Wild Beings Dorien Brouwers We are curious, strong, and fierce / We are creators, explorers, and seekers / We can climb, leap and run… We are WILD. This gloriously illustrated gift book for all ages is an ode to the kindred spirits of children and animals. With socio-emotional themes woven throughout, Wild Beings celebrates our universal and unbreakable bonds […] Animals, Bravery, Emotion/ Feelings, Empathy, Environment/Climate Change, Inspirational, Nature/ Outdoors, Picture Books Never Teach a Stegosaurus to Do Sums Diane Ewen & Rashmi Sirdeshpande A love letter to learning and the power of numbers from exciting talents, Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Diane Ewen. A laugh-out-loud ‘what if . . .?’ adventure that celebrates maths being fun in this riotous read. If a Stegosaurus knew how to do sums – well, what would happen? Maybe she’d learn to code, to invent, […] Animals, Art, Creating art/ Imagination, Dinosaurs, Picture Books, Space/ Rockets AGES: 3-7 Pug Hug Zehra Hicks A very cute pug really wants a hug, but no-one wants to hug him! Cat doesn’t like hugs, Hamster just wants to run in her wheel and Rabbit’s chomping carrots, unconvinced by Pug’s nice red bunny ear costume. What is a pug in need of a hug to do? Fortunately, Pug’s very huggable little girl […] Animals, Emotion/ Feelings, Family, Fiction, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Cheeky Monkey Zehra Hicks Monkey wants to play! But Monkey’s games are a little too energetic for the other animals. A funny, playful story about learning how to make friends, from the author of the hilarious Pug Hug! Cheeky Monkey is ready to play! But Zebra is happy painting quietly, Giraffe is about to tuck in to lunch, and […] Animals, Fiction, Love, Picture Books, Romantic AGES: 3-7 Dinosaur in Danger Paul Geraghty ‘The volcano burst into the sky and soon the mountain was leaping with flames…’ Talon, a young raptor, finds herself alone in a hostile world of giant carnivores and dangerous gangs. She must find food or soon she will starve, but to do so she must win over the enemy pack… Meticulously researched, this realistic […] Adventure, Animals, Fiction, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 The Dinosaur That Pooped A Planet Dougie Poynter & Garry Parsons & Tom Fletcher In this laugh-out-loud rhyming picture book, Danny and Dinosaur are off on an adventure in space! But when Danny realises he’s forgotten Dino’s lunch box, the very hungry dinosaur eats everything in sight, including their only way back home: the rocket! How will Dino get them back down to earth? Find poop, planets and pandemonium […] Animals, Dinosaurs, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Llama Glamarama Garry Parsons & Simon James Green Larry loves to groove and mooooove … but will the others disapprove? Larry the llama’s big secret is that late at night, when no one is watching, he loves to DANCE. Then, one day, he stumbles upon the Llama Glamarama! Will this raucous celebration give Larry the pride he needs to bring his dance back […] Animals, Fiction, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Act Normal And Don’t Tell Anyone About The Dinosaur In the Garden Christian Darkin ✓A girl who loves science. ✓A boy who loves chaos. What could possibly go wrong in this hilarious series of chapter book mystery adventures? Learning to read independently has never been so much fun! Every adventurous child deserves to be introduced to Jenny and Adam – two clever kids who have the weirdest adventures. Jenny’s […] Adventure, Animals, Dinosaurs, Fiction AGES: 10-12 AGES: 6-9 AGES: 7-10 A Treasury of Songs Axel Scheffler & Julia Donaldson As well as being the UK’s most successful picture book author, Julia Donaldson is a gifted songwriter for children. A Treasury of Songs contains over twenty of her songs, including fun-filled action rhymes, Aesop’s fables, and songs based on Julia Donaldson’s best-loved picture books, including Room on the Broom, The Snail and the Whale, The Stick Man, and The […] Animals, Folklore & Folk Tales, Songs AGES: 3-7 The Ugly Five Axel Scheffler & Julia Donaldson Who’s that singing on the savannah? It’s the top-five ugly animals in Africa! The wildebeest, warthog, vulture, hyena and marabou stork swagger proudly across the savannah, rejoicing in their ugliness – and delighting their babies, who think they’re perfect just the way they are. Inspired by the real-life Ugly Five safari animals, Julia […] Animals, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Tiddler Julia Donaldson The smallest fish can tell the tallest tales … “Sorry I’m late, Miss. I set off really early but on the way to school I was captured by a squid. I wriggled and I struggled till a turtle came and rescued me.” “Oh, no, he didn’t.” “OH, YES, HE DID.” Tiddler is a little fish […] Animals, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 The Gruffalo Axel Scheffler & Julia Donaldson Walk further into the deep dark wood, and discover what happens when a quick-witted mouse comes face to face with an owl, a snake …and a hungry Gruffalo! Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s The Gruffalo is an undisputed modern classic and has become a best-selling phenomenon across the world with over 13.5 million copies sold. This […] Adventure, Animals, Fiction, Monsters AGES: 3-7 Too Much Stuff! Emily Gravett From the creator of modern classic Meerkat Mail comes a very funny woodland story showing the dangers of having too much stuff. Too Much Stuff is set in the same forest as Gravett’s award-winning Tidy, it features a host of gorgeous woodland animals, including Pete the badger. Meg and Ash are a pair of magpies who are building a nest […] Animals, Environment/Climate Change AGES: 3-7 I am a Sensible Gibbon Claudia Boldt & Will Mabbitt A very sensible story with ABSOLUTELY NO SILLINESS! From the author of I Can Only Draw Worms! Gibbon would like to make it very clear that this is a sensible book for sensible people. Anything that looks like it might be FUN or SILLY is absolutely forbidden. Animals, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Fleas Seeks Dog Nathan Reed & Will Mabbitt Flea’s got itchy feet! It’s time to find a new dog to call home. But, try as he might, none of the dogs he meets are quite right. From the too loud and too cheeky to the too-frequently-leaky, Flea soon realises that finding the perfect companion can be tricky. Will Flea ever find the perfect […] Animals, Nature/ Outdoors, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 This is NOT a Fairy Tale Fred Blunt & Will Mabbitt A sequel to the acclaimed This Is Not A Bedtime Story by rising stars Will Mabbitt and Fred Blunt. Sophie doesn’t want a fairy tale about drippy princesses and pompous princes, she wants the princess to do the rescuing, with a ferocious, fighting transformer! Together Sophie and her dad revolutionise story time for a second […] Animals, Fairy tales and folk tales, Fantasy/ Supernatural, Myths and Legends, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 I Can Only Draw Worms Will Mabbitt At the beginning of this apparently simple picture book, the writer/illustrator confesses that he can only draw worms. And worms is what we get – helpfully differentiated by one having glasses, one being yellow for no particular reason, and one being tragically cut in half as the result of an experiment gone wrong. Some of […] Animals, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Gorilla Ballerina (A Bonkers Book of Animal Poems Julian Mosedale & Neal Zetter A gorilla doing a ballet! An Anteater who won’t eat ants! An invisible dog! You’ll find them all here along with a much bigger bunch of amazing animal poems, raps and rhymes featuring the blue-footed booby bird, the quagga and many more. This wonderful collection comes alive even more by combining comedy performance poet Neal […] Animals, Poetry AGES: 3-7 The Remarkable Pigeon Dorien Brouwers When a pigeon visits the aviary, he feels very inferior to all of the other species of birds he encounters, with their colourful plumage and magnificent wingspans. But eventually the pigeon realises that he has something the other birds don’t – his freedom! The Remarkable Pigeon is a thought-provoking and stunningly-illustrated picture book that will […] Animals, Friendship, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Personal/social issues, Picture Books, School/ Learning AGES: 3-7 That Thing Alexis Deacon & Avital Balwit A close encounter with an intelligent octopus provides a lesson in the value of curiosity and kindness to animals. Debut writer Avital Balwit’s That Thing suggests that our indifference to other animals also reflects how we sometimes treat each other. Illustrator Alexis Deacon’s watercolour washes and exquisite octopi animate this brilliant short story. That Thing […] Animals, Emotion/ Feelings, Fiction, School/ Learning AGES: 10-12 Mistaken for a Bear Jamie Beard & Philip Ardagh In the melting pot of London in 1839, two young dock workers chase a tiger on the loose – a dangerous splash of colour in a world of soot and grime! Written by Philip Ardagh, Mistaken for a Bear is a true story about mistaken identities, brought vividly to life by debut illustrator Jamie […] Adventure, Animals, Fiction, Historical, Identity, Multicultural/international AGES: 10-12 Here Be Monsters Jay Hulme & Sahar Haghgoo A sea-born creature, who never quite belongs, discovers who she really is, in this powerful illustrated song about metamorphosis and finding your true home. Here Be Monsters was edited by Alice Curry at Lantana and art directed by Andrew Biscomb at Scholastic. Here Be Monsters is part of the 10 Stories to Make […] Animals, Fiction, Identity, LGBT/ Gender, Poetry AGES: 7-10 Cloud Soup Elina Braslina & Kate Wakeling Cloud Soup is a collection of children’s poems by Kate Wakeling, illustrated by Elīna Brasliņa. Cloud Soup is the sequel to Moon Juice, the 2017 CLiPPA Best Children’s Poetry Book award-winner. “Bodies, bodies everywhere” knees and noses, hands and hair, bodies big and bodies small, bodies keen on volleyball, hairy nostrils, lengthy shins, juicy ear […] Adventure, Animals, Funny, Poetry AGES: 7-10 The Lumberjack’s Beard Duncan Beedie Every day, Jim Hickory the lumberjack heads into the forest with his trusty axe and chops down trees. Unfortunately, all sorts of creatures lose their homes in the process, so Jim gives them a home in his beard – until one day it all just gets too much. Time for Jim to come up with […] Animals, Family, Nature/ Outdoors, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 The Last Chip Duncan Beedie Percy is a little pigeon, and he’s very hungry. Life on the streets is tough, and every time he tries to get hold of a scrap of food, bigger, beefier birds bat him away. He’s about to give up when someone offers him her very last chip. A moving and uplifting story about struggle against […] Animals, Personal/social issues, Picture Books, School/ Learning AGES: 3-7 AGES: 7-10 Saving Stella Bassel Abou Fakher & Deborah Blumenthal & Nadine Kaadan For fans of Two Bobbies comes a moving, true story about a young man and his dog who escape the violence of the Syrian War. Some bonds are stronger than war . . . Life for musician Bassel and his dog Stella in Damascus, Syria, has changed since the civil war began. Instead of enjoying […] Adventure, Animals, Emotion/ Feelings, Family, Migration/ Refugees, Non-fiction, Picture Books, War AGES: 3-7 Good Dog, Bad Dog: The Golden Bone Dave Shelton Kirk Bergman and Duncan McBoo are pedigree police: the finest canine cops in all Muttropolis. And they’re never short of work. The Golden Bone of Alexandria has been stolen by malevolent mongrels and our doggy duo are the perfect pooches to take on the case… CRIMINALS BEWARE: Bergman and McBoo are on your tail! Adventure, Animals, Fiction, Graphic Novel/ Comic AGES: 10-12 AGES: 12-14 Bright Bursts of Colour Aleksei Bitskoff & Matt Goodfellow ‘Matt Goodfellow is a fresh voice on the children’s poetry scene.’ (Pie Corbett) What if cats had flavoured fur or if you swallowed the sun? What if you were a special kind of badger or if you found a map to the stars? And what if your home was split during the week: one half […] Animals, Family, Fiction, Poetry AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 Clean Up! Dapo Adeola & Nathan Bryon Rocket is SO EXCITED because her, her mum and her brother Jamal are going to visit her Grammy and Grampy in the Caribbean. Even more excitingly, Rocket’s grandparents run whale watching tours and have an animal sanctuary at the back of their house. It’s brilliant finally seeing Grammy and Grampy – Grammy is a pretty […] Animals, Environment/Climate Change, Family, Nature/ Outdoors, Picture Books, Science Fiction, Water AGES: 3-7 Oof Makes an Ouch Duncan Beedie Oof and Pib come from an ancient tribe. They know hardly any words – in fact they only know how to say their own names – but it doesn’t stop them from being the best of friends and doing everything together . . . Until Oof starts inventing all sorts of NEW words, and Pib […] Animals, Friendship, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Moonshadow Gillian Lobel & Karin Littlewood For the very first time, young Moonshadow is flying south. Grandfather is leading the swans as they travel to a warm place for the winter. But when a terrible storm strikes, not all the swans make it through. Though his heart is heavy, Moonshadow finds the strength to continue the journey. Gillian Lobel’s beautifully written […] Animals, Emotion/ Feelings, Grief/Loss, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 AGES: 7-10 The Day the Rains Fell Anne Faundez & Karin Littlewood Long ago, when the world was new, Lindiwe gazed down from the heavens, proud of the earth and the creatures she’d created. She and her daughter Thandi swooped down to check their work, only to discover something was wrong. Everything was wilting and dusty and the animals looked sad; the earth needed rain. When the […] Animals, Family, Multicultural/international, Myths and Legends, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 AGES: 7-10 Pet Defenders: Escape from Planet Bogey Gareth P Jones Illustrated by Steve May The Pet Defenders Code: 1. The safety of Planet Earth depends on you. 2. Humans MUST NOT know the truth. GOOD LUCK – you’ll need it… Animals are disappearing from Nothington-on-Sea and the Pet Defenders suspect alien activity. Secret agents Biskit and Mitzy find themselves caught up in the Planet […] Adventure, Animals, Crime/ Thriller, Fiction, Funny AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 The Elephant’s Garden Jane Ray A humorous fantasy story of greed set in a small Indian village, stunningly illustrated and retold by award-winning artist Jane Ray. Jasmine’s garden has the most delicious fruit in the village–but someone is eating all her beautiful apples and apricots, kiwis and kumquats, papayas and peaches. Determined to discover the thief’s identity, Jasmine waits . […] Adventure, Animals, Fairy tales and folk tales, Food, Magic, Nature/ Outdoors, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Hummingbird Jane Ray & Nicola Davies From Nicola Davies, one of the UK’s finest non-fiction writers, and from Jane Ray, one of the UK’s finest illustrators, comes and exquisite Nature Storybook about … hummingbirds! A hummingbird is smaller than your thumb and weighs less than a 20 pence piece – however you measure it, it’s tiny. But every spring, hummingbirds that […] Animals, Fiction, Nature/ Outdoors AGES: 7-10 The Unicorn Prince Jane Ray & Saviour Pirotta If you love The Frog Prince and The Elves and the Shoemaker, you’ll love this tale of love, magic … and unicorns! Annis and her grandmother live in a cold, draughty castle on top of a hill, which they share with their chickens and their cow. They may be poor, but Annis’s heart is […] Animals, Fantasy/ Supernatural, Love, Magic, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Baby Blue Has the Blues Kay Al-Ghani This colorfully illustrated book tells the story of a baby Blue Whale, who longs to be included among the other creatures of the ocean, but is shunned because he is ‘different.’ The fish make fun of his size and won’t let him join in their games. However, when danger lurks in the form of a […] Animals, Bullying, Emotion/ Feelings, Empathy, Friendship, Picture Books, Water AGES: 3-7 The Last Zoo Sam Gayton Pia lives on the last zoo: a floating armada that houses the strangest collection of creatures the world’s ever seen, from genies to mirror-orangutans to hummingdragons. Collectively called ‘voilas’, they each have a special ability, and everyone hopes these will help save the world from environmental catastrophe. Pia looks after the angels, their greatest hope. […] Adventure, Animals, Fantasy/ Supernatural, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Magic, Mystery/murder AGES: 10-12 AGES: 12-14 Hercufleas Sam Gayton Greta needs a new hero to defeat Yuk, a giant who keeps returning to her town to eat people. Many heroes have tried and failed in the past. Then she discovers Hercufleas who, more than anything, would love an adventure. Trouble is, Hercufleas is tiny, but what he lacks in brute strength he makes up […] Adventure, Animals, Fairy tales and folk tales, Family, Fiction, Friendship AGES: 7-10 Wake Up Do Lydia Lou! Karen George A little ghost tries to give Lydia Lou a scare . . . but he can’t even wake her up. So he fetches his noisy animal friends to help! Mew! Moo! Too-whit too-whoo! Wake up do, Lydia Lou! Will anything ever wake her? A gentle and playful bedtime read from Julia Donaldson, the author of […] Adventure, Animals, Bedtime, Friendship, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Meerkat Mail Emily Gravett Sunny the meerkat lives with his enormous family in the Kalahari desert. They are all very close . . . so close, in fact, that one day Sunny decides it’s just too crowded and packs his bags. He’s off to visit his mongoose cousins. But from the watery world of the Marsh Mongoose to the nocturnal lifestyle […] Adventure, Animals, Multicultural/international, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 King Otter Jane Porter When an adorable otter finds a box filled with fancy clothes and a crown, he declares himself King Otter, ruler of his riverside realm. He wastes no time in ordering his loyal subjects to throw him the biggest, grandest parade in history! But will this be a party to remember, or will the King’s bossy […] Animals, Creating art/ Imagination, Friendship, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Pink Lion Jane Porter A bold and colourful picture book with a heart-warming story about always being yourself. Arnold blends right in with his bright pink flamingo family. Then a growling gang of lions stops by and demands that Arnold should be more lion-like, just like them. Poor Arnold tries but misses his old life. But then his […] Animals, Emotion/ Feelings, Family, Identity, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Chicken in the Kitchen Mehrdokht Amini What would you do if you woke up one night to find the shadow of a giant chicken passing your bedroom door? Go and investigate, of course! When Anyaugo follows a giant chicken into her kitchen one warm night in Nigeria, she embarks on a fun-filled adventure where nothing is quite as it seems. Is […] Animals, Faith/ Culture, Family, Fiction, Multicultural/international, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Archie Snufflekins Cat Katie Harnett Archie, Cupcake, Oliver, Valentine… the cat who lives on Blossom Street is called something different by everyone, and loved by all. But there is one house on the street that he hasn’t visited yet… In this sweet story, Katie Harnett explores how one well-loved cat can change a lonely woman’s life and bring a small […] Animals, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Picture Books AGES: 3-7
