Tag: Children’s books

Sasha has an enviable treehouse and a bunch of activities that she’s ready to do at high speed.  She even has lists of books she’s read – including a personal best reading time of 20 seconds!  This is all excellent fun, but when a sloth bonks down on the treehouse roof, she learns that slow…

Lions need a lot of sleep, as everyone knows… but for Arlo it’s too hot, too cold, too prickly, too noisy.  Like everyone who struggles with their sleep, Arlo wonders if he will ever sleep again. Catherine Rayner’s beautiful picture book sets the tone for a peaceful bedtime for small children.  Arlo’s friend Owl swoops…

Rosa has so many interesting questions that her dad suggests they visit the library to get the answers.  But the library is closed and boarded up, because it’s going to be knocked down and replaced by a restaurant.  There will be no library to provide answers. In this striking picture book, Rosa and her family…

Joe is having a great time at the playground on his own, battling sharks and crocodiles.  But a new kid comes along and says what new kids always say – “You’ve only got one leg!” and “What happened to you?”. Joe is super fed up of always getting these questions, and as more kids turn…

Lost in the Clouds is a sensitive and useful picture book for young children about bereavement and grief. Billy knows that his mum has died, and he likes to think of her as a cloud in the sky.  Sometimes Billy’s days with his dad are good, when they can have fun and still feel close…

This excellent picture book has possibly my top back cover text ever: “There is a spot.  It is the perfect spot to stand.  But somewhere above there is also a rock.  A rock from the sky”. The Rock from the Sky is new from Jon Klassen, author of Riverside all-time-favourite the Hat Trilogy. There really…

This gorgeous anthology of animal poems for children has just arrived, and it is a complete joy.  There’s a poem for every day, varying from the funny to the serious, and the short to the reasonably epic.  There are poets here I recognise and many that I do not.  This book is ostensibly for children,…

This is a cheerful picture book about a small girl’s mission to share her love of space.  Rocket is a stargazer who lives in a town, and is determined that folks where she lives should come to the park to watch the meteor shower. Rocket’s brother Jamal is lovely but he’s always looking down at…

Meesha has a loving family and a joyful and creative spirit, but she finds it hard to make friends.  This latest picture book in Tom Percival’s Big Bright Feelings series deals with this common experience sensitively and with helpful practical suggestions. Appropriate for infants and up, the gorgeous illustrations show how the world can be…

The legendary Mr Panda returns. As ever he is long on kindness and manners, and short on rudeness and entitled behaviour. This time he is offering free hugs (after checking first with each potential recipient).  He is all ready to hug a smelly skunk and a potentially bitey crocodile.  But everyone would seem to prefer…

Paperback, Walker Books, £6.99, out now This is a very funny picture book, suitable for all humans.  The wolf eats the mouse, who quickly discovers that a duck (a previous wolf-dinner) is already living a very nice life inside the wolf.  They become fast friends and enjoy dinners and dancing in their new home.  This…

Wolf in the Snow is an adventurous and heart-warming winter story.  Told through pictures, with almost all of the words being the sounds made by the human and non-human animals, this is an instantly engaging story. A little girl in a red coat leaves her school just as a blizzard is starting.  As the snow…

These are two gorgeous picture books for young children celebrating how different hair can be. Hair, it’s a Family Affair! is from Princess Arabella author Mylo Freeman, and has the same style of bright and joyous illustrations fans will recognise from those books (we are particular fans of Princess Arabella’s Birthday).  We get to see…

Luna’s mum drops her off at the library, where Dad meets her and they have an adventurous day! This beautiful picture book for young children shows libraries to be exciting and safe places.  It celebrates all different kinds of reading, and there is even a bonus miniature story book set inside so you can read…

Julian is a small boy on the subway with his Nana… but he is also a mermaid.  After seeing three gorgeous women dressed up as mermaids on the journey, he tells Nana: “Nana, I am also a mermaid”.  Julian dresses himself up as a mermaid while Nana is in the bath.  He feels wonderful… but…

This book is extremely silly and a guaranteed good laugh for anyone aged about two and up.  Dwayne and Jane-o want to see the volcano… they’ll catch a plane-o and climb down a chain-o… their enthusiasm is not in doubt but what will happen when they get there? Well, the bright and engaging pictures tell…

“ONCE there was Natalie… and then there was Alphonse too.  Natalie mostly did not mind there being Alphonse.”   This is a great way to start a picture book about the relationship between a small sister and brother. Through bright and cheerful illustrations, Hirst shows the ways in which Natalie and Alphonse usually get on.  But…

One of the best book things ever has just happened to me.  I discovered that the Moomin prose books are not the same stories as the Moomin comic strips.  This means that there is a whole world of unknown Moomin that I can explore, and I can do it through the beautiful new hardback editions…