Bob Grubb and his friends are eagerly awaiting the reopening of Happey World, the misspelt theme park that takes you for a ride with its ticket prices. Alas, an unfortunate mashed potato incident means Bob is banned – so he and his grandpa set out to create their own theme park next door, calling it BobLand (Farshore). Matt Lucas spins a fast-moving tale combining cow-poo slapstick and inventive wit, including a brilliant riff on ticket pricing, featuring a pass allowing you to queue but not go on any rides, or at a higher grade to go on four rides but use seatbelts on only two. Illustrated by Begõna Fernández Corbalan. Age eight up.
It starts with a yellow chair. Then more chairs appear in the woodland clearing. Badger discovers them first, and soon other animals learn how pleasant it is to sit there and socialise. The Chairs by Britta Teckentrup (Prestel) explores the insidious rise in exclusion when someone starts to put up signs, banning certain animals from the glade. Beautifully illustrated in fuzzy golden tones (the changing light coming through the branches, especially) and full of subtle discussion points. Age six up.
A stranger, tired, green and amorphous, comes to town in The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (Nosy Crow), dragging his luggage, which he claims includes not only a teacup, but a table, chairs and a house in the hills. While he sleeps, the suspicious locals – a fox, bird and rabbit – break into his suitcase to see if he’s telling the truth. The surprising result helps them understand the baggage we carry with us when we leave somewhere. A powerfully minimalist mainstream picture book, being distributed by PJ Library with Jewish teaching points added on the inside flaps. Age three up.
The stories behind scientific names are revealed in the exquisitely illustrated What’s In a Name? by Alex Nogués and Guido Ferro. A mix of cartoons and clear, short narrative, this treasury of stories includes that of the trilobites Isbergia planifrons and Isbergia parvula. Elsa Warburg, Sweden’s first female (Jewish) palaeontologist, suggested they be named after colleague Orvar Isberg. But she added the species names planifrons (flat forehead) and parvula (childish or small) – perhaps because of Isberg’s enthusiasm for pro-Nazi politicians. Age eight up.
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