Today’s stop is brought to you by the letter ‘L’ for ‘Library Girl and Book Boy’ as we journey through the alphabet with the newest addition to the award-winning ‘Oi Frog!’ series. If you’re an animal and want to know where to sit, Frog is your go-to amphibian, but he seems to bet getting weary … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Oi Aardvark!’ by Kes Gray & Jim Field.
Today I’m sharing with you a beautiful picture book about a girl called Fia who dreams of crossing the water in the bay to visit the mythical island of Hy Brasil. I also have a special piece written author, Patricia Forde, about what inspires her writing. The mythical island of Hy Brasil only appears once … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘To the Island,’ by Patricia Forde, illustrated by Nicola Bernardelli.
Today I have not one, not two, but three glorious picture books all about books! This joyous read joins a T-Rex as she discovers books and reading for the very first time. As she learns that books have amazing powers to transform a bedroom into a castle or a roaring ocean, to teach you how … Continue reading It’s all about the books!
Laura Gallagher wrote this story following a long and difficult journey to motherhood via IVF. She wanted to create a book which would allow other families to celebrate the many different ways in which babies can arrive. ‘Robo-Babies’ was the result. Make sure you read Laura’s special piece about her favourite picture book families. In … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Robo-Babies,’ by Laura Gallagher, illustrated by Nicci Martin.
Today I'm sharing Catherine Emmett's debut picture book, 'King of the Swamp.' Now it's time for you to meet McDarkly... McDarkly takes great pride in his swamp. To some, it is dark and dank and smelly but to McDarkly, it's home. He proudly plants new flowers in his garden and tends to them lovingly. However, … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘King of the Swamp,’ by Catherine Emmett, illustrated by Ben Mantle.
Today I’m bringing you a charming tale of a boy and his dog. Or rather, a dog and his boy... This brilliant and totally charming tale is cleverly told from the flipped perspective of a ‘pet’ dog. The story begins on Christmas Day when boy and dog first meet. It’s love at first sight and … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘I always Wanted One,’ by Olivier Tallec.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading any of Tracey Corderoy’s picture books yet, you have a whole treasure trove of fabulous titles ahead of you to try. In this blog post, I’ll be sharing her latest picture book, ‘Impossible.’ Dog has busy life in the city. By day, he washes and returns his … Continue reading ‘Impossible,’ by Tracey Corderoy, illustrated by Tony Neal.
With the Stone Age a firm fixture on the primary school national curriculum, it’s always useful to have some new texts up your sleeve to use along with tried and tested favourites. Today I’m going to share with you a selection of titles I’ve been sent which would fit well with a Stone Age topic … Continue reading Stone Age, Bone Age
I love Duncan Beedie’s picture books - funny, wise and beautifully illustrated. Today I have one of his new titles to share with you: ‘Oof Makes an Ouch.’ AND a piece from Duncan about where the early idea for this brilliant book came from along with a peek in his sketchbook. Meet Oof and Pib. … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Oof Makes an Ouch!’ by Duncan Beedie.
Coco Chanel is a name synonymous with style and luxury, but did you know that she grew up an orphan in a convent? In this fabulous picture book biography, readers will learn how Coco developed her sewing skills whilst being brought up in a convent and where her love of beautiful AND practical clothing for … Continue reading ‘Along Came Coco,’ by Eva Byrne.
We couldn’t have a French week on the blog without visiting Paris and who better to guide us than a high-kicking cat with dreams of becoming an entertainer! Cat was born in an alleyway behind a fishmongers, and although she loved playing with her brothers, sisters and cousins, she couldn’t help but wonder if there … Continue reading ‘Paris Cat,’ by Dianne Hofmeyr, illustrated by Piet Grobler.
Woo-hoo! Another absolutely fabulous picture book by Morag Hood is now available for all you luck readers! Her tightly-plotted and hilarious books are amongst some of my favourites. And now we have ‘Spaghetti Hunters’ to enjoy! Duck has a BIG problem. - he has lost his spaghetti. Thankfully, Tiny Horse is on hand to help … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Spaghetti Hunters,’ by Morag Hood.
Full disclosure - I am huge fan of Bethan’s delightfully twisted fairy tales and was absolutely THRILLED to discover that she had written a totally original story with a powerful female lead. We are also lucky enough to get a peek into Bethan’s sketchbook as she shares how she uses roughs to help create the … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘I Can Catch a Monster,’ by Bethan Woollvin.
It seems like everyone I know has been buying puppies during Lockdown. Perhaps if they’d read this book, they’d have thought twice! Can you believe it, but this is the FIFTH instalment in the award-winning ‘Oi Frog!’ series?! Packed with word play, rhymes and some extremely mischievous pups. The fun begins when Dog is left … Continue reading #TuesdayReviewsDay: ‘Oi Puppies!’ by Kes Gray and Jim Field.
This week, Book Boy Jr. and I have been travelling around the world with this excellent ‘Big City Atlas.’ Open the books and join Penguin on a tour of 28 captivating cities. Book Boy Jr loved the combination of interestingly illustrated maps of each city, featuring some of the main landmarks, accompanied by fact boxes … Continue reading #TuesdayReviewsDay: ‘Big City Atlas,’ by Maggie Li
Nowadays, women’s football is shown on the television and some of its star players are household names. It seems difficult to believe that in 1921, the Football Association decided to ban women’s football. But who was playing? And why had some women been allowed to play in the first place? ‘Trailblazer’ may just give you … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Trailblazer: Lily Parr the Unstoppable Star of Women’s Football,’ by Elizabeth Dale, illustrated by Carolina Coroa.
Today it’s my stop on the blog tour, so I get to share with you a magical new bedtime read: ‘In My Dreams,’ by Stef Gemmill. As a little boy drifts off to sleep, his dreams take him to the furthest reaches of his imagination. Diving to the deepest depths of the ocean, dancing in … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘In My Dreams,’ by Stef Gemmill, illustrated by Tanja Stephani.
Having a positive body image plays a huge role in helping children develop their confidence and self-esteem. It’s fantastic to see a picture book for young children like ‘Everybody has a Body,’ which celebrates bodies of all shapes and sizes. With Jon Burgerman’s exuberant illustrations packed full of colour and humour, and a positive, inclusive … Continue reading #TuesdayReviewsDay ‘Everybody has a Body,’ by Jon Burgerman.
This week is Refugee Week so it seems an alt time to share with you come of the very beautiful books I’ve been sent which look at refugees specifically, but also have themes of kindness and acceptance which might be more appropriate for younger children. I will be adding new titles to this post as … Continue reading Refugee Week 2020 – stories of kindness, accepting others and refugees.
In the approach to Fathers’ Day in the U.K., I like to share titles which celebrate dads in all their glory. I am particularly impressed by the two I’m showcasing today as they have inclusivity and diversity at their cores. ‘That’s my Daddy!’ by Ruth Redford, illustrated by Dan Taylor (Egmont Publishing) Daddies come in … Continue reading Three cheers for the dads!
