Salty and Button
by Angela McAllister

Release Date: 1st May 2009
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 978 0 2300 1659 0
RRP: £5.99

Average Customer Rating:

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There is nothing light and breezy about this children's book...

Salty and Button are great friends. They are also a dog and a cat, which is somewhat contradictory, but nothing compared to the fact that Button (the cat) is also purple. Salty likes to pretend he is a pirate, sailing across the seas in search of excitement, adventure and sharks! Button, the purple cat, is more homely and enjoys sewing costumes and singing funny pirate songs. When the smell of the sea beckons, Salty is keen to set out on a real adventure and drags poor Button along for the ride. Nothing is quite as Salty expected though – he doesn’t find any sharks, or pirate ships – in fact, Salty stops enjoying his adventure when he is washed overboard.

Setting aside the purple cat, which could quite easily be rationalised away in the grand scheme of things; it is the overall message that I find unpalatable about this children’s book. Essentially, Salty is the more adventurous and confident of the two friends. Button is the more cautious and fearful. When events spiral out of control, it is Salty who is swept overboard, Salty who must be saved, Salty who becomes morose and remorseful about his recklessness. McAllister seems to be celebrating apprehension over confidence. Admittedly, in life prudence often maintain the status quo – but risk taking is part of what makes us human. It is also an essential trait for greatness – a trait that most children should inherently embrace in their youthful innocence, with restraint and care being burdened on adults. McAllister may have been attempting to send an altogether different message, but unfortunately the one she achieves is one I simply cannot agree with. I would not read this to any timid child for fear of encouraging further their trepidation of the unknown; there is simply nothing positive to be gleaned from it.

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