Picture books for children – reviews | Picture books

It’s summer in the city and one fuzzy dachshund is more than just a little hot under the collar. Having had enough of the sweltering temperatures, he parks his bottom in the middle of the road, refusing to move his paws another inch, resistant to the honking cars or his beloved owner’s coaxing. Until the owner cries “Taxi!”, and the pair head off on an impromptu trip to the coast.

Set in New York, Doug Salati’s glorious Hot Dog (Pushkin) deservedly won last year’s Caldecott medal, the most prestigious US children’s book award. In fiery oranges and reds, Salati’s crowded illustrations brilliantly depict the noisy, humid city streets before he switches to cooling blues, and his seaside drawings become more expansive as the dog finds freedom on the beach, running the full width of each double-page spread, the wind ruffling his coat. Salati uses language economically, each word carefully considered and all the more delicious for it (“unfolding sky, a salty breeze / a welcome whiff of someplace new”).

City living is also the inspiration behind Lanisha Butterfield’s Flower Block (Puffin). Butterfield, raised on a council estate in Oxford, calls her debut “a love letter to my working-class childhood”. That affection shines through this tale of young Jeremiah, who plants sunflower seeds one night in memory of his late father. When he awakens they have germinated into a magnificent wild garden that has taken over the entire apartment block, crashing through every ceiling and floor. But what will the neighbours think? Illustrator Hoang Giang’s colourful blooms creep beautifully over every page, but it’s also the emotion she observes between characters – Jeremiah’s mother kissing his head before she goes off to work on the night shift, his older brother holding his hand as they confront a scary neighbour – which helps make this such a tender celebration of family, nature and community.

Clouds are currently everywhere in picture books (mirroring much of the British summer) with Kes Gray, the prolific author behind Oi Frog!, launching the first in a new series with illustrator Chris Jevons with Torla and Smorla and the Lower Than Average Cloud (Happy Yak). Presented in a tall format with flaps that pull out, this light and fun tale explores size and friendship as Torla – “a taller-than-average giraffe” – is helped along on a walk by his small giraffe pal Smorla, when a tiny cloud hovering above him leaves him unable to see.

Two decades since he founded the Cloud Appreciation Society, Gavin Pretor-Pinney has teamed up with illustrator William Grill for a picture-book take on his bestselling The Cloudspotter’s Guide. Cloudspotting for Beginners (Particular) is delightfully written, each cloud given its own personality, from the “happy-go-lucky” cumulus to the “shy and retiring” cirrostratus and, rather than cramming each page with facts, the delicate colour pencil illustrations are given proper space to breathe (or, more appropriately, float). “Clouds are nature’s poetry”, according to the society’s manifesto, and this is a befittingly exquisite ode to the skies for nature-loving children from about age six – and indeed adults (there is a little complex scientific language).

For those tired of looking up, Beasts from the Deep (Nosy Crow) invites readers to plunge downwards, up to 11,000 metres beneath the surface of the sea, to be exact. With expert input from the University of Cambridge, writer Matt Ralphs and illustrator Kaley McKean’s well-structured book explores the monsters living in the five zones of the deep sea, from the fangtooth fish to the bloodybelly comb jelly. Ralphs’s exciting prose style, combined with great facts and images that really glow, makes for a view of the ocean that you’ll be glad you can’t see from a sun lounger this holiday.