Studio Press ISBN 9781787416017 £6.99 Mai and Rose are friends. They love Mrs Bee, their teacher, and do not want to move to their new class and their new teacher. If only they could stay with Miss Bee forever. Coco, Mai’s magic coconut, helps, but things do not turn out as the girls expect. This…
Little Tiger ISBN 9781788815765 £11.99 The cover of this book shows Grumble-Stick, Grumble-Rope and Grumble-Mud, who are assertive and confrontational. They bicker, until the peace of the village is disrupted by the arrival of the hungry Gobblestomp. The Grumblies unite to combat their ferocious opponent. The alliance works, and their solution involves a combination of…
Gecko Press ISBN 9781776572830 £11.99 A delightful story by Dutch author/illustrator Catarina Valckx. Lisette the duck is delighted to find a pretty green sock. She enjoys wearing it until Tomcat and Timcat tease her about not wearing a pair. Lisette looks high and low, but cannot find the other sock. Her friend, Bert, comes to…
Hodder ISBN 9781444955835 £6.99 Prince Leo comes to the Magic Pet Shop in Twinkleton-Under-Beanstalk to collect a special pet delivery. Prince Leo, is very shy and does all he can to avoid attention. His pet is La-La-Lalama, a magic llama who loves singing. She accompanies Leo while he does his homework, goes to the library…
Templar Books ISBN 9781787416598 £9.99 This book is such fun! It is a mix and match pop-up book featuring puppy, rabbit, gecko, kitten and budgerigar. The pop-ups are fascinating and the pets’ eyes are appealing. We see the sounds they make and there is information about each pet under the flaps, written as poems, such…
Little Tiger ISBN 9781848579880 £10.99 A robustly produced book with pop-ups on each page, this would be an engaging introduction to the world of nature on the doorstep. We meet caterpillars and butterflies, tadpoles and frogs, spiders, bees, ants and other creepy crawlies. Simple facts are given for each creature along with some more intriguing…
Marcia Williams I have been putting this choice off for weeks. I think because every year another favourite is published and I find it impossible to leave the old friend behind. So, finally, instead of giving the project up, I have decided to choose the five which I loved as a young child and which…
Mick Manning For Younger Children Flea Bag, Helen Stephens Noggin and the Ice Dragon, Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My, Tove Jansson Dolphin Baby, Nicola Davies and Brita Granström (non-fiction) Peepo, Janet and Allan Ahlberg For Older Children The Kin, Peter Dickinson Watching Wildlife, David Stephen (non-fiction, out…
Alexis Deacon Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig This story is pretty much the gold standard as far as I am concerned. All of William Steig’s work is fantastic but this is particularly great. I don’t want to spoil it by analysing what makes it so good. Suffice to say it is the only time…