Blooming Reads

Being surrounded by the latest and the best of today's children's authors and illustrators, books always makes selecting for and writing Blooming Reads so enjoyable.

This month is no exception. For younger readers, there is a fantastic Flip-Flap series by Axel Scheffler, illustrator of the Gruffalo that makes the very young giggle, Tor Freeman's Olive series explores familiar daily situations in a refreshing way for pre-schoolers and the new edition of Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta illustrated by Dan Santat keeps newly independent boy readers hooked.

For the nine plus range, we have Frank Cottrell Boyce's very funny The Astounding Broccoli Boy that is likely to turn many children's favourite colour to green! The 40th anniversary edition of the beautiful Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit is great for secondary school students while they and their parents ponder the question of everlasting life, and last but not least, Alan Gibbons makes us come face to face the issues that result from hatred in his latest book, Hate. There is something for everybody in our selection!

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Activity Review

Story Time: The Day the Crayons Quit

A theatre actor and singer himself, Michael gave a unique voice to all the crayons in the story - red, purple, beige, grey, white, black, green, yellow, orange, blue, pink and peach. Every crayon came alive with its own distinct character! Michael's voices engaged the audience so well that everyone was so eager to tell him what their favourite colour was and to answer his questions. Everyone left happily with a set of activity sheets to work on that would not just keep them occupied but help them remember the story better.

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