In the not-so-distant future, the world has finally recognised the threat posed by climate change. When Rory, an adventurous and nature-loving, girl isolated from her schoolmates by family circumstance is granted the opportunity to explore a re-wilded far north, she's thrilled.
Navigating the tricky issue of parental separation/ divorce, this picture book is an invaluable resource for a child experiencing familial disruption. The text is simple yet poetic - ‘I am a snowflake in a snowstorm, spinning and twisting’ - anchoring the changes in the child’s life to the natural changes of the seasons, and with the very positive central message that although change is worrying, sometimes it is unavoidable, and happy times can still be found.
This illustrated story ticks a lot of familiar boxes for fiction for young readers. Futuristic dystopia, check. The discovery of underground tunnels and rooms, check. Villain who is up to no good, check. Circle of friends who uncover the truth, check. But there is one anomaly. As the title suggests the central protagonist is a stick drawing in a world of regular people. Stick Boy goes to school in Little Town, and with his Mystery Mates, they solve mysteries together. This is the second instalment of his adventures, by writer and illustrator Paul Coomey.
The fourth instalment in Agent Zaiba’s illustrious case history, The Smuggler’s Secret sees the observant and deductive Zaiba, fashion enthusiast best friend Poppy, cousin and ex-rival Mariam, and little brother Ali, all give the adults a hand with another mystery that arises on a History Club excursion to the seaside. Plotty and dynamically paced, their adventure picks up threads from the previous volumes, while remaining an engaging story in its own right, littered with credible suspects, motivations, and red herrings crucial to any good mystery.
Deep in the dewy forest, a lonely panda is in want of a friend. No matter how hard he seeks inspiration from the other creatures of the jungle – from dancing like a flamingo to bouncing like a sifaka, from stomping like a blue-footed booby to strutting around like a peacock – nothing seems to work in catching the other panda’s eye. It is only after he gives up trying and begins to simply be himself that something wonderful happens.
This book takes a light-hearted look at what happens when a delusional, egotistical animal decides that life in the forest needs to be lived on his terms.
Badger – a very black and white badger – decides one day that the best way to run the forest properly is to exclude anyone who doesn’t behave in a ‘badgery’ way. He silences Deer’s objections to having hooves that can’t dig, banishes those who physically can’t fit into in burrows – like poor Moose whose bum is too big. He ejects those who don’t bark like a badger and then sets his sights on the birds and bugs who are too colourful.
In this follow up to Wilfred and Olbert’s Totally Wild Chase, Wilfred and Olbert buy a time machine, but accidently send themselves back to the Big Bang. They must then leap-frog back through time to get home, resulting in a whirlwind tour of the prehistoric eras and the many creatures that once roamed the Earth, including dinosaurs, mammoths and sabre-toothed cats.
Mouse, Rabbit, and Shelly the tortoise are heading home when Mouse suggests they take a shortcut through the creepy, crooked creek to get home before dark. Rabbit nervously asks ‘Isn’t that where the crocodiles live?’ but Mouse is confident that he has never seen a crocodile here.
The three friends set off on their journey through this illustrated book, through the creek, over a lumpy bumpy bridge, scritchy scratchy thorns and swingy springy vines, it becomes obvious to readers that something is not right here. Crocodiles are hiding in plain sight!
On Sleepy Hill, it’s time to say goodnight. All the baby animals are returning to their homes to settle down for the night. Fox cubs, ducklings, geese and caribou are all being rounded up by their parents to settle in burrows, nests and hollows. Tumbling, bobbing and swooping, the little ones are determined to get their last bit of play in before darkness falls and stars begin to twinkle.
Everyone in Mouseopolis has gathered for the grand unveiling of The Big Cheese, the most magnificent morsel of cheese the city has ever seen. With great excitement, the citizens await for the moment when the curtain is pulled back to reveal…The Big Cheese has been stolen! The news of The Big Cheese theft spreads rapidly through Mouseopolis and a list of dastardly suspects is revealed. But who can they call on to track down these cheese-stealing crooks when there is nothing left but a few stinky crumbs? This is a job for…Supermouse!
