Well it’s my happy job to wrap up the blog tour for ‘Fred Gets Dressed.’ A story about a little boy who loves nothing better than to run a around naked - I’m sure lots of us can think of a small child like that! ‘Fred loves to be naked! He romps around his house … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Fred Gets Dressed,’ by Peter Brown.
Today I have a chucklesome picture book which will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy! I love Haddow’s brilliant ‘Dave Pigeon’ series and Adeola’s illustrations are so full of life - I knew this picture book was going to be roar-some! ‘Shhh. Beware. My dad is a grizzly bear. In this family, it's just … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘My Dad is a Grizzly Bear,’ by Swapna Haddow, illustrated by Dapo Adeola.
Today I’m sharing a beautiful picture book based on real events in Syria: ‘In a war-torn city, a little girl tends to the last garden. But everyone is leaving and soon the girl has to leave too. The garden is all alone now but soon the seeds scatter throughout the city and the roots take … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘The Last Garden,’ by Rachel Ip, illustrated by Anneli Bray.
Today I’m sharing a very timely picture book about a special journey through the oceans on the back of a whale which makes clear the devastating impact of plastic pollution on the seas and the creatures who live in them. ‘Where land becomes sky and the sky becomes sea, I first saw the whale, and … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘The Tale of the Whale,’ by Karen Swann, illustrated by Padmacandra.
Today we’re diving down into the watery depths of the world’s oceans and seas in Caryl Hart’s newest picture book. ‘SPLOOOOSH! We're off on an exciting underwater adventure in our submarine to meet the oceans and seas of our blue planet. Join in with the rhymes and get ready to spot all the smiley-faced, friendly … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Meet the Oceans,’ by Caryl Hart, illustrated by Bethan Woollvin.
There’s always something truly magical about finding a tree that’s so enormous you have no hope of putting your arms around it - you know that it has stood on that same spot for hundreds and hundreds of years regardless of the changes which have gone on around it. I always wonder just what it’s … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘What did the Tree See?’ by Charlotte Guillain, illustrated by Sam Usher.
I absolutely love Will’s books; his humour just tickles me! (See ‘I Can Only Draw Worms’) I am please to be able to share with you his newest title: ‘Flea's got itchy feet! It's time to find a new dog to call home. But, try as he might, none of the dogs he meets are … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Flea Seeks Dog,’ by Will Mabbitt, illustrated by Nathan Reed.
I always find this time of year so dark and dreary, especially so this year during lockdown, so it’s important to look for the positives around you and have hope that things will get brighter. ‘How do you Make a Rainbow?’ is certainly one of those books which encourages readers to think about what makes … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘How do you Make a Rainbow?’ by Caroline Crowe, illustrated by Cally Johnson-Isaacs.
Although Sharon has illustrated a lot of brilliant books for other authors, this is the very first book she’s both written and illustrated. Make sure you read Sharon’s piece about the ideas & inspirations behind her story. ‘Suzy's family has moved house and everyone is just TOO BUSY to play with her. Eager for someone … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Bears Don’t Wear Shoes,’ by Sharon Davey.
Today I’m sharing a perception-flipping new picture book from award-winning duo Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson. ‘Milo is on a long subway ride with his older sister. To pass the time, he studies the faces around him and makes pictures of their lives. There's the whiskered man with the crossword puzzle; Milo imagines … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Milo Imagines the World,’ by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for ‘Can Bears Ski?’ - a fantastic new picture book from poet and teacher, Raymond Antrobus. Raymond was born deaf and his debut picture book draws on his on childhood, showing how isolating being hard of hearing can be. ‘Little Bear feels the world around him. He … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Can Bears Ski?’ by Raymond Antrobus, illustrated by Polly Dunbar.
With swathes of the country already enjoying some snow and with more promised, why not make the most of it as part of home learning and get children outside and enjoying themselves? This clever picture book lends itself brilliantly to some screen-free science (states of matter, the water cycle...) and also raises some interesting questions … Continue reading ‘The Snowman and the Sun,’ by Susan Taghdis, illustrated by Ali Mafakheri, translated from Persian by Azita Rassi.
We all have a responsibility to look after our surroundings and care for the creatures who also make their homes in them. What I have today are three beautiful books with themes of protecting our environment and looking out for bees and other insects. ‘Omar, the Bees and Me,’ by Helen Mortimer, illustrated by Katie … Continue reading Bee-utiful Books!
‘Sadness has come to live with meand I am building it a shelter.I am building a shelter for my sadnessand welcoming it inside.’ A small boy creates a shelter for his sadness, a safe space where Sadness is welcome, where it can curl up small, or be as big as it can be, where it … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘A Shelter for Sadness,’ by Anne Booth, illustrated by David Litchfield.
To round off this year’s book advent, I have a lovely picture book from Little Door Books. Everybody loves the stars but have you ever loved them enough to steal them? Not just one or two, but all of them? When a little girl decides she wants a real star of her own, she writes … Continue reading Christmas Advent – Day 23 ‘The Girl Who Stole the Stars,’ by Corrina Campbell.
Today I have a beautifully-illustrated story which skilfully combines a hopeful Christmas message and a powerful warning about conserving our planet for future generations. Every Christmas, after all the presents have been opened, Mia and her family read a precious letter left to her by her grandfather. In it, he recalls the wonderful times they … Continue reading Christmas Advent – Day 15 ‘Grandpa Christmas,’ by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Jim Field.
Sometimes it’s nice to read a Christmas book which reflects on the meaning of Christmas beyond flashy lights, Santa and baubles. This heart-warming story is one of those... It’s Christmas morning. Esme and Bear have opened all their present except for one last red-wrapped gift hidden beneath the tree. When they read the gift tag, … Continue reading Christmas Advent – Day 11 ‘The Most Wonderful Gift in the World,’ by Mark Sperring, illustrated by Lucy Fleming.
Emma Yarlett creates the most beautiful picture books so I was very excited to see that she’s created a rather wonderful Christmas story with fold-out letters and plenty of laughs. Every year, Santa gets thousands of letters full of Christmas wishes from children all over the world and he is usually able to find the … Continue reading Christmas Advent – Day 5 ‘Santa Post,’ by Emma Yarlett.
If you are after a festive treat to officially kick off the festive season, you absolutely cannot go wrong with one of Alex T. Smith’s beautiful picture books. This year’s delight is a reimagining of a classic Christmas poem, borne from Smith’s inability to remember the original gifts celebrated in poetic form. Things start off … Continue reading Christmas Advent – Day 1 ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas or Grandma is Overly Generous,’ by Alex T. Smith.
I’m delighted to be part of Lantana Publishing’s campaign to ensure that children of colour see themselves represented in the books they receive this Christmas. To help make this happen, they’ve given me a special discount code for people to use on their website up until the 18th December. It’s: BOOKSUPERHERO15. For every book purchased, … Continue reading ‘A Story About Afiya,’ by James Berry, illustrated by Anna Cunha.
