Mary Hoffman retells nine stories of the wonders Jesus worked, when he overturned the laws of nature and humanity. The atmospheric illustrations by Jackie Morris give enormous depth to the story with passion and involvement.
They include aspects of the days, such as the camels and donkeys patiently laden with goods, the people’s sense of awe and wonder at the miracles performed.
The books have been published in hard back by OtterBarry Books and will be an excellent reflection of the value on how to use exceptional authors and illustrators in the production of a Christian message.
On each page there is a title, a few questions to relate to our own lives and then the story as taken from the Bible. At the end of the book there is a page with full details of the references in the Gospels in the Bible giving full accounts of the stories.
The page, The Biggest Picnic in the World, is the story about the loaves and fishes that were fed to 5,000 people who had gathered to hear Jesus speak on the shores of Lake Galilee. No cafes or vans and stalls of food at that time, but there was one boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, and that did the trick!
Lost and Found is a book with the Parables that Jesus told, in the same style as Walking on Water.
Mary Hoffman and Jackie Morris have made a wonderful shared vision of the stories. They are both highly successful authors and there is a huge amount of material in their websites.
View, review or purchase this title here…
My favourite parable in the book is Lost and Found, the story of the Lost Sheep. Have you ever lost anything so precious that you will leave all behind to find the one thing you have lost?
Parables are stories that enable us to understand how truths can be seen in our lives.
These are wonderful books to have and we recommend them to children, parents and schools.
Sue Martin
Books Go Walkabout
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Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
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Tundra Mouse Mountain is a book about a journey, a journey to the Arctic with Sari and her mother, to fulfill her childhood promise.
‘What will you dream about tonight, Sari’ says her Mum. I’ll dream about bears or elk calves’, replies Sari.’
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And in the illustration we see Sari riding a large brown bear, and then a reindeer who stares and stares. Did you know that if you stare long enough at a reindeer, it will go to sleep? Maybe we should try it next time we are face to face with a reindeer.
Imagine: A Nordic Childhood takes place at the Southbank Centre from the 9th Feb – 19th Feb and is well worth a visit. Stop and take a look at the childrens Nordic books when you are there.
‘Many of the 5.5 million children who live in the Nordic countries are said to be the happiest in the world.
In 2013, UNICEF listed Norway, Iceland, Finland and Sweden as four of the top five places on the planet to be a child. Some of the Nordic countries top the charts when it comes to education, while others are considered the best places to be a mother.’
Worth spending time there, we are making a visit to The Southbank Centre and maybe even Finland!
Sue Martin
Books Go Walkabout
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Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.
Review or purchase this title from Amazon.co.uk here…
Adventivity House is an Advent Calendar and activity book rolled into one.
QED Publishing produced a very successful Adventivity title in 2014 . Instead of just opening a window on the Advent Calendar this book has a really good activity for each day of the Advent season.
There are some beautiful ideas including a sleigh from a match box with an elf on top, a Christmas wreath, and many others finishing with a spectacular day 25 Christmas carousel with reindeers, snowmen and angels.
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Everything you need for making the activities is included in the book with push out designs, stencils and card, or you could use your own materials and ideas based on the activity, depends how creative you are feeling! Each door reveals a a surprise and it will make a beautiful calendar and chance to get ready for Christmas.
Advent is a season for getting ready and being prepared. In all the preparations for presents and for eating and sharing together it is wonderful to have something that is creative and will give time to reflect on preparation for the true meaning of Christmas.
Sue Martin
Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.
Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.
Review or purchase this title from Amazon.co.uk here…
This book will show you how to create 20 brilliant games using Scratch, which is a free programming language and online resource for creating interactive stories, games and animations.
One of the best books we have seen on coding for children. The text and images are really clear and fun. It gives all the directions on cartoons, sound effects, creating a scoring system, how to move the sprites around the game, storing the info and lots, lots more.
The cat and mouse game means the cats are cloned so the mice really do have to watch out. You can make the cat creep as well as walk and develop repeat loop runs! Absolutely amazing! And totally fascinating.
So, before you buy this book and give straight to a young person, have a go at a game, suggest starting at the first one. I’m working on it now!!
Max Wainewright has written more than 20 educational software titles for children. His programs and websites have won a number of awards including BETT, ERA, and Practical Pre-School Gold Awards. Max also used to be a primary school teacher. He lives in London with his wife and two children.
QED, the publishers have a great list of titles and are very well known for their knowledge of children’s interests and in working with excellent authors. 20 Games to Create with Scratch is a brilliant book.
Sue Martin
Books Go Walkabout
Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.
Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.
Review or purchase this book from Amazon.co.uk here…
If you too have ever wanted to have a pet dragon, then this is the book for you!
A spectacular and fun spoof pet-care guide to dragons with everything you would ever need; taking your dragon to the vets, how to groom your dragon, teaching it to fly.
There are pages of fun facts, such as what to give your dragon to eat and what is not so good, brussel sprouts for instance are a complete No!
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When it comes to grooming the illustrations are really good and include a tiler fixing the scales, a chimney sweep for the fire and smoke places and much more.
Great team work on this book and makes an excellent book for children aged from 5 and above. It’s part of a series about dragons and includes The Egg and the Dragon Snatcher.
Sue Martin
Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.
Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.
The Little Pioneer tells a story of one little girl’s adventures as she journeys through America with hope to find a better life in California.
She soon discovers the excitement and dangers of travelling from the east to the west coast of America.
As the journey goes on this little girl learns what courage and determination you need to become a pioneer.
This book has amazing illustrations and I would suggest it is for ages 7-11.
Our guest reviewer: Emily Williams aged 12 years
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Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
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From Adder to Wren, forty fantastic poems celebrate forty amazing animals, birds and plants and their beautiful names – names which you can help poet Chrissie Gittins save from EXTINCTION!
The poems are brilliant, each page has a poem from Chrissie and illustration from Paul Bommer such as. Harry the Hamster…
‘Harry the hamster, in his ball
rolled round the bedroom,
rolled round the hall.
He rolled to the bathroom,
he rolled to the stairs
where a huge teddy bear
took him clean unawares’.
We recommend for ages 6+ and for all ages.
Sue Martin
Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.
Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.
Ifeoma is a writer, children’s author and photographer. Her books and photographs reflect life in Africa and are an amazing collection of images and stories.
There was a well attended post exhibition talk at Archway Library on Monday 1st August and Ifeoma talked about her work, her travels and her books.The next day there was a workshop and activities for children.
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Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
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A wonderful choice for Summer Holidays reads, they are packed with images of activities, around for instance, a building site. Trying to find the image amongst an array of pictures gets everyone searching, reading, looking and learning too. They are great fun!
These titles are part of the QED publishing for children’s books, which are excellently produced in style, content and feel. They are books to have and to read,which will linger on the table and the shelves.
Spot the Bird on the Building Site shows some major building projects, like cranes on buildings in London. There are facts on every page,such as, ‘ The world’s tallest crane is also the strongest. It can lift a load the weight of 12 blue whales over 50 storeys high.’
My favourite in the series is Spot the Seal around the World. It’s a tour around the continents of the world and images and a few facts to remember, such as, ‘ Oceania is made up of lots of islands- the biggest one is Australia.
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Spot the Mummy in the Museum has a curious mummy figure in bandages with two wide open eyes as it finds its way around the museum; the collections of dinosaurs, masks, buried treasures, Ancient Greeks and Romans , great to follow and acquire more information as you go over the pages.
We would recommend these books for a wide age group, as they will be easily delved into by 9 and 10 year olds, as well as exploring with 5/6 year olds along with parents and teachers.
Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.
Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.
Part 2: This article was written by Sue Martin, FRSA. Sue is our Partnership Bookseller and literacy and Early Years education specialist. Sue leads on our literacy projects at home and overseas.
Discover Seven Stories on-line here…
Michael Morpurgo, A Lifetime in Stories; an exhibition curated by Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books, Newcastle upon Tyne from the 2nd July 2016 to June 2017…
This is a unique opportunity to visit this remarkable collection of notebooks, manuscripts and correspondence that have been part of Michael Morpurgo’s story writing, life and dreams. The exhibition combines much of his life and ethos and is woven into an iconic display, on the fourth floor of Seven Stories.
Take your time…this exhibition requires that you stop and dream a while, reminisce or ponder on the way Michael can find stories in places, wherever he is; stories from the past, stories of animals, children and people, from war time and in present day. He is a great story-teller and story writer and the author of over 150 books for children, Children’s Laureate and a voice for reason and peace.
This blog will take you on our journey through the exhibition and point you in some directions, we hope it will mean you also will have chance to make this journey one day over the next year. It’s worth it!
Michael Morpurgo was born in 1943 and went to boarding school at seven, and eventually into military officer training at Sandhurst and then he became a teacher. He found the military life difficult and as a teacher he wanted to help children to be creative, give them opportunities, take them out into the world and fire their imaginations, tell stories. There was a clash between curriculum driven tasks and this approach. Later, with his wife Clare, they moved to Devon, where they developed Farms for City Children.
He became friends with Ted Hughes and learnt that, as he said, “I have a story of my own to tell and a voice of my own with which to tell it.”
Interesting quotes from the videos at the exhibition in the Dreamtime corner are; “Live an interesting life. Fill your head with this world, of which you are part, care about it deeply, make up your mind to write about events, memories, conversations and something will emerge.”
“Lose yourself in the story, get into it and go for it; know the people, the place, let the dreams in your head reach the pen on your page, tell it as if to your best friend, as a secret.”
There are many orange notebooks in the exhibition, school notebooks filled with Michael’s writing, thoughts, changes, crossings out and revision. He works and receives inspiration wherever he is, but his favourite place is his converted shepherds hut.
There are too many books to mention them all, but my favourites are; War Horse, which only sold a few thousand copies until it was made into a stage production and is now his most famous book. Farm Boy, the sequel to Joey the war horse, Why the Wales Came, set on Samson island in The Scillies. Along with The Wreck of the Zanzibar, Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea, The Dancing Bear and Waiting for Anya.
Seven Stories – nestling on the river bank…
There is a curiosity about the books, the man and his talents at finding the story and retelling in a wonderful style, which will mean further reading and an excuse to add more of his titles to our bookshelves.
A final quote… “I know it, lying under the sun on a summer’s night. I know it watching buzzards floating over the valley where I live. It is a learnt belonging from children who stop to gaze, to breath in the world about them, to feel part of it.”
Michael Morpurgo, A Lifetime in Stories at Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books, Newcastle upon Tyne. A digitised archive is available on www.sevenstories.org.uk/collection
Books and authors taken around the world…
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Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.
We use Stripe to handle your e-purchase. Buy with confidence from BgW. Customer FAQ's here.
