“Meet The Little Leaders. They’re Brave. They’re Bold. They Changed The World.”
A collection of true stories featuring forty trailblazing black women, important figures in the worlds history. This is the first book in the hugely popular Little Leaders series by Vashti Harrison that introduces young folk (and their parents / carers) to inspirational figures past and present. This first edition focus’s on both iconic and lesser-known female figures of black history including sprinter Florence Joyce (set a world record in 1988 Olympics that still holds today) Katherine Johnson and Shirley Bassey.
40 women have a page dedicated to them, with a further 12 featuring at the back of the book with smaller descriptions, a great resource for kids to be introduced to the lives of these amazing women.
Underneath the hedge rows a magical world in miniature exists, the world where the mice live, welcome to Brambly Hedge. This particular Brambly Hedge story is one i remember well, set in the middle of winter the mice are expecting snow, they hurridley make preparations to keep them safe and warm. When they awake the next morning they find their doors and windows hidden deep behind the snow drifts, which can only mean one thing, there’s more than enough for a Snow Ball!!
Join the Brambly Hedge mice as they set to work making an Ice Hall for the festivities!
A timeless classic winterval adventure, this edition is a pocket sized one perfect for Christmas stockings!
There’s nothing The Grinch hates more than Christmas, no-one knows quite why, but they suspect it could be that his shoes are too tight, or perhaps more likely that his heart is too sizes too small. But whatever the reason the Grinch decides he’s had enough and sets out to steal Christmas, to stop all the noise and merriment that he knows will ensue from down in Who-ville the very next day.
But despite the successful execution of his well thought out plan, despite stealing all of the presents, the food, the decorations, what does he hear when the Who’s wake on Christmas day, its not sad but merry, how could this be?
“Maybe Christmas”, he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
This is a beautiful hardback / slip case gift edition of a Dr. Seuss classic featuring an intro about the origins and history of the story. A classic Christmas treat!
An ugly little fir tree is taken to the city, but no one wants to buy him, they’re only interested in the big tall impressive trees. But then along comes someone who can see his potential and dressed up with some candles the little fir tree finds himself the centre of the most magical Christmas Eve ever.
This is a mini edition of this best selling picture book, with a pop up feature and wonderfull illustrations throughout by Emily Sutton. A great addition to any Christmas stocking and just the right size!
The Shortest Day is a beautiful poem created by Susan Cooper to be performed as part of the Christmas Revels, an American theatrical tradition celebrating the winter solstice and the Yuletide season. It celebrates how our lives are cyclical and how our time is “governed by the patterns of light and darkness” touching upon the traditions of the winter solstice and how we all feast and celebrate now a days.
For this book the poem is accompanied by glorious double page illustrations by Carson Ellis. One of my favourites Carson Ellis’s illustrations are truly joyful and make this a very special gift to give.
Susan Cooper has written an insiteful description about the poem and its origins at the back of the book and you can Learn more about The Revels here
There’s nothing The Grinch hates more than Christmas, no-one knows quite why, but they suspect it could be that his shoes are too tight, or perhaps more likely that his heart is too sizes too small. But whatever the reason the Grinch decides he’s had enough and sets out to steal Christmas, to stop all the noise and merriment that he knows will ensue from down in Who-ville the very next day.
But despite the successful execution of his well thought out plan, despite stealing all of the presents, the food, the decorations, what does he hear when the Who’s wake on Christmas day, its not sad but merry, how could this be?
“Maybe Christmas”, he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
This pocket edition is the perfect fit for a Christmas stocking!
A luxurious, illustrated take on Pamela L Travers eternally popular story. Come along children, Mary Poppins wants to take you on a thrilling adventure across London. Michael and Jane have a new kite to fly, they run to the park and as it soars up high who should they spot? its Mary Poppins dropping in to say hello, so off they go visiting Buckingham Palace and Big Ben until the rain stops play and they return home. Only then Jane finds a seashell and as she listens to the sounds of the sea, Mary takes them on an underwater adventure.
“This charming book takes readers on a thrilling adventure through London with the most amazing of all nannies, Mary Poppins, as a guide. Hélène Druvert’s intricate lasercuts and delicate illustrations show the city and its sights at their very best, and offer a wonderfully imaginative introduction both to London and to the world of Pamela L. Travers’ eternally popular Mary Poppins.”
This is not the story of Mary Poppins, but the essense of it in lazer cut form. A stunning and delicate book its one to keep up high and get down for special occasions. I’m not usually that keen on such books, I feel that children’s books should be there to be leafed through, read and re-read. However there are a few that are so special you’re willing to make an expection and this is one of those! a beautiful keep sake.
What better way to learn to draw than with an award winning illustrator? Rob Biddulph has brought to life many of his own children’s books such as Blown Away, Dinosaur Juniors series, Odd Dog Out and his most recent book Dog Gone, as well as illustrating for other well know authors including one of our favourites Piers Torday. Rob started up a bi weekly drawing session in March 2020 to keep the nation entertained and engaged during the national lockdown, the success of which has led to this fantastic activity book. It includes easy to follow guides on how to draw Robs much loved characters, and whilst you might think that this means they’ll be legions of kids growing up drawing like Rob Biddulph, he also offers tips on how to make things your own and how to build your own characters. The book includes puzzles and games along with the drawings and a certificate for you to fill in once you’ve completed all the drawings. All of the pages have a perforated seams to allow you to display your master pieces.
NB. On 21 May 2020 Rob broke the Guinness World Record for the largest ever online art class when 45,611 people tuned in to his live #DrawWithRob YouTube class, we joined in and are now the proud owners of two world record breaker certificates!!!
All of the classes are also online and are now run weekly on a Saturday morning 10am on Youtube
He lives in a sideways castle and his best friends with a flying robot horse called Clunkalot, a magical boar Mr catalogue and Pearlin the self trained Wizard, all of whom are going to be a fanastic help to the Knight Sir Louis when it comes to stopping the giant chocolate coin snaffling Damsel…Right?
I can’t imagine many other childrens’ books come with recommedations from comedian Stewart Lee, i think on that basis alone parents can be assured a good read!!
Created by The Brothers McLeod, Greg a BAFTA nominated character designer, illustrator and animation director and Myles who has written hundreds of sciprts for TV extensively writing for Children’s television including Octonauts and Hey Duggee.
A book of activities based on 10 historical, modern and contemporary British artworks, with activities and games based around each one. Not your straight forward kids activity book, this one requires some thought put into it, each section has a short introduction to the artist and a piece of their work, then a suggested activity, action or game inspired by it.
“Play a game of ‘Formaldehyde and Seek’ inspired by Damien Hirst; take cues from Barbara Hepworth and carve a sculpture out of soap; and find out how to capture the spectacular glow of J.M.W. Turner’s painted sunsets with a torch and some cellophane”
The activities and games encourage a greater understanding of the artist’s ideas and introduce children to artworks in a variety of media including photography, mixed media, sculpture, conceptual art, installation art, and painting.
Explore the inner workings of the body from the Muskuloskeltal System, The Nervous System & Special Senses right up to the (be warned) Endocrine & Reproductive Systems plus many more. Intricate illustrations matched with detailed information for each section will keep your budding scientists, or those just fascinated by how the body works, occupied for hours on end!
Part of Big Picture Press’s impressive “Welcome to the museum” collection, this one has the Wellcome Collection stamp of approval, a stunningly complex exploration of the body and how it works.
The Book of Bees has everything you ever needed to know about bees in one gloriously illustrated book (well maybe technically not everything, but there is ALOT of information in here) Tracking the history of bees from the dinosaurs to the present day, taking a look at the role bees have played in history and in the natural world and how important they are to the survival of the human race.
Also includes great facts such as “In order to produce one kilo of honey, bees must visit over four million flowers, flying about 110,000 miles in the process. This is the same distance as flying around the world four times!” and my favourite about how bees don’t go to the toilet ALL WINTER because they can’t leave the hive until the weathers warm and they don’t leave droppings in the hive!!! gauranteed to entertain and educate.
Flynn’s adoptive parents have kept her past a secret, they made up a name for her (Claudia) a combination of both of their names, and they haven’t been very loving at all. They’ve shunned her love of the circus and never let her cut her hair short. The reasons for all of these things start to be come clear on Flynn’s 10th Birthday when she recieves a curious message and finally finds out her real name.
This one act transforms her world and sets her on a path of discovery, questions need answering, how did she get the burn that covers most of her face? And could she really have a twin?
School for Nobodies follow’s Flynn’s journey of discovery as she’s packed off to a boarding school for misfits and slowly unravels the truth about who she is.
This is Bristol based Susie Bower’s debut novel, she formerly wrote and directed TV programmes for children at both the BBC and Channel 4 for which she won a BAFTA Award.
The Sun is setting and all around in the forest everyone is getting ready to go to sleep, but SOMEONE is still awake, little bear isn’t tired at all and thinks he can stay awake a bit longer….
Sound like anyone you know? I’m sure we’ve all had moments when this book would come in handy!! Chris Haughton’s signature style of simple and striking, block illustrations will capture their attention, and as little bear finally nods off hopefully they will be too!!
The board book version is the full length story, great for reading together and for little ones to pick up and leaf through themselves.
Bear has lost his hat and he wants it back, he ask’s everyone he comes across but no-one has seen it, in fact, it turns out, some of them don’t even know what a hat is. After asking quite a few passers by, he sits and thinks, and realises HE HAS SEEN HIS HAT!!
Brilliantly written, brilliantly illustrated, every family should own a copy of this book.
This is the board book version, we also have a larger paperback version.
Bear has lost his hat and he wants it back, he ask’s everyone he comes across but no-one has seen it, in fact, it turns out, some of them don’t even know what a hat is. After asking quite a few passers by, he sits and thinks, and realises HE HAS SEEN HIS HAT!!
Brilliantly written, brilliantly illustrated, every family should own a copy of this book.