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The Hunting of the Snark
Key Stage 2Julia Eccleshare's Pick of the Month July 2016 A perfect celebration of Alice Day 2016, this beautiful, fully illustrated edition of Lewis Carroll’s great comic masterpiece which comes complete with gilt-edged pages and a ribbon for a marker, is the perfect gift book for all ages. The Hunting of the Snark, the riotous story of a motley crew’s journey to find the elusive Snark, has a cast of amazing characters including some from Carroll’s The Jabberwocky all of which Chris Riddell brings to life in glorious, brightly coloured caricatures. ~ Julia Eccleshare A message from Chris Riddell : This book is nonsense and, like all the best nonsense, it makes a special kind of sense. The hunting of a Snark is a very complicated business and I suspect that not even the Bellman himself really knows quite how to go about it. But that doesn’t stop him and his crew from pursuing the strange, elusive creature with all the tools at their disposal. Thimbles, forks, railway-shares and soap are all used, along with a lot of care, hope, threats and smiles, but not even the lace-making Beaver, ‘bounding along on the tip of its tail’, can get close. Then, after seven poetic convulsions, in a final ‘fit’ of energy, one of the crew spots a Snark and . . . But no, beamish readers, I won’t give away the ending at the beginning, that would be nonsense. Just let me say, beware of the Jubjub bird that sounds like ‘a pencil that squeaks on a slate’, the frume of the frumious Bandersnatch that can turn you black in the face and, most of all, hunt the Snark carefully, for it might be a Boojum, you see. Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for July 2016 Melric and the Crown by David McKee The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Chris Riddell Up, Up and Away by Tom McLaughlin Strange Star by Emma Carroll Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell Such Stuff: A Story-Maker's Inspiration by Michael Morpurgo
Vikings in the Supermarket
Key Stage 1Six bouncy poems each of which is richly illustrated by award-winning illustrator Nick Sharratt. Burt, Cora, Charlie, Selwin, Ida and Quentin are the six Vikings let loose on a delightful shopping spree in a supermarket in the title poem. More reflective is The Mermaid and the Shoe. What would a mermaid do with a shoe? There are lots of watery ideas from using it as a little sailing boat to wearing it as a hat! The Tidy Pirate gives pirates an entertaining brush up while Fangsalot imagines what would happen if a vampire bat bit a cat, a cat bit a cow, a cow bit a horse – and so on! ~ Julia Eccleshare
A Great Big Cuddle
Early YearsShortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2017 | Joint Winner of the CLiPPA 2016 (CLPE Children’s Poetry Award). | Children’s Laureates Chris Riddell and Michael Rosen combine here to create a beautiful collection of ebullient poems for the very young. Michael Rosen’s close and affectionate observation of small children and the way they think is brilliantly captured in poems such as You Can’t See Me and Let Me Do It. There are also plenty of opportunities for the very young to join in with poems such as Tippy-Tappy and The Button Bop which they are guaranteed to want to hear again and again! Chris Riddell’s illustrations created an equally warm-hearted view of the early years and capture the spirit of the poems perfectly. One of our Books of the Year 2015 - A Reader Review Panel Pick of the Year 2015 - chosen by Robyn Chorely, aged 5- Julia Eccleshare's Book of the Month, September 2015
Wriggle and Roar
Early YearsGiggle along to these wonderful rhymes whether you’re with your toddler in the nursery or the car. Full of action and noise it’s guaranteed to get kids engaged and stimulated to love poetry.
Over the Hills and Far Away A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes from Around the World
Selected by a distinguished independent panel of experts including our editorial expert, Julia Eccleshare, for Diverse Voices - 50 of the best Children's Books celebrating cultural diversity in the UK.A fine collection of poems and rhymes from all over the world, collected together by Elizabeth Hammill, renowned for her support and expertise in the world of children's literature. A host of fantastic illustrators including Axel Scheffler, Robert Ingpen and Shirley Hughes have donated their work to support Seven Stories, a national archive of British authors and illustrators.
My Life as a Goldfish And Other Poems
Key Stage 1Shortlisted for 2015 CLPE Poetry Award - the only award in the UK for published children's poetry - Chosen as one of the Top Ten Best New Books for Children 2015 by Andrea Reece. A list of top books for children wouldn’t be complete without a poetry book and I’ve chosen this new collection from Rachel Rooney, who won the 2012 CLPE Poetry Prize. Rooney is a very exciting new voice. There are poems here on a range of subjects and themes, including some about poetry itself. Mostly short, often rhyming, they play affectionate games with language. There are laugh out loud poems, and lots for sharing, but this is also collection to take into a quiet corner and relish. ~ Andrea Reece
I'm a Little Alien
Key Stage 1Meet a little green alien; then zoom off in your rocket to find space poems, rhymes about mermaids, funny faces and even a greedy robot. This is a fun and playful new collection by an award-winning poet who knows how to inspire and delight young children.
Poems to Perform A Classic Collection Chosen by the Children's Laureate
Key Stage 1In Poems to Perform, Julia Donaldson has chosen poems with performance by children in mind, and her notes and ideas on performing them are included in a special section at the end of the book. Julia's passionate belief that performance can help children enjoy reading and grow in confidence is informed by her own experience both as a child and now, working with groups of children to bring stories, poems and songs to life. The poems range from classics by Edward Lear, W H Auden and Eleanor Farjeon to contemporary work by Michael Rosen, John Agard and Clare Bevan. Illustrated throughout with exquisite, expressive lino-cuts by Clare Melinsky, this is a book for teachers, parents, children: anyone who loves great poetry.
An Imaginary Menagerie
Key Stage 1Age 5+. A Lovereading4kids 'Great Read' you may have missed 2011 selection. Reviewed and selected by our poetry expert, Liam Parkin: Roger McGough is one of the most well-liked and revered poets we have today and his children’s poetry is always imaginative and uniquely entertaining. An Imaginary Menagerie is a collection looking inside the strange world of unusual animals, from the Conger Eel to the War Thog. We are taken through tales of the ‘Badgers’ and ‘Goodgers’, the Porcupine that lost its quills, and the dangerous ‘Allivator’ – part Alligator, part elevator. A funny and exciting read, it is sure to have both adults and children laughing alike and is packed with McGough’s witty style that we’ve all warmed to over the years. Children will pick their favourite animal and be reciting it off by heart in no time – let’s just hope the Aunt-Eater never pops by! Shortlisted for the Independent Booksellers Book Award 2011 To view other collections of poetry for children, click here.
The Language of Cat
Key Stage 1Winner of the CLPE (The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) Poetry Award 2012. Age 5+. With wordplay, riddles and poems that are funny, fast-paced, lyrical and thought-provoking, this is an exciting debut from an outstanding new poet. Awarding the prize, the judges said:‘These poems have a subtle distinctive speaking voice, lighting up shifts of thought and feeling that young readers will recognize but that clichés would conceal. Rachel Rooney relishes and shares the craft of poetry; gradually you spot exacting games of form and language beneath a surface that seems simple enough for youngest readers to approach, and the poems will grow in the reader’s mindwith re-reading, year by year.’Accepting the prize, Rachel Rooney said: 'Winning the CLPE Award is incredibly exciting for me - and slightly overwhelming too. Three years ago, even the thought of having a solo collection with a publisher was just a vague dream for me. But I was lucky enough to be taken on by Janetta Otter-Barry at Frances Lincoln Children's Books and The Language of Cat was born. The CLPE is the only award for a children’s poetry collection - and this makes it an extra special one for me. I hope that my win might encourage other emerging poets to carry on with their writing. Miracles do happen sometimes!' To view other collections of poetry for children, click here.
