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, …
Émilie Vast‘Plantes vagabondes’ translated from French(Thames & Hudson) Subtitled “The amazing story of how plants travel”, this visually stunning book from French creator Émilie Vast illustrates seed dispersal and the role of each featured seed plays in its ecosystem. The book showcases 10 different journeys, from ‘flying’, ‘floating’, to ‘being eaten’ and finally ‘helped by …
The Brontës have always fascinated me, and my interest was revived in the last couple of years by two outstanding productions: Sally Cookson’s stage adaptation of Jane Eyre at Bristol Old Vic and the BBC drama about the Brontë family, To Walk Invisible. It was with great excitement therefore that I found out that Mick Manning and Brtta …
Malala’s Magic Pencil Malala Yousafzai (text) & illustrated by Kerascoët (artwork) (Puffin) Malala Yousafzai’s inspiring story is well documented and there have been many books about her already. This newest picturebook however is written by Malala herself and reaches to a younger audience with a message of resilience and hope, telling her story in a way …
November is the month to celebrate non-fiction, thanks to the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, and this year, the theme is The World Around Us. If you hop over to Twitter and check out the hashtag #NNFN , you will see much appreciation for it there really is. After years of being-overlooked, considered to be for research purposes …
Virginia Wolf Kyo Maclear (text) & Isabelle Arsenault (artwork) (Book Island) Based on Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell’s childhood, this is a superb story of a sister’s fight to help her sibling battle depression, through the power of love and art. The visual metaphors of changing moods are striking, such as the use of …
Wild Animals of the North Dieter Braun, translated by Jen Calleja (Flying Eye Books) It is great to see translated books finally accepted in Carnegie and Greenaway lists, which allows for this beautiful exploration of the fauna in the Northern Hemisphere by German illustrator Dieter Braun to be included this year. This is the first in the …
Two beautiful picturebooks which focus on rivers and their surroundings were published earlier this year. The River, written by Patricia Hegarty and illustrated by Hanako Clulow (Caterpillar Books) follows the epic journey of a little fish from the fresh waters created by melting snow at the top of mountains to the vast ocean. Aimed at preschool children, …
November is the month when the Federation of Children’s Book Groups celebrates non-fiction. To celebrate, I am focusing on Big Picture Press’ superb large format Welcome to the Museum series. The series comprises at the moment of three books, Animalium, Historium and Story of Life. In the new age of the highly illustrated non-fiction book, these …
The trend for beautiful highly illustrated non-fiction books continues and long may it last! In fact, rather than simply a trend, I very much hope this becomes a genre that continues to grow, and it looks like it is heading that way, with a handful of publishers leading the way and publishing some stunning titles. Big Picture Press …
