Featured illustrators – Page 4 – Bookmonitor

Peter Pan and Wendy by JM Barrie and illustrated by Robert Ingpen

Peter Pan and Wendy - Palazzo Editions - cover image — Get your copy here…

All children except one grow up! Maybe there are a few more, for those who read this book will inevitably not want to grow up”

In a most beautiful new edition of Peter Pan and Wendy, from Palazzo, the story is enhanced with deeply imaginative illustrations from Robert Ingpen.

Peter Pan flies into Wendy’s bedroom window in a house in London and with John and Michael, they fly away to Never Land.

Peter is the leader of the Lost Boys and meets his nemesis Captain Hook. From there along with Fairy Tinkerbell, the story and adventure begin.

J.M. Barrie left his royalties in perpetuity to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and this magnificent edition was published to commemorate the centenary of first publication and to continue as a fundraiser.

Robert Ingpen, is from Australia and first attempted illustrating Peter Pan at 7 years old. In 1986 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his contribution to children’s literature and he has been honoured with membership of the Order of Australia.

A world-renowned artist and author, Ingpen has designed, illustrated and written more than one hundred books, including his highly acclaimed series of illustrated Children’s Classics, which have now been published in many editions around the world.

This book is part of a wonderful series of Classic Children’s Literature from Palazzo and will provide hours of pleasure.

Sue Martin

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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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Arthur, High King of Britain

Arthur, High King of Britain by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman is in a new hardback edition recently published by Palazzo.

With the best of Morpurgo’s adventure style and with the captivating illustrations from Michael Foreman, bound together in this beautiful hardback book, it is a joy to read and provides a real sense of the man in the story.

Palazzo, are a young and independent, UK publishers creating beautifully designed and illustrated books for the UK and international markets. Their books are amazing and stylish, bringing back a huge amount of joy to reading, especially for children.

The adventure starts with a young boy setting out for the day, walking between tides, from Bryher to Samson, in the Scilly Isles. He knew he could do it, but when the fog circled round he was lost and not in time to make the return journey before the high tide would trap him. There he met Arthur Pendragon, High King of Britain.

They talked as the boy recovers by the fire and Arthur tells him that he also was once a wanderer and a dreamer and as he retells the stories he talks about his first meeting with Merlin.

The chapters include Excalibur, Lancelot and Guinevere and then to the Last Days of Camelot. The whole story of Arthur unfolds with heroes, knights, chivalry, magic, evil and betrayal.

A great read and a book for keeps, text full of intrigue and description, illustrations in water-colour washes and fine detail. Good for a present, for sharing in a classroom on history and PSHE topics, and for libraries and homes.

Dip in to a chapter at a time or start at the beginning, you will feel the magic of the book drawing you in.

Sue Martin

Books Go Walkabout

Mr Badger and the Magic Mirror by Leigh Hobbs

Mr Badger is a portly badger who gets into scrapes and adventures in Boubles Grand Hotel, where he works very hard.

Mr Badger and the Magic Mirror, is the fourth in the Mr Badger series from Australian Children’s Laureate, Leigh Hobbs.

One day a mirror is moved from the room of Sir Cecil Smothers-Carruthers to a place above the stairs.

But something is not quite right, Mr Badger inspects the mirror, and ends up falling straight through it, a magic mirror! The adventure has started and Mr Badger finds much more than he had bargained for!

A brilliant books with characters emerging from every page, illustrated with line drawings and bringing the book and Mr Badger to life.

Really good for children from 6 – 8 years, and for sharing with adults, who may just end up reading the book to themselves!

Leigh visits the UK regularly and we are pleased to work with Leigh for any events in the UK.

Sue Martin

Into The White, Scott’s Antarctic Odyssey by Joanna Grochowicz and illustrated by Sarah Lippett

A first children’s book for Joanna Grochowicz and an amazing start to a career in writing.

The book is full of adventure from beginning to end. This is a journey into the unknown, into a world full of extremes and hardship. It is an amazing story of a team bound together with courage and endeavour.

If you’re into happy endings, best look some place else. This story does not end well. This is a story where men die and their dreams of greatness with them. But it is a fine story and one that is worth telling, from heroic beginning to tragic end.

This is the story of Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition and the memorable characters, who with a band of shaggy ponies and savage dogs, followed a man they trusted into the unknown. Battling storms at sea, impenetrable pack ice, man-eating whales, crevasses, blizzards, bad food, extreme temperatures, and equal measures of hunger, agony and snow blindness, the team pushes on against all odds.

A thrilling story about leadership, resilience and facing adversity with courage, Into the White will leave you on the edge of your seat, hoping against hope that Scott and his men just might survive their Antarctic ordeal and live to tell the tale.

Joanna Grochowicz was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1972. Following a career as a business writer, Joanna decided to take the plunge and did a Masters in Creative Writing. Into the White is her first book.

“People fascinate me. I love oddballs and misfits, saints and creeps, the selfish, the needy, the dreary, the nerdy and the enormous tangle of real life characters you come across in life. History offers a boundless source of fascinating characters to reanimate. It can be a wonderful thing to rehabilitate a great story – like restoring a dilapidated castle and making it magnificent again.”

Sarah Lippett, the illustrator has created some classic drawings of the characters and the teams of ponies and dogs on the journey. For a book for 9-14 year olds, the sketches add hugely to the feel of the time period and of the difference in equipment between 1912 and 2017. The maps are wonderful and are a great help to plot the journey as you read through the book.

Into the White, is published by Allen and Unwin, Australia, who have created a wonderful paperback book of this epic journey.

It has just been released in the UK, on November 2^nd 2017 and is available to purchase in most good stores and on-line. (Link below…).

At Books Go Walkabout, we are delighted to be working with Joanna on her first visit to the UK from November 3rd 2017.

Sue Martin

Little People, Big Dreams from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

A brilliant series of books about the lives of women who have made a difference. Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, part of Quarto Knows, have produced eight books in this series, published in hardback, with stunning illustrations and aimed at children from around 6-9 years.

At Books Go Walkabout we know they also make excellent books for older children in schools around the world who are translating from their own language into English.

The three latest books, released in August 2017 are Rosa Parkes, Emmeline Pankhurst and Audrey Hepburn. If you would like to purchase them, we have an online purchasing system or you can contact us direct for larger quantities.

Little People Big Dreams Rosa Parks — Rosa Parks, an inspiring read…

Rosa Parks is written by Lisbeth Kaiser and illustrated by Marta Antelo.

Rosa was the ‘Mother of the Freedom Movement’ and an inspiring activist for civil rights in Alabama in the days of segregation on public transport.

Rosa refused to give her seat to a white person…read more here…

She knew that many of the rules just weren’t right and one day when travelling on a bus she refused to allow someone else to take her seat just because she was a black woman.

As a result she was taken from the bus and jailed. The rest is history! Rosa made such a difference to people’s lives. She remained a activist for the rest of her life and was an inspiration to many people.

Emmeline Pankhurst is written by Lisbeth Kaiser and illustrated by Ana Sanfelippo.

Emmeline was one of the famous suffragettes in the early 20^th Century protesting against the government for the vote for women, as up until 1918, women had no rights to vote.

‘Emmeline and her daughters became the leaders of a new group of women, a group that would stop following the rules and would fight for their rights. People called them suffragettes.’

Emmeline Pankhurst spoke to many people.

The text is appealingly written and gives a good idea of how life was in the early 20^th Century. The illustrations are delightful and add hugely to the impact of the book in portraying life at that time.

Audrey Hepburn

Isabel Sanchez Vegara (Author) and Amaia Arrazola (Illustrator)…

Audrey is an iconic figure from the 1950’s but her life started in Holland during the World War 2, she experienced hunger and became very ill. When her mother finally was able to come to England Audrey pursued her dream of acting and dancing starring in Gigi and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Later, when she had retired she became a Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF and travelled the world raising awareness of children needing food and medicine, something which she had experienced first-hand.

Audrey Hepburn and UNICEF Ambassador — Audrey Hepburn UNICEF Ambassador

The text is good to read and accessible for children from around the ages of 6, and the illustrations are beautiful, bold and full of character.

Little People, Big Dreams… an apt title for this series of books which will bring to young children the lives of people who have made a huge difference. Alongside the story there is a time-line and further historical context. Great little books in the classroom and library.

Sue Martin

The Philippa Pearce Lecture, September 8th, Homerton College, Cambridge

The Age of the Beautiful Book is the title of the 2017 Lecture which will be given by Chris Riddell, a multi award winning illustrator and political cartoonist, who was the Children’s Laureate from June 2015 – June 2017.

The series of lectures was established in 2008, as a living memorial to celebrate the achievement of author, Philippa Pearce, who lived close to Cambridge. Philippa’s most famous book was Tom’s Midnight Garden, which won the Carnegie Medal in 1958. There were many more books, including The Minnow on the Say. You can find lots of resources and information on The Philippa Pearce website.

Chris is going to talk about words and pictures working together for a reader both on the traditional page, and in a digital age. He will explore how books are ever more covetable as objects in their own right, as well as valued for the words and illustrations inside, plus how libraries remain vital as repositories for these beautiful productions.

Chris has now published his Laureate’s Log as a book with PanMacmillan and is a beautiful journey of his time as Laureate.

This will be an excellent opportunity to explore the interests and ideas of an esteemed author working in illustration and the value of books in their own right for children.

In today’s world, we are surrounded by media, in digital and paper and formats. Often the value is only seen in what we can instantly gain and attain from reading and looking at the books. There is much more to be developed in the ongoing level of cognitive interaction and illustrations in books.

At Books Go Walkabout we work with illustrators and authors across the world, including Leigh Hobbs, the Australian Children’s Laureate, who was recently in conversation with Chris at The Children’s Bookfair in Bologna.

Looking forward to the lecture, exploring the Laureate’s Log and listening to further tales.

Sue Martin

Pet Dragon – Dare to Care by M.P.Robertson and Sally Symes

Dare to Care Pet Dragon — Buy this book on-line here…

Have you ever wondered how to look after your dragon? Once caught and living with you, looking after a dragon is not an easy pet option!

From choosing the type of dragon to assisting in learning how to fly… this is the book for you!

The illustrations are captivating and appealing and dragons of all sorts and all colours and kinds are shown in detail of scales, fiery tongues and flames with boxes of text to read and enjoy.

The idea was conceived by M.P Robertson, and written by Sally Symes, and finally published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, who have a brilliant knack of spotting a great book potential.

If you are feeling brave… visit M.P Robertson website and you can find ways to draw and do more with dragons.

But first, we recommend that you buy the book and then when you have your dragon, let us know how.

PS Warning !! Never feed your dragon Brussel Sprouts!

Sue Martin

What on Earth? Bees

Explore, create and investigate with this wonderful book written by Andrea Quigley and illustrated by Paulina Morgan.

Are you busy as a bee? Bees are the hardest working insects on our planet and without them the world would be a very different place. From looking at the different types of bees to making honey flapjacks, this book takes you on a journey into the life of the bee, bees around the world, making honey, life in the hive and being a bee keeper.

It is packed with facts in this very intriguing style of text and illustration, both working cleverly to enhance the interest and develop a real sense of enjoyment, understanding and learning.

As part of the What on Earth series published by QED this is a great book to have in your home or in the library. I can think of many children from ages 6 -10 who would enjoy finding out more about bees using this book as a guide.

At Books GoWalkabout, we are working with schools in Hong Kong. For students who are learning English, this is a wonderful resource to use for students from 11 and upwards. We will be promoting this book in Asia.

Sue Martin

All the Wild Wonders Poems of our Earth

An amazing anthology of poems from Wendy Cooling, beautifully illustrated by Piet Grobler. The poems are compiled to do two things; to celebrate the beauty of the world and to notice the dangers.

Wendy Cooling, MBE, is well known in the world of children’s books, in the UK and beyond. She has contributed enormously to supporting the provision of books for young children and is also a celebrated anthologist.

She hopes that at least one of the poems lingers in the readers mind.

Poets are taken from different periods of time, and space, from Christina Rosetti to Benjamin Zephaniah.

Two of my favourites are; The Prayer Tree, Anon, ‘I am the beam that supports your house, the board of your table, the bed on which you lie... and The Old Windmill by Paul Bright, Catch the wind, just for an instant,Catch the wind , then let it go…

The illustrations are superb and involved in the words and lines of the poems, cleverly created by Piet Gobler in watercolour washes of subtle colours which support the poems in thought and feeling.

A recent release from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books and an excellent addition for any library, home or school.

You can buy the book now from Books Go Walkabout..

Sue Martin

Books Go Walkabout

Taking Flight by Adam Hancher

Taking Flight cover image and purchase link — Buy this book from BgW here…

Take Flight is the courageous and true story of the Wright brothers, the pioneers of flight!

Two brothers of humble origins who never gave up their childhood dream of being able to fly. In Dayton, Ohio in 1878, two boys stood in their backyard, mesmerised by their new toy; a helicopter that can hover in the air. “One day, I’m going to fly like that,” they agreed.

Written by Adam Hancher, an illustrator from London, Taking Flight tells in detail in words and images how two people followed their dream and managed to conquer problems and create a new way of travel. The book is a real insight into discovery, and although many years ago, this new experience is now part of so many peoples lives.

It is the first title in a new biographical series on inspirational figures called Dare to Dream, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Publishers. The series will be dedicated to inspirational figures throughout history who can teach children that with courage and determination you can make dreams a reality.

We thoroughly recommend this book for children, especially for ages 6-9 years.

Sue Martin