Too Much Talk

Exuberant, stylised illustrations in glowing colours, painted in folk style on wood, cover the endpapers in this glorious re-telling of a traditional tale from Ghana. A farmer, started by a talking yam, runs off 'uphill and downhill, downhill and uphill' in his fright. Each person he meets greets his tale with disbelief - 'That can't happen', but 'Oh, yes it can' say a dog, a fish, some cloth, and so on, in turn. And off they all run, uphill and downhill, until they find the chief. The illustrations are very much part of the story here - heads crowding in to express their astonishment, flailing arms and legs as the people run, the calm impassiveness of each new character contrasted with their startled expressions as they, too, are contradicted. Images appear seemingly at random until you look more closely and recognize their relevance to the story. A picture book that reads aloud well to Reception plus; a fine repetitive tale for beginning readers to have a go at themselves. It is great to see folk tales like this from a wide range of cultures being published in such an attractive, accessible form. A winner!