So Much is one of those books that just makes me happy. And while it is a relatively simple story, about a very young child, Trish Cooke’s gentle humour and Helen Oxenbury’s charming illustrations make it a book that still appeals to my children even now that they are the…
I bought Ish for my perfectionist-artist daughter, and it resonated so much with her, we had to read it three times straight that first day!
In my search for picture books with diverse characters, I struggled to find a superhero-themed picture book that featured a BAME boy in the staring role. Then I came across this witty gem from Angela McAllister and Alex T. Smith. It DOES feature a black boy as the main character,…
One of our favourite diverse picture books, What do You Do if Your House is a Zoo? is a charming and funny story by John Kelly and Steph Laberis. Exuberantly told by the BAME boy main character, this is a picture book full of crazy animal characters and increasingly harassed…
There’s something magical about growing things with children, and that’s the idea at the heart of this book. A whimsical tale of an inner city boy who transforms his urban landscape with plants, The Extraordinary Gardner is also a story about reaching out to the people around you, sharing ideas…
Tomorrow Most Likely is a pictue book by Dave Eggers and Lane Smith. While he may be better known for his adult fiction, writer Dave Eggers has also produced some wonderful children’s books, and this is one of our favourites. With the help of talented illustrators like Lane Smith, Eggers’…
We just adore ‘Have You Seen Elephant?’ Perfectly ridiculous and utterly beautiful, it’s the charmingly silly tale of a boy playing hide and seek with an elephant. ‘I must warn you though, ’ says Elephant at the beginning of the book, ‘I’m VERY good.’
My children and I are long-term fans of Lauren Child, and we have a great number of her books on our bookshelves. This particular title is full of her trademark style – collages of pattern and texture combined with bold, colourful drawings that are deceptively simple in style but convey…
Not so much a story, as the chronicling of a journey, Windows is an absolutely gorgeous picture book by Julia Denos and E.B. Goodale. The book follows a young boy as he takes his dog on an evening walk, past the brightly-lit windows of his neighbourhood. Each of these windows…
This fun book is absolutely jam-packed with diverse characters. Black, Asian, mixed-race, white, and disabled are all represented, along with an assortment of scaly, fire-breathing pets.