Picture Books for Youngsters

Here are three delightful picture books for young kids ... the stories are lovely and there's lots in the illustrations to discover too!

The Littlest Pirate Sherryl Clark & Tom Jellet (Penguin Books)
Nicholas comes from a pirate family but when the littlest pirate's family won't let him go to sea, what does the littlest pirate do? He takes matters into his own hands and of course who comes to the rescue when his family is captured by Red Bear the pirate ... I am sure you will work that one out! A lovely story and great illustrations.

Teaching the Teacher Joan van Loon & Chantal Stewart (UQP)

Every school child at some stage wishes that they could swap places with the teacher ... then they could do the teaching and show the teacher that learning is tough! And that is just what happens when one child imagines!

Felix Pamela Allen (Penguin Books)
When Felix comes down for breakfast he soon finds that Grand is very cross - bread has been nibbled and jam has been licked. And it's up to Felix the cat to find out who the culprit is. When he spies the mouse licking the last of the jam in the jar Felix pounces ... and that's when the trouble really begins - Felix gets stuck and soon the whole family, grandpa, grandma and Molly are trying to free Felix! Pamela Allen picture books are always a delight to share!

Happy reading and picture book investigating.

Dragons

These two new titles have dragons within - one is also from Deltora! Dragonlovers will enjoy!

Belmont and the Dragon: The Forest Of Doom And Gloom Mike Zarb & Robin Gold (Random House)
There's a princess to be rescued, a contact wearing SNAD (sensitive new age dragon) a witch, pink pixies ... and uniting them all in medieval metropolis of Old York is Belmont, the boy who escapes from the orphanage to be a knight.
Just perfect for younger readers, and especially boys, this new series is filled with craziness and chaos and wonderful animation-like illustrations.


Secrets of Deltora Emily Rodda & Mark McBride (Scholastic)
A new addition to the Deltora collection of books is this large book filled with new information (and new art work) on Deltora's many creatures, Deltora's dangers, and places of interest including information about the seven gem territories - all told from the perspective of Doran the Dragonslayer. This is the definitive guide (and it actually looks like a travel guide too) to the land of Deltora!


Great gifts for dragon lovers!

Read & Look

Here are the latest picture books - some for very young chilren and others for older readers.

Sleep Tight, My Honey Lisa Shanahan & Wayne Harris (Lothian)
I cannot believe I have taken this long to get this book up here.
Lily and Monty are proud rabbit parents but their new baby bunny just will not sleep. They have unsuccessfully tried everything they could think of as well as suggestions form other neighbourly animals ... but there is one solution to the problem!
This is a delightful book - just perfect for bedtimes! Beautiful illustrations combine perfectly with a lovely text.


Little Cat and the Big Red Bus Jane Godwin & Anna Walker (Penguin)
Little Cat and her big sister catch the bus to and from school every day. One day Little Cat has to travel on the school bus all by herself and on the way home she falls asleep on the bus only waking after the bus has arrived at the terminus. How will she get home? A lively charming story of a little girl's adventure.


Tiny: A Little Dog on A Big Adventure Jennifer Castles & Steve Otton (Allen&Unwin)
This is a picture book illustrated in photographs with wonderful, images of Australia - especially of life in the outback. This is the story of Tiny the dog and his best mate Steve, and how they look after each other and of friendship.


Purple Snow Eric Lobbecke (Random House)
A quirky tale with a good environmental message.
Cockatoo takes a trip to the North Pole to see the snow which just happens to not be a thick as usual! But when invited down under only polar bear believes that purple snow exists and makes the trip. Exhausted from the heat polar bear falls asleep under a tree at night without seeing any purple snow. But next morning...!


Enigma Graeme Base (Penguin)
A new book by Graeme Base is always highly sort after and this one will continue that tradition. This book is filled with the visual puzzles that Base is renowned for creating. When a thief steals the props from a group of retired magicians Bertie sets out to sort out the crime. There are clues to the identity of thief and missing things to find in every illustration - as well as Enigma. There are other puzzles to solve as well - and a magical code breaker in the back of the cover to decipher ... this will have readers entertained ... and absorbed for hours!

Lovely reads and great illustrations are in these picutre books. Enjoy devouring them!