CHILDREN'S FICTION: AGES 5-9:THE FICTION written and published for readers in the five-to-nine age group is often seen as the poor relation of children's literature. It rarely figures on lists of award-winning titles, is hardly ever the subject of academic papers or conferences and, let's be honest, is accorded very little review space.
Its production values are frequently poor, with illustrations amounting to little more than a few rudimentary line drawings and with formats and presentation far too reminiscent of what we used to think of as classroom “readers”.
There are, however, some exceptions amidst the mediocrity and the books reviewed here succeed, to varying degrees, in providing their “newly independent” readers with material that will entertain and stimulate.
Bel Mooney's Brave Dog Bonnie(Walker, £3.90), although ostensibly centred on its canine Maltese heroine, is really more about the dog's young owner, Harry, and his need to accept a new situation in his family, following his parents' separation. A visit, complete with Bonnie, to his father in London involves a nicely related incident when the dog is temporarily lost but, much more importantly, involves also a meeting with Dad's new partner. The various nuances of learning to cope are carefully balanced in a story that, unlike many directed at this age group, can claim to have some serious intent without, however, becoming ponderous or didactic.
It would be difficult to detect much evidence of "serious intent" in Giles Andreae's Billy Bonkers 2(Orchard, £5.90), where Nick Sharratt's delightful cartoon-style illustrations convey perfectly the "madness" promised on the cover. Bonkers by name, bonkers by nature and Billy, sister Betty, father and mother ("Sausage" and "Piglet" in their moments of mutual endearment) certainly prove to be a diverting quartet. Each of the book's three short stories focuses on a situation so essentially absurd that only a style as exaggerated as Andreae's can do it justice and still – thanks largely to Billy's continuing likeability in face of his father's egomania – give it a measure of credibility.
Charlie, the five-year-old we meet in Hilary McKee's Hello Charlie(Scholastic, £4.99), may seem initially rather more withdrawn than Master Bonkers, but as the four short stories here develop he is seen to have the ability to create his own form of mischief and mayhem. With a nine-year-old brother (captain of the junior football team) to contend with, a best friend called Henry, a newly arrived "posh" boy next door and animal-lover extraordinaire Lulu, there are several opportunities for a young boy to establish his own place in his world – and Charlie rises, with increasing confidence, to the challenge. Sam Hearn's illustrations skilfully convey the child's bewilderment and determination.
The well-established tradition of strong-minded heroines in American children's literature is given new expression in Sara Pennypacker's very enjoyable Clementine(Hodder, £4.99). "Spectacularful ideas are always sproinging up in my brain," proclaims its eight-year-old heroine in her characteristically idiosyncratic idiom, as she takes us through a very funny first-person account of a week's escapades at home, at school and with classmates and neighbours: watch out in particular for her "friend" Margaret and their various encounters involving hair-cutting and colouring. The interplay between child and adult characters (especially the principal of Clementine's school) is very cleverly observed and the idiom of their exchanges witty and lively. The pen and ink drawings by Marla Frazee are a joy in themselves.
The delights of independent young womanhood have been entertainingly explored in recent years in Megan McDonald's lengthy series of novels featuring her heroine Judy Moody. Now comes Judy Moody Goes To College(Walker, £4.99), in which the eight-year-old finds herself having maths tuition from a college student and, in the process, discovering the joys of college life, many of them observed through the author's ironic eyes. McDonald's greatest skill lies in her portrayal of a child's "moodiness" within a context that ultimately affords endorsement and affirmation. "Uber sick-awesome," as a usefully appended glossary – "Not-Webster's New World College Dictionary" – will explain.
Although thought of mainly as a writer, often "controversial" – for readers aged 12 and upwards, Judy Blume is able to demonstrate in Going, Going, Gone! The Pain and the Great One(Macmillan, £7.99), an affinity with the younger American world. Here, eight-year-old Abigail (the Great One) and six-year-old brother Jake (the Pain) fight their battles for supremacy in a sequence of six gently humorous encounters. Major dramas, we infer, are to be found in everyday events – which is probably how it is when you are somewhere between five and nine.
Robert Dunbar is a commentator on children’s books and reading