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, …
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 …
Today, some very lucky children in Ipswich will be taking part in an event with Jon Agee as part of the The Children’s Book Show. Jon Agee is the author and illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including ALA Notable Books Little Santa, Terrific, Milo’s Hat Trick, Nothing, The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau, and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor winner It’s Only …
Panda and Penguin live together and share everything, including the beloved tatty old sofa they love to sit on. They decide to go and buy a new one, but none feels quite right, and for good reasons. Fifi Kuo’s The Perfect Sofa (Boxer Books) is absolutely delightful; its succinct text is teamed with bold colourful double-spreads and …
Today is National Unicorn Day and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to introduce Beatrice Blue’s gorgeous début picturebook Once Upon a Unicorn Horn (Frances Lincoln), which is published as part of the First Editions list, which showcases new talents. June lives with her parents in a magical forest and loves to …
A newcomer last year with the gorgeous Red and the City, Marie Voigt is back with a new and very different picturebook, The Light in the Night (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books), which is Library Mice picturebook of the week: Betty loves night-time because with the dark comes the time for stories! But Cosmo, the bear in her favourite book, …
Hansel and Gretel (Two Hoots), the third fractured fairy tale retelling from Bethan Woollvin, takes readers to the woods once more where they come across Willow, a kind and gentle witch who lives alone in her Gingerbread House. Willow is the heroine of this story, rather than the eponymous siblings, a popular motif of twisted fairy …
Daisy Hirst’s latest book I Do Not Like Books Anymore! (Walker Books) is the second title featuring sibling monsters Natalie and Alphonse and in this new adventure readers find out just how much they love stories. Whether they are being read to or recreating them or even making them up, stories bring them joy. Natalie cannot …
When I Grow Up (Scholastic) is the product of a rather exciting collaboration by international bestselling illustrator Steve Antony and superstar writer comedian and performer Tim Michin. The story is inspired by the lyrics from the famous Matilda song, which was of course composed by Minchin (in case you need reminding of the song, you can listen to it …
Full of the landscapes one expects and looks forward to in Russian fairy tales, Hortense and the Shadow (Puffin) by Natalia and Lauren O’Hara is both elegant and ominous, poetic and dark, and enchanting. It tells the story of Hortense, a little girl who lives in the heart of the forest, and who hates her …
