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 …
The story behind the Art: Régis Lejonc and “The Garden of Inside-Outside”
Today I am really delighted to welcome French illustrator Régis Lejonc to Library Mice to talk about The Garden of Inside- Outside (Book Island), which he illustrated, and which is released today. It is always with glee that I welcome any French language picturebook in translation, and The Garden of Inside-Outside, written by Chiara Mezzalama …
Will Eisner Week: Graphic Novels in the Curriculum
As well as being World Book Day week, the first week of March is also a time to celebrate Will Eisner Week. Will Eisner Week is a Worldwide Celebration of Comics, Graphic Novels, Sequential Art, Free Speech and Will Eisner’s Legacy. As part of this celebration, organisers encourage people to read a graphic novel. …
The Illustrators: Judith Kerr
Joanna Carey (Thames & Hudson) Part of The Illustrators series (whose consultant is Sir Quentin Blake), this is a wonderful celebration of one of Britain’s most beloved and cherished picturebook makers, Judith Kerr. In this tome, readers are given access to a extensive selection of Kerr’s art, including very early drawings saved by her mother as they …
Picture Book of the week monthly recap: October 2019
The Fate of Fausto Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins Children’s Books) There was once a man who believed he owned everything and set out to survey what was his ….” So begins Oliver Jeffers’ latest picturebook, a longer narrative, which despite being originally written in 2015, sadly resonates very true in today’s world: Fausto is greedy, throws …
BLOG TOUR: “Michelle Obama: The Fantastically Feminist (and Totally True) Story of the Inspirational Activist and Campaigner” by Anna Doherty
I loved The Brontës, which was the inaugural title for Anna Doherty’s series Fantastically Feminist series and was really pleased to find out that there was to be a new volume on Michelle Obama: The Fantastically Feminist (and Totally True) Story of the Inspirational Activist and Campaigner (Wren & Rook). You don’t really get more empowering and inspiring …