Find WILD animals galore inside this fantastic first words board book, from tall giraffes, and stripy tigers to flamboyant flamingos and many more. Illustrated by the equally fantastic Ingela P. Arrhenius in her unique style, with bold colours and a retro influence. A perfect book for your wild creatures.
Stuck
Floyd loves his red kite, but when it gets stuck in a tree he has to try all types of things to get it down, he tries throwing his shoe up, then his other one followed by his cat, then finally he gets the ladder…and throws that up too!! nothing is working.
Join Floyd on his increasingly chaotic and hillarious efforts to save his beloved red kite, written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers this book will make the whole family chuckle.
p.s if you’re a fan of Mr Jeffers other books look out for some familiar friends in the final illustration
NB the book pictured has a hardback cover but the book sold is a paperback
An Alphabet of Stories
“If words make up stories, and letters make up words, then stories are made of letters. In this menagerie we have stories made of words, made FOR all the letters”
Find out what happens to Cup when he finally summons the courage to go for it, or the capers of a Yeti, a Yak and a YoYo, some tragic, some thoughtful, all funny and beautifully illustrated by the award winning Oliver Jeffers.
This is the paperback version of Once Upon An Alphabet with all the same funny stories
Once Upon An Alphabet
“If words make up stories, and letters make up words, then stories are made of letters. In this menagerie we have stories made of words, made FOR all the letters”
Find out what happens to Cup when he finally summons the courage to go for it, or the capers of a Yeti, a Yak and a YoYo, some tragic, some thoughtful, all funny and beautifully illustrated by the award winning Oliver Jeffers.
Rosie Revere and the raucous riveters
Rosie Revere is used to tackling (and failing) in big projects, she knows that perserverence is the key word for an engineer. But Rosie’s beloved Aunt Rose and her friends the Riverters have called on her to help with a new invention, this is too big an undertaking for her alone but with her friends Iggy peck and Ada Twist by her side there’s no stopping her!
Not happy with just being picture book characters these plucky kids now star in their own chapter books, each one follows the lead character as their curious minds lead them into all kinds of adventures. Ada, Iggy and Rosie help one another to solve mystery’s, un ravel science queries and create crazy inventions, written by the wonderful Andrea Beaty and accompanied by David Roberts’s witty illustrations throughout, these books are a great way to welcome young readers into the world of chapter books.
Iggy Peck & The Mysterious Mansion
Iggy Peck is an architect, thats for sure, if he’s not making houses out of food then he’s dreaming up his next design. His architectural know how is just whats needed when Ada’s Twitst’s Aunt inherits a mansion filled with features from all of Iggy’s favourite architectural periods. When a number of priceless antiques go missing, Iggy’s knowledge is the key to uncovering the mystery!
Not happy with just being picture book characters these plucky kids now star in their own chapter books, each one follows the lead character as their curious minds lead them into all kinds of adventures. Ada, Iggy and Rosie help one another to solve mystery’s, un ravel science queries and create crazy inventions, written by the wonderful Andrea Beaty and accompanied by David Roberts’s witty illustrations throughout, these books are a great way to welcome young readers into the world of chapter books.
Ada Twist and the perilous Pantaloons
Ada Twists brain is never turned off, from the minute she wakes up she is questioning everything and anything. This questioning brain of hers is exactly whats needed when Rosie Revere’s Uncle Ned gets carried away in his famous helium pantaloons. How can they help him get down, how far could he possibly float? Ada and her friends Iggy and Rose set to work to find out the answer.
Not happy with just being picture book characters these plucky kids now star in their own chapter books, each one follows the lead character as their curious minds lead them into all kinds of adventures. Ada, Iggy and Rosie help one another to solve mystery’s, un ravel science queries and create crazy inventions, written by the wonderful Andrea Beaty and accompanied by David Roberts’s witty illustrations throughout, these books are a great way to welcome young readers into the world of chapter books.
The Nowhere Emporium
Daniel Holmes is running for his life through the streets of Glasgow, an orphan living in a children’s home he needs to escape the clutches of the chief bully, this is how he first stumbles upon The Nowhere Emporium quite by accident, from this chance encounter Daniels life is turned upside down as he becomes embroiled in this magical place and its dark secrets.
The Nowhere Emporium has been awarded the Blue Pete Book Award and Scottish Children’s Book Award and rightly so, its a gripping adventure from start to finish, one suitable to read with children from the ages of 7+ and for 9+ to read to themselves if confident readers.
Here Ross MacKenzie discuss the series on iplayer here
Milton The Megastar (milton book 2)
Having turned into a bit of a media star Milton’s ego seems to be taking over, his friends Zoe (house human) Audrey (Daddy Long Legs) and Ralph (big hairy spider) think that Milton (who is also a spider) is turning into a bit of a diva!! Milton however is finding all the superstardom a bit stressful, the events, the glamour, the fans!!! So when Zoe’s dad and his girlfriend plan an exotic trip she decides it time to take her spider friends along for a break too. The combination of a live volcano, endangered species of spiders and unscupulous entrepeneur along with Milton’s superstar ego all add up to this not really being the relaxing break that Zoe intended….
Emma Reads follow up to Milton The Mighty this second read is a veru funny sequal in this series of spider adventures! great for confident readers age 7+ or for younger ages to be read to.
Milton The Mighty (milton book 1)
Milton is a harmless little spider happily living alongside the house humans, that is until BugKILL come along! Having been mistakenly branded as DEADLY on social media Milton finds himself in a race to save his life and that of his fellow false widow spiders, supported by his BFF’s big hairy Ralph and Audrey the daddy-long-legs they set out to clear his name. However they soon discover that the only way they will succeed is by communicating with Zoe the smallest house human, who may just be able to help them convince her arachnophobic dad and the rest of the crazy humans that Milton is nice and not deadly.
This is the first book in the Milton series and a very funny, entertaining read which may also just help one or two of your to overcome your fear of spiders!!!
You Must Be Layla
Layla is 13 years old, she’s clever, funny and ambitious and she’s earned herself a scholarship to a fancy new school in Australia. leaving her comfortable Islamic school in Brisbane she enters her new school determined to make an impression, however having to defend herself against a prejudiced bully in her first week leads to her making the wrong kind of impression. She’s sure she’s done the right thing, standing up for herself, but being suspended is not the way she expected this new school experience to start! to make amends she sets her sights on inventing something that could win the big robotics competition.
A laugh out loud story about friendships, making your way in the world and having the confidence to do things your way. You Must Be Layla introduces Sudanese-born author, broadcaster, social advocate and mechanical engineer Yassmin Abdel-Magied as an exciting new voice in children’s writing.
The Magic Place
Clementine dreams of a better life, one full of colour and joy, imprisioned in the smoke and grime of the Great Black City in a cellar bedroom. She dreams of a magic place..The Magic Place. To get there she must first escape from her wicked aunt and uncle and she’ll need the help of her best friend Gilbert, a very clever cat.
The very first children’s novel from internationally-renowned author and illustrator Chris Wormell, The Magic Place is a wonderfully gripping fairy tale, a story of escape and hope against all odds.
The Last Human
Humans, its been decided, shouldn’t exist, having created global warming and constant war, the robots have concluded that humans definitely need to be eliminated, and so in the world that they take over there is no war, no pollution and no crime. Everything runs smoothly….until Emma turns up, discovered by XR-935 the narrator robot of the story, Emma is a human, therefor she should be evil, but she doesn’t seem evil, she seems scared and in need of help.
The Last Human explores messages of friendship, tolerance, and cooperation with wit and thoughtfulness. Suitable for ages 8–12.
Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois
This book is a stunning depiction of the life and work of an amazing artist, Louise Bourgeois grew up learning about the art of weaving from her parents, but had a special connection with her mother. Much of the artists work is said to have been inspired by her relationship with her mother, which this book explores in a poetic way, as an introduction to an extraordinary and inpsirational artist.
Elegantly written by Amy Novesky with beautiful illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault, this book is a truly wonderful artefact in itself, one to keep for ever!
As Time Passes
A wonderful visual exploration of how time passes, how things change, grow, get shorter or even disappear. Fringes cover your eyes and trousers turn into shorts! This is the first English language edition of this book by Madalena Matoso and Isabel Minhos Martins the fantastic duo behind When I Was Born another wren favourite. This edition has been lovingly published by Design For Today so guaranteed to be a picture book you’ll want to keep in your collection!!
Moominland Midwinter – Special Edition
“The Moomins, in case you didn’t know, are kind, philosophical creatures with velvety fur and smooth round snouts, who live in a tall blue house in a beautiful woodland valley, beside the sea. They love the sunshine and sleep all through the winter months, waking up when spring arrives. Except one year when Moomintroll accidentally awakes and finds himself stranded and alone in a mysterious world blanketed with snow.” Sort of Books
Moominland Midwinter follows Moomin on his winterland adventure accompanied by the wise Too-ticky and fearless Little My, having woken too early from his winter slumber Moomin discovers a strange world covered in a blanket of white. It’s been snowing whilst the Moomins slept and as they hibernate over winter this is a site Moomintroll has never seen before.
Originally published in 1957 this and others in the series have been lovingly republished in hardback by Sort of Books. I love the Moomins in all their forms, these original versions are true collectors items, but not ones that you have to be prescious about and store up high on a shelf, they should be put out for all to enjoy, to be read and re read to spread to Moomin philosophy of kindness, love and adventure.
These books are recommended for a reading age of 7+ I think they could be read to a 5+ (or for your own entertainment to a newborn!) and confident readers age 8+ to read to themselves.