Oscar and the Frog: A Book about Growing; Oscar and the Moth: A Book about Light and Dark

Using the device of talking creatures to impart facts and to explain processes and ideas is not new but it works well in these two books to support science at Key Stage 1. In Oscar and the Moth a kitten asks Moth questions about light and dark: where the sun goes at night, whether lamps are as hot as the sun and about beetles that can make their own light. Oscar and the Frog concentrates on growing, starting with how frogs begin as eggs and then change into tadpoles.

The illustrations with their subtle palette and elegant line will appeal enormously to five- to eight-year-olds. So will the modern, fresh design of the books – the annotated, summarizing pictures in the end pages are set out like a simple screen. Each book explains familiar scientific facts in clear language, the copious direct speech giving a sense of having some personal contact. But, for me, it is the lyrical aspects that make these books stand out from some of their rivals. After a hard day thinking about light and dark, we learn that Oscar was ‘dreaming about the bright sun, the shining stars and deep sea fishes’. And Frog, in a philosophical moment, remarks about growing that ‘each living thing takes its own time’. MM