RReviews of kids' books and the crazy, fun stuff they inspire us to do

3rd set of free activity sheets from authors and illustrators – Summer 2012

Posted on | August 16, 2012 | No Comments

I know some schools are already back hard at work, but we’ve got another couple of weeks before term starts for us, so here’s one more round up of activity sheets available for free from children’s authors and illustrators.
Click on the relevant image or coloured link to be taken to activity sheets you can download.

I absolutely love Louise Yates’ books and I know my kids will enjoy the range of activity sheets she has available on her website.

Mo Willems has a new colouring page up every month, plus several online activities to keep Pigeon, Pig and Elephant fans happy.

At Chris Riddell’s site, carefully hidden away under “Hairstyles of American Civil War Generals” (sic!) there are activities for fans of Ottoline and The Emperor of Absurdia.

Almost exactly a year ago I fell in love with Steve Cole. I’m still in love with him, and I know M will be delighted to discover there are plenty of activities of Steve’s website, covering all his different books. I’m particularly looking forward to making the Astrosaurs puppets with M.

US born but Scotland-based author/illustrator Teresa Flavin has some lovely bookplates and fun mazes to share with us.

That’s the last lot of free activity sheets I’ll be linking to this summer. The full collection can be found here. I hope you’ve found them fun and useful, I know I have – I’m most grateful to the authors, illustrators and publishers who have made them available!

Category: Chris Riddell, Free Activity Sheets, Louise Yates, Mo Willems, Steve Cole, Teresa Flavin

2 new and exclusive minibooks from Clara Vulliamy to inspire storytelling about starting school

Posted on | August 14, 2012 | 7 Comments

Hooray, hooray! Today I’m welcoming back author/illustrator Clara Vulliamy, with this month’s mini-books to inspire children (young and old) to create their own stories!
This month’s theme, to go with yesterday’s book review round up, is (starting) school!
Clara and I hope that, armed with some great school themed books, crafts (from Maggy’s round up over at Red Ted Art) and our mini books, you and your kids will really enjoy writing and drawing stories together about such an important part of their lives.

Click here to download Clara’s School themed book full of storytelling prompts!

Once you’ve downloaded the book, you’ll need to fold it using the instructions in this video:

With Clara’s prompts to get the creative juices flowing, you’ll then need somewhere to write and illustrate your stories. Click here for a blank mini book to fill with your very own school story!
Just in case you missed the earlier books in this brilliant series by Clara, you can find the Fairy/elf story prompts here, and the blank book waiting for your magical stories here. Clara’s Seaside prompts can be found here, with the matching blank book to fill with your tales of beach adventures here.
Clara and I wish you very happy story telling! We’d love to see your creations, so please do let us know how you get on.

Category: Clara Vulliamy, Guest Posts, I'm looking for a book about..., School

I’m looking for a book about… (starting) school

Posted on | August 13, 2012 | 20 Comments

Welcome to “I’m looking for a book about….”, the topic-themed monthly carnival of children’s literature.
Every month I’ll be encouraging anyone who likes to review books for children (of any age) to leave links to their reviews of books that match the given month’s theme. The idea is that over time, this carnival will become a resource for parents, teachers, carers, librarians looking for books by subject.
Old reviews, new reviews, and reviews for any age are welcome. You may also submit multiple reviews, as long as they are all relevant to this month’s theme.
This month’s theme is…
**(Starting) School**

Image: UGArdener

Below you’ll find links to reviews of books for all ages of kids with a (starting) school theme. If, however, you are looking for school themed activities to go with the books below you should check out this month’s brilliant round up hosted by Maggy in her latest Red Ted Art Get Crafty post. Thank you Maggy for working together with me on this again!
To kick things off, I can’t resist sharing one of our very favourite books about starting (a new year at) school: Once Upon An Ordinary School Day by Colin McNaughton, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura, in which a teacher takes a very imaginative route to getting to know his new pupils better!

Jackie at My Little Bookcase has a round up of books both for children that are starting their first year of school and others for children that are returning to school after a holiday, several of which are by Australian authors and illustrators.

SpeakWell, ReadWell, a new-to-me blog about “speech therapy and kid-lit blog exploring language, literacy, and literature” shares A Dress for Me! by Sue Fleiss, illustrated by Mike Laughead. If your school doesn’t have a school uniform this sounds like a fun book to share!

ReadItDaddy introduces us to Splat the Cat, and whilst “the world doesn’t exactly need another cute fuzzy cat character” this sounds like a fun book to remind us that school isn’t such a bad place after all.

Lucky Wish Mouse: Starting School by Clara Vulliamy is Child Led Chaos’s contribution to this month’s themed carnival. “This book is full of all the lovely details that make Clara’s books a joy for small children – lists of things (“…ten tiny pencil cases…”); counting; attention to tiny details; and a calm and reassuring plot.”

For slightly older children (8+) Ali at Fantastic Reads has a review of Beswitched by Kate Saunders. Not only is this a very funny book, “Beswitched has all the best elements: the emphasis on character development, the opportunities for girls to be heroic, a rescue and resolution coming through conflict“.

Mother-Daughter review team Holly and Sam share Little Rabbit Goes to School by Harry Horse over at their blog, Childtasticbooks. “There is a real gentleness to the illustrations that make this a comforting read, along with some mischievous humour”

It’s always fun to compare reviews of the same book and you can do just that with another book by Clara Vulliamy, Martha and the Bunny Brothers: I Heart School. In her review Library Mice says, “I Heart School oozes happiness and sisterly love and has buckets of energy” whilst 4 year old MiniBookWorms adds “This book makes me feel happy and I am keeping it under my pillow with the other things I really like“.

Library Mice contributes another review to this month’s round up with her take on Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David Mackintosh. This book “takes the familiar and fairly common children’s book theme of being different and trying to fit in and takes it to a new level thanks to the unusual storyline and the very distinctive artistic style of the illustrator.”

I’m so glad Ottoline Goes to School by Chris Riddell is included in this month’s carnival (thanks again to Library Mice) – the whole Ottoline series is tremendous and very high up my list of recommendations for kids (especially girls) who are reading fairly confidently on their own.

Instantly Interruptible has three books about starting school for us: Eric Litwin’s and James Dean’s Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes (hugely popular with my two girls), Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! by Hyewon Yum (which sounds wonderful – 1st on my list to order) and School by Caldecott medal winner Emily Arnold McCully.

For another take on Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! by Hyewon Yum, head on over to There’s a book’s review. This book really does sound great not only for kids but their parents too as the first day of school approaches.
Looking for a natural way to enable a conversation with your young child who is perhaps afraid of starting school? Mammasaurus at MiniBookWorms thinks Come to School Too, Blue Kangaroo! written and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark is just perfect for exactly that.

Whilst Come to School Too, Blue Kangaroo! was published less than two weeks ago, the book reviewed by Myra at Gathering books was published 35 years ago! Miss Nelson is Missing! By Harry Allard and James Marshall is a great picture book for teachers starting school; indeed Myra has used it in the Classroom Management course she teaches.

Is 35 years a record? No! Over at Did you ever stop to think & forget to start again? NobodyJones writes about her specialist topic – the Chalet School books – and in particular The School at the Chalet, which was written in 1925. A new pupil arrives at school and the reader is invited to discover if the new girl will, or won’t, conform to the status quo.

Anastasia Suen highlights Dear America: With the Might of Angels by Andrea Davis Pinkney on her blog, Booktalking. Following the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education on desegregation awnie Rae Johnson’s parents decide that their daughter will attend a previously all-white school. What will this be like for her? How will her first day at school turn out?

Sprout’s Bookshelf has two posts to contribute this month. The first is all about Rain School by James Rumford whilst the second include a trio of books Mary has been using to get her son ready for kindergarten.. In it we learn that “the storyline was inspired by Rumford’s encounter of the ruins of a primary school in one village, a school made from mud that was destroyed during the rainy season. The experience fixed itself in Rumford’s mind, and years later he used it as inspiration for a bold and evocative picture book.”

Mary’s second post includes My Preschool by Anne Rockwell, Little School by Beth Norling and Sometimes You Get What You Want by Meredith Gary, illustrated by Lisa Brown, all books she’s been using to get her own son ready for Kindergarten this year.

Over at Operatingrn’s Blog there are reviews of several middle-grade and Young Adult books that deal with going to school including Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea, Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. School books are not just for 3/4/5 year olds!

And do come back tomorrow when you’ll be able to get your hands on the next installment of the story-inspiration-series that author/illustrator Clara Vulliamy and I are creating together – two more mini books for you and the kids in your life to print off and get creative with.
I’m looking forward to reading all your SCHOOL book reviews! Add away with the linky below or by leaving a comment

A round up of reviews of all sorts of children's books about (starting) school, from picture books to YA novels, poetry to non-fiction.

1. Back to School Stories by My Little Bookcase	2. Jeanette Stickel	3. ReadItDaddy
4. Lucky Wish Mouse Starting School	5. Childtastic Books	6. Martha and the Bunny Brothers: I Heart School
7. Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School	8. Ottoline Goes to School	9. Beswitched by Kate Saunders
10. Julie at Instantly Interruptible	11. Come to School Too, Blue Kangaroo!	12. Martha and the Bunny Brothers, I Heart School
13. Kim Hurson	14. Miss Nelson is Missing (GatheringBooks)	15. LH Johnson
16. Dear America: With the Might of Angels (Booktalking)	17. Mary at Sprout's Bookshelf	18. Mary at Sprout's Bookshelf
19. Danielle at There's A Book	20. se7en's Back to School Collection	21. Peppe
22. iPad Apps (Starting School)