An absolute must-have for any child’s library – the tale of a father and his three children going on a bear hunt ticks all the boxes. Beautiful, whimsical illustrations by award winning Helen Oxbury. A clever funny and slightly scary interpretation by Micheal Rosen and a delightfully theatrical chorus: “we can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no we’ll have to go through it!”
“In an old house in Paris all covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed …” So begins one of the great classic children’s books written by author and artist Ludwig Bemelmans in 1939.
The ultimate toddler tantrum book. When Max has one of those wild up-to-no-good evenings his mom sends him to bed without any dinner. In his room Max’s anger grows into a forest and Max decides to sail off on a boat, ‘through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.”
Losing a tooth is one of the highlights in a child’s life and it can be both exciting and scary. In classic Charlie and Lola style, the author captures these mixed emotions as Lola has a wobbly tooth which is about to fall out – but not if Lola can help it.
By Jon Klassen (Walker)
A bear has lost his hat. He wants it back. He asks a few animals but they have not seen it. Even the rabbit who, funnily enough, is wearing a red hat, has not seen it. Wait a moment. What happens after the bear remembers where he last saw his hat is both laugh-out-loud hilarious and a little dark…
Everywhere Babies is the simple story of what babies do all over the world, from getting cuddled to playing, eating, crying and sleeping is told in rhyming text, creating a wonderful celebration of baby life.
This humorous diary of what wombat did with her day will have little kids laughing out loud. Monday: Morning: Slept. Afternoon: Slept. Evening: Ate grass. Scratched. Night: Ate grass. Slept. By Wednesday the gorgeously lazy little wombat is starting to interact with humans and their home: ‘fought a major battle with a flat, hairy creature’ which is in reality a door mat, ‘and won the battle’ and by Sunday she’s demanding rolled oats and observing: ‘Am constantly amazed how dumb humans can be.’
This series of books called Let’s Read are perfect for the child who has learnt to read and wants to extend themselves beyond the school readers. Miniature versions of much-loved classics, they offer a manageable size and feel less daunting than a chapter book. Don’t be fooled however into thinking they are ‘easy’…
It’s Junie B Jones’ first day in Grade 0 and she has to ride on a bus. She manages to get to school but when it’s home time she decides there’s no way she’s repeating that experience – so she hides in the school until everyone leaves.
Winnie the Witch is something of a celebrity in children’s literature. What makes Winnie a winner is her friendly, scatter-brained personality. She’s literally an accident waiting to happen – luckily a touch of magic usually sets her straight.
Patrick Ness is a very unusual writer. His “Knife of Never Letting Go”, the first book in the “Chaos Walking” trilogy was startlingly original. “A Monster Calls” has become a publishing sensation since it was published in 2011. It has won numerous awards, being the first book ever to win both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal. It hits with enormous power. It is about a young teenage boy trying to cope with his mother’s serious illness and then her death.
If you haven’t heard the rave reviews of this book – you’re in for a treat. An emotional story that goes far beyond a YA title, I was pulled into the story of cancer patient Hazel and her boyfriend Augustus from the first page. Hazel has cancer in her lungs. She has to walk around with a breath contraption and sleep attached to a machine that breathes for her. Augustus is the ‘healthier’ one – his cancer took his leg but he’s now in remission.
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