Lulu Loves Flowers by Anna McQuinn

Reviewed by Katherine and Magnus (3)Lulu loves Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and decides to grow her own flowers next to her mummy’s vegetables. This lovely story describes how Lulu gets books out from the library to find out more about flowers, plants them and waits for them to grow. It’s a great inclusive book that shows children doing the everyday things they find wonder in and young readers can really relate to what’s happening. We also loved that Lulu uses her library to find out more about flowers. Highly recommended for all little gardeners!

Families, Families, Families by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang

Reviewed by Amy and Leila (2)A great introduction to family life is shown through a whole host of animal families. Whether you have a step mum, two dads, or live with your grandparents, this book shows that all families are different. My daughter particularly enjoyed pointing out all the different animals and I’m sure this book will be pulled out of the book shelf a lot when she starts school.

Poppy Pickle by Emma Yarlett

Reviewed by Damyanti, Bryn (7) and Freya (3)A blast of sunshiny goodness brimming with gorgeous witty illustrations, well designed page layouts, a fabulously funny story and a larger than life heroine.When Poppy Pickle is sent to tidy her room her imagination comes to life and soon she is surrounded by lots of funny creatures. It turns out letting your imagination run away with you can lead to trouble. While Freya was a little worried about Poppy’s parents’ reaction to the chaos her imagination caused Bryn couldn’t stop laughing at Poppy’s imaginative creatures.

The Promise by Nicola Davies and Laura Carlin

Reviewed by Sarah and Rosa (5)The cityscapes remind me of LS Lowry and Davies’s descriptions are beautiful and powerful throughout. Although Rosa struggled to follow some of the events and ideas, the book was a great springboard for a discussion about sustainability. We just loved how colour has been used to show the positive impact of nature! This book leaves you with a shiver down your spine as you consider the potential we have as human beings to make a change. It is great in showing that picture books can be appreciated by all ages.

Felltarn Friends Lake District Adventure

Reviewed by the Williams familyThis activity book crams a lot in and is beautifully put together – it does not follow the formulaic recipe you may see with many other activity books in the shops. Lots of crafty extras come with the book and each section concentrates on a different area of the Lake District, so no matter where you go, there will be something relevant for you! This is an interesting book for adults too as there are many facts and snippets of information dotted throughout the book.

Monkey and the Little One by Claire Alexander

Reviewed by Mark and Jorge (5)The book is about friendship and the difficulties that arise when someone wants to make friends while the other party is not interested. The pictures are fantastic and the story moves along at a great pace. It is ideal for sharing with an emerging reader – Jorge could read some key sentences in the book and it has quickly become one of his favourite books for sharing. The message of the story is appropriate for an age group where forming friendships can be a difficult process. We would highly recommend it!

Dixie O’Day In The Fast Lane by Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy

Reviewed by Lizzie and Lorna (5)We loved this story from the mother and daughter team. The placid Dixie and his perky companion Percy are a great combination of characters but it’s the striking illustrations that really bring the story to life. There’s one on every page so the text doesn’t seem too overwhelming for new readers and it’s packed with lots of extras. Lorna especially loved the maps and character profiles. The format lends itself to a chapter a night so we whizzed through it and were left eager for the next adventure.

Where Is Rusty? by Sieb Posthuma

Reviewed by Gaya and Maia (2)This is a great book, and the pictures rather than the story are what makes this one shine. It tells a pretty typical lost and found tale; a puppy is separated from his family and has an adventure wandering the mall until he is found again. Poor Rusty spent a good amount of time hiding from the ferocious looking mall watchdogs, and Maia had a lot of fun looking for him under lamps, in vents, and inside boxes. It also gave us an opportunity to reiterate the importance of holding our hand/ always being within eye shot when in public.

Nature’s Day by Kay Maguire and Danielle Kroll

Reviewed by Rachael and Rob (5)A beautiful exploration of what happens throughout the seasons. The illustrations are bold and colourful. We found this book to be as entertaining, as it is informative. Rob was particularly drawn to the exquisite, yet simple bird images. He enjoys both reading the text with me and looking through the pages on his own.

Give Us a Smile Cinderella by Steve Smallman

Reviewed by Isabel and Ciara Already a firm favourite in our house - a slightly different spin on the well known story. Cinderella wins the heart of the prince with her sparkly teeth, and her sisters, with their terrible teeth and stinky breath, fail to impress. With its healthy teeth rhetoric, this story could have been penned by a dentist, but this does nothing to diminish its popularity and it has been requested at bedtime every night this week! I will be investigating other books in this series.