Book Monitor - books from across the world

Engaging reads for children, from Books go Walkabout

Author: The Book Monitor team Page 12 of 39

Refugees by Brian Bilston

By

On December 18, 2019

In Palazzo Editions

Refugees is a powerful word, one that conjures opposing emotions in people. For some it provokes feelings of fear and hate. For others the need for compassion, understanding and sympathy.

In his celebrated poem, Refugees, Brian Bilston tells both sides of the story by cleverly crafting a verse that can be read backwards and forwards to convey the two opposing views.

The immediate first pages are stark and the words and images show how hard life can be for those who have had to leave their homes and countries and face little support.

Brian Bilston is the author and famous on Twitter for his poems, Jose Sanabria is the illustrator and has captured feelings of darkness and light.

Palazzo Editions are the publishers and Refugees joins their wealth of outstanding books.

As the poem turns the words and images show how we can help in deeds, actions and how we view people who are needing help.

A book that will help everyone to reflect on attitudes, and how we view  people as people and not just as people from a different place with a different language.

Sue Martin

 

 

 

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Christian Birmingham

By

On November 11, 2019

In 9 to 10 years, All Ages, Palazzo Editions

This enchanting story of the bravery of a horse in Victorian Britain has captivated and enthralled children for generations. This new edition from Palazzo brings beautiful illustrations from Christian Birmingham and has created an outstanding book, not just for the story but for the images too, as they lead us into the streets and paths of Victorian Britain.

Step back in time and see the world through Black Beauty’s gentle and patient eyes, as he enjoys the hardships that fell to horses living in the nineteenth century. meet the compassionate heroes and hard hearted rascals who Beauty encounters on his way and above all to experience the joys of being a horse, galloping on soft grass!

This is a story never to be forgotten!

Anna Sewell was a British writer, who wrote Black Beauty at the end of her life and never knew how successful the book became and how it helped to reform laws and attitudes to animal welfare. Black Beauty has sold an estimated 50 million copies.

Christian Birmingham is an acclaimed illustrator of Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year, The Wreck of the Zanzibar and many other awards too. He has been drawing horses for many years and inspired by paintings by Degas, Stubbs and Munnings. This is his first book for Palazzo.

Palazzo Editions is a young and flourishing independent publishing company based in Barnes, London. They create beautifully designed and illustrated books for the UK and international markets in the areas of popular culture, music, film, art, design and architecture, history and biography, and children’s books.

This book is one for keeps, a book for all to read or just dip into. A great story and now beautifully illustrated in this edition.

 

Sue Martin

The House on the Mountain by Ella Holcombe & David Cox

By

On September 18, 2019

In All Ages, Allen and Unwin, Books go Walkabout, Featured authors, Featured children's book, Featured illustrators

The House on the MOuntain - cover image

A wonderful read!

Atmospheric and immensely moving, this is the story of a family experiencing a bush fire in Australia. The aftermath is a harsh reality for a family whose home is in the middle of the woods. 

It is though, a story of healing and reconciliation. Lives are changed but not broken, there is a future through the devastation.

‘ We drive in silence, with the windows down. The hills are bald, with black spikes where the trees used to be. I don’t recognise any of the old familiar turns or corners. I don’t recognise anything’.

Before the fire this family in Australia have fun and do all the normal things that families do. After the  fire they eventually return and start all over again.

In real life it didn’t always work out so well.

A great picture book style story of a real life event with some changes. What an accolade to the author, Ella Holcombe and also to the illustrator David Cox, for setting the atmosphere so well.

Allen and Unwin, publishers have terrific books which are meaningful, good to read and so well produced. The House on the Mountain is well up there and especially as a reminder of Black Saturday.

Highly recommended for all ages.

Sue Martin

The Wild Book by Juan Villaro

By

On September 12, 2019

In Hope Road Publishing, 9 to 10 years, All Ages

Beautiful illustrations and thoughtful content…

In search of a Wild Book, thirteen year old Juan has to stay with his eccentric Uncle Tito, who has a library like no other. The books move at will and Juan discovers that he has a connection with the books that means they choose him.

A beautiful adventure story about a young teenage boy, whose life is falling apart but can find himself in this strange and magical library, where he is supreme. A story that could probably turn its own pages, it is very persuasive in reading to find out more, a great mix of adventure, magic, reading and story, what more could you want?

“ I must tell you that it is very rare for the books to move in synchrony and even rarer for them to form steps. That means that they place themselves at your feet and are ready to take you wherever you need to go. You’ll always find a book that helps you. Books are loyal.” says Uncle Tito.

Juan Villoro is one of Mexico’s best loved authors and The Wild Book has sold over 1 million copies in Spanish.

Hope Road Publishing has a great portfolio of books and specialises in excellent writing from all over the world with a window on countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

Thoroughly recommend The Wild Book for ages from 9-13 years, definitely a book for any library, so long as you are not afraid that this book will mean that all the books in the library start moving around to find their readers and causing chaos!

Published on 19th September 2019, this is a great book. I think I might just read  it all over again!

Sue Martin

 

Agatha Oddly

By

On August 28, 2019

In Tibor Jones Studio and Harper Collins, 9 to 10 years, Featured authors, Featured children's book, Featured illustrators, New titles

A perfect read…

 

A great series for readers who love adventure. You will have a real empathy with the heroine. I have loved the first two books and passed to school libraries where it is a great success.

Agatha Oddlow has been a detective for as long as she can remember – she’s just been waiting for her first big case. And nothing gets bigger than saving the City of London from some strange goings-on.

“I feel sure I have seen the symbol before- I felt it the moment I put it on the professor’s wrist. I search my memory, usually so reliable. But it’s like grasping in the dark, one minute I’m groping around, and think I have something, and the next it’s gone in a whisper.” Chapter 7

With a scholarship to the prestigious St Regis School, a cottage in the middle of Hyde Park, a room full of beloved sleuthing novels, and a secret key that gives her access to a whole hidden side of London, Agatha is perfectly poised to solve the mystery of what’s going on. But just who can she trust when no one is quite who they seem…

The second mystery is Murder at the Museum.

Agatha is s set to become the youngest member of the Gatekeepers’ Guild, but before that, she’s got a mystery to solve!

There’s been a murder at The British Museum and, although the police are investigating, Agatha suspects that they’re missing a wider plot going on below London – a plot involving a disused Tube station, a huge fireworks display, and five thousand tonnes of gold bullion.

Lena Jones is the new author and the books are published by Tibor Jones Studio and HarperCollins, bringing a great dimension to children’s books.

So, start reading this brilliant new adventure series, it is fun to read, will engage with all levels of readers, creates a sense of awareness of contemporary childhood with a sense of classic adventure and mystery.

Recommend as a great read for ages 8-11 years

Sue Martin

 

 

 

When We Became Humans by Michael Bright

By

On August 18, 2019

In words and pictures, 6+ Years, 7+ years, Featured authors, Featured children's book, Featured illustrators, New titles, Non Fiction, Quarto KNows, Dolphinbooksellers

A story of evolution, how we as humans developed into the upright, intelligent form that we are today, from  our recent cousins the Neanderthals to ourselves, Homo Sapiens. A large format highly illustrated book which follows in the success of When the Whales Walked.

 

 

  • One stop guide to discovering your origins
  • Exquisite illustration which brings the subject to life
  • Engagingly explores this key topic for Key Stage 2 pupils

The sections of the book are easy to follow from ‘How do we know who our ancestors were? to ‘Just Like Us’, which explores how the Neanderthals also liked to use jewellery and clothes.

At the back of the book there is a section on the human family tree and a world map showing how humans have always travelled on and and sea.

Michael Bright is an executive producer with the BBC Natural History Unit and has written over 60 books on aspects of natural history and conservation and the environment.

Hannah Bailey is an illustrator and designer inspired by the natural world and specialises in natural history and non-fiction for children.

Words and Pictures are part of the Quarto Group and aim to produce books that inspire and enable children to think and use their imaginations.

Recommended for ages 6-10, a great book to have for schools and at home.

Sue Martin

The Butterfly House by Katy Flint, illustrated by Alice Pattullo

By

On August 18, 2019

In Dolphinbooksellers

Step inside the butterfly house, where wonderful, winged insects await. Spot the Banded King Shoemaker and the Monarchs, part of the Brush-Footed Butterflies. The number of species and their differences would fill a huge museum of drawers and glass show cases. 

The Butterfly House shows a number of different species in a glorious collection of illustrations and bite size info boxes. Did you know that there are over 11,000 species in the Tiger Moths family?  Their caterpillars have fuzzy bodies and are often known as ‘woolly bears’. Sounds like my kind of caterpillar.

It is a beautiful hardback book and a good size for the best display of the illustrations, which are captivating and entwined with the text to create a book  just waiting to be picked up.

Katy Flint, writes children’s books and lives in East London, her best selling book is The Story Orchestra and she has worked on non-fiction titles from human bodies to dinosaurs.

Alice Pattullo is an illustrator also based in East London. Alice works on commissioned illustrations and has a huge number of clients including; National Trust, Sainsburys and the V&A Museum.

Frances Lincoln Children’s Books are famous for their excellence in children’s books across the world and have titles in over 45 countries and 35 languages.

The Butterfly House is just the sort of book I am looking for, to sit and read after a walk towards the beach this summer. We recommend for children from 5- 9 and for adults too.

Sue Martin

The Dictionary of Difficult Words

By

On July 29, 2019

In 9 to 10 years, All Ages, Quarto KNows

What is a funambulist? Or a bumbleshoot? 

The Dictionary of Difficult Words has over 400 words which will amaze, intrigue and inspire budding writers and linguaphiles.

All of the words in this book are difficult to spell, hard to say and their meaning is obscure to most children and to adults.

Turning each page is a a delight and you can find many words that sound fantastic and will be just right to confuse the teacher! Many of them confuse MsWord spellcheck too!!

A non-patronising reference book aimed at young wordsmiths, who are looking to fill their writing with new and inspirational words. Ideal for fans of The Lost Words and P is for Pteradactyl.

Each word has a pronunciation guide and a delightful illustration entwined with the text. As a family dictionary  it will be brilliant for trivia games, scrabble and others, an absolute guide to the question, “Are you sure that is a real word?”

A Dictionary of Difficult Words is written by Jane Solomon, who is a lexicographer, based in California, working with Dictionary.com and a member of the Unicode Emoji subcommittee!

Louise Lockhart is the illustrator, living in England, and working on fascinating projects for Liberty London and The Independent plus others.

Recommend for ages 9-13, but for everyone who loves words.

Sue Martin

 

Winner of the School Librarian of the Year 2019

By

On June 28, 2019

In Featured Librarians, School Library Association, Book events, Books go Walkabout, Dolphinbooksellers

The SLA School Librarian of the Year Award is the School Library Association’s highly valued award to recognize the excellent work carried out in school libraries across the country. 

In 2019, Alec Williams, who introduced the afternoon said, ” A room full of books is just that! But given the proper space and a librarian, the discovery, delight and magic happens.”

This year Ros Harding at The King’s School Chester has been awarded the honour of the School Librarian of the Year 2019. Sara Barnard, the 2019 YA Book Prize winner presented Ros Harding with her award at a special ceremony at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, Kensington, London Kensington on 27 June .

Ros is Head Librarian and Archivist at The King’s School Chester, which is an independent selective school for 3-18 year olds, Ros contributes in many ways to the life of the school and the wellbeing of its students and staff. She was described by others as“caring, for people but also for the library itself”, “inspiring curiosity” and a “tour de force”.

As well as establishing a School Book Award, Ros is an excellent ambassador of research skills and ensures all aspects of the school to have a place within the library. She empowers pupils and gives outstanding support and pastoral care.

A quote and under-statement from a pupil, ” She knows her library”!

Announcing the School Librarian of the Year 2019, Sara Barnard, whose novel Goodbye Perfect won the YA Book Prize 2019  said:
“Libraries are essential to any school and community, and I’m delighted to pay tribute to them and the librarians who make them what they are.”

The two other school librarians on the Honour List, were recognised for their outstanding work .Chantal Kelleher is the Learning Resource Centre Manager at Herne Bay High School, and  Helen Cleaves, Librarian/Learning Resources Manager at Kingston Grammar School.

The panel of judges was led by Sue Baston, who is also Vice Chair of SLA.

From bringing books to life in highly imaginative and engaging ways, to generous and bold outreach work each librarian on the Honour
List has made a huge difference to the lives of all they work with, igniting a passion for reading.

An interesting and inspirational event  recognising all the good work that continues in our school libraries.

Sue Martin

 

 

 

Migrations – Open Hearts, Open Borders

By

On June 17, 2019

In 4 -5 Years, 6+ Years, 9 to 10 years, All Ages, BookMonitor, Featured authors, Featured children's book, Featured illustrators, Otter-Barry

Migrations - cover image and text link

Buy this beautiful, moving book here…

Illustrators from around the world joined in the creation of a unique book to show their personal visions of the migrant crisis.

Migrations – Open Hearts, Open Borders is a beautiful and poignant book created by using a selection of images and postcards from illustrators around the world. The message alongside the image are packed with meaning in a few words; Petr Horacek from the Czech Republic and the UK writes, ‘ Everything is possible, you were born free.’

The images are all part of an exhibition touring the world, as in migrations; South Africa, Korea and UK, currently at Amnesty International, London.

Buy this book icon and web linkAvailable on 8th October 2019 – buy this book here…

The book is dived into themes of Departures, Long Journeys, Arrivals and Hope for the Future and the fifty postcards and images selected for the book produce thought provoking statements, e.g.

‘Wishing that everyone who crosses a vast and furious ocean with hope for a better future will be met with a warm welcome by the generous hearted. Safe journey.’ Peter Lynch, Ireland.

‘The skies have no borders.’ Christopher Corr, UK

‘ One can always go and  one can always return.’ Gabriela Germain Fonck, Chile.

The book has been published by Otter-Barry Books, who have a reputation for creating books that reflect the world in which we live.

The event to mark the publication of the book was held in London and included some of the most talented illustrators.

At Books Go Walkabout, we too look for a hope for the future in accepting that migration is here to stay and should mean there is a warm welcome for all those who take on life long journeys.

Recommended for all ages at school, at home, in the libraries and in everyone’s pockets!

Sue Martin

Proud to follow Amnesty International

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