to help the lost King get back home, on the condition that he marry her beautiful daughter. The King suspects the mysterious maiden to be wicked but agrees to marry her. He has six sons and a daughter from his first marriage, however, and fears that the children will be abused by his new wife. So, before the wedding, the King sends his children to a hidden castle in the forest, secretly visiting them by following a magical reel of thread given to him by a wise woman. The Queen, who is also a witch, then sews seven magical white shirts. When the King leaves for an errand one day, the Queen follows the reel to the hidden castle. Mistaking her for their father, the six princes rush out to greet their stepmother who then throws the shirts over her stepsons, transforming them into swans.

In both stories, the young daughter of the King is left to save her brothers. In both stories the young girl is not allowed to speak, and she must make shirts for her brothers. This is painful and difficult work which takes years to complete. Also, in both stories the boys only appear in human form briefly. 

The Wild Swans

Elisa is guided by the queen of the fairies to gather stinging nettles in graveyards to knit into shirts that will eventually help her brothers regain their human shapes. Elisa endures painfully blistered hands from nettle stings, and she must also take a vow of silence for the duration of her task, for speaking one word will kill herself and her brothers.

The Six Swans

The princes can only take their human forms for fifteen minutes every evening. They tell their sister that they have heard of a way to lift the curse: she must not speak for six years while sewing six star-flower shirts for her brothers.

In both stories one shirt is incomplete and in both the girl is accused of witchcraft. 

The Wild Swans

When Elisa finishes the last shirt, she throws the shirts over the swans, and her brothers return to their human forms. The youngest brother has a swan's wing instead of an arm, as Elisa did not have time to finish one sleeve of his shirt.

The Six Swans

In this story the young girl marries a king and so she is now a queen but she cannot speak until the six years have passed. Even though the young Queen has sewn all six star-flower shirts, the last one lacks a left sleeve. When the girl is brought to the stake, she takes the shirts with her. Just as she is about to be burned, the six swans come flying through the air. She throws the shirts over her brothers and they regain their human form, but the youngest retains a left wing instead of an arm.

I now discover the there are lots of variations on this fairy tale. In this article the author compares three - the two I have talked about and The seven ravens. Read more here. Goodreads identify forty titles that are based around this fairy tale. 

I also read this: The tale “The Wild Swans” was written by 33-year-old Andersen in 1838 and was included in the collection “Fairy Tales Told for Children.” When creating the tale, Andersen relied on the tales of the Brothers Grimm and the Irish legend of a sister and two brothers turned by a stepmother into swans. Source

I previously talked about this book which feels very similar to The Wild Swans.

The Children of Nuala

And our Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year for 2024 also has overtones of The Wild Swans - Paradise Sands.

The Upside Down River: Hannah's Journey by Jean-Claude Mourlevat translated by Ros Schwartz

"This story is the most beautiful thing I can offer you. There are a thousand other presents I could give you, of course, and they are all very special ... but you have to know that none of those gifts is as wonderful as the story that I am about to tell you, and you alone, because you are the thing that is most precious to me. Please don't ask any questions but just listen, the way you'd listen to music."

Please begin with my post about The Upside Down River: Tomek's Journey.  In the first book we meet Tomek, discover the reasons he is trying to find Hannah and we follow his strange, very bizarre journey. In the second book you will make more discoveries about Hannah herself and why she was taking this journey and of course you will read about all her strange encounters including a time when she is mistaken for a Princess.

This second book begins:

"I once told you, Tomek, that before I pushed open the door of your little grocery shop, I'd had some extraordinary adventures. And some even more amazing things happened to be during the long period when you were fast asleep in the perfume-makers' village, and then while you were crossing the ocean. You've often asked me where I was and what I was doing throughout that time, and now the moment has come for me to tell you."

I thoroughly enjoyed re-entering the world of Tomek and Hannah. This is a wonderful pair of books that your readers aged 10+ are sure to adore. These two books would also be fabulous to read in a family each night. 

From Walker Books: Hannah has lost almost everything she ever loved, apart from one beautiful songbird. But the bird seems to be dying. So Hannah sets out on an incredible adventure to find the magical upside down River Qjar, whose waters can give her beloved bird eternal life. She journeys across deserts and over dizzyingly high mountains, lives an entire lifetime in the blink of an eye, braves the terrifying Forest of Oblivion, and is mistaken for a long-lost princess. And along the way, Hannah meets Tomek, an ordinary boy who will follow her extraordinary quest...

Here are some review extracts from a French review site and also the French book cover:

• Jean-Claude Mourlevat makes us discover through this novel a poetic and philosophical universe that is accessible and (filled with) imagery.
• Not feeling sorry for yourself, moving forward and seizing chance as an opportunity and not as an agonizing fear, this is a beautiful introduction to life that the author encourages children (and adults) to seize.
• Two must-read books, for those who want to dream a little!

Curiosity: The story of a Mars Rover by Markus Motum

This book is nonfiction at its best. An engaging first-person narrative interspersed with all the facts a curious reader needs so they can learn more about the Mars Rover named Curiosity which was launched on 26th November 2011 and after 253 days of space travel Curiosity arrived on the planet Mars which is three hundred and fifty miles away from Earth!

The latest and greatest of the Mars rovers tells its tale and explains its purpose. ... The personification adds an appealing angle to this venturesome visit to Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. Kirkus

Oversized format, with dramatic black backgrounds and futuristic geometric renderings, make this a good choice for classroom sharing, and text that allows an adult reader to charge ahead with the main information—or to linger over technical details—adds to its flexibility.  Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

You can see inside this book here. Curiosity: The story of a Mars Rover was shortlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize 2018.

Even the title is clever - the innocent little word "a" is so important because this is just one Mars Rover there have been others before and after Curiosity. I love knowing a sixth grader from Kansas - Clara Ma - gave Curiosity his/her name. This book ends with a quote from Clara:

"Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much."

I recently read A Rover's Story. Boy oh boy I wish I had also known about THIS book - it is the perfect companion read. Every Primary library needs BOTH of these books. As I read Curiosity: The story of a Mars Rover I kept nodding my head at all the plot points Jasmine Warga included in her novel - the sterile environment where the rovers were built and tested, the naming of the rover through a nation wide competition, the inclusion of all the cameras and rock testing lab inside the rover and above all the personality of these robots - yes I did say personality!

A Rover's Story

Here is another book by Markus Motum: