Author & Illustrators
When a little girl is learning to ride her bike with her dad, she has all the usual trouble with balancing and control – but when all of a sudden she is speeding down the path, Daddy sees his daughter growing up fast, and he wonders whether he’s really ready to let her go.
Stardust is a little bit of a tear-jerker, addressing self-confidence from the perspective of being a little sister. Feeling overshadowed, a little girl learns from her grandfather that everyone is made of stardust; everyone is special. This poetic narrative reassures children of their intrinsic value, teaching them that they all shine in their own unique way. This is such an amazing team – Jeanne’s words are lovely and Briony May Smith is just so good at emotional range.
One night Chick hops onto the farmer’s house and has a browse on his computer – CLICK – soon she’s shopping online for the whole farm! But when she arranges to meet up with a friend she’s made online, she discovers all is not as it seems…
Little Red Riding Hood for the iPad generation, this is the perfect book for teaching children how to stay safe online.
Who’s in the loo? There’s a very long queue. Is it an elephant having a poo?’ If your house has many occupants, then this witty rhyme from the irreverent and observant pen of Jeanne Willis will resonate profoundly. Adrian Reynolds’s exuberant illustrations highlight the fun!
A brand-new Winnie-the-Pooh adventure in rhyme, Winnie-the-Pooh at the Palace features some of the best-loved characters from the Hundred Acre Wood.
On a day out to Buckingham Palace, Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends play in the snowy gardens, have a thrilling ride on a sledge, and Pooh gets stuck in a snow drift! Then, a surprising discovery leads to an invitation to have tea with the King!
With gentle rhyming verse by bestselling author Jeanne Willis, inspired by A. A. Milne’s classic poem ‘Buckingham Palace’, and charming illustrations by Mark Burgess, in the style of E. H. Shepard, this authorised sequel is the perfect gift for anyone who loves the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh and his best friends, Christopher Robin and Piglet.
Discover more rhyming adventures in Winnie-the-Pooh and Me.
This was read aloud to Beanstalk staff at a recent conference and there were people crying with laughter! A wonderfully funny rhyming book filled with plenty of tongue twisters which children and adults will love trying to read out loud together. Practice also makes perfect with this and often children will refine their technique first before their reading helper. A great book for adults as well as it shows you how many words rhyme with ‘otter’!
Susan laughs, she sings, she flies, she swings. She’s good, she’s bad, she’s happy and she’s sad. In fact, Susan is just like everybody else, even though she is in a wheelchair.
We love this funny tale of a blue monster who is consumed with so much greed that he even eats the sun. The greed starts in small ways, just wanting a bit more than he is given. It soon balloons as he decides to seek out a new improved version of everything he owns, from toys to cars to families.
Young children who’ve learned to get a bit of a handle on greedy impulses will be entertained by Blue Monster’s outrageous behaviour – and it really is outrageous, as the story escalates in hilariously preposterous ways. They will also feel satisfied with the safe and reassuring resolution, which shows that appreciating the ‘money can’t buy’ things in our lives like family and friends is more fulfilling than material gain.
The illustrations make this fun story really excellent, with paint and crayon pictures that create an instantly relatable appeal and express both the monster’s immaturity and the bright humour of the story. There are loads of fantastic and unusual details to spot and every page feels colourful and exuberant with fun twists, like monster-shaped buildings and funky animals – except for the one dark page when monster’s greed has reached a climax and he has swallowed the sun, sitting in the darkness with a single tear on his cheek. After a little soul searching, a happy and brightly coloured ending is restored.
This is a real winner of a story for Reception children.
Troll Stinks makes for an excellent choice of book for today’s children and one with the potential to both entertain and spark meaningful discussions about internet safety with primary children.
Billy the Goat and his friend Cyril are playing with a phone when they decide to send mean messages to the troll living under the bridge. Soon, the two friends discover that their online actions have had a significant impact on the troll’s feelings and that their messages were not such a fun idea after all.
The book is part of a series that spins traditional tales into the modern age and examines the impact of technology on children’s safety. With more primary-aged children than ever having access to online messaging, the book is bound to open impactful classroom discussions. Even for children who have not yet used their devices in this way, the broader themes of bullying, empathy, recognising the impact of words and stopping mean behaviour in its tracks will resonate with even the youngest children.
This important and entertaining story is a modern must-read.
Field Trip to the Moon is a stunning picture book exploring what happens when one child on a school trip to the moon accidentally gets left behind after the school space ship departs. Depicted in atmospheric shades of grey, with soothing rhyming text, we see the aliens creep up to investigate the lost child who is drawing a picture of Earth. For the moon aliens, the crayon colours open up a whole new world and lead to ‘the best day of our lives’.
Moving through pathos and wariness to friendship and joy, Field Trip to the Moon is accessible for the youngest children in school, but there is also much that could be explored with KS1 and LKS2, such as writing about the experience from the point of view of the child, describing a field trip to space or imagining suddenly discovering colour after a lifetime of grey.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
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