Danny Chung does not do Maths by Maisie Chan illustrated by Ahn Cao

Danny is an only child. His Chinese parents run a successful takeaway food business. The family live above their business. Danny is under some pressure from his Ma and Ba to succeed at school and to progress to university and a 'good job' but Danny is not keen on school. His main passion is drawing.

His mother and father are friends with Mr and Mrs Yee. Danny calls them Auntie and Uncle but they are not related to the Chung family. Early in the morning, as this book begins, Uncle Yee arrives with a bunk bed for Danny's room. Danny is told to expect a surprise. What he does not expect is that the surprise will be his tiny grandmother or Nai Nai. And the surprises continue. Nai Nai claims the top bunk. The Easter holidays have just begun and Ma and Ba expect Danny to entertain Nai Nai. She cannot speak a word of English and Danny cannot speak or understand her regional Chinese dialect. 

Then Nai Nai discovers bingo. Danny discovers Nai Nai has a talent for numbers. He is supposed to be working on a maths project. It seems impossible but somehow there is a way for Nai Nai to help and along the way Danny learns a lot about being a friend, about being a grandson and about his own family heritage. 

I read this book in almost one sitting - yes it is that good. Danny is a likeable kid albeit a kid with flaws. His grandmother Nai Nai does not speak English, in fact she barely speaks at all in this book but I just loved her. She is feisty, she is wise, she is child-like, she is funny, she loves her grandson Danny and she is here to stay!

Maisie Chan’s debut novel is a warm-hearted and utterly convincing slice of family life and, what’s more, stars the kind of family too rarely seen in UK children’s literature. Books for Keeps

There's a lot of humour through the book, and some wonderful illustrations. The chapters aren't too long, and the language is accessible, so all of these things help make the book engaging and easy to read. The Boook Bag

Read an interview with Maisie Chan. Listen to an audio sample from Chapter One. Here is the US cover which I really like. It also has a different illustrator Natelle Quek.

Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy of this terrific UK book which was published in June 2021. I am keen to see the finished book with illustrations by Ahn Cao.

Companion reads:

Pie in the Sky

Front Desk

The Year of the Dog

A Glasshouse of Stars

Thai-riffic!

Con-Nerd

We are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines illustrated by Julianna Swaney

We are all 'stuck' at home and many people (not all sadly) have access to a garden. It might be on a small balcony or if you are lucky you might have a whole backyard.

The family here - mum and dad and four kids - do not have a garden (at first). Dad buys a small fern for mum from the hardware store. Everyone is pleased and enthusiastic but perhaps they are too enthusiastic and sadly the indoor plant dies from overhydration - too much water.  The good thing, though, is that this family do not give up. They buy another indoor plant. They put it in a better position in their house and then set up a watering schedule. They also borrow some books from the library so they can learn how to take better care of plants - of course I think this is wonderful.

Over time they add more and more indoor plants and the plants all thrive so dad suggests it is time to look at the backyard.  The all work together to make a plan.

Then the family plant their favourite vegetables and flowers and learn about soil, seeds, water and bugs. There are the good bugs like ladybirds, the villains like aphids, and the secret agents - the worms. There are plant bullies too - the weeds but doing a little each day keeps them under control. Just when everything is growing beautifully the goats and rabbits arrive. Once again the family, which now has a new addition, are not defeated. On the final pages we see them all sitting down to a delicious meal made from all their own produce.

This is a perfect book to share with a family or with children aged 6+ especially if you are setting up your own garden. Take a look here to see my post about other terrific gardening books.

Joanna wrote this book with her own children.  You can read more about their experiences and see a trailer here. Here is an excellent set of teaching notes to extend your experience of reading this book and a set of colouring pages. You should also take a look at the web pages of illustrator Juliana Swaney. I am excited to discover Juliana illustrated The Book Uncle and me (US edition).

Norris - The bear who Shared by Catherine Rayner

Image source https://tinyurl.com/y7h9s9jz

Several years ago I visited the main public library in Edinburgh and saw their newly refurbished children's library where I spied the beautiful art work of Catherine Rayner. Ever since I have kept an eye open for her books and art.

This week I found Norris - The bear who Shared.  This is one of those perfect picture books.  Important topics (sharing and kindness) handled gently (feels like a fable), beautiful illustrations and a poetic text.

Norris was wise.

And being a wise bear,

Norris knew that plorringes

were the best fruit of all.

Don't you love the idea of plorringes.  I adore "invented" words. One of my all time favourite books Hairy Tales and Nursery Crimes by Michael Rosen contains invented words I use every day such as orange wash (orange juice), chocolate kick (chocolate cake), you can eat a sandwitch and put something in your sneezer (freezer). I often tell the children I live in our 'li-berry'.

Back to that plorringe. It is also seen by Tulip (a curious raccoon) and Violet (a tiny mouse).

They clambered closer to the plorringe

and gazed at it.

It looked delicious ...

It smelt of honey and sunny days. ...

It felt as soft as candy floss.

The ripe plorringe is due to fall from the tree and Norris is patiently waiting below. When it falls it bops him on the head WHOMP and now Norris can enjoy his treat but what of Tulip and Violet?

Take a look here at all the books by Catherine Rayner.  This reviewer gives more details about the language in Norris - the bear who Shared and links her comments with the illustrations.

Bartlett and the ice voyage by Odo Hirsch

I am a massive fan of Odo Hirsch and I often recommend his books to the students who visit my school library.  I am such a fan that when people talk about inviting six authors to an imaginary dinner party Odo Hirsch is always at the top of my list.  Read his book Hazel Green to see why I would bake Chocolate Dippers.

I bought home the audio book of Bartlett and the Ice Voyage which I first read in 1998. There have been times over the last weeks when I just could not get out of my car because I needed to listen to a little more of this engrossing story.  I can see why this book was short listed for the Blue Peter Award in 2001.

The Queen is given every treasure you can imagine for her birthday from every part of her extensive kingdom but the one thing she desires is a melidrop.  They grow in a far away land and spoil one day after picking.

"People sent melidrop seeds, but they failed to shoot. They sent melidrop trees, but their leaves curled up and died. Then the people tried sending melidrop fruit, but no matter how early they picked them, the fruit always spoiled in the box. The Queen would open the packing case to find a disgusting, smelly pile of darkened melidrop skins."

The Queen is desperate to taste this exotic fruit but she is unwilling to travel the vast distance needed. One of her advisers, Sutton Pufrock, introduces the queen to  Bartlett and his friend Jacques le Grand. Sir Hugh Lough is not impressed :

"this famous Bartlett was about as dashing a milkman. He had freckles on his face and his hair was obviously not very friendly with his comb. His fingers were knobbly. He came to see the queen in a plain shift, patched trousers and a pair of worn leather boots ... creased and creviced as a turtle's neck."

Bartlett does find a way to transport the precious melidrop.  You need to read the story for yourself but his method is quite inventive and perhaps surprising.

There is so much to discuss as you read this book.  How can Bartlett bring back a melidrop? Should he try to bring a large quantity?  Will the Queen even like the fruit and will this satisfy her desire for unusual gifts? Odo Hirsch is a master of description - so many parts of this book could be used as writing models for your class.

My favourite scenes involve food (as usual).  When Lord Roland of Tull visits the Queen each Thursday he enjoys eating her little butter cakes and sipping tea. After months of waiting Bartlett has not returned with the precious melidrop. The Queen is impatient and furious and she now shuns Lord Roland but one day he does come for tea. "He stared. There were lemon slices on the plate. Where were the butter cakes? What had the queen done with the butter cakes?"  You are sure to grimace as he is forced to do more than take a dainty bite of this bitter slice.

Here are my reviews of two other Odo Hirsch titles - Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, Darius Bell and the crystal bees.

Our copy of Bartlett and the Ice Voyage is in very bad shape so once again I have searched a second hand seller and found a copy.  It is on the way.  Here is a five minute audio sample from page 10 onwards describing the giraffe which the Queen is given as one of her multiple gifts.  This book is also available from itunes.  Here is the Kirkus review.

I would pair this book with The Greatest Treasure of Charlemagne the King and The quiltmakers gift.