I have always loved feminist fractured fairy tales, of which there are plenty published. But Gender Swapped Fairy Tales by Karrie Fransman and Jonathan Plackett (Faber) is an anthology like no other. Rather than fracture and rewrite the traditional tales, what the creators have done is ‘simply’ switch the genders in each story. Nothing less, …
The B on Your Thumb: a guest post by Colette Hiller
As soon as The B on Your Thumb (Frances Lincoln) appeared in the mail, it grabbed my attention. The book consists 60 poems written by Colette Hillier which all play on language and spelling. As a non-native speaker of English, I was instantly drawn to it because it highlights with humour, but a gentle touch, …
BLOG TOUR: Writing “Pirate Nell’s Tale to Tell” by Helen Docherty
Helen Docherty (text) & Thomas Docherty (artwork)(Source Books) Nell is finally a pirate! And she has her trusty Pirate’s Almanac to help her sail the seas, even if Captain Gnash doesn’t like books on his ship. But when the journey gets rough and the captain is in trouble, it’s Nell and all her pirate knowledge …
Oi Aardvark!
Kes Gray (text) & Jim Field (artwork)(Hodder Children’s Books) Frog has written a book! A comprehensive guide for all animals who are still not quite sure where to rest their behinds! It is called “The All-New Alphabetty Botty Book” and despite Cat’s skepticism, Frog manages to find a new animal for every letter. From nits …
Monsieur Roscoe On Holiday
Jim Field(Hodder Children’s Books) Monsieur Roscoe On Holiday, Jim Field’s latest picturebook and the first he has penned himself, is a bilingual word book which introduces French words to its young audience with each French words appears alongside its English translation. Unlike many word books however, this book follows a narrative, as Monsieur Roscoe and …
When Stars Are Scattered – the power of graphic novels in building empathy
Victoria Jamieson (story & art), Omar Mohamed (story), Iman Geddy (colour)(Faber Children’s Books) It is my pleasure to kick off the blog tour that celebrates the release of When Stars Are Scattered, a graphic memoir by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, telling Omar and his brother Hassan’s life as Somali refugees in a huge Kenyan …
The Illustrators: Dick Bruna
Today, Miffy celebrates her 65th birthday. Dick Bruna, his wife and their young son had been at seaside during a holiday when they witnessed a little rabbit (konijntje in Dutch) playing in the sand dunes. Later on, the little rabbit made its way into the bedtime story Bruna told his son. That day was 21st …
There’s a LION in the Library
Dave Skinner (text) & Aurélie Guillerey (artwork)(Orchard Books) With her darling dimples, charming freckles and an adorable button nose, Lucy Lupin is as sweet as pie … or is she? Little Lucy might look like butter wouldn’t melt, but she likes a good prank, particularly when visiting the library. But lying and being naughty always …
10 Day Picture Book Challenge
I have been taking part in the 10 Day Picture Book Challenge over on Twitter (you can follow other entries with #10daypicturebookchallenge ).Here is the compilation of my choices, with the 3 words I chose to describe them. If you are interested in reading more about them, I wrote about some of the following on …