Even Superheroes Have Bad Days

Even Superheroes Have Bad Days

By Shelly Becker
Illustrated by Eda Kaban

Published by Stirling Children's Books

When Superheroes don't get their way, when they've had a bad day, they could super-rampage, or have a tantrum, they could, but they don't, because real superheroes just wouldn't - a fun and enjoyable read with an important message.

Everyone has bad days, even superheroes. When superheroes are sad, mad or having a bad day, they could use their super powers to kick, punch, shriek, throw trucks and crush buildings. But upset superheroes make a choice, they burn angry steam with speed-of-light hiking, rescue people in need, hatch super-plans to help banish world sadness, and battle the urge to do serious harm. It's okay if they frown, sigh, slump down and cry but they then get up and get on with their day and saving the world in their own unique way!

This delightful and fun rhyming book is a great way to start conversations about emotions and would help to talk about depression and sadness. By featuring the popular subject of superheroes, it offers humour and fun on an important subject. The illustrations also work well especially showing amusing scenes where the superheroes are causing trouble. I especially like the end papers which features the superheroes and their names. 

I think it's a great idea in using superheroes to get across an important message - this would be a great book for little ones starting school or where there may be a lot of changes happening in their life - or for any superhero fan, big or small! 

Leaping Lemmings!

Leaping Lemmings!

By John Briggs
Illustrated by Nicola Slater

Published by Stirling Children's Books

Leaping Lemmings! a fun filled Lemmings book that will remind children (and adults), that it's okay to be different.

Do you think lemmings look alike, sound alike and act alike?  Well, usually that's true but not for one, Larry! Larry likes to do things a little differently; when all the lemmings were deep in their tunnels, Larry went sledding. Larry likes to order pizza, bang on his bongos. He's a lemming that likes to be different but he knows he doesn't fit in so tries to live with other animals. This doesn't go to plan so rushes back to the other lemmings and just in time! He saves them from jumping of a cliff. 

"If all you friends jumped off a cliff, would you?"

After the near death experience, Larry is pleased to see all his friends thinking for themselves - This is a great book that's funny and sweet but one that also reminds children that its okay to be different and to think for yourself!

The illustrations are just as fun, with bold, colourful illustrations and adorable lemmings. They are very cute, it would be hard not to follow them around.

This is a charming book that you and your children will very much enjoy reading together and  also for encouraging discussions about thinking for yourself. 

Safe & Sound

Safe & Sound

By Jean Roussen

Illustrated by Loris Lora

Published by Flying Eye Books

This sweet bedtime story introduces young children to animals and their homes. To be released early February, it's a lovely new addition to the Flying Eye Books collection.

This picture book is definitely one for the little ones; it offers simple statements covering a range of animals and how their young stay safe and need help until they've grown. It features a good mix of animals from big to small; from chipmunks, to rhinos, little bluebird chicks, wolf pups, kangaroos and snappy crocodiles. 

It's a lovely way to introduce how animals care for their young in their own unique and special way. With graphically striking illustrations and a beautiful colour palette - they work wonderfully together.

Safe & Sound has a lovely and sweet ending, with parents putting their child to bed making this a great last bedtime book to read. Available soon, a great gift for any little animal lover - for more information, please click here.

The Lumberjack's Beard

The Lumberjack's Beard

By Duncan Beedie

Published by Templar Publishing

There's some great picture books coming out this year that have important messages, and The Lumberjack's Beard is no exception. A heartwarming story with a very green message.

Meet big Jim Hickory, a lumberjack that does what normal lumberjacks do; cut down trees. Every day is the same, get up, exercise, eat a hearty breakfast of pancakes, grab his trusty axe, head out to the forest and CHOP-CHOPPETY-CHOP, he felled trees after trees. But one evening, he has a knock at his door, it's a very angry bird who now has no where to live. Jim invites the angry bird to move into his beard. After another day of work, he receives another upset visitor, a fed up looking porcupine which Jim also invites to move into his beard. 

That isn't the end of upset visitors, after a day off floating tree trunks down the river, he ruins a beaver's home and has to offer the beaver a home in his beard. Jim soon can't sleep, with all the chirping, and can't eat his pancakes as the beaver's tail knocks it to the floor. Jim has had enough and knows what he must do. He shaves of his beard and makes a cosy den for the animals to move into but after a lot more thinking he has another brilliant idea and grabs his trusty shovel to dig hole after hole and plant tree after tree. Jim's beard and  trees take quite a long time to grow but it's well worth the wait.

A lovely little picture book that will encourage children to think about the consequences of cutting down trees and what can happen to animals and their homes. Children will especially love the inventive new home for the animals. Fun illustrations with a nice colour palette and a good variety of page layouts. 

Timeline Activity Book

Timeline Activity Book

By Peter Goes

Published by Gecko Press

Companion to the international bestseller Timeline, with drawings, puzzles and creative projects alongside snippets of history from around the world. This is the perfect way of making sure those facts have made an impact! 

Find hours of entertainment and spark your creativity with this fascinating journey through the history of our world. Continue to learn about culture, history and design by making your own mark. 

Timeline will spark your creativity. Drawings, puzzles and activities sit alongside facts and images from Peter Goes's remarkable visual history of the world. In this activity book you will draw the meteorite that made the dinosaurs go extinct, spot the differences in busy Byzantium, make a monogram of your own name, draw the Tower of Babel as high as you can, escape from a medieval maze making sure the rats don't catch you, use code to read a secret message by a Cold War spy, decorate the Berlin Wall with your own graffiti, and much more!Printed on thick paper and with detachable pages, the book can be easily shared or used for decoration by young and old.

The illustrations are again as detailed and sublime as before and there's plenty here to keep any Peter Goes fan busy. There's lots of longevity in this activity book, with some of the pages being for younger readers and others for slighter older children. It's definitely one to get if you want your child to grow into it and eventually learn to master every page. The pages can also be easily removed if you want to give out individual pages or even to photocopy if you want to give out the same puzzle to several children. The perfect gift for any Timeline fan or a challenging activity book for older children to enjoy on those wet days in.

The Timeline Activity Book is available to buy now from all good booksellers and from the Gecko website here.

One Minute

One Minute

By Somin Ahn 

Published by Chronicle Books

This is the debut book from picture book creator and illustrator, Somin Ahn. This book will show you how important 60 seconds really is! 

In one minute, you can blink your eyes twenty times, hug your dog, plant seeds, say good-bye, watch the rain, or even save a life. So much can occur in this sliver of time—one minute can feel like a singular experience. This poignant picture book is at once an introduction to time for young readers, an ode to living each moment with purpose, and a thoughtful exploration of how children experience one minute (may it seem short or long) playfully, profoundly, and with a boundless sense of possibility.

This picture book could be read in a minute, or you could choose to take your time and stay on each page for a minute. As much as it is simple, it is also very deep and meaningful. We never give much thought to short amounts of time, and here this picture book looks at how much a minute can matter. A minute can be short when we are having fun and not paying much attention to the clock and at other times it can be very long - especially if its during a trip to the dentist! A thought provoking book from a new talent, I will look forward to seeing more books from Somin in the future. 

One Minute is a gorgeous book, filled with whimsical illustrations along with a touching outlook on how if just one minute can affect all of our lives. One Minute is available to buy now at all good booksellers and online from Chronicle Books.

A Day with Dogs

A Day with Dogs

By Dorothée de Monfreid

Published by Gecko Press

Welcome to dog heaven! If you ever wanted a book packed full of quirky and humourous dog illustrations then this is the book for you! Meet nine funny dogs as they live out their everyday lives in this Richard Scarry-esque new picture book from Dorothée de Monfreid.

What do dogs do all day? This rich and playful album features a cast of funny dog characters enacting everyday scenes. A picture dictionary for the very young, with everything children need to know about the world around them.

From the start, children will learn different dog breeds and with the help of the dogs, they will help identify parts of a home, what a bathroom is used for, different sports, clothing and loads more! It's packed full of useful things and lots of humour!

The dogs are full of character and help educate younger children in all sorts. Dorothée's illustrations are fabulous, with lots going on and well laid out. Her dolls house style for a lot of the spreads is very detailed and well labelled. It's a purely brilliant teaching tool that will make learning fun - especially for children that shy away from educational titles.

Perfect for dog lovers and young children who want to learn with the help from some waggy friends, A Day with Dogs is available to buy now from all good booksellers and from the Gecko Press website here.

Can You Say It Too? Brrr! Brrr!

Can You Say It Too? Brrr! Brrr!

By Sebastien Braun

Published by Nosy Crow

Part of the 'Can You Say It Too?' series, Brrr! Brrr! is another great edition to this series of board books for young children and great for this chilly time of year.

Filled with artic animals and lift and see flaps, this is a great board book for little people to get their hands on. I adore Sebastien's illustrations in this series of books, he fills the spreads with beautiful illustrations of all kinds of animals that children may not be familiar with. In Brrr! Brrr! we are introduced to seals. penguins, killer whales, artic foxes, walruses and wolves. My two year old throughly enjoyed lifting the flaps to discover each hiding animal and read it several times afterwards. A great addition to anyones 'Can You Say It Too?' collection and for adding it to your child's educational bookshelf. 

Can You Say It Too? Brrr! Brrr! is available to buy now from all good booksellers and from the Nosy Crow website here.