A Series put to the Test

Focus on FABER FANFARES

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The idea behind Fanfares is to bring back into print favourite authors and titles from the Faber list. According to the Faber catalogue the books are for 'young readers'. 'Approximate age ranges are indicated by differently coloured spines': Orange (5-8), Yellow (8-12), Blue (12-14). They are in a uniform format and 'toughly bound to withstand the wear and tear of school and library use'. This makes them rather more expensive than other paperbacks (though the gap is closing!). The catalogue also says that Fanfares have 'strikingly colourful colours'.

We tried out some of the Orange titles issued in September.

Durability

The books stood up well, though not all got a lot of child handling. (Read on for reasons.) The spines stayed strong and well glued. On some of the books the top layer of the card cover had begun to peel away at the bottom edge by the end of the eight-week test.

Response

It isn't clear whether the 'approximate age range' of the catalogue refers to reading age or interest age. None of our 5-8s were able to read the Orange titles on their own. Some over-eights ('Yellow spine' readers) could, and did.

Melanie Brown Climbs a Tree

In this follow up to Melanie Brown Goes to School, Melanie is six, still at the village school and still (nearly) always in trouble. These short stories read aloud well and the rural setting didn't seem to put off the urban infants we tried it on. Naughty is naughty wherever.

A Time to Laugh

was grabbed as a good teacher's resource. Thirty well-chosen tales, some very short, others more substantial, and all excellent for reading aloud are always useful. Most of the tales are from folk tale sources and some were already known to our teachers from other collections; but all agreed it was good to have a set of funny stories to hand between two covers. Useful for over-eights too, we found.

Tamworth Pig Saves the Trees

The second of Gene Kemp' s delightful stories of Tamworth the most famous pig in Britain. In The Prime of Tamworth Pig (also in Fanfares) he led the campaign to 'Grow More Food - and Eat Less Meat'. Now he's into tree preservation - and falling in love.

A great success with one set of sevens (experienced listeners and used to serial stories). The mixture of fantasy (talking animals and toys) and recognisably real people, places and events, all seasoned with humour, proved difficult to resist. You need to be an experienced reader to pick up the humour. (Teacher reading aloud does it for you with tone, phrasing and pauses.) Several 8-10s enjoyed it a great deal. All of which demonstrates the problems of categorising by age, especially with such a wide range as 8-12. Should Tamworth Pig be orange or Yellow? Perhaps Faber should go in for striped spines!

September 'Yellow spine' issues also included a selection of Alison Uttley stories From Spring to Spring, some of which - The Wind in a Frolic, for example - are just right for reading to under-eights. However helpful publishers try to be - there's just no alternative to reading the books.

Our testers thought the covers were 'pretty dull' - though A Time to Laugh was 'quite good'.

Melanie Brown Climbs a Tree

Pamela Oldfield, 0 571 11488 1, 95p

A Time to Laugh

Ed. Sara and Stephen Corrin, 0 571 11487 3, £1.25

Tamworth Pig Saves the Trees

Gene Kemp, 0 571 11493 8, £1.15

From Spring to Spring

Alison Uttley, Chosen by Kathleen Lines, 0 571 11491 1, £1.25