For young readers

Press, 28 January 1986, Page 14

For young readers

The Hobyahs, by Vai Biro. Oxford University Press. The Hobyahs are a nasty bunch. They wanted to kidnap Little Lucy, daughter of a little old man and a little old woman who lived in a little old cottage in the middle of a great big wood. At first the Little Dog Turpie frightened the creatures off, but then the. little old man and the little old woman got cross with the night-time barking of the Little Dog Tur--pie and sold him at the market. That night the Hobyahs came again and took Little Lucy away in a sack. Then they

went to bed, because Hobyahs sleep in the daytime.

But Little Dog Turpie' escaped and saved LittleLucy. He bit the sack open and she ran to hide. The dog hid in the sack and tricked the Hobyahs and then bit off all their tails. Now, without tails Hobyahs weren't brave any more and they ran so far they never came back. And it all ended happily, because the Little Dog brought the Little Girl home and, now a hero, was allowed to stay at the Little Old Cottage.

This version of the old tale by Joseph Jacobs is told by Vai Biro, an author and illustrator well known, for .the Gumdrop series. A grand tale. — Rosemary Brader. Christopher Wants a Party, Mira Lobe, Winfried Opgenoorth, Oxford University Press. First published in Austria in 1984, Christopher Wants a Party was published by Oxford last year. Translated by Peter Carter, the tale by Lobe and illustrations by Op-

genoorth, tells the story of Christopher’s party. In , fact there were two, the ■> wonderful one that „< Christopher imagined, and * the real one, not quite so „ good. Christopher wanted all his best friends, five of them, to come to his house for a party for his birthday but they couldn’t Christopher’s mother and father lived in a very , small flat with only two rooms.

So he has a tea party at J a tea-shop and that’s * where Christopher has his * wonderful day-dream »» party. (Six pages fold out J of the book to illustrate the dream party). Christopher tells his father about it and then he - and his father start on THE GREAT WORK, and convert the monster wardrobe in Christopher’s tiny room into his very own ‘ “jungle den.” Christopher says it is the best present he has ever had. A hap- .Z pily ever after story for very young readers. A wall poster all about - Christopher’s dream party accompanies the book. — Rosemary Brader