For sharing
Funny Face by Nicola Smee
The young boy is playing with his ball, when along comes a bear who steals it. The big meanie! He takes the only sensible action when faced with a big scary bear: he sticks his tongue out and pulls a funny face! Full review...
Frank and Teddy Make Friends by Louise Yates
Professor Frank Mouse loves to build things in his workshop, but he's envious of the wild creatures that make things in the company of others. He does what any sensible engineer does: he makes a friend for himself. Teddy and he have a lovely time building things together, until Teddy's attempt to do something nice for Frank goes wrong, and the two friends fall out. Thankfully, a reforming of the friendship isn't too far away, and the two chums are back stronger than ever. Full review...
Ribbit Rabbit by Candace Ryan and Mike Lowery
Frog and bunny are best friends, but from time to time they fall out. However, after a bit of a sulk and a bit of a think, they soon remember why they were best friends again. Full review...
Kipper by Mick Inkpen
Kipper's blanket stinks, his ball is chewed and his bone is soggy. He's in the mood for some tidying up, so he tosses them and gets everything spick and span. Sans blanket, his basket is suddenly very uncomfortable, so he looks around to see how animals get comfy. You know Kipper, right? You've read the books and seen the TV series narrated by Martin Clunes. You'd like a dog, like a dog, like a dog like Kipper. Now we're treated to a 21 year anniversary edition of the original book, complete with a 10 episode DVD. Full review...
Oliver and the Noisy Baby by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland
We've met Oliver Donnington Rimington-Sneep before - he has had trouble sleeping and travelled far and wide. This time, he's suffering with a noisy baby. He does what every sensible older brother does: he goes and plays with his toys, retreating into his imagination and flying around the world, taking in all the sights and sounds. Full review...
Nutmeg Says Yum! by Caroline Jayne Church
That Nutmeg is one naughty mouse. First she won't go to bed, and now she's turning her nose up at all the delicious fruit that's on offer. She doesn't want apples as they're too crunchy. Pears are a funny colour. Bananas? Too squidgy. She wants strawberries. Thankfully, Nutmeg's mummy is a wise and sneaky mouse, so she whips up a delicious strawberry surprise, with an interesting mix of ingredients. Full review...
The Tale of Georgie Grub by Jeanne Willis and Margaret Chamberlain
Georgie Grub flat out refuses to have a bath. His mother is fed up of trying to get him clean, so she throws in the towel and leaves him to his filth. As the week goes on, he gets dirtier and dirtier. People hold their noses when he walks by, his teacher throws him out of school, and Georgie ends up scrabbling around in bins. Happy ending? Oh no no no. Georgie Grub gets his comeuppance, and quite right too, the mucky pup! Full review...
The Kiss That Missed by David Melling
The king is in an awful rush, and doesn't even have time to read the prince a bedtime story. He blows him a kiss, but it misses! So, he dispatches his knight to track it down, and an elaborate and bizarre adventure ensues. Full review...
Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
There's something very satisfying about a good picture book. With a pre-schooler at home with me all day we get through a lot of books, so I've seen hundreds, from dazzlingly brilliant through to terribly dull. There are times when my daughter at I look at each other at the end of a book and shrug in disbelief that a publisher thought it worth printing, and there are times when we read something over and over (and over!) because it's so good. This particular book is one of the brilliant ones I'm happy to say, and let me tell you why... Full review...
Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
I'm sure most of us have, at one time or another, found ourselves being forced to write a huge pile of thank you letters to distant relatives, perhaps even for gifts that we weren't all that excited to receive in the first place! This is the predicament that Henry finds himself in, and rather than knuckle down to get them over and done with he, of course, procrastinates as much as possible before coming up with an ingenious, money-making scheme! Full review...
Tales from Thimble Hall: Mrs Stopper's Bottle by Malcolm Fawbert
One night Evie and Jacob, who lived at Thimble Hall, asked their mother for a story about a bottle and strangely enough, she knew a rather good one which was about a small shop not far from where they lived. Full review...
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, Naomi Lewis and Christian Birmingham
Kay and Gerda are dear, dear friends. However, Kay gets splinters from the Devil's shattered magic mirror in his eye and heart, changing his personality for the worse. Shortly after, he is whisked away by the Snow Queen. Everyone assumes Kay must have fallen in the river and drowned, but Gerda is sure her friend is still alive, and embarks on a magical quest to bring him home again. Full review...
The Wombles at Work by Elizabeth Beresford
Bloomsbury have re-issued another tranche of the original Womble books, following the release of the first titles in late 2010. This brings the total to six available titles for you to have a Wombling good time with. And quite frankly, what's not to love here? Any story featuring Elisabeth Beresford's environmentally-minded, charming characters is a delight, for young and old alike. Full review...
Scaredy Squirrel at Night by Melanie Watt
Scaredy Squirrel is scared to go to sleep at night. He has all sorts of tricks to keep himself awake so that he doesn't have to face his night-time fears. But his sleeplessness is having a toll on his health. Can he find a solution to his problem? Full review...
More! by Peter Schossow
What happens when the wind blows off your hat, and you chase it along the beach? This sweet, short little book has only one word (and that comes on the very last page), but it still manages to tell an imaginative story! Full review...
Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott
The title of this picture book is really intriguing. I admit I had not previously thought much about the needs of the customers in a story before. It's written in the first person, so we never learn the name of the boy who is the main character. This seems unusual for children's picture books, and the only other one I can think of offhand is The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss. Full review...
A Year in Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
It makes me feel old to see a 30 years anniversary edition of the Brambly Hedge stories...I remember loving them as a little girl, and 30 years on reading them with my daughter I find that they've lost none of their charm. This beautiful collection takes us through a year in the lives of the mice of Brambly Hedge. There are four books, one for each season, and they are all delightful. Full review...
George and Ghost by Catriona Hoy and Cassia Thomas
George and his friend are inseparable, but George isn't sure he believes in Ghost any more. He asks Ghost to prove he is real by weighing himself, having his photo taken and showing he takes up space. But the scales don't move, Ghost can't be seen in the picture and the water in the bucket doesn't spill when Ghost stands in it. Ghost can't be real. Or can he? Full review...
Willow of the Woods: Litter to Glitter by Helen Bailey and Kirsten Richards
Willow is a wood sprite who lives with her friends in Windybottom. Unfortunately one day, they notice a really terrible smell that is so bad that no one can concentrate in their lessons and the school concert has to be cancelled. The rank smells of rotten eggs, smelly cabbage and pongy feet have turned the usually idyllic Windybottom into 'Stinkybottom'. My daughter found this description very funny! Full review...
The Scallywags Blow Their Top by David Melling
The Scallywags, for those who do not know, are a bunch of wolves who in their previous escapade had to learn a few manners in order to get along with the other animals. This time they're taking part in a play, a fairy tale story along with the other animals, and the wolves are playing the part of the dragon. Of course, things are destined to go badly and inside the dragon costume their tempers begin to fray until finally, as the costume rips, the wolves are sent home in disgrace. On the way home they all start blaming each other until they see, quite by surprise, that waiting by their house is a little sheep... Full review...
Dodo Doo Doo by Kaye Umansky and Korky Paul
We're big fans of the Winnie the Witch stories in this house, so we were very interested to see this new book with the same illustrator, Korky Paul. He's teamed up here with Kaye Umansky, who I already like from reading her stories for slightly older children, so we sat, eager with anticipation, to see what sort of story they'd come up with... Full review...
Running Rhino by Mwenye Hadithi and Adrienne Kennaway
Rhino runs everywhere. And as he runs, he leaves a wake of devastation in his path. The other animals are fed up of this rampant running and so Lion confronts him, telling him he must stop. Rhino refuses and challenges anyone to try and stop him. Out of all the animals it is little Tickbird who takes up his challenge, with interesting results! Full review...
Midnight Mischief by Victoria L Thompson and Ben The Illustrator
James is fast asleep, when his bear wakes him up and points him in the direction of an astronaut coming alive from one of his posters. James is suddenly whisked away on a trip into deep space, because aliens have stolen Pluto and are using it as a football. Will James be able to save the day or will he fall foul of those pesky aliens? Full review...
The Railway Rabbits: Berry Goes to Winterland by Georgie Adams
In this story, the young rabbits are very excited when they see snow for the first time. They have great fun sliding, building snow rabbits and falling over. When it is time to go home though, they realise that Berry has disappeared and before long, a search party is set up. Full review...
The Bear with Sticky Paws and the New Baby by Clara Vulliamy
When Pearl's new baby brother arrives, she resents the fact that he is the baby and that she is supposed to be the grown-up sister. She tries to persuade her mum that she is still a baby too but with no success. It is at this time that the Bear with Sticky Paws arrives and they decide to play at being babies. The bear excels at making a mess while eating without a spoon, getting Pearl to dress him and scribbling all over her pictures. It is through all of these activities that Pearl comes to realise that she can do so much more than any baby and perhaps she is quite happy being that little bit more grown up after all. By the time the bear leaves, she has completely revised her opinion of her little brother and presents him with a beautifully drawn picture that has no scribbles at all. Full review...
In The Beginning by Jan Pienkowski and David Walser
Using a modified text, based on the King James bible, this book collects some of the best-loved stories from the Old Testament and they are portrayed in full page, gloriously vibrant pictures. With everything from the Creation through to Noah, Joseph and David and Goliath this is an extensive collection of stories to share with children. My daughter and I love Pienkowski's funny illustrations throughout the Meg and Mog stories, so I was hopeful that this would be another lovely book to share with her. Full review...
Mr Aesop's Story Shop by Bob Hartman and Jago
Aesop's fables have been known for centuries all around the world, and here is a new edition where a selection of the fables have been given some new embellishments. Aesop features in the stories himself, as a teller of tales himself with a stall in the market where people, especially children, gather to listen and hear him. His stories are often set within the context of an understandable situation, making it easier for children to see parallels between the animals in the tales and the real life action. Full review...
The Christmas Eve Ghost by Shirley Hughes
Bronwen and Dylan live in the poor part of 1930s Liverpool. Their mam takes in washing to make ends meet, and often has to leave them alone whilst she's pushing the big old pram full of washing to the part of the city where the well-off people live. They're under strict instructions to have nothing to do with their neighbours, the O'Rileys. Then, on Christmas Eve, when they're alone, Bronwen and Dylan hear a plonk, plonk, plonk and are sure it's a ghost... Full review...
Jake and Dixie: Super Magic Lightning Boy by Scott McIntyre and Laura Raine
Meet Jake, Super Magic Lightning Boy, the fastest kid in town, and his sidekick Dixie Thunder Paws, the meanest cat around! Full review...
The Railway Rabbits: Wisher and the Runaway Piglet by Georgie Adams
Wisher and the Runaway Piglet is the first book in a charming series about the Railway Rabbits. The little family of rabbits are delightful creatures who enjoy life and exploring the big wide world. Lots of dangers lurk, but they always seem to come through unscathed. However, when they hear rumours of a fierce dog chasing a runaway pig, even they are a little daunted. All except Wisher that is, who feels the need to go and warn her friend Violet Vole. Along the way she is almost trapped by the buzzard and trampled over by the Red Dragon. Somehow though, she escapes major disaster and even manages to save the day. Maybe such narrow escapes and her parents' obvious relief on her return may lead her to be more cautious in the future but that remains to be seen. Somehow, I doubt it! Full review...