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Category: Featured authors

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Beautiful book of play rhymes, love the illustrations, perfect for young children to have fund and to learn new words.

Find hamsters, dogs, robins and unicorns, little cars and big diggers – and of course Big Red Dragon, in this brilliant collection of 15 action rhymes for young children and babies.

Rhymes celebrate festivals and special events, such as Easter, Halloween, Diwali, Christmas and Chinese New Year. With clear instructions to parents and carers, there are fun activities and lots of joining in for every rhyme, for babies, toddlers and older children too.

This book is a perfect companion to Jane Newberry’s very popular first collection, Big Green Crocodile, which was shortlisted for the CLiPPA award. At home, playgroup or nursery, the rhymes provide fun while also nurturing children’s responses to language, rhyme and images.

Illustrations by Carolina Rabei bring the poems to life with wonderful colours and characters.

Another excellent book from Otter-Barry Books, beautifully produced and delightful to read.  A book for nurseries, schools and at home too, perfect!

Sue Martin Children's Literacy Specialist

Part of Books Go Walkabout, Stories across the world.

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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Following the international bestseller, Astro Girl and Eco Girl, an empowering story for young children about looking after the ocean and its wildlife .It goes straight to the heart of what it feels like to be a young child at the edge of the ocean and all the wonder and fear he feels.

 Aaron and his family live by the ocean. His sister and parents are ocean guardians. Aaron loves the sea. But he’s a bit scared of going under the water.

Then one day Aaron finds an octopus stranded on the beach. As he helps Dad return it to the water, something amazing happens… a moment of magic between the boy and the octopus. They look at each other eye to eye.
Can Aaron lose his fear and go underwater? Maybe now he can help look after the sea creatures and be an ocean guardian and… Aqua Boy!

A beautiful book from author/illustrator Ken Wilson-Max. Ken was born in Zimbabwe. He came to the UK to study design and ended up working in children's publishing. His first book was published in 1993 and since then there have been many, including The Big Yellow Taxi, Little Red Plane, and the Lenny and Max series.

Otter-Barry Books is an exciting independent children’s publisher aiming to make a difference, push boundaries and publish books that children will love. Aqua Boy is certainly a book that young children and adults too will absolutely love.

Sue Martin Children's Literacy Specialist

Part of Books Go Walkabout, Stories across the world.

 


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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There is a cat. A cat that couldn’t be bothered to do anything … anything at all. His friends ask him if he wants to play but he doesn’t feel like it. They invite him on adventures to far-off places, but he would rather stay at home. Until one day, a friend asks how he is doing, and the true reason why he’d rather do nothing is revealed. He is feeling sad.

This is a story about feelings, friendship and the importance of speaking to someone when you don’t feel right. This beautiful socially aware story:
Reassures children and adults too, that feeling sad sometimes is normal

  • Helps them understand others’ behaviour and promotes empathy
  • Encourages them to be more in touch with their feelings
  • Provides a sense of fun while also broaching a tricky topic

Both children and adults will love the quirky and hilarious cat’s refusal to take part in anything and the sweet and important message behind this story.
It’s never been more important to introduce kids to the importance of mental health. This bright children’s book is an easy way to talk about feelings and looking out for others. It provides an excellent jumping-off point for at-home and classroom discussions about emotional well-being and caring for others.

Author and illustrator Jack Kurland is a debut author-illustrator from Leigh-on-Sea in the UK. After graduating from Winchester School of Art in 2013, he spent seven years working as a graphic designer. He paused to go travelling for two years, where he realised he wanted to achieve an ambition he’d always had: to create children’s books.

Publishers are Frances Lincoln Childrens' Books  an imprint of Quarto  and one of my favourite publishers for quality and ideas.
This book spoke to me at a really sad time in my life! I love it when pictures speak louder than words.

Sue Martin Children's Literacy Specialist, BooksGoWalkabout 


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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Get ready for Lunar New Year, following a young girl and her family as they get ready for and celebrate the Lunar New Year festival.

A stunning book with so much visual information, set around a young Chinese girl called Yue. Perfect for children around the world to celebrate and understand the beauty and joy of the Chinese New Year.

With non-fiction information about the significance of certain rituals, but told through the excited eyes of a child, this is a book to return to year after year in the run up to the biggest festival in the Chinese calendar.

The author/illustrator  Vikki Zhang  has amazing creative talents and her children's books are a part of a wider interest in design.

Each of the 12 double pages features 12 lift flaps, that's 144 in total!
Such as...
- Yue decorates the house with lucky red decorations
- Tidying the house to welcome in the new year
- Watching a special firework display
- Discovering which animal year it will be
- Making festive dumplings with Nainai (grandma)
- Reading a story about the zodiac with Yeye (grandpa)
- Watching a lion and dragon dance in the town square
- Making offerings to her ancestors
- And on the very last spread, a traditional family reunion new year on the eve of Lunar new year and exchange lucky red envelopes.

This book is as special as the little red envelopes children in China receive with many gifts.

Sue Martin Children's Literacy Specialist


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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Lenny Has Lunch written and illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max, is a wonderfully illustrated picture book for young children. Have fun sharing the book together and the everyday things that make life full of adventure.

Lenny and Daddy prepare a delicious lunch, looked on lovingly by the dog. Lenny uses the large blue spoon to feed himself. The games and songs help them  to work up an appetite and they have some great actions to  “Row Row Row Your Boat”.

Ken Wilson-Max is an award-winning author, illustrator and publisher of children’s books. He lives in London and was born in Zimbabwe. In 2020 his book Astro Girl won the STEAM award for early years picture books and Where’s Lenny was listed in the 50 Best Culturally Diverse Children’s Books by The Guardian. In 2017 he became publisher at Alanna Max which focuses on an inclusive approach.

Ken is a brilliant author,illustrator to have in school. In a session with Reception children in an inner city school in London, we had organised for an author event,he and the whole class painted some great pictures !

Lenny Has Lunch is a perfect book to share with your own children and to have in a nursery or school. And you can also just read and enjoy it yourself at the end of the day, when all is quiet!

Sue Martin  Children's Literacy Specialist

 

 

 


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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An intriguing look into the past when animals were moved from one country to another as gifts. Explore the world at that time with the history and geography of that time and place.

A moving and beautiful story inspired by a work of art, Albrecht Dürer's celebrated woodcut print of the rhinoceros sent from India to Portugal in 1515.

Princess Beatrix is excited to meet the amazing one-horned creature that has been sent as a gift to her father, the King of Portugal. Could it be a unicorn?

But the new animal is not a unicorn – it’s a rhinoceros called Genda, who has travelled all the way from India, and Beatrix immediately loves him. She becomes Genda’s friend and protector, and is determined to persuade her father the King that this wild creature should be returned to his jungle home.


This poignant story is inspired by the real rhinoceros depicted in 1515 by Albrecht Dürer in his world-famous woodcut, which can still be seen today.

Dianne Hofmeyre is a multi award winning children's author. She now lives in London and originally grew up on the tip of Southern Africa.

Simona Mulazzani is one of Italy's leading children's book illustrators, winner many awards and she lives in Pesaro, Italy.

This is a perfect starting point as an investigation into life in the 16th Century. It also is a wonderfully illustrated and contextually fitting book for reading, sharing and discussions.

Sue Martin   - Children's Literacy Specialist


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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What can you create with a little chalk and a big idea? As Emma uses her imagination to draw a beautiful flower garden with sidewalk chalk, a tiny ecosystem develops outside her door, with real-life flowers that bud and bloom!   Author and illustrator, Sally Anne Garland has created more than just a book in this delightful Picture Book as hope and joy are found in  the real gardener of nature itself.

In The Chalk Garden Emma, has been busy creating beautiful chalk drawings in her back yard on the concrete walls and slabs. But the rain comes, and Emma watches all the delicious colours being washed away. Her hope is restored when one of the slabs wobbles underneath her and with her Dad’s help they take up the slab and see the tiny, crawling creatures underneath the slab. With a little help from a watering can, Emma watches as seed begin to shoot and then to flower.

There is real joy in this book as it shows us how we can always learn from the best teacher in nature herself. Emma’s hopes are revived, and her patience is rewarded as a new garden thrives and produces such a wonderful garden full of colour and chances for flowers and insects to thrive.

This is Sally’s third picture book with Sunbird Books, an imprint of Phoenix International Publications producing stunning innovative and original books for children. Look for the free downloadable activity sheets too.

Sally Anne Garland grew up in the Highlands of Scotland and went on to study Illustration and Graphic Design at Edinburgh College of Art. Now Sally lives in Glasgow with her husband and her son, enjoying walks and reading. Her other Picture Books are Stuck Inside and Share.

The Chalk Garden is the type of Picture Book I love as it leads you into the world from a child’s perspective and how a child can make such a difference. Lots of beautiful pictures woven around the text of this delightful story.

Sue Martin

 


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.


Published on
...a world of colour and creativity...

 

An Artist's Eyes, follows Jo as he journeys through the world of colour and creativity in an empowering story of confidence and imagination.

A beautiful picture book from Frances Lincoln Children's Books, , which is full of delightful pictures and words to help anyone see beyond the everyday, and to start to visualise like an artist.

Jo is a little boy who desperately wants to 'see like an artist'.
He tries as hard as he can to see the things the way Mo the artist does, and when he starts to use his imagination, he realises that the things he can dream up are completely unique.

From the autumn oranges of the forest floor to pink and lilac pigeons in flight, Mo teaches Jo to trust his own eyes, and to see like an artist.


This is a magical story about the power of imagination and discovering that our individual perspectives make us all artists, and no two artist's eyes are the same.

Frances Tosdevin is a writer of picture books. She loves words, how they feel, how they sound and the effect they have on the reader.

Clemence Monnet is the illustrator and she has used wonderful flowing pastel i mages on every page.

Everyone sees things in a different way and An Artists's Eyes is a great book to share with others around how you can start to look in a different way and it could change your world.

Sue Martin  - Children's Literacy Specialist


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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"What can we do
when Mother Earth needs our help?
From one to ten we’re counting green
to keep our planet safe and clean."

Super brilliant new book for young children and anyone who wants to find ways to help our planet survive, published 16th March 2023.

Follow a group of children as they discover how every small action can make a big difference and help to save our Earth. From one new tree and two breezy bicycle wheels to seven beach pick-ups, nine wild flowers and ten friendly neighbours.
Illustrated with the simplicity, warmth and charm which Barroux is famous for, Counting in Green is an inspirational picture book, encouraging young children and their families to push for change and keep our planet safe and secure for all living things.

Hollis Kurman is a multi-talented author ,and writing for children is just part of her talents. Counting in Green is part of Counting series. There are amazing activities to download and videos too.

Otter- Barry Books has a wonderful portfolio of books and Counting in Green is an excellent addition to their books which will make a difference to children's lives.

It is always a joy to receive a book from Otter- Barry Books and Counting in Green is a book which I will enjoy so much for sharing at home or for school visits.

Sue Martin Children's Literacy Specialist


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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The Hare-Shaped Hole is a beautiful, touching, and poignant picture book which gently explores themes of grief and loss.
Immediately touched by the gentle rhyming and expressive illustrations in this beautiful picture book.

'Hertle and Bertle were always a pair, though one was a turtle and one was a hare. They were utterly buddies, and best friends forever and whenever you looked, you would find them together... until quite unexpectedly... the end came.'

When Hertle disappears for good, Bertle can only see a Hertle-shaped hole where his friend should be. He pleads with it, get angry with it, but the hole still won't bring his Hertle back.
It seems like hope is lost... until Gerda the kindly bear finds him. She explains that he must fill the hole with his memories of Hertle. And slowly... Bertle begins to feel a little bit better.

Powerful and moving text from children's author and poet John Dougherty is paired perfectly with warm illustrations from the wonderfully talented Thomas Docherty in a thoughtful and sensitive approach to this difficult topic.

This moving picture book can be used as part of a gentle conversation about death and grief with children.

"A beautiful, gentle, rhyming exploration of grief and mourning." - Joe Coelho, Waterstones Children's Laureate.

Stunningly clever at dealing with grief in the same way as a child can do, by looking all around, getting cross and then by doing something about it, the memory lives and the grief can find its own way out.

Sue Martin - Children's Literacy Specialist


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.