Wash, Scrub, Brush

WONDERWISE

by Mick Manning, Brita Granström

A multi-award winning series of non-fiction picture books Two excellent topics which link into the curriculum for maths, science, technology and history Includes helpful notes on making the best use of the books.

Genres: Childrens, Bodies

31 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

Manning went to school in Keighley and then studied at at Bradford College. He studied illustration and graphic design at Newcastle Polytechnic (now the University of Northumbria) 1979 - 82 and then illustration and animation at the Royal College of Art London 1984-87 . Later he devised and ran the BA honours Illustration option at the Glasgow School of Art while maintaining a freelance career. In 1998 he resigned to concentrate on writing and illustrating children's books full-time. British artist-illustrators Xavier Pick, Helen Stephens and Mark Hearld number among his ex-students. Manning's first book A Ruined House was chosen by Quentin Blake in The Laureate's Party (Red Fox) as one of his personal top 50 children's books of all time. Manning is known for his collaborations as author and co-illustrator with partner Brita Granström. Books from their young non-fiction series "Wonderwise" won the TES, Silver Smarties and English Association Awards and were also shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prizes (then called The Rhone Poulenc) on three occasions. They won The English Association award again in 2005 with Voices of the Rainforest and again in 2008 with Greek Hero. Their book Yuck! is referenced in the Mike Leigh film Happy Go Lucky. Tail End Charlie, a picture book about his father's Second World War experience as an RAF air gunner during 1944 was shortlisted for, and televised on, the Blue Peter Book Awards 2010. It was also shortlisted for the ALCS Award and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2010. Manning is a direct descendant of 18th Century Italian artist Bonifacio Musso, and Musso's London-born son Charles Muss who was himself, among many other things, a British illustrator. In 2011 Mick and Brita won a fourth English Association Award with the follow up to Tail-End Charlie; Taff in the WAAF a fascinating book about his mother's war including her experiences as a Chicksands 'Y' station listener for Bletchley Park. In 2011 he was elected a Fellow of The English Association.

Manning's other children's non fiction picture books include science titles such as: How Did I Begin? (this book looks at the amazing development of a human baby from fertilised egg to birth and was shortlisted for the Rhone Poulenc Prize in 1996) Woolly Mammoth (with the NHM, London), Dino Dinners (with the NHM, London), Nature Adventures and 'What Mr Darwin Saw, (this book about the life of Charles Darwin and his discoveries was shortlisted for the Royal Society's science book prize in 2011.)

Reviews

[Jenna Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit boring but a good message

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really informative and a fun way to learn about how to stay clean and hygienic.

[Jade Estall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wash scrub brush is a short story about a family getting ready to go to a party with a focus on hygiene. It is more of an information book as it doesn’t really have a story too it. It discusses why we need to wash, scrub brush and the importance on why we need to be clean. Each page has wash scrub brush in which when reading it with a year 2 class they liked chanting this section thus it was evident they were engaged and keeping track of my reading. It has interesting facts regarding to the section e.g. where it says we must wash our hands and cut out fingernails it says “there are more harmful germs under our fingernails than on a toilet seat ” this clearly is good for children to make a connection as it often gives the ‘yuk’ factor which seems to entertain the children. The illustrations are bold and colourful and really give a friendly fun feel to the book. It also covers areas such as, cleaning ears, brushing teeth and even threadworm and head lice. This is a good way of approaching these topics in class without it being too direct and embarrassing. It specifically says “lice are not a big deal” giving a stress free approach to the subject and in turn hopefully could mean the issue is dealt with better in the classroom.
At the end of this book there is a glossary with useful words (e.g. germs, plaque, and infection) thus could be used in literacy to write a glossary learning about alphabetical order, or as an introduction to a science topic. This is an easy read, so could be used for independent reading too.

[Library Quine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative book on why humans and animals bother to keep clean. It can be read aloud in different ways, and for my younger audiences I'd select only those parts of the text which describe getting ready for a party (different sections of text are printed in different type faces, so they are easy to distinguish). They feature the repeating phrase 'wash, scrub, brush' to which I'd add some participatory hand actions.

[Paularfc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and informative book for kids.