On a journey across the pond, this book shows us all the different types of animals, insects and other pond life we might find if we went on a canoe trip in North America.

This book is particularly useful as it discusses each animal in further depth at the back of the book, with extra information about the ecosystem of a pond and how each part of it helps the others to live.

The illustrations are particularly spectacular, and do an amazing job at making the reader feel as though they are on the boat too.

Teaching children all how to handle feeling scared and shy in a very cute and age appropriate way that they can easily relate to through the eyes of a band of shy cats.

The book is a perfect conversation on emotions and how to overcome your fears when something important needs to be done, like saving someone you love! It also tells the important moral message that everyone if afraid of something, and that it’s okay to need help.

Unfortunately I didn’t particularly enjoy this one.
The moral message and ending are sweet and suggest the idea that stories are gifts that anyone can share and enjoy.

However the actual journey to get there seemed rushed and confusing.
The riddles were vague, tricky and not particularly child friendly. And the point of the children’s journey wasn’t explained at all.

An amazing resource for schools, teachers, libraries and even parents/carers to teach children their individual rights and encourage self expression and empathy.

The book is a simplified version of the universal declaration of human rights, but still manages to retain some direct quotes or similar wording to the original.

Each article is accompanied by pictures by a different children’s illustrator, which really adds to the concept of individuality and differences being welcome and encouraged.

The book also then lists each illustrator at the back of the book as well; a useful tool for teachers who might want to refer back to this for other class work.

A good balance of informative and artistic, this book discusses everything about the feelings and emotions found in art and how art makes us as the audience feels.

It is aimed at older children, and could be a good resource for teachers to take aspects for appropriate classes of younger children.
However the book does an amazing job at nurturing creativity in all children through activities and suggestions, as well as carrying the message that art is a subject for all.

It also places a high significance on empathy and noticing emotions through facial expressions, body language etc.

This is one my all time favourite picture books.
And that really says something because as I’ve said before I’m not the greatest fan of entirely word-less books.

I remember being given this to read on my interview day for uni, at a storytelling taster session. It was that session and this book that was a key point in helping me choose the university I’m now at.

The story is everything I could ever want in a book. It’s full of fantasy, adventure, daring rescues and quick escapes, empathy, loneliness and friendship.

The illustrations are beyond beautiful, and don’t leave too much for the imagination, but add enough detail to make the imagination go /further/. The castle for example is so ornate and beautifully constructed, it would be impossible for the reader not to try and imagine who lives their and what the city is for?

The morals and empathetic base of the story is a perfect children’s tale: the main character fleeing to a magical world, getting into some kind of trouble, a daring escape, and a friendship being formed.

With regard to teaching, it has endless use. From creative writing and story comprehension, to science, and pshe.

I love this little book; it’s a very sweet and interactive story that shares the joys of reading in a humorous and relatable way.

The story rhymes, which is always an added bonus for any book meant to engage children, and shows many scenes that will get children talking: from space to the playground.

The book is wonderfully inclusive, using places from around the world, and even including illustrations of a reader using Braille as the highlight of a double page spread.

A great talking piece for children in classrooms to get into thinking about the purpose of books and reading for pleasure!

This story is the classic moral where the main character is ridiculed or isolated for some reason, and manages to prove their use or the wrong is others judgement in order to be accepted and loved.

Usually I’m a little sceptical of this particular moral, as I’m not a big fan of friends who ‘accept’ someone for personal gain. But this book in particular is a very sweet and honest twist on the tale.

Lili manages to prove to herself that she is brave and deserves friends, and her new friends see her for her best qualities, just as her own family do.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever given a 1 star review before but I honestly despise this book.

I think it’s important to still review and discuss books I dislike so here goes:

The premise has potential... the idea is that the Jackass has become so used to technology and hasn’t encountered a book before. They are confused and at first suspicious, but eventually get enthralled by the story.

However, it is handled, in my opinion, particularly badly. Monkey does not encourage Jackass to read, they are rather cynical and rude. Jackass is also rather sarcastic in tone, and the story does not round itself off very well either.

I’m also pretty sick and tired of stories that push the idea that children are so consumed my technology that they have no idea about what books or reading is. Children are constantly engaged in reading and will always love the pull of a good story, illustrations and shared reading experiences. Technology, or how these are read, do not interfere with this, but can instead help.

Of course a good balance is important, but there is too much scaremongering around children’s ‘overuse’ of technology.

An imaginative and beautifully illustrated twist on the traditional fairytale trope!

Two friends go on an adventure through the pages of a fairytale book, visiting every kind of traditional fairytale setting, trying to escape the witch before she can steal the key and get out of the book herself.

The book is an eye spy type book, with objects to find on each page so that the friends can progress and escape. The book is perfectly tailored for older children who love this kind of activity, which in my opinion is great and most eye spy books tend to be aimed for young children.

The book also ensures that the concept of characters and their morality is questioned and considered by the reader, and even ends with a question about what the reader thinks might happen next.

This would be a great book for teachers to use as a resource in class, with magical scenes that would be easy to create displays of, use for creative writing, or even for other subjects such as counting the missing objects or making a map of different environments in the book.