Ever year, the autumn publishing calendar is awash with Christmas-themed books for children and amongst the many titles available, there are always a few very special gems. One of them this year is Richard Jones’ ‘Tis the Season, published by Nosy Crow as part of their National Trust collection. Beautifully produced with luxurious foil cover …
I have been revisiting my dissertation (a very painful experience I may add as I hate reading my own work) to reacquaint myself with picturebook theory. Part of it included researching , via the excellent Children Reading Pictures: Interpreting Visual Texts by Evelyn Arizpe and Morag Styles, and applying art theory by art historian Kenneth …
The first thing one notices about Britta Teckentrup’s latest book The Swing (Prestel Publishing) is the object itself; it is much longer than traditional formats (160 pages) and a much smaller size too (a square, 22 centimetres, give or take). The size in itself promises a different kind of reading experience, and this continues as …
“Apropos of …” is a new section of Library Mice which is more opinion piece (sounds a bit self-important but I can’t find another term really) than review. I wanted to keep it slightly separate because it might be more broadly about reading and not necessarily just about picturebooks or indeed children’s literature, as is …
Thames & Hudson have long been at the forefront of publishing books on the arts and design, but they are also one of the few publishers who continue to publish books about illustration as an Art form. In the last few months they have released two volumes which will undoubtedly delight and fascinate picturebook enthusiasts. …
What better way to celebrate Bookshop Day than with a book that follows the long journey of a picturebook from printing press to reader’s hands via, of course, a lovely independent bookshop? This is exactly what Special Delivery: A Book’s Journey Around the World (Nosy Crow), written by Polly Faber and illustrated by Klas Fahlén, …
Karrie Fransman & Jonathan Plackett(Faber Children’s Books) A couple of years ago I wrote about Gender Swapped Fairy Tales as part of the blog tour celebrating its release and the fascinating algorithm used by the book’s creators to literally swap one gender for another , with fascinating insights into how such tales might affect our …
Caryl Hart (text) & Emily Hamilton (artwork)(Bloomsbury Children’s Books) “Whenever I am feeling sador life feels hard or wrong or bad,I focus for a little whileon little things that make me smile…“ When my children were little, reading Caryl Hart’s rhyming texts was a regular and joyful occurrence in our house. Doing rhyming properly in …
Júlia Sardà(Walker Studio) When Franca, the eldest of three sisters is suddenly overcome with feelings of restlessness and is and lured by the dark forest beyond the garden, there begins a strange adventure full of unusual encounters and fantastical occurrences. So is the premise of this unique and fascinating picturebook; a pinch of the absurdism …
Until this coming Friday (24th September), members of CILIP can nominate titles to put forward for the 2022 Carnegie and Greenaway medals. In order to be eligible for the 2022 Medals, books: – must have been published in the UK or Ireland between 01 September 2020 and 31 August 2021. – which have been first …
