Frances Lincoln

Rowan Ellis has written a frank, inclusive and kind guide to discovering your sexuality and dealing with the good and bad stuff that comes with it. She takes on the role of the cool older sister who tells you everything you want to know, while also giving you the tools to keep yourself safe. The book provides a glossary of terms associated with the LGBTQ+ community, looks at issues such as mental health, homophobia, and consent and also celebrates people who have made a difference to the lives of queer people.

Like a poem, this book almost sings. The pink, sparkling thread that weaves its way enchantingly throughout the book draws us into a child’s world of creativity and imagination. The illustrations fully capture the magic that is at work here.

This book, from the popular Little People, BIG DREAMS series, invites young readers to explore the life of British physicist and allround genius Stephen Hawking. The story opens when he is a little boy, looking up at the stars in Oxford. It takes readers through his unspectacular school years and on to university where he shines.

Grimloch Lane is dull and drab, its inhabitants completely occupied by their daily routine. That is, until one day, when a local tree is transformed into the shape of a marvellous owl, as if by magic… William, a young orphan, cannot help but spend the whole day staring at the leafy sculpture in wonder. In the days that follow, more and more fantastic animal topiaries appear overnight, and the excitement soon spreads throughout the community. As for William, a chance encounter with the mysterious night gardener opens up a whole new world of possibility…

On a sun twinkling day, on a park bench surrounded by swaying, whispering cherry blossom trees, Cat sings a song as she sits to eat her sushi picnic. She is joined by Dog, who sits beside her to read a book. They sit in polite, respectful silence until a single petal, blown by the breeze, unexpectedly brings them together.

Once, a little boy named Cassius Clay had his bicycle stolen. He was so angry. He wanted to confront the thief, but a police officer told him that before he did, he needed to learn how to fight. Soon, Cassius had taken up boxing. While he wasn’t the strongest boxer, he was the fastest and he dazzled his opponents with his poetic ‘trash-talk.’ He kept training, fighting and winning. He decided he was going to be the greatest boxer of all time.

This book introduces children to the concept that their minds are like the sky – sometimes clear and blue, sometimes dark and stormy. Their thoughts can be like white, fluffy clouds (happy), or dark rainclouds (sad and negative). It is a simple but powerful message. Everyone has unhappy thoughts but remember that they pass, just as dark clouds pass. The raincloud thought ‘is just one thought among hundreds and thousands of your thoughts’, it says. ‘And you can just let the raincloud thought float gently away.’

Condensing the entirety of human history into such a slim volume to make it accessible to children is an amazing feat, but one which the writers and illustrator have managed with aplomb. The scope of the book is necessarily broad, as it covers from the dawn of time to the present day, and is the third book in a series following on from The Story of Life and The Story of Space. All of the major events in history are covered, from our origins, our differences and wars, to our inventions and technological advances, with a speculative look at how we can best manage our resources in the future.

For any reader ebullient about words this book is a ripsnorter. Packed with four hundred unusual words from ‘absquatulate’ to ‘zygodactyl’ and everything in between, it’s sure to appeal to the little abecedarian in your life.

The Little People, Big Dreams series turns its attentions to one of the most iconic and chameleonic of rock icons – David Bowie. Ana Albero’s charming illustrations marry perfectly with Isabel Sánchez’s beautifully simple words.