Dolphinbooksellers – Page 7 – Bookmonitor

Fly on the Wall books – See history as it happened, by Mick Manning and Brita Granstorm

The pages of these books are packed full of up to date information about the world of Romans, Vikings, Ancient Greeks and the Pharaohs. Brilliantly put together by Mick Manning and Brita Granstorm and published by Frances Lincoln.

They are a great resource for history in KS 1 and 2 to come alive and to keep young readers attention from beginning to end. Boys especially will love them.The layout and illustrations provide chunks of information that is appealing and easy to remember in a scrapbook style of layout.

Greek Hero– the page I loved was on Sparta and shows girls enjoying wrestling matches. Only boys were given an education and they learned philosophy, history and mathematics.

Roman Fort – children had toys like marbles and hoops and played games with balls and bats. Soldiers usually joined the army for 20 years but about half of all recruits didn’t survive long enough to retire.

Pharaoh’s Egypt – scribes were used to write and to read, as reading was only accessible by the rich, in fact, ordinary people who could read were thought to have the power of the gods!

Viking Longship- From invasion by a longship called the Sea Dragon to a deal with King Edmund, the book has amazing detail including a recipe for Birka Bread.

These are great books! Strongly recommended to schools we work with and also to parents.

Sue Martin – Dolphin Booksellers, the best in children’s books always on line

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Tell Me a Picture by Quentin Blake

Adventures in looking at Art is a brilliant book by Quentin Blake and published by Frances Lincoln in association with the National Gallery Company, London.

Quentin describes the vision for this book as a way for children to talk about the pictures, and the story that is within them. On each page there are characters alongside the picture with captions from the characters.

Great to watch on Quentin Blake’s web page.

The book was originally published in 2001 and this new edition is in hard back and makes a truly beautiful book to have for home and for school.

On choosing the pictures, Quentin says,

‘All the pictures in this book are the ones I like, and if you like them too you may eventually want to know more about them and the artists who created them, so there are many notes about the artists…at the end of the book.‘

Tell Me a Picture is a book with real adventures in looking at art, and if you buy this book it will lead into further adventurers I’m sure.

Sue Martin – Children’s Books in Dolphin Booksellers and BooksGoWalkabout

World Book Day 2015

March 5th 2015

The Biggest Book show on Earth…. is how World Book Day is described. With children all over the world dressing up and just getting down to reading, there are all sorts of things to do. Share a story competition, Dress Up and Donate, The Biggest Bookshop in Earth Online and a World Book Day, Lucky Dip… plus of course the £1 offer on loads of books.

BooksGoWalkabout is offering a free conversation with one of our authors from across the world. It can be to any school with internet connection that can skype out.

BGW logoJS Check out the offer at World Book Day events

Have fun on World Book Day.

Sue Martin Books Go Walkabout-

Daisy’s Big Dig

‘You are invited to a Digging Party and there will be free cakes and even some hidden treasure.’

Daisy’s Big Dig is one of the new books from Francis Lincoln this Spring, through Janetta Otter-Barry Books. It is written and illustrated by Angie Morgan, and the pastels and watercolour mixes make for some brilliant illustrations throughout the book.

‘The people who live in Daisy’s street, never, ever talk to each other. But Daisy has a big plan to bring everyone together- a Digging Party!’

This must make a welcome change to all parents who try and find the latest in childrens themed parties.

A great book written and illustrated beautifully and published by such a successful childrens book publisher.

Sue Martin Dolphin Booksellers – Children’s Books on line

The Christmas Miracle
by Jonathan Toomey

When Jonathan Toomey gruffly agrees to make a set of nativity figures the heart warming Christmas miracle begins.

Happy Christmas

Sue Martin

http://www.booksgowalkabout.com

http://www.dolphinbooksellers.co.uk

iBbY 21st Annual Conference Belonging is…

IbbY uk – 21st Annual IBBY UK/NCRCL

MA Conference, University of Roehampton, Saturday 8th November 2014

‘Belonging is…an exploration of the right to be included and the barriers that must be overcome’

Something that is deep inside us all is the need to belong, to belong to our family, to belong to a group of friends, to belong to the places that we are part of in our work and free time.

A good theme for the conference and met with enthusiasm by all present.

The topics ranged from inclusivity and diversity, against the need for publishers commercial concerns,.

It was really interesting to hear about The International Conference held in Mexico this year. Pam Dix, the chair of iBbY UK, and other members who attended the Congres International de IBBY gave a wonderful account of the global dimensions and international development in children’s books and the need to pursue an agenda of translation.

Alexandra Strick, from Inclusive Minds encouraged others to join their collective and share ways of enabling inclusivity and the creation of characters with needs being just part of the story rather than being a stereotype of special needs.

Julia Hope, who has carried out a great deal of research on refugees in the primary classroom, gave a brilliant account and gave examples of children’s books which are fundamental to the story and narrative of refugees. These included; The Silver Sword by Ian Serrailer, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr and Waiting for Anya by Michael Morpurgo.

Always a good day with time for reflection and thoughts about the role and immense importance of children’s literature.

Sue Martin – Books Go Walkabout and Dolphin Booksellers

Wide Eyed Editions

Wide Eyed Editions is a new imprint of Quarto Publishing Group UK.

This is a very recent addition to the publishing group’s portfolio and includes some amazing publications, which will be available in March 2015. The site is excellent to look through and the Wide Eyed Blog has some of the best images ever.

Definitely one to include in your favourites or Pinterest, and to follow on Twitter.

Wide Eyed are creators of non-fiction for children and families and believe that books should encourage curiosity about the world, inspiring readers to set out on their own journey of discovery.

The illustrators and authors will bring a new sense of wonder to classic themes in simple, quality formats that look and feel like beautiful objects.

The first tranche of books includes the images below and if you click through you can access about 10 pages of the books from the Wide Eyed website.

Sue Martin Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books always on-line…

Twitter @booksgowalk

New titles for October
Frances Lincoln

Four great new titles from the publisher Frances Lincoln this month.

Beautifully created with thought and care, they all make splendid additions to your bookshelf at home or to the library.

The Magic Bojabi Tree by Dianne Hofmeyer and Piet Grobler.

Folktales from Africa.

‘Python has wrapped himself around the melon/mango/pomegranate tree with its delicious fruit, and he won’t share the fruit unless the animals can tell him the correct name of the tree. Elephant, Monkey and Zebra each in turn visit Lion, who alone knows the name of the tree…’

My Life as a Goldfish and other poems
by Rachel Rooney.

I just love the title and it is excellent for jokes, rhymes and surprises.

‘A monster’s lunch, a wolf boy, Monday mornings, monkeys, headlice, Christmas, making friends, goldfish – and lots more. Full of jokes, surprises and puzzles, but also sensitive and thought-provoking, this is a spellbinding new collection from the winner of the CLPE Poetry Award…’

How the Library Saved Rapunzel by Wendy Meddour (and illustrated by Rebecca Ashdown)

Living on the 16th floor, the only thing that saves Rapunzel is the work in the library.

‘Rapunzel sits on the sixteenth floor of an inner city block, bored, dreaming and looking out at the rain. No one can rouse her from her apathy, not the milkman or the postman or the baker or her aunt – or even the prince. But when at last a letter is delivered, it contains news that has Rapunzel on her feet again. She has a new job at the library! And suddenly her life is busy, sparkling, exciting and stimulating…’

Unos, Dos, Tres, by Yanitzia Canetti and illustrated by Patrice Aggs

This is a beautiful collection of Spanish words and phrases.

“Simple songs and rhymes are an excellent way to familiarise young children with another language. Uno Dos Tres a collection of 25 traditional nursery rhymes, is a delightful way to introduce Spanish. An illustrated vocabulary features simple words and phrases that are easy to learn and that can be used in games or everyday life. Children are encouraged to repeat the phrases and sing along with the rhymes, and the included CD lets them know how both should sound…”

School Librarian of the Year Award 2014

In 2014, there were three exceptional librarians on the Honours List and we were pleased to be able to attend the ceremony held by the Schools Library Association.

This year Liz Millett, Teaching Assistant/Library Co-ordinator at Weatherfield Academy, Dunstable, has been awarded the honour of the SLA School Librarian of the Year 2014 at a celebration at the Hotel Russell in London on 6 October. Award-winning author and artist Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children’s Books) presented her with the award.

Weatherfield Academy is a special school for students aged 7 to 19 with Moderate Learning Difficulties and additional complex needs. There are 117 pupils in the school with 52% attracting Pupil Premium funding and entitled to free school meals and 32% in social care. Much of the curriculum is aimed at giving students lifelong skills. In 2009 a room was adapted for the library and Liz Millett took on the job of developing it. The pupils make good levels of progress, as judged by Ofsted in 2013.

Liz says “My aim is to increase their pleasure from reading whatever level they are at to make sure they are not frightened by books or put off them, so that they will come to see reading as something they will always have for themselves.”

To read more about Liz go to: http://www.sla.org.uk/liz-millett.php

Sue Martin – Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books, always on line

Something About a Bear
by Jackie Morris

This is just Amazing!!

A golden brown book full of beautiful images all about bears. This is the latest from Jackie Morris, written and illustrated this year, published on 2nd October by Frances Lincoln.

‘Let me tell you something about a bear…

Where the water churns with the salmon, there the Brown Bear stands and catches the wild king of the river.

Eight wild bears – Moon Bear, Sun Bear, Sloth Bear, Brown Bear,Spectacled Bear,American Black Bear, Giant Panda and Polar Bear, all in their own habitats and some info about each of them.

The last page is the best! Brown Bears paws, just waiting to be touched, if you dare!

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books always on line.

Four great new titles from the publisher Frances Lincoln this month.

The Magic Bojabi Tree by Dianne Hofmeyer and Piet Grobler.

My Life as a Goldfish and other poems by Rachel Rooney.

How the Library Saved Rapunzel by Wendy Meddour (and illustrated by Rebecca Ashdown)

Unos, Dos, Tres, by Yanitzia Canetti and illustrated by Patrice Aggs

My Life as a Goldfish and other poems
by Rachel Rooney.