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Fri
10 ^th

The Girl With Two Dads
by Mel Elliott

When Pearl discovers that there’s going to be a new girl called Matilda in her class she gets very excited. She can’t find wait to find out what she’s like! She watches Matilda say goodbye to her dad and over the course of the day they become firm friends. Together they climb trees, run around the playground and jump in muddy puddles.

But then the next day Pearl spots something interesting. When Matilda’s dad drops her off at school, it’s a completely different dad. How can she have two dads? Confused, Pearl starts to ask her new friend lots of questions. Matilda explains that a family doesn’t necessarily mean having one mum and one dad, and she has two dads who love each other.

Thu
09 ^th

There’s A Lion In The Library by Dave Skinner & Aurélie Guillerey

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

With her little dimples and tiny button nose, Lucy Lupin looks utterly adorable. However if you take a peek below the surface, Lucy isn’t quite what she seems. She’s actually pretty mean and she loves to tell big juicy lies!

One Monday morning she goes to the library and tells the biggest lie she can think of. She walks right up to the Librarian and tells her there’s a lion in the history section, eating a book about the Ancient Egyptians. The Librarian takes one look at cute little Lucy and presumes she must be telling the truth. The library is evacuated and the police are called but there’s no sign of a lion anywhere. Everyone is perplexed, except little Lucy who finds the whole thing hilarious.

In fact, she enjoys the lie so much that she goes back and repeats it again and again. On Tuesday she informs the Caretaker that there’s a lion in the romance section, and on Wednesday she tells the Coffee Shop Manager there’s a lion in the geography section. Soon the adults at the library cotton on to the fact that adorable little Lucy isn’t actually adorable at all.

Tue
07 ^th

NERP! by Sarah Lynne Reul

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Ivy and I both love books that are a little bit crazy, so when NERP! landed in our laps we instantly fell in love. Every single word of the story is quite literally utter nonsense, but somehow the whole thing makes perfect sense!

The premise will be very familiar to any parents out there with picky eaters. We see an enthusiastic mum and dad present their child with a series of lovingly prepared dishes in the hope that they might actually eat something, but nothing is quite right.

The frizzle frazzle hotchy potch? NERP! Mushy gushy bloobarsh? NERP! Even the garble snarfy barflecrunch and the yuckaroni smackintosh are rejected with a massive NERP! Will anything make this pesky child say YERP or SLURP?

Tue
07 ^th

A Stopwatch from Grampa
by Loretta Garbutt & Carmen Mok

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This poignant story looks at the loss of a grandparent told from a child’s point of view.

When the little boy in this story receives his Grampa’s stopwatch he is overcome with grief. Grampa is gone and he doesn’t want this little reminder of all the fun they used to have together. The stopwatch used to be their favourite thing. They timed everything! How long does it take to eat a bubblegum ice cream? How long does it take for a caterpillar to crawl up your leg? How long does it take to run to the end of the street and back?

But now there’s no more time with Grampa. Just this little stopwatch. Angry, the boy throws it in a drawer and tries to forget but everything feels different now, even school and spending time with his friends.

Sun
05 ^th

I Can Only Draw Worms
by Will Mabbitt

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It’s rare that I sit down to write a review and don’t really know what to say. This book has no clear story and the only illustrations are crudely drawn worms – yet somehow it’s completely brilliant and we just can’t stop reading it!

So what exactly is it about I hear you ask?

Well, it’s about worms.

And counting.

And counting worms.

Because the author can only draw worms.

And that is about all I can tell you! One of the worms has glasses and one of the worms gets accidentally cut in half. One of the worms even has a flying unicorn and travels to outer space – except the author can only draw worms so we have to imagine the rest…

Sat
04 ^th

I Ate Sunshine For Breakfast
by Michael Holland FLS & Philip Giordano

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Ivy and I have spent all afternoon in the garden so this feels like a very appropriate choice for today! This beautiful non-fiction book celebrates plants from around the world and it has taught us lots of fascinating facts.

Split in to four chunky chapters, this illustrated compendium looks at all aspects of plant life. In the early sections we learn everything a child could possibly need to know about what plants are, how they grow and why they matter. But it was the second half of the book which completely captured Ivy’s imagination, as here we discover how plants sustain our everyday lives. She was amazed to discover there were plants in her toothpaste, in her clothes and even in her medicine!

As an added bonus there are 12 DIY projects included. We’re planning to try them all over the coming months but I think we’ll start by making a plant maze and and a wild weed bottle garden. The invisible ink project looks fun too!

Fri
03 ^rd

When Grandma Gives You A Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan & Lorraine Rocha

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When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But what do you do when your Grandma gives you a lemon tree for your birthday and you’d secretly been hoping for a drone or a remote control car? You definitely shouldn’t pull a face and you certainly shouldn’t drop it off a bridge!

The little girl in this story is quite confused about her unusual gift but she has good manners so she knows how she should react (and also how she shouldn’t!). She manages an excited face and she maintains her smile until Grandma falls asleep, but she really doesn’t have a clue what to do with her lemon tree.

However as the pages progress we see her build a special bond with her new present. She keeps it in the sun, waters it and makes sure the neighbourhood slugs maintain a safe distance. She keeps it warm in winter, repots it and slowly watches it grow. And when she gets her first batch of lemons, Grandma is the first person she wants to share them with.

Thu
02 ^nd

Avocado Asks: What Am I? by Momoko Abe

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Avocado lives on the fruit and vegetable aisle at the supermarket. Life is nice and simple until one day the nature of his whole existence is thrown in to question by a small child. She points at him and asks her mum whether an avocado is a fruit or a vegetable.

Suddenly Avocado is thrown in to confusion. He doesnt know the answer. How can he not know who he really is? Determined to dscover his true identity, Avocado turns to his friends for help.

First stop is the vegetables, who decide he can’t possibly be one of them because he’s not leafy or crunchy and he has a big stone in his middle like a fruit. So next he visits the fruit, but they say he’s not one of them either. He’s not sweet or juicy and he wouldn’t taste right in a fruit salad.

Wed
01 ^st

The Memory Tree
by Britta Teckentrup

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This beautiful book from Britta Teckentrup helps children process grief after a bereavement.

When Fox lays down in his favourite forest clearing and takes his last breath, the other animals are bereft. He was such a huge part of each of their lives and they are not sure how they will be able to move forward without him. As snow falls on Fox and covers his body, his friends gather in a circle and sit with him in silence.

After a long while, Owl speaks. He shares a story from his youth about chasing autumn leaves with Fox. Mouse goes next, remembering how much Fox liked to sit and watch the sunset. One by one each of the forest animals raises their voice to speak out about the treasured memories they have of their wonderful friend.

Tue
17 ^th

Just Like You! by Jane Chapman

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Piccolo is a tiny woolly mammoth who wants to grow up to be just like her Dad. She watches him topple trees so she can nibble the leaves and marvels as he ploughs through giant snowdrifts so that she has room to play. When she tries to copy him she gets very frustrated – she can’t wait until she is big and strong just like him.

One wintry day her Dad suggests that the two of them head off on a little adventure. Piccolo starts off bouncing with excitement but their journey turns out to be much longer than expected and soon her little legs are struggling. Despite her tiredness she doesn’t want to give up and when they arrive at their destination she discovers that her Dad has brought her to a very special place.

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