Space Dog by Mini Grey
KS1 - Y5Mini brings her delightful humour to the world of space with his story of old enemies, cats and dogs and their need to forget their differences for the sake of the Universe. Readers will revel...
View ArticleWhere are you Blue Kangaroo? by Emma Chichester Clark
FS Y1This is a delightful story of a little girl called Lily and her Blue Kangaroo cuddly. Lily is always leaving Blue Kangaroo around and learns, through a little fear, the importance of starting to...
View ArticleThe Giant of Jum by Elli Woollard & Illustrated by Benji Davies
KS1/Y3A wonderful narrative poem with a repeating rhyme and rhythm which tells the story of a disgruntled giant who feels his diet and life might be improved by eating this 'Jack' boy that gave his...
View ArticleWhere the Poppies Now Grow by Hilary Robinson and Illustrated by Martin Impey
Y3 or Y6Although touted as a book on WW1 for younger children, I think that the pattern of the rhythm and rhyme alongside the intertextual references made within Impey's illustrations mean that this is...
View ArticleBeyond the Surface by Nicolas Andre
KS1/2I'm going to push another knowledge book out there and a concertina at that. I felt this book was as beautiful as it was interesting full of facts relating to our desire to ascend the earth's...
View ArticleFootpath Flowers by Jon Arno Lawson & Sydney Smith
KS1 & KS2With the aim of perhaps starting it at Year 2 or above, this is a beautiful, wordless picturebook set in the States which looks at the disconnect that we have with the natural world. The...
View ArticlePablo & Jane and the Hot Air Contraption by Jose Domingo
KS1 & KS2An absolute visual overload and a sure-fire winner with your reluctant readers. Join Pablo and Jane as they travel to an alternate reality where monsters rule the world. This book...
View ArticleCrocodile Beat by Gail Jorgensen & Patricia Mullins
EYFS & Y1A lovely, rhythmic beat of a tale that reads more like a song at times that a story - hence the name! Lovely Eric Carle-like illustrations on rich double-page spreads. Children will enjoy...
View ArticleThe Runaway Train by Benedict Blathwayt
EFYS & Y1I really like everything about this picturebook. The repeating statements, the onomatopoeia, the rich and broad landscapes and the sense that each drawn person in the story is someone...
View ArticleA Pipkin of Pepper by Helen Cooper
EFYS & KS1This sequel to Pumpkin Soup, on the surface, is a simple one of going to the city to fetch some salt, it deals with early childhood fears such as getting lost and feeling out of place as...
View ArticleFrederick by Leo Leonni
KS1/FSA beautiful little book which I thought was going to be moralistic but instead turned out to be a celebration of language and creativity and love. I adored the love mouse and can see so much...
View ArticleAll in a Day by Mitsumasa Anno
KS2/KS1/FSThis is collaborative picturebook in which eight different illustrators from eight different countries tell a story about the last day of the year and how they each celebrate it. It...
View ArticleWild by Emily Hughes
KS1/2Visually stunning but an exciting and undeniably gifted illustrator AND storyteller. A young girl found living in the wild. Surely she must be saved by humanity and taught to live within her own...
View ArticleThe Red Tree by Shaun Tan
KS2A book which explores dark feelings within a landscape full of wonder and imagination, Tan's beautiful work is not empty of hope yet is unafraid to explore complex and challenging issues which can...
View ArticleMeerkat Mail by Emily Gravett
KS1/LKS2An interactive book which follows the journey of young meerkat, Sunny, who is fed up with the dull, normative lifestyle of living in the pack, decides to set off on a journey to find more of...
View ArticleOwl Moon by Jane Yolen & Illustrated by John Schoenherr
FS-KS2A girl and her father go searching for owls at night. As they walk through the silence, we see all manner of creatures. In comfortable silence, they both wonder and hope to meet one and then......
View ArticleThe Marvellous Fluffy Squishy Itty Bitty
FS/KS1 Y3Eddie is on a quest to find an appropriate present for her mum's birthday. She has an idea of exactly what she wants to get her but has no idea what it looks like. This is a beautiful...
View ArticleThe Journey by Francesca Sanna
KS1/2What is it like to leave everything behind and travel many miles to somewhere unfamiliar and strange? After losing her husband to war, a mother and her two children set out to escape a land of...
View ArticleImelda and the Goblin King by Bryony May Smith
KS1This is Smith's first picturebook and she is a welcome addition to the scene. Her illustrations are wickedly delightful and her plucky heroine someone who is strong and witty enough to challenge the...
View ArticleThe Pencil by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman
KS1This is a story of a lonely pencil who decides to create its own world, filled with a boy, a dog, a cat, a paintbrush and much more. Yet trouble looms when the pencil creates an eraser who starts to...
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