Banana!

This minimally worded picture book (the only two words in it are banana and please) shows a comical little scene unfolding between two monkeys (one has blue stripes on his T-shirt, the other has red).

Red monkey rather likes the look of blue monkey’s banana. Red monkey has a meltdown when blue monkey won’t hand over the goods; it takes him a while to realise that his friend is waiting to hear ‘the magic word’. As soon as red monkey says ‘please’, blue monkey offers him the banana. Ultimately the two friends end up in a mutually acceptable position by co-operating and sharing the snack equally.

Ed Vere’s bold and funny illustrations will no doubt make young children chuckle. The monkeys wear their hearts on their stripy sleeves: Vere has the ability to sweep a few strokes across a page and create super-expressive emotions for his characters and children should recognise their own feelings strongly here.