Author & Illustrators

Allen Fatimaharan Books

We Are the Ancient Egyptians

Non-fiction

Illustrated by World Book Day 2022 Illustrator Allen Fatimaharan!

Step back in time to Ancient Egypt and meet some of the many people who lived, worked, and played during that time. From a necropolis builder to a tomb robber, a brewer to an embalmer, and a slave girl to the Pharaoh himself – each one will share with you the story of their own daily life. Together, they are the Ancient Egyptians.

Featuring 19 different characters from Ancient Egyptian times, as well as an introduction to the Ancient Egyptian world, a key to decoding hieroglyphics and a timeline of key events, this book provides a new angle on a classic subject, bringing the ancient world to life.

Blanksy the Street Cat

Allen Fatimaharan & Gavin Puckett

Chapter book

This is a fabulous short chapter book for all ages. It has superb black and white drawings and has been longlisted for the Alligator’s Mouth Award for highly-illustrated young chapter books. It is written in rhyme and has a lovely sing-song rhythm – perfect for reading aloud to children, plus the well-spaced lines and clear front make this dyslexia-friendly.

It tells us the story of Pete, a busker, singing songs on the street for the sheer joy of the music and making people smile. Whilst busking, he is soon joined by a cat and the two become inseparable, except when Pete goes for ‘a poo or a wee’ – children will love that bit! Pete doesn’t seem to be bothered that crowds pass by with scarcely a glance, always glued to their phones, but the cat is disheartened and devises a plan to encourage people to stop. Blanksy is created (with an obvious nod to Banksy) and life changes forever.

This has some thoughtful messages about the power of the internet and how things can ‘go viral’. There are mentions of TikTok, Instagram and Twitter (now X), so the book feels very current. It could inspire some interesting conversations as to whether fame is worth it too.

There is some lovely humour: I loved to see Marks & Spencer rhymed with money dispenser, and a passer-by giving the two buskers some raw broccoli – the drawing of the cat’s face is brilliant!

An Alien Stole My Planet

Allen Fatimaharan & Pooja Puri

Chapter book

An Alien Stole My Planet is a laugh-out-loud, wacky adventure through space by Pooja Puri, brilliantly illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan. It is the third book in the A Dinosaur Ate My Sister series.

Before you start reading, there are a few things you should know:

1. I, Esha Verma, am a genius inventor extraordinaire.
2. I like lists.
3. I did not mean to open up an inter-galactic portal. Some things just can’t be helped.

Esha Verma, her snotty apprentice Broccoli and his secretly cunning pet tortoise are on their third adventure – this time it’s an inter-galactic mission through outer-space to stop an alien from stealing their planet!

When Esha invents the Inviz-Whiz, a device designed to make the user invisible, she does not expect it to open a portal to outer space – and things go from bad to worse when Esha, Broccoli, Archibald and Broccoli’s annoying cousin Bean are immediately abducted by Goospa, an alien with an evil plan!

With the help of a surly alien called Nix, Esha and the gang must race across the galaxy, navigate a Lava Marsh, fight vicious Ice Bats – and stop Bean getting into too much trouble! – to stop Goospa’s plan before it’s too late!

We Are the Romans: Meet the People Behind the History

Allen Fatimaharan & David Long

Non-fiction

If you’re teaching a topic that includes a look at Roman Life then this book will enrich your curriculum and would be useful both when planning and for wider reading and research from students.

After a short introduction to the Roman Empire, on each page we travel back in time to meet a member of Ancient Roman Society, from all walks of life – a diverse selection from slave to Emperor. As they tell their individual stories, we learn about the hierarchy and workings of Roman Society and the everyday lives of many people, including some of the more ‘interesting’ details from history that children love! As well as gaining a glimpse into the luxurious lives of the rich, we learn about the hard life lived by legionaries from Secundus Nigilius, who often marches 30 miles a day; scribe Cordia Verbis teaches us how she mixes ink from soot and glue; and the Banker, Lucretius Tappo, teaches us the origins of the English word ‘money.’

The final pages of the book include more general information: a map of the Roman Empire, a timeline of key events, lists of famous Romans, inventions and Gods and Goddesses. They also include interactive elements. You can learn Latin and Roman Numerals and there’s a recipe to follow too (thankfully it’s for baking bread and not for the Roman delicacy of dormice dipped in honey!)

Llama on Ice

Allen Fatimaharan & Annabelle Sami

Chapter book

Sidesplitting middle grade comedy, with serious heart (and one very funny llama). Illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan, the official illustrator for World Book Day 2022.

It’s the Christmas holidays and Yasmin is miserable. Her family don’t celebrate Christmas so she doesn’t understand all the hype, plus Ezra has gone to Jamaica for 2 weeks and Levi is away on a mission.

Then a snowstorm hits London, meaning Yasmin’s enemy Tia can’t fly to her luxury holiday in France. Yasmin is horrified when she gets sent a solo mission – to give Tia the best Christmas ever!

Soon Tia is bossing Yasmin around and without her friends to help, Yasmin starts to wonder if making her arch nemesis happy might be mission: impossible…

Llama Out Loud

Allen Fatimaharan & Annabelle Sami

Chapter book

Yasmin Shah has not spoken for years, not since the ‘Purple/poo incident’. Her family on the other hand, all speak at the top of their voices all of the time. Yasmin wonders if her house could possibly get any louder, when she is joined by Levi – a madcap, well meaning but noisy and often rude Llama. Annabelle Sami, author of the Agent Zaiba Investigates series, skilfully weaves a fun and silly llama adventure story with more serious themes including the impact of bullying, selective mutism, loneliness and old age. We shared this story as a family bedtime read with my 7-year-old, and once we got into the story we struggled to put it down, wanting to know just what Levi would get up to next and how Yasmin would react to the chaos unfurling around her..

Rapping Princess

Allen Fatimaharan & Hannah Lee

Shiloh is a princess. Her family are all great musicians and singers – but Shiloh can’t sing a note. She feels like there must be something wrong with her until one day she hears a different kind of music and joins in. It takes wise words from others to learn to be proud of what she can do – even if it does mean she is a little bit different.

This is a bright and engaging picture book perfect for younger readers. The illustrations are bold and colourful and reflect the story being told effectively. The story is told in rhyme and has an easy-to-pick-up rhythm – making it a great story for retelling with help from children.

The story teaches that everyone has a talent to be discovered and that even if it isn’t the talent you expected it might still be something to be valued and shared.

My first thoughts on reading this story were that it could be used as part of music lessons. Children across the primary age range could create body percussion and untuned percussion compositions to accompany a reader as the story lends itself well to being told to a steady beat. It could also teach rhythm and rhyme as part of English lessons with key stage 1 children. As part of PSHE lessons, the story could be used to talk about children’s talents and things they are proud of.

My Hair

Allen Fatimaharan & Hannah Lee

Picturebook

Joyous and vibrant, this captures perfectly the excitement of getting ready for a celebration, as well as showcasing a dazzling array of intricate hairstyles.

This is a glorious debut from an exciting new partnership who both emerged from the FAB Prize for undiscovered BAME writers and illustrators.

A Robot Squashed My Teacher

Allen Fatimaharan & Pooja Puri

Chapter book

A Robot Squashed My Teacher is the laugh-out-loud, wacky adventure by Pooja Puri brilliantly illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan , the sequel to the Marcus Rashford Bookclub Selected book A Dinosaur Ate My Sister .

Esha Verma, her snotty apprentice Broccoli and his secretly cunning pet tortoise have a dream. They are going to win the legendary Brain Trophy – the ultimate inventing prize. This year’s entry: The RoarEasy – a gadget that lets the user speak to animals.

But when Esha’s arch-nemesis, fellow inventor Ernie, lands her in detention, the RoarEasy malfunctions and suddenly Monsieur Crepeau is transformed into a pigeon.

Luckily for Esha, she knows exactly what she needs to repair her invention and where to find it: locked away in the mysterious Central Research Laboratories.

She, Broccoli, Archibald and Monsieur Crepeau will have to go undercover and break into the labs before the competition to return Monsieur Crepeau to his human form. And with Ernie following them, determined to foil their plans as they face giant robots, killer plants, shrinking machines, robo-spiders, clouds that make you float and terrifying twisters, they’re going to need all the help they can get to get out of this wacky pickle.

A Dinosaur Ate My Sister

Allen Fatimaharan & Pooja Puri

Chapter book

This brilliantly illustrated, laugh-out-loud, wacky adventure through time by Pooja Puri is the perfect blend of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Jurassic Park.

Before you start reading, there are a few things you should know:
1. I, Esha Verma, am a genius inventor extraordinaire.
2. There is nothing I cannot invent. This includes words.
3. I did not mean to send my sister back to the Age of the Dinosaurs. That was HER OWN FAULT (Mum and Dad, if you’re reading this, please take note).

Esha Verma, her snotty apprentice Broccoli and his cunning pet tortoise have a dream. They are going to win the legendary Brain Trophy – the ultimate inventing prize. This year’s entry: A TIME MACHINE.

But the day before the competition, Esha’s IGNORAMUS big sister hijacks the time machine and is lost in the Cretaceous age.

With help from a new recruit for The Office of Time, Esha and Broccoli will have to face hungry dinosaurs, mysterious black holes and malfunctioning inventions to get them back in time.

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