The Whisperer by Nick Butterworth
LKS2With a nod to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, two gangs of cats are constantly fighting each other and have been doing so for as long as they can remember.But are things about to change as two...
View ArticleThe Wind Blew by Pat Huthcins
FSA wonderful, cumulative tale. Each page is a double-page spread with the characters beginning on the verso (left) and gradually, as the tension builds towards the recto (right). I love how there is a...
View ArticleA Place Called Home by Alexis Deacon and Viviane Schwarz.
FS/KS1/KS2A lovely, clever book out a family of hamsters who must brave the outside world in order to find a new home. Deacon's minimal writing and Schwarz's hilarious yet warm illustrations make for a...
View ArticleCloth Lullaby by Amy Novesky & Isabelle Arsenault
KS2A beautiful, poetic story of the life of Louise Bourgeois, a world-reknowned artists best known for her sculptures. This is a fusion text which borders more on graphic novel than picturebook but the...
View ArticleA Brave Bear Sean Taylor & Emily Hughes
FS/KS1With Hughes' gorgeous illustrations, children will not only relate to but enjoy the little adventure that Little Bear and Daddy Bear go on down to the river. So much to look at and see and lovely...
View ArticleMy Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner
KS1-Y6An honest and moving account of what it can mean to be forced from your home. Told from the perspective of a young child, it is to be interpreted at the level of whatever the reader brings to the...
View ArticleGrandad's Secret Giant by David Litchfield
FS-Y4Billy doesn't believe his grandfather when he says he's friends with a giant that no one can see. Yet when Billy finally discovers the truth he must question his own prejudices in order to make...
View ArticleLost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
FS/KS1 Jeffers' story of voyage and return and a misunderstanding of what a little lost penguin is really looking for is the premise of this story of friendship. Done is Jeffers' unique style, this is...
View ArticleMirror by Jeannie Baker
KS2 & Y2An original, wordless picturebook that looks at the day in the life of two boys from different parts of the world. Both stories are told simultaneously on opposite pages: an Australian...
View ArticleThe Bear and the Piano
KS1/KS2Discovering a piano deep within the forest of his home, Bear finds himself drawn to the music and, in finding a love of playing, hears the call from far away to pursue his dreams. In doing so he...
View ArticleThe Storm Whale by Benji Davies
FS & KS1This is a beautiful picture book about Noi, a young boy, and his father who is a fisherman. Noi and his father live very separate lives until a whale is washed in by a storm. Caring for...
View ArticleThe Viewer by Gary Crew and Illustrated by Shaun Tan
KS2/KS3With Tan's powerful images and Crew's baleful narrative, The Viewer is a tapestry of haunting images which takes us through man's ascent and descent. When Tristan finds the Viewer, its discs...
View ArticleVarmints by Helen Ward and Marc Traste
KS2A powerful picture book for KS2. A tale of three parts. The first one of pastoral peace with the varmints happily at one with their world. The second seems a haunting transformation in which a new...
View ArticleNightlights by Lorena Alvarez
UKS2A graphic novel more than a picturebook. This is a touching a deeply imaginative story about a young girl's struggle to maintain her creativity in a constrictive world of an education choked by...
View ArticleThe Little Gardener by Emily Hughes
FS/KS1I really do love all that Emily Hughes does. In this delightful story, we explore the world outside our door, the hard work it can take to tend to it and ourselves and how, together, we can...
View ArticleMiranda the Explorer by James Mayhew
KS1/2After winning a competition, Miranda is gifted with a hot air balloon. When she gets it, it whisks her off around the world where she sees some key landmarks from different countries.
View ArticleThe Red Prince by Charlie Roscoe and Tom Clohosy Cole
KS2The young prince of Avala is kidnapped but manages to escape. With enemies at his heels throughout, the pacy story is gloriously illustrated. Its themes of courage, friendship and unity against...
View ArticleTown is by the Sea
KS2A rather beautiful and touching story of one family's life within a small, seaside mining tide in Nova Scotia. Set in the 50s, it allows us an insight into the life of a young boy who must follow...
View ArticleFox's Garden by Princesse Camcam
KS1/LKS2A wordless picture book following the night's prowling of a fox. Eventually the fox ends up taking respite in a greenhouse, a boy notices the fox and brings it food. The fox repays the kindness...
View ArticleThis is Sadie by Sara O'Leary and Julie Morstad
FS/Y1'Sadie is a small girl with a big imagination. She likes to make and do and be lots of different things.' A rather beautiful book where the imaginary is celebrated and richly portrayed through...
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