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Image 2Alanna Books is an independent publisher, founded in 2006, and has a number of titles that are beautifully delivered, with a real understanding of children and parents.

They are just the sort of publisher we love! Their latest book is Zeki Loves Baby Club, written by Anna McQuinn and illustrated by Ruth Hearson.

A story for everyone, families are the same the world over.Image 1

It's about all the things that babies find good fun as they develop and increase understanding. The book is full of information for parents too, with rhymes and words to join in with. As well as all that.... the book is a joy to hold and explore. Inside the covers, there's information in small sound bytes about language and communication, stories and reading. It make sit a great book for parents and for Early Years settings too.

You can find more details about the work of Anna McQuinn here on her Amazon page, including details of this great title.

Sue Martin

Pioneer in Children's Literacy and Early Years Consultant

Dolphin Booksellers - the best in children's books always on line.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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Year 5 Kellett School students have just returned from a week in Beijing.

An experience of a lifetime with many cultural visits and contact with students in the capital of China. At Books Go Walkabout we just think this is an amazing experience and will produce life long memories and connections with China. What an experience!

In March, this year we were pleased to work with Year 5's on books written by award winning author,Carole Wilkinson, The Dragonkeeper Trilogy. The books are about a slave girl and other dragon keepers in Ancient China. They are some amazing fiction stories with excellent research and information about life in Ancient China.

The books were sent from the UK, written by Carole in Australia and read by students in Hong Kong. We held a video conversation with Carole direct to the students at school, which was great and the students went away eager to read more of the stories.

Books Go Walkabout is on the journey..... Ancient China and beyond!!

Sue Martin - Books go Walkabout


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Image 3Great authors and illustrators have come together for a new picture book list with an added bonus - parents with dyslexia can read them too!

The picture books are designed to enable the print to be clear and well laid out.

Many picture books are now designed with print running through the illustrations and in changing fonts. These are especially hard for anyone with dyslexia to read.

 

Two great titles out now;

All I SaidImage 1 Was by Michael Morpurgo and Ross Collins. A story about a boy who dreams of flying and then swaps places with a bird. A real imaginative journey and who comes off the best?

Itch Scritch Scratch by Eleanor Updale and Sarah Horne. A wonderful rhyming story with great comedy and just needs to be read aloud!

Red Squirrel books are part of Barrington Stoke, books for readers of all ages who want to have access to the best stories.Image 2

 

 

 

Sue Dolphin rtMartin

Dolphin Booksellers - the best in children's books always on line

 


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Image 2'My dragon is made from the sun and the stars.

Sparkled with stardust,

all night he follows the silver moon path

across the sky....'

An excerpt about the first dragon in the book, 'Tell Me a Dragon' by Jackie Morris, published by Frances Lincoln.

At Books Go Walkabout we held an author event in March with Jackie at William Tyndale Primary School, London, as part of their Bookweek adventures.

Jackie had the classes spellbound and intrigued as she talked about the places in West Wales where she writes and gets inspiration. The children all live in the city and a far cry from the wildness of the Welsh coast.

Image 1From a painting Jackie completed at the school, the Year 5's began to use water colours and explore making a wash of colour.

 

 

 

Lots of fun and lots of learning.

Sue Martin

Books Go Walkabout Dolphin Booksellers

Twitter @booksgo

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Sue, Jackie...after lunch!


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


kellett master cmyk aw

Books Go Walkabout is in Kellett School,Hong Kong during March 2014, celebrating World Book Day with a world book conversation. Based in Cambridge, UK we bring live conversations between authors and children across the world.

We are part of The World Book Day events!

Year 5 students at Kellett School are working on a project about China and Books Go Walkabout is bringing Australian award winning author, Carol Wilkinson via a video link, direct to the classroom.

Carol has written the award wining Dragonkeeper series set in Ancient China during the Han Dynasty. A slave girl, Ping, saves the life of an ageing dragon and escapes her brutal master. Pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter, the girl and the dragon begin an epic journey across China. Dragonkeeper book cover

 

 

 

 

A great start to our events for World Book Day and for extending good books across the world.

Sharing stories, back in time, journeys into China...BGW logoJS

 

 

Dolphin Booksellers - the best in children's books always on line


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Dragonkeeper book coverDragonkeeper by Carole Wilkinson is published by black dog books, an imprint of Walker Books Australia

Dragonkeeper is the first book in The Dragonkeeper Trilogy

The stories are set in Ancient China and as the three books develop over time, the dragonkeepers are set challenges to ensure that the dragons are safe and free from harm.

In a country which has dragons at the heart of its culture there are all sorts of dangers and perils in which the dragons find themselves. They need a dragon keeper, but dragon keepers are born and have special characteristics. To be a true dragonkeeper is a destiny for only a few.

The Dragonkeeper is set in Ancient China during the Han Dynasty.

A slave girl, Ping, saves the life of an ageing dragon and escapes her brutal master. Pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter, the girl and the dragon make an epic journey across China carrying a mysterious stone that must be protected.

It is the story of a young slave girl who believes she is not worthy of a name but finds within herself the strength and courage to make this perilous journey — and do what must be done.

As a story of adventure and courage, this book has it all!
For all those setting out on an adventure in life, from childhood to adulthood, this gives some real insights into challenges, friendships and journeys.

At Books Go Walkabout we are pleased to be bringing this book to the year 5 students at Kellett School in Hong Kong, as part of their studies and literacy programme. We are even more delighted to be bringing Carole Wilkinson direct into their school by live video links to have a conversation and to talk with the children.
We'll keep you posted and this is just the start of our adventure in Hong Kong.

Sue Martin
Books Go Walkabout


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Image 1You know the favourite children's saying, "It's not fair!"

Well Ros Asquith has changed it into a It's Not Fairy. She flaps around all night, she's a fairy on a mission and you don't want to mess with this fairy.

A picture book for all the family and across the world, there are children everywhere declaring how unfair things are.But the fairy can get tired of complaints.

 

'I'm sick of your squawking,

Now give me a break.

Or I'll bake you all

In a Fairy cake."

Published by Frances Lincoln this is a good book to buy for the half term hols. Buy through Dolphin Booksellers to get the best price from Amazon.

Dolphin Booksellers - the best in children's books always on line


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


The Lost Prince from Jane Nissen Books - cover imageThese two classics are brought back to life by Jane Nissen Books, beautifully presented and a joy to read or to re read.

Bringing classic children's books back into print is the mission for Jane Nissen Books and as Jane says,' To enable a new generation of readers to discover for themselves high quality timeless titles that should not be lost'.

The Lost Prince is the story of two boys brought together by fate and given an enormous task of adventure to find different people across Europe. They set out with little money but high determination and courage.

 

 

 

King of the Wind from Jane Nissen Books cover imageKing of the Wind by Marguerite Henry is the story of the Godolphin Arabian, who travelled in around 1724 from Morocco to Cambridge.

It's a great story and more than worthy to be read.

Click on the book covers and buy both as a treat for Christmas... I bet you will find yourself reading at least one of them before you can get it wrapped!

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers - the best in children's books always on


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


William Tyndale Primary School
Art and Literacy Month October 2013

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Through our Authors in Schools projects, Ifeoma Onyefulu and Cheryl Moskowitz gave some amazing presentations to children in eight classes in October. From writing hearing about Nigerian Traditional Tales to writing a Cinquain poem the children were given some real insights to writing in different genres.

 

Ifeoma read one of her stories from The Girl Who Married a Ghost and other stories a book of folk tales from Nigeria. The story was The Girl who Married a Ghost.

The children were soon enthralled and straight away saw the problem that the girl had and just why she married a ghost, 'She was too choosy' said one child.' She shouldn't have married at all!'

After lots of discussion the children
drew some pictures of the story
and the ghost appeared with the girl.

 

CherylCheryl has developed a great technique for the whole class to give something in writing a shared Cinquain.

  • From the first line being the subject and having 2 syllables,
  • to the second line being a description and having 4 syllables
  • to the third line being the purpose and having 6 syllables
  • to the fourth line being how it feels and having 8 syllables
  • And the fifth line reflecting the start and having 2 syllables.

All the children took part and voted on the words and lines to be used so it was truly collaborative and very effective.

An examples of the poems created...

 

Water
Blue sea, salty
Drinking the turquoise waves
Relaxing in the swimming pool
Swish, swash

You can discover Ifeoma's work on Amazon.co.uk here...

You can discover Cheryl's work on Amazzon.co.uk here...

Sue Martin

Books Go Walkabout and Dolphin Booksellers


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Image 1This year two librarians have been awarded the School Librarian of the Year, a celebration at the Hotel Russell in London, on 7th October.

Ginette Doyle, Chair of the SLA School Librarian of the Year Selection committee said:

"They are not joint winners, but each deserves the accolade of School Librarian of the Year.”

Photo from Philip Cooper Photography

“It was an extremely strong, and international, Honour List. In the end we chose two librarians both working in different ways to bring their libraries into the heart of the school and learning.

Candy Gourlay, author of the award-wining Tall Story and recently published second novel, The Shine, presented the award to:

Hilary Cantwell, librarian at St Paul’s Community College Waterford, Republic of Ireland.

Hilary gained expertise in New York schools and public libraries before joining an Irish government programme to create school libraries.

St Paul’s has 430 students and is in a rural county with the highest unemployment in Ireland. It is affiliated to the Irish government’s inclusion programme, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools.

John Iona, librarian at Oasis Academy Enfield, Middlesex.


John creates award-winning resources, delivers the school’s Extended Project Qualification programme and plays a significant role in curriculum planning and support. The school has 1,100 students of which up to 70% have English as a second language. John actively promotes reading for pleasure with a number of initiatives including Reading Games.

A great celebration and the awards a real reflection of the importance of reading and literacy in schools.

Dolphin Booksellers are pleased to celebrate this achievement of the School Library Association.

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers- the best in children's books always on line


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.