Picture Books
A good picture book is timeless. Here we have a highlighted selection of new and favourites, but we have a full collection in store and available to order.
We also stock a range of books designed to help kids through difficult times, please email if you would like us to research anything particular.
Do You Love Bugs? by Matt Robertson ( paperback, 2020)
£7.99
Crawly! Hairy! Maybe a bit scary? Snails slime upside down. Eeek! Worms can somersault and butterflies smell like cake. YUM.Wait, don't eat them... Because bugs are truly BRILLIANT! Matt Robertson's quirky text and sweet yet hilarious illustrations show exactly why minibeasts can be truly awesome in their own unique way. The book includes 14 hilarious globally inclusive, bug-tastic spreads, featuring worms, bees, beetles, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, spiders, ants, snails and stick insects.
Find out how honey bees make their honey, why moths always fly around lamps and how bombardier beetles protect themselves from hungry predators. There's something new to learn about each bug. Did you know that stick insects can dance? Or that butterflies can smell like cake? And guess what? A grasshopper will spit on you if it gets angry! So always be good to grasshoppers, give spiders a smile not a screech and never get angry at ants! There are so many more fun facts to uncover about our tiny furry and slimy friends.
Dare We Be Dragons? Barry Falls ( September 2022)
£7.99
A powerful and poetic imaginative adventure from the creator of Alone, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize! Who knows where we'll go... Or what we might see... What on earth will we find? Oh, what might we be? Welcome to a world where tree trunks become giants' legs, a playground swing becomes a space rocket, a grassy hill becomes a towering volcano...Even the most ordinary, everyday objects are gateways to wild and wonderful worlds in this joyful, rhyming adventure story - the perfect book to inspire imaginative play! From the creator Alone, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2022!
D is for Dog, by Em Lynas ( hardback Oct 2023)
£9.99
Bound into this playful and energetic rhyming text featuring an adorable cast of dogs. Whether it's getting marvellously muddy, leaping and lolloping or hiding under the bed with a stolen slipper, a dog's life is so much FUN. This hilarious alphabet celebration of canine capers is perfect for dog lovers young and old.Featuring stylish and vibrant artwork by the award-winning Sara Ogilvie, illustrator of Julia Donaldson's The Detective Dog. This bright and cheerful book is the perfect gift for any child (or adult!) to read aloud or enjoy alone.
Circle, by Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett ( pb, 2020)
£8.99
From the dynamic, dream team of Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett comes the final instalment in the hilarious shape trilogy. Triangle and Square are visiting Circle, who lives at the waterfall. When they play hide-and-seek, Circle tells the friends the one rule: not to go behind the falling water.
But after she closes her eyes to count to ten, of course that's exactly where Triangle goes. Will Circle find Triangle? And what OTHER shapes might be lurking back there? Sparks the imagination, allows chat about hidden worries, and ultimately has style and humour.
Cat’s Cookbook : Tales from Acorn Wood ( series) Julia Donaldson
£6.99
Lift the flaps and join in the fun with Cat's Cookbook, a story in the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood preschool series by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo. Cat wants to learn to cook. Will she find a book to help her in Acorn Library? Lift the flaps to find out, and then join Cat and all her friends for a special surprise!With sturdy flaps on every spread and rhyming stories that are a joy to read aloud, Cat's Cookbook joins the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood which have been delighting parents and children for over twenty years.More lift-the-flap adventures from Acorn Wood: Squirrel's Snowman, Mole's Spectacles and Badger's Band.
Car, Car, Truck, Jeep, Katrina Charman ( board Book)
£7.99
This book is bursting with cars, buses, planes, trains, trucks, diggers and many more things that go. Add to that a text that is read aloud to the tune of 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep' and ... What a combination!Car, car, truck, jeep,have you any fuel?Yes, sir, yes, sir,three tanks full.One for the red bus,one for the train,and one for the pilotin her jumbo jet plane. With bold, colourful illustrations by the instantly recognisable Nick Sharratt and text by talented newcomer Katrina Charman, vehicle-obsessed little ones will never want to put this book down.
Brrr!, Kes Gray and Nick East ( picture book, October 2022)
£6.99
From the bestselling author of the OI FROG AND FRIENDS series comes a roaringly funny new picture book, jam-packed with dinosaurs . . .
Brrr! The Ice Age is coming, the temperatures are dropping and the dinosaurs are frrreezing. Only one thing will keep them warm - woolly jumpers! But dinosaurs can't knit, can they? Find out what REALLY happened to the dinosaurs in an out-of-this-world adventure, featuring dinosaurs, knitting and a trip to outer space.
Perfect winter funny story for kids who love the silly stuff.
Blobfish, Olaf Falafel ( picture book June 2023)
£7.99
A heartfelt and humorous adventure from the bottom of the sea and beyond, following one fish on an epic journey. Deep, deep, deep under the sea ... lives Blobfish! Blobfish loves telling jokes, although he has no one to share them with, so he sets off on an adventure to find a friend.But sometimes friends turn up in the most unexpected places, even at the bottom of the ocean. This heartfelt and humorous story gently introduces children to themes of friendship, belonging and the issue of plastics in our oceans.
Arlo The Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep, Catherine Rayner (paperback 2021)
£7.99
What a treasure this is .... if you have a sleepy toddler who just can’t or won’t drop off to sleep, this is a lovely rhythmic story with all sorts of tips to help them relax.....
Arlo The Lion Who Couldn't Sleep is a beautifully illustrated story with a gentle mindfulness message from Kate Greenaway Medal winner Catherine Rayner - ideal for bedtime, and especially helpful for little ones who have trouble going to sleep. Arlo the lion is exhausted. He just can't drop off, no matter what he tries.
It's either too hot, or too cold; too loud or too quiet. But then he meets Owl. She can sleep through the day, which isn't easy when most other animals are awake! Will Arlo ever get any rest? Perhaps his new friend has some special tricks she can teach him ...
Note image is of hardback, default purchase is paperback but please email if you prefer hardback. The cover image is the same.
An Adventure for Lia and Lion, Al Rodin ( June 2023)
£7.99
Lia is off on an adventure, and she'd like a pet to take with her. In another corner of the meadow is Lion - who is also looking for an adventure, and for a pet of his own . .. What will happen when they meet?A story from a stunning new author-illustrator about a special friendship, the nature of play, conflict and compromise, and about how much richer life is when you work out how to share it.
Amazing Dad, Alison Brown ( picture book April 2023)
£7.99
A pitch-perfect rhyming celebration of dads everywhere! Amazing dads are all around! Dads can be busy, whizzy, caring, sharing . . .and so much more. But there's just ONE dad who gives the best hugs of all. Can you guess who it is? This super-cute new book from brilliantly talented picture book creator Alison Brown is the ULTIMATE inclusive, joyful celebration of dads and care-givers - and the love they give us every day.
Explore the adorable rhyming text, illustrated with a whole host of irresistible, relatable and hilarious animal characters. Perfect to share with YOUR amazing dad on Father's Day, or at any time of year!
Amazing Animals with Astonishing Jobs , Simon Philips ( Paperback Sept 2024)
£7.99
A funny and fascinating guide to the world of working animals – packed with astonishing facts! Is your doctor a donkey? Is your postman a platypus? Probably not, that would be . . .
amazing! But bee-lieve it or not, many animals do have jobs. Get ready for a whirlwind tour around the globe where you'll meet some of those amazing animals and learn all about the incredible jobs they do – from bomb-sniffing bees and detector dolphins to caddy llamas and the bodega cats of New York City. Readers will discover: The role of therapy animals in helping people feel more calm in airports (including LiLou – San Fransisco’s superstar therapy pig!) How llamas can help golfers get around the course (without ever leaving a mess behind!) How bees can be trained to detect illnesses (Un-bee-lievably!) And much, much more! Simon Philip’s witty, fact-filled text pairs perfectly with Adam Ming’s captivating contemporary art, making this book the perfect gift for any child who loves animals.
Along Came A Different, by Tom McLaughlin (paperback Feb 2019)
£7.99
Light hearted take on ‘being different’ using colours. Funny and yet the message is clear.
Reds love being red. Yellows love being yellow. And Blues love being blue.
The problem is that they just don't like each other. But one day, along comes a different colour who likes Reds, Yellows and Blues, and suddenly everything starts to change. Maybe being different doesn't mean you can't be friends ...
A very special picture book that supports the adage that there is more that unites us than divides us. Along Came a Different just goes to show how much better we can all be when we come together to find common ground as friends. Every bookshelf should have a copy.
Paperback ( same cover as hardback, pictured ) from Feb 2019 priced at £7.99
Alone, Barry Falls ( paperback 4 Mar 2021)
£7.99
Barry Falls is a NI based illustrator who brings his wonderful art and comic understanding of reading aloud to this book, it is full of humour, rhyme and joy.
There once was a boy called Billy McGill who lived by himself at the top of a hill. He spent every day in his house all alone for Billy McGill liked to be on his own. But life doesn't always turn out how you plan it...
One day Billy hears the squeak of a mouse - destroying his perfectly peaceful existence. So he gets a cat to catch the mouse. But the cat and the mouse make friends.
So he gets a dog to chase the cat. But they all play together too. So then he gets a bear...
then a tiger... and on it goes, until Billy's house is so filled with characters that he has to move out. Will he find that he still craves peace and quiet, or is it actually quite lovely to have company and friends?The brilliant second book from Barry Falls is a laugh-out-loud tale of growing chaos, with a lovely message about how it's good to have friends.
A World For Me and You : Where Everyone is Welcome, by Uju Asika (paperback Sept 2022)
£7.99
In this uplifting picture book, you imagine a world where everyone looks identical, where all food tastes the same, where we all speak the same language. A world that is...well, pretty boring. But with an explosion of colour, the pages soon come to life.This joyful picture book encourages children to imagine the world as a vast library, with room on the shelves for everybody's story. It is a celebration of our incredibly diverse world as it really is: home to 195 countries with thousands of different cultures, 10 million colours and 4,300 religions. Written by Uju Asika, author of Bringing up Race, this beautiful picture book celebrates the beauty and joy of living in a wonderfully diverse world.
A Little Bit Brave by Nicola Kinnear ( children's picture book, board book)
£7.99
Logan is a stay-at-home bunny - but he's about to discover how brave he really is. It's time for his first adventure, and he doesn't want to go. But there's an amazing world outside, if he can just pluck up courage to look .
A LITTLE BIT BRAVE is a funny, reassuring picture book which shows that we're all a lot braver than we think. It's a good story with enough message to reassure the timid amongst us.
A Dress With Pockets, Lily Murray ( paperback 2023)
£7.99
A funny and frock-filled story for modern children who don't just want sequins and sparkles on their dresses, from rising star Lily Murray and Waterstones Prize-winning illustrator, Jenny Lovlie. Lucy and Aunt Augusta are dress shopping. And, at the Fabulous Fashion Store, there are dresses to suit just about everyone.There are fancy dresses, frilly dresses, stripy dresses, silly dresses, sun dresses, fun dresses, blue dresses, green. . .
But Lucy doesn't care about frills or lace. She wants a dress WITH POCKETS. And as she wades through the titchy dresses, witchy dresses, very, very itchy dresses, she starts to worry about where she's going to put her leaves, and nettles, and delicate petals, her magical spells and beautiful shells.
. . The hunt is on: will Lucy find the dress of her dreams?A lighthearted story with a subtle feminist undertone that celebrates the joy of pockets, and how they can unleash the inquisitive, adventurous spirit of all young children.
A Damsel Not In Distress, Bethan Stevens ( Paperback April 2023)
£7.99
For 4+
This clever and funny inversion on a classic fairytale from award-winning author Bethan Stevens tells the laugh-out-loud story of a damsel who does not need saving! Once upon a time, hidden deep in a valley in a magical land far away, there was a very tall tower. And trapped at the very top of that very tall tower there was a damsel . .
. In distress! The only problem is, the damsel is not in distress. She keeps telling the narrator that she's perfectly fine.
The "terrifying beasts" in the moat are a family of ducklings. The "prickly brambles" are her rose garden. And the "wicked old witch" is actually her grandma! But the narrator just won't listen.
When a scary, fire-breathing dragon comes to visit, it's up to the damsel to take charge of her story and save the day for everyone. Witty and empowering!
