Jacob Starke Loves The Dark by Peta Rainford - Review

Today on Life Of A Nerdish Mum, I am reviewing Peta Rainford's latest children's book, Jacob Starke Loves The Dark. I've read Peta's books before and I've always loved them, so when Peta contacted me to possibly review her newest book, I jumped at the chance. 

Jacob Starke Loves The Dark 

Are you afraid of THE DARK? Jacob Starke is. Jacob Starke is TERRIFIED! Until, that is, he gets to meet The Dark face-to-face and shares an amazing adventure through the wonders of the night sky.

Jacob Starke Loves The Dark is a charming rhyming picture book about being brave, outer space, loving plants and animals and the necessity of Dark Skies. An important environmental issue is tackled with beautiful illustrations, humour and a light touch.

Jacob Starke Loves The Dark is the sixth picture book written and illustrated by Peta Rainford. Her other books are Hairy Fairy, Jamie and the Joke Factory, Isabella Rotten Speller, Isabella’s Adventures in Numberland and The Niggle.

My Review

As I said in my intro, I've read a few of Peta's books before and I can honestly say that Jacob Starke Loves The Dark is officially my all time favourite of her books.

The artwork throughout (also illustrated by Peta) is absolutely gorgeous and fits so well with the tone and feel of the writing and story.

Confession time, yes I am a grown up, yes I am scared of the dark. It may seem silly to some, but I feel no shame, it's just what I happen to be scared of (and massive spiders!) Even though this book is aimed at children, I have to say it spoke to me as well as someone who is afraid of the dark. I loved how the reason Jacob is scared of the dark is explained as it's accurate. I also then love how important the dark is was explained and what happens because of the dark.

As usual, the rhyming is beautiful and the book is incredibly easy and fun to read, it's one that can be read over and over at bedtime.

I gave this book 5 stars.

About The Author

I was lucky enough to have Peta on my Getting To Know... feature and you can check that out here. 

Peta grew up on the Isle of Wight so long ago she can remember buying crisps from the school tuck shop for 21⁄2p. As a child she loved words, and loved drawing too, but she had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up. She studied English at York University and then worked in London as a business journalist and editor for 14 years. She went to art classes and even studied fine art at St Martins, but she still had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up. She moved back to the Isle of Wight in 2006, and it was here that Peta, now balancing the roles of freelance writer and mum, decided to write and illustrate her first book for children. It was a revelation: a way of combining picture making with her love of words – not to mention an outlet for her awful jokes. It may have taken more than four decades, but finally, Peta knows what she wants to do when she grows up.

The Niggle by Peta Rainford - Review

I'm very happy to be able to share my review of The Niggle, written and illustrated by the ever lovely Peta Rainford on the day of its release. 

The Niggle

Joe Jackson is a little boy who has never felt fear... until the day a miniature monster swims in his ear! The monster is the Niggle, who whispers worries in Joe's head and makes him afraid.

Will Joe Jackson let the Niggle win? Or will he learn to overcome his fears? Read this rhyming picture book to find out. And remember: you can't be brave if you don't feel fear!

My Review

I absolutely loved The Niggle, it is so well thought out and so well written. The rhyming really flows as you are reading and it makes everything sound good whether you're reading it out loud or in your head.

Joe is a great character and reflects so well what children are like before their fears (or Niggles) creep in and make them more cautious. I enjoyed watching his fearless journey up until his accident. I then thought it was powerful how he slowly over time learnt how to deal with his Niggle and how to still do everything he wanted to safely.

The artwork is absolutely lovely and really matches the tone of the story. I have watched Peta Rainford share snippets of her drawings on her Facebook page as she planned out The Niggle, so it was really good to see it all put together and in context.

At the end, after Joe deals with his Niggle, there is a page aimed at the reader, which I thought was a really nice touch. It makes the child (or reader) relate the story to themselves and realise that they too can overcome their fears. Also that being afraid isn't a bad thing, you just need to know how to use it.

The Niggle is a very enjoyable read and both me and mini Nerdling will be reading this many more times in the future.

About The Author

Peta Rainford was lovely enough to appear on my feature, Getting To Know... so you can find out even more about her here.

Peta grew up on the Isle of Wight so long ago she can remember buying crisps from the school tuck shop for 21⁄2p. As a child she loved words, and loved drawing too, but she had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up. She studied English at York University and then worked in London as a business journalist and editor for 14 years. She went to art classes and even studied fine art at St Martins, but she still had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up. She moved back to the Isle of Wight in 2006, and it was here that Peta, now balancing the roles of freelance writer and mum, decided to write and illustrate her first book for children. It was a revelation: a way of combining picture making with her love of words – not to mention an outlet for her awful jokes. It may have taken more than four decades, but finally, Peta knows what she wants to do when she grows up.

Getting To Know... Peta Rainford

Peta and Archie (Photo Credit: Kelly Murdoch)

Today on Getting To Know... I am happy to welcome children's author and illustrator Peta Rainford. 

You write children's books, what is it that draws you to this genre?

I suspect like a lot of authors who write for children, I started when my own daughter was small, because I wanted to write for her and, to some extent, about her. I relate to kids, particularly their humour (that’s a sensible way of saying I like daft jokes) and I feel very comfortable writing in this genre. I find I have plenty to say!

When you're writing do you have a set routine or schedule that you like to follow?

I wish! Like most writers, I have to fit my writing around the Rest of Life, including other book-related activities such as marketing and school visits. I tend to sit down on a Monday and plan my week on a sheet of A4 (I am incurably low-tech!). Although my scheduling is pretty chaotic, I do try to have some writing and/or illustration time every weekday, depending what phase of a book I’m on – if I’m lucky it’s a whole day, but it may be just an hour. And I don’t always manage it.

Do you have a favourite character that you have created so far?

I suppose it has to be Fizzy in Hairy Fairy. The fairy who is very much her own little person, who ‘doesn’t think like others think, prefers blue wings to standard pink’, bears a more than passing resemblance to my own daughter (though I wouldn’t dare admit that to her face!)

To be honest, my other three books aren’t so character-driven. The leading characters are more cyphers for the plot – though I do have a sneaking regard for the evil cat Blot in the two Isabella books and I am quite fond of the exuberant Billy Bonkers in Jamie and the Joke Factory.

Do you remember your favourite book as a child?

I don’t really remember one favourite book. I loved the Paddington stories which my Dad used to read to me, because they were funny and we laughed at them together. I liked a bit of drama too: I can remember loving Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden and When Marnie Was There by Joan G Robinson.

When you're not writing and illustrating what would we find you doing?

Apart from family stuff? I have been a school governor for nearly four years which is a fascinating (unpaid) job that takes up much more of my time than I ever imagined when I took it on. Otherwise, you might find me on the tennis court, or on the beach, walking my hairy Jack Russell Terrier (and muse), Archie.

As you both illustrate and write your stories, which comes first when you're creating a new character, the image or the writing?

Although each of my books has evolved slightly differently, I generally concentrate on the words first. That said, I never work on the words in isolation; I am always planning the illustrations as I write, in my head, if not always on paper. This was particularly important when I was writing Isabelle Rotten Speller as I was creating a world and people made out of letters, so I had to have a pretty good idea how that would look in order to be able to describe it.

The words and pictures feed off each other. Quite often I will be illustrating a section of text and the way the picture develops will prompt me to go back and rewrite the words.

In Isabella there are things that only adults will pick up on - the Alice In Wonderland theme for example - is this a conscious decision to include things for parents?

Yes and no. Going back to your first question, another of the inspirations for me to write my own children’s books were the books I was reading with my daughter. Some of them were inspirational in their own right (step forward Lauren Child, Judith Kerr, Oliver Jeffers, Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler), but others were just SO BORING! I do think it is important that if you are writing books for adults and children to share, there should be something in there for those doing the reading, as well as those being read to.

I want my stories to have lots of layers – hidden jokes and narratives – in the words and the pictures. But I don’t put some bits in for adults and some bits in for kids. They are just extra details and ideas for anyone to find.

The Alice In Wonderland theme just evolved naturally as part of the story: I knew I wanted to reintroduce the character of the cat Blot, who had featured in Isabella Rotten Speller, and I had the idea of having glimpses of him appearing in the pictures long before he was mentioned in the text. It occurred to me he would be a bit like the Cheshire Cat and the Alice In Wonderland theme grew from there.

Funnily enough, as soon as my eight-year-old saw the picture of the White Rabbit, she said it was like Alice In Wonderland – she hasn’t read the book, but she has seen the Disney film!

If you could give younger you any advice about your writing journey, what would it be?

Probably: ‘Just get on with it’. Though, actually, I don’t think I could have started writing children’s books much sooner than I did. I think I needed to be a parent.

Do you have a favourite author?

I don’t think I do. I like lots of different books and lots of different authors. If you narrowed the question down to my favourite author of children’s picture books though, I would probably come back to Julia Donaldson. I love the cleverness of her best books and the precision of her rhyme.

What can we look forward to from you next?

Well, I’m currently working on a longer chapter book for children, probably between the ages of 8 and 12. This one’s much more about the words – around 30,000 of them, compared with my usual 800 – although it will have some black and white illustrations. I hope to finish the first draft of that in the next month or so and then, while I’m tidying that up, I plan to start on my next rhyming picture book. So 2017 is shaping up to be pretty busy!

Thank you so much for inviting me to take part in your Getting To Know… feature. I really liked your questions. As an author, I think it’s really useful to be asked why you do what you do; I think it helps develop the writing process – and you’re sometime surprised by your own answers!

Thank you so much to Peta for joining me today and answering my questions.

To Connect With Peta Rainford

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dogpigeon/?fref=ts

Twitter - @PetaRainford

Website - http://www.dogpigeon.co.uk/

Check out my review of Isabella here

Isabella's Adventures In Numberland

Isabella is back for her second adventure! In this colourful, rhyming picture book, the accident-prone little witch falls through a hole in the ground and lands in Numberland – a place where nothing quite adds up (because all the numbers have disappeared!) 
She makes new friends, encounters an old enemy and, though the odds are against her, finally saves the day. YOU CAN COUNT ON ISABELLA!

Readers of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will see some parallels between Isabella’s Adventures in Numberland and that wonderful, crazy children’s classic.

Fans of Isabella’s first adventure, Isabella, Rotten Speller, published by Peta Rainford in 2014, will also love Isabella’s Adventures in Numberland. Peta Rainford has created a book that buzzes with vibrant, amusing pictures and interesting, funny, rhyming words. 

This book will encourage young children to think about the importance of numbers and how numbers are used in our everyday lives, while at the same time being very, very silly! 

A useful tool for parents and teachers and a fun story for early readers and younger children who enjoy being read to.

(Photo Credit: Kelly Murdoch)

Isabella's Adventures In Numberland by Peta Rainford - Review

On Life Of A Nerdish Mum today I have the pleasure of reviewing Isabella's Adventures In Numberland which is both written and illustrated by Peta Rainford. 

Blurb

Can you imagine what it would be like if there were no numbers? If you couldn’t measure, count or weigh? In her latest adventure, accident-prone young witch Isabella falls down a hole and finds herself in a land where nothing quite adds up. She makes new friends, encounters an old enemy and, though the odds are against her, finally saves the day.

You can count on Isabella!

Review

Isabella's Adventures In Numberland is the second book in the Isabella, Rotten Speller series, but can definitely be read as a stand alone. 

The story follows Isabella as she goes on a walk and falls down a hole, ending up in a very Alice In Wonderland-esque world with a white rabbit and a tea party. In this world their numbers have gone missing and Isabella helps to save the day with a very clever play on words. 

The story is written in rhyme and is very easy to read, however the author hasn't shied away from using "grown up" words which I really like. 

The artwork is absolutely beautiful in a very naive and childlike way and it matches the story perfectly. 

I really enjoyed this book and I enjoyed reading it to my youngest Nerdling (aged 3) who really enjoyed the pictures and looking at all the numbers. I'll definitely be going back and finding the first book in the series. 

I gave this book 5 Stars.

Isabella's Adventures In Numberland is released today and you can pick up your own copy - HERE

About The Author

Peta grew up on the Isle of Wight so long ago she can remember buying crisps from the school tuck shop for 21⁄2p. As a child she loved words, and loved drawing too, but she had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up. She studied English at York University and then worked in London as a business journalist and editor for 14 years. She went to art classes and even studied fine art at St Martins, but she still had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up. She moved back to the Isle of Wight in 2006, and it was here that Peta, now balancing the roles of freelance writer and mum, decided to write and illustrate her first book for children. It was a revelation: a way of combining picture making with her love of words – not to mention an outlet for her awful jokes. It may have taken more than four decades, but finally, Peta knows what she wants to do when she grows up.