Also An Octopus

Also An Octopus

By Maggie Tokuda-Hall & Benji Davies

Published by Walker Books

An imaginative debut from Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrations from Benji Davies, the illustrator of The Storm Whale and Grandad's Island, comes a metafictive story about ... how to build a story!

First, a story needs a character. So why not a ukulele-playing octopus? And since this is a story, the octopus has to want something – maybe it dreams of travelling to faraway galaxies in a purple spaceship. But every character needs an obstacle to overcome, and when the octopus sets out to build its own spaceship out of glue, umbrellas, glitter and waffles ... well, he doesn't have much luck. Could there be another character that could help? Debut author Maggie Tokuda-Hall sets up a funny, smart and warm-hearted story all about storytelling, then hands the baton to imaginative readers, who will be more than prepared to take it away.

Also An Octopus is a very original and imaginative picture book. The illustrations are what you'd expect from Benji Davies, full of character and quirkiness. I especially loved the octopus - not an animal you'd usually see pop up in a picture book and here he is portrayed as a lovable and fun character.

Maggie's text is full of humour and gives readers an insight into how stories come about and how they develop. I enjoyed the metaphor of building a story from anything that could enter your mind - the more bonkers the better! A great bedtime read and one to get slightly older readers thinking about how to tell stories of their own!

Also An Octopus is available to buy now from all good bookshops and online from the Walker books website.

A Busy Day For Birds

A Busy Day For Birds

By Lucy Cousins

Published by Walker Books

Peck, hop, flap and make some noise in this story full of colour, rhyme and feathered friends! Another feathered gem from writer and illustrator, Lucy Cousins.

Flap your wings, fly up high, open your beak and sing in this fun action rhyme story about fantastical birds by multi-award-winning author Lucy Cousins. "Can you imagine ... just for one day ... you're a busy bird? Yes, a bird! Hooray!" Can you stand on one leg like a flamingo or waddle like a penguin? How about say "cock-a-doodle-doo!", "tuwit-tuwoo" and even "tra-la-la"? What a busy day you will have! A bouncy read-aloud book to be enjoyed; beautifully illustrated with bold, bright colours and packed with all sorts of wild and wonderful birds!

This is the perfect bird introduction to a young child. The clever rhyming text throughout perfectly balances Lucy's bold and colourful illustrations. Young children will pick up on the different types of birds along with the sounds they make and their behaviours. I like how the book ends with a night owl, another excuse for reading at bedtime and turning your busy child into a bird expert!

A Busy Day For Birds is published on the 2nd February through Walker Books. To find out more about the book visit the Walker Books website here.

Animals

Animals

By Ingela P Arrhenius 

Published by Walker

Ingela P Arrhenius is a powerhouse in the world of design, with her wondrous bold illustrations donning everything from wallpaper to home accessories. Animals is her first title with Walker Books and it is filled with all kinds of animals, from alligators to zebras. A treat for any fan or introducing Ingela's work to a new one!

There are quite a few animal alphabet books on the market at the minute, but this stands out for two reasons. One this is not a typical ABC book, the animals aren't in alphabetical order, instead they are just random using animals that aren't always obvious. Secondly this book is HUGE! It's presented as a very large format hard back (454 x 332 mm) which would be a great coffee table book or on a shelf in a nursery. Each page is good enough to be a poster or print, it looks that good! 

This is a wonderful art book. From stunning illustrations to desirable typography, this is a book to cherish and keep. A lovely present for Christmas this year for art lovers to introducing young children to the wonderful world of animals. Animals is available to buy from all good bookshops and to buy online from Walker Books. To find out more about Ingela and her work check out my interview here. 

A Child of Books

A Child of Books

By Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston 

Published by Walker Books

This is the first illustrated collaboration Oliver Jeffers has created in picture book form. A Child of Books is a shared venture with typographical artist, Sam Winston. And through their love of words and art, the duo have created an artistically balanced picture book which shows what it means to discover the world of stories.  

In this inspiring, lyrical tale about the rewards of reading and sharing stories, a little girl sails her raft "across a sea of words" to arrive at the house of a small boy. There she invites him to come away with her on an adventure. Guided by his new friend, the boy unlocks his imagination and a lifetime of magic lies ahead of him… But who will be next?

This is a love letter to the world of fiction. It's about holding on to your imagination and not growing up. Sam's typography is just breathtaking, with my favourite page being the sea of words. Sam's typographical landscapes are beautifully shaped from excerpts of children’s classics including Treasure Island, Little Women and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Oliver's illustrations are not his usual, using a much simpler, elegant line and simple washes to illustrate his characters. 

This isn't your usual 'run of the mill' picture book. From the cover you are presented with a piece of art. The cover art's original canvas is an actual book - a concept that's not entirely new coming from the man who painted it, as An Incredible Book Eating Boy was entirely illustrated on book covers and pages of found books. Oliver Jeffers is not someone who rests on his laurels. He continues to evolve and collaborate with authors and illustrators the world over. This new venture sees him join forces with UK artist Sam Winston, who specialises in using typography to create art. A Child of Books marries the two quite effortlessly, creating a picture book that could easily have been just one illustrator as there isn't a visual divide in style. It's a clever joint effort, as there isn't an ego fighting for space on the page, with Oliver even taking a step back to an older style he adopted earlier in his career to illustrate the story here. 

All in all this is a beautiful picture book - it is a piece of art and another triumph for the super talented Oliver Jeffers. A perfect book for all ages and a great present to give to any book lover.

A Child of Books is available to buy now at all good bookshops and from the Walker Books website.

Interview with Jon Klassen

Jon Klassen is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books and an animator. He won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing the 2012 picture book This is Not My Hat, which he also wrote. He is the first person to win both awards for the same work.

BWB: We Found A Hat is your third and final book in the 'hat' series. Did you always intend to produce three of these books when you came up with the first book, I Want My Hat Back?

JK: I think I always liked the idea of a set of three, but I didn't know that hats were going to be the central theme. For a while I thought the cast of animals in "I Want My Hat Back" would be in all three books, but when I tried more stories with them it just felt like going back to the well. Once I'd figured that out I wrote a few drafts of a book about fish and they didn't concern hats, but the more I wrestled with the text the more it changed until I woke up one morning and I had written another book about fish and a hat, and I liked it, so I guess then the theme was sort of set. 

BWB: Why turtles? 

JK: I had a few criteria for the animals in this book. I wanted them to be kind of sedentary animals, not very physical. I wanted them to be close to identical with small variations, and shell patterns are good for that. The other thing turtles are great for is focusing the audience. My stories use the characters' eyes a lot, and turtles are so stiff that you know you're not going to get a lot of information from how they are standing or posed, especially not how I draw them, so the only place you can look for clues is their eyes.  

BWB: Which is your favourite of the trilogy?

JK: Right now it's this last one. It took longer to figure out, and I think the kind of story I wanted to try and tell changed in that time. This book feels fuller to me than the other ones, somehow. I think I Want My Hat Back will always be special to me because it kind of arrived mysteriously one evening and I think it still works, and This Is Not My Hat was received so generously by everybody and I do like how that one ends especially, but both those books have a little coldness to them that I don't think this last one has. I think the coldness was on purpose when I did it, but I wanted this one to deal with a relationship that needed establishing and that was something I hadn't had the guts to try before.

BWB: Were you shocked when I Want My Hat Back became such a huge success?

JK: Absolutely. I still am. It's far enough back now that there are kids who had it and have grown out of it and weirdly that gives you a clearer sense of scale of how far it wandered around out there. It's an amazing gift to get, I don't really know how else to put it.

BWB: When you wrote the sequels to I Want My Hat Back, did bringing the bear back ever cross your mind? (especially as he was such an iconic and unforgettable character)

JK: Yes I did try it but like I said it felt a little like going back to the well. I think there was also a lot of fear on my end of writing still. It was the first book I'd ever done by myself and I worried that going back would reveal how accidental it had actually been, that I didn't really have a handle on it after all. I think the thing that I still like most about that book and those characters is that they really did make a little world in my head even though you see so little of it. It felt like a real place and they felt like they all had lives they went back to after that story was over. I think going back in might have broken that a little.

BWB: You have been creating picture books for over 6 years now. Has the way you write and illustrate changed from when you first started?

JK: I won't say I've gotten more confident. Every single new book is terrifying. But I am learning to trust the process more. At the beginning I needed everything to be just so in my head before I started. I didn't have any faith that my skills as either a writer or an illustrator were going to reveal anything along the way. The idea going in had to be as tight as possible to survive whatever flaws I had as the person who had to see it through to the end. But now, and with this last book especially, I'm starting to see that you can get very interesting stuff if you let go of the idea that you know exactly what you want from the start and you keep an eye on where the thing wants to go on its own. It's a much more interesting way to work, and I think you get to some stuff that feels a lot more like it belongs to you than if you were just looking for an idea that was going to feel universal and bulletproof.

BWB: You're also known for your work on animated films such as Coraline. Is this a medium that still interests you creatively?

JK: Yes I do miss animation sometimes. There are storytelling tools in film that you don't get with books. Books - picture books especially - are so clean and economical and you have so much control because it's just you, but animation and film gives you some amazing tools. Movement and acting and sound and editing. I also just miss working in a group and seeing what comes out of that. I think it's a really neat time to be a designer and a storyteller. Games and apps and what's going on in TV have really opened up some amazing new territory and it would be really fun to get into that stuff. I'll try to make books as long as they let me but I think I'll probably try and wander off a few times into those other things too. 

BWB: Have there been any new talents in the book world that have caught your attention?

JK: Oh man I have so many pals who are making books now, it's so great. Look up all these guys, they've all started making their own books this year or last (in no particular order):

Brenden Wenzel, Vera Brosgol, Lucy Ruth Cummins, Kate Beaton, Ryan North, Chris Turnham, Chris Appelhans, Emily Carroll, Steve Wolfhard I'm forgetting everybody but that's a good start. Oh and you know who I haven't met but I love his stuff is William Grill. Some guys just plain make you jealous.

A huge thank you to Jon (I am raising my hat to you) and Marina for taking the time to answer my questions. We Found A Hat is available to buy from the 11th October in the UK. Read my review here.

We Found A Hat

We Found A Hat

By Jon Klassen 

Published by Walker Books

Jon Klassen returns with the final chapter of the 'Hat' trilogy. This time round two turtles find a very good looking hat in the desert...

Two turtles have found a hat. They found it together. The hat looks good on both of them. But there is only one hat. We Found A Hat is a hilarious and heart felt story about friendship and what is really more important than a good looking hat. 

Unlike the previous 'Hat' books the story is spilt in to three parts, giving it a slight 'film noir' tone. The story is perfectly paced and delivers visual comedy and deadpan humour that Jon Klassen excels at.  

For Jon Klassen fans this is the momentous book they have all been waiting for. Much like the previous books, We Found A Hat has the same tone we have become familiar with in Jon's work. His use of expressive eyes and heavily textured artwork. the book is beautifully designed with classical feeling typography and a rich feeling colour palette. You can't help loving the characters Jon creates, and the turtles in this book are just as lovable. Beautifully rendered in a harsh and hostile environment, the turtles eyes help direct the humour with the absolute minimal of actions. 

Jon has created a tale full of friendship and longing that, in its own quiet way, is deeply moving. This final book is about friendship and knowing when to make the right choice, even if that hat does look darn good on you. It may be the last book of this kind, but I'm sure Jon has a lot more of these classics under his hat...

A happy ending (no animals being eaten in this one!) to a perfect trilogy. We Found A Hat is available to buy in the UK from the 11th October. To pre-order this book visit the Walker Books website here. If you want to know more about Jon and his 'Hat' books, check out my Q&A with him here.

Meltdown!

MELTDOWN!

By Jill Murphy 

Published by Walker Books

If you're a parent then you're more than likely familiar with the almighty 'Meltdown' - when a toddler sees something they want and they want it now, whatever the cost! From the award-winning author and illustrator, Jill Murphy, comes a laugh out loud picture book about a very explosive tantrum!

Ruby the rabbit likes to be helpful, but she often gets a bit overexcited … especially in the supermarket. Crisps are so CRUNCHY! Tins of beans are fun to ROLL! And when Ruby sees a cake, a cake in the shape of a cute pink piggy, she wants it … she wants it now.

Meltdown! shows family life in all it's imperfect glory - but in a very humorous way. The story is very warm and full of wit and you can't but feel a little bit sorry for Ruby as she spots a cake she just needs to eat there and then. Jill's illustrations are fun and cute and she even manages to make a cute bunny rabbit look rather scary! A lovely book for children and parents to enjoy together and maybe reminisce over a time they would rather forget!

Meltdown! is available to buy now from all good bookshops and from the Walker Books website here.

Interview with Chris Haughton

Chris Haughton is an Irish designer and illustrator. He was listed in Time Magazine's DESIGN 100 for the work he’s done for fair trade company People Tree. Chris has published four books and one app. His books, A BIT LOST, OH NO GEORGE!, SHH! we have a plan and Goodnight Everyone have been translated into more than 24 languages and won awards in 10 countries such as Dutch Picturebook of the Year, the Childrens Book Ireland Bisto Award and the Association of Illustrators award.

BWB: Why did you choose bears to be the main focus in Goodnight Everyone?

CH: The book is about scale, about tiredness growing and growing and so the main characters needed to be largest animals in the forest. And so there is a connection to the constellations of Ursa Major and minor. 

BWB: Goodnight Everyone is your fourth book for Walker. Have you found that your process has changed since your debut, A Bit Lost?

CH: Not so much really! The first book was done with a Korean publisher. Walker has edited the other three. They have all taken about 2 years to make. And started and developed in similar ways. 

BWB: What inspires your colour palettes?

CH: I just pick one or two colours that I like and add a few harmonious colours and just take it from there. I just try to make it as colourful as possible but while also making it cohesive.

BWB: Who's your favourite fictional bear?

CH: Pooh.

BWB: You collaborate with a lot of illustrators. If you were to create a picture book with one other illustrator who would that be?

CH: Jon Klassen ....or maybe Beatrice Alemagna ...or Sanna Annukka. 

Thank you Chris for being part of this Q&A! If you'd like to know more about Chris' process on Goodnight Everyone take a look at the blog post on his site here.

Goodnight Everyone

Goodnight Everyone

By Chris Haughton

Published by Walker

In Chris Haughton's fourth book for Walker, Goodnight Everyone is a stunningly illustrated bedtime book, bringing together Chris' signature block colour illustration and beautiful storytelling once again.

The sun is going down and everyone is sleepy in the forest. Mice, hares, deer and bears are getting ready to go to bed. They all settle down to rest. Great Big Bear has a great big stretch, but little bear isn't sleepy at all, not one little bit. Little Bear wants to play, he asks the other forest animals if they want to join him but they're all too tired. Eventually Little Bear has a great, big, enormous stretch and gets carried off to bed. The mice are asleep. Goodnight mice. The hares are asleep. Goodnight hares. The deer are asleep. Goodnight deer. Little bear gets a great big goodnight kiss. Goodnight bears. Goodnight everyone.

Goodnight Everyone is Chris' first venture into the recently popular bedtime book world. From all the bedtime books I have read, Goodnight Everyone is by far the most beautiful and easiest to read. The story encourages readers to repetitively yawn and to slowly wind down to eventually fall fast asleep. Chris creates sublime, starry night time scenes, filled with soft sleepy animals that will make your little one want to join them as they rest to go fast asleep. The colours used are calming and even sleep inducing - with an emphasis on purples and blues. I especially loved the end papers which had a star map and order of the planets.

This is a perfect bedtime read, and great for parents and children to snuggle up and share together. If you want to find out more about Chris and his creative journey to illustrating and writing Goodnight Everyone, then check out the interview I had with him here. The trailer for the book is also worth a look and can be seen below. Goodnight Everyone is available to buy now from all good bookshops and from the Walker Books website here.

Skip to the Loo, My Darling!

Skip to the Loo, My Darling!

Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Illustrated by Anita Jeram

Published by Walker Books

I would like to say a big thank you to Walker Books for this lovely potty book - Aoife has just turned 2 and we will be looking to start potty training soon. This sweet illustrated book will hopefully have Aoife skipping to the potty! 

Bunny is in need of his potty and there’s only one thing to do…skip to the loo! But bunny isn’t the only one that needs the loo, there’s quite a few others; a bouncy kangaroo, a lonely dodo, a ballerina elephant, a naughty monster and many more creatures. When everyone is on their potty, it’s time to poo! It’s a fun potty party, but wait, is someone missing? Could it be you? There’s a surprise mirror at the end for little ones to look in and find themselves at the potty party.

Skip to the Loo, My Darling! is fun, with a rhythmic and rhyming beat, it’s already stuck in my head and I can imagine that Aoife will be singing this when we will be skipping (or rushing) to the potty. 

With pages filled with sweet characters, children will enjoy spotting them out. It has a traditional feel, with illustrations in watercolour and muted colours (Anita Jeram also illustrated Guess How Much I Love You), and has a lovely look and feel. Definitely a book to be passed down for future potty trainees. 

For more details, please check out the Walker Books link here. Available in all good bookshops and online, this book would make a lovely gift for any 2 year olds who are embarking on potty/toilet training.