Walker Books are publishing so many wonderful titles and I am so excited to show off a few that I have been lucky enough to read for my blog. Thank you to Walker for the gifted copies! I will be sharing these across my schools!
This is a heart in your throat kind of book. I was immediately drawn in to the story and worried for the well being of the girl.
The book begins with such cruelty. Sadly a true picture for children in the world today.
The black and white illustrations are atmospheric for the feelings of Helene and the world she lives in. The colour comes alive in the book when she talks about Jane Eyre, her favourite book.
A mandatory class trip and the outcast cabin continues the sadness in Helene. Another girl, Geraldine, gets banished to the outcast cabin and Helene and the other girls are brought together by her spirit and happiness.
Helene and Geraldine become friends and “the whole world is suddenly full to the brim with Geraldine’s words”.
Colour begins to seep into Helene’s world and hope starts to blossom.
This is a book for older readers as it clearly deals with some sensitive issues. There are undertones of an eating disorder, depression and bullying. Stunning illustrations and the graphic novel style will appeal to so many.
This book was an unexpected surprise. There is so much beyond the doors of the cover….it is hiding a true spectacle of imagination. Open up, peer inside and let your imagination run wild. Discover the lost world of Atlantis, visit Lilliput and see where the Knights of the Round table were seated.
There is no option with this book but to put everything down and spend hours inside each world. They are laid out immaculately and the book is written as a diary of Professor Dawn D Gable. She is given the book in the illustration above as a gift but is angered by it, throws it into the fire and watches amazed as it doesn’t catch fire.
What follows next is wonderful. Detailed drawings and illustrations, excerpts from the diary and images of famous lost worlds.
Pick this one up, I can promise you hours of pure imagination!
Ah, the endless bedtime question session. This is the time when all children suddenly need to know answers to the worlds greatest questions. “Why is the sky blue?” And they also want more than a typical tired parent response of “Just Because”.
Dad gets drawn into a fantastic bedtime Q and A with his daughter and instead of saying “Just because”, he dreams up wonderful new ways to imagine the world. It is such a beautiful story and it has had a big effect on me. It made me think of those questions and want to let their imaginations soar with new answers and more time to explore them. I will no longer say, “Just Because”!
Beautifully illustrated, this will become an ultimate bedtime experience for families!
Truth be told, Pick a Pine Tree is one of my all time favourite Christmas books. Pick a Pumpkin is perfectly told and leads us through the fun of choosing the right pumpkin, making it shine, digging the guts out….which is the best bit and then making a fabulous face!
Told in lyrical rhyme and accompanied by autumnal art, this is the perfect read aloud for Autumn and the weeks leading up to Halloween! One to share and read as you hunker down on one of the spookiest evenings in Fall….Halloween!
I am enjoying the way one book leads to the next, from autumn colours to Halloween and now to a “beast”!
Beast finds a feast and declares it dinner! Dinner, a young child, argues that they are not dinner and then sets a plan to prove this. Beast wants to share and invites his friends round to share….we get to see the replies to the invitation. Reminiscent of The Jolly Postman, we get to open each letter and they form part of the story.
Will Beast still eat and share dinner with his guests? Will Dinner convince beast to serve different food at his party? This brightly illustrated book is funny, interactive and brilliant to read with younger children. I love the style of text used throughout the book and the realistic monster RSVP’s!
A fun book and one I adore already!
Walker continue to publish a huge variety of books that will delight all ages! I am keeping my eyes peeled for more to share.
My Shelves Are Full 