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Everybody Counts by Kristin Roskifte

An amazingly illustrated book, packed with illustrations to find your way into and beyond, through the story and the numbers. There are hosts of visual stories and things to spot on every page. Counting games from 0-7.5 billion! It celebrates difference throughout the book and it says it all in the title, Everybody Counts! It is the winner of the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize 2019.

In the book, there are an amazing 2768 people! It has been sold already to 26 countries, a great success and crosses the barriers of language. It is also perfect for prompting stories and curiosity, with lots of questions to encourage interaction and thoughtfulness . Celebrating differences is a keen theme in the book, where the illustrations show everyone is different and every one counts.

It is the winner of the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize 2019 and Martin Salisbury, Professor of Illustration at Cambridge School of Art says, “ Everybody Counts is an extraordinary book for our times, which I’m sure will go on to win many more awards.”

Wide Eyed Editions are delighted to be publishing Everybody Counts in 2020 and release date is 4th February.

Kristin Roskifte is a Norwegian illustrator and author who studied illustration at Cambridge School of Art and Kingston University and she is inspired by differences and similarities between people.

Everybody Counts is a fantastic book to have in your home, at school and in libraries, it will be read, looked through, explored and much more.

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.

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Frida Kahlo at V&A Museum in London

Frida Kahlo - cover image and web link — Start your art journey here…

The V&A Museum in London is holding an exhibition of the work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

In our Dolphin Book Blog we wrote about the Little People, Big Dreams series of books from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books featuring Frida, and are delighted that this exhibition is taking place. This book can be purchased by clicking on the book cover.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist born in 1907, she painted many portraits, including self-portraits with a strong style and combination of colour, realism and surrealism. Frida was interested in politics and in 1927 joined the communist party, where she met Diego Riviera. Later that year they married and through a tumultuous time they travelled across Mexico and the United States in the 1930’s.

Buy this book - image and web link — …with free delivery!

In 1938 Frida had a solo exhibition in The Julien Levy Gallery in New York, which led to other exhibitions, some solo and some with Diego. After an exhibition in Paris, the Louvre purchased one of Frida’s paintings, which was the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collections.

Self-portrait on the Border between Mexico and the United States of America, Frida Kahlo, 1932. © Modern Art International Foundation, Courtesy María and Manuel Reyero.

In 1953, Frida had her first solo exhibition in Mexico, but sadly her health had deteriorated and she died in 1954 at the age of 47. By the 1970’s Frida became a recognised figure in art history and also as an icon for Chicanos, the feminist movement and LGBTQ movement.

The exhibition at the V&A Museum presents an extraordinary collection of personal artefacts and clothing belonging to Frida, which has been locked away for over 50 years. There are also some of her paintings and the chance to see this remarkable style should not be missed.

Sue Martin

Little People, Big Dreams

The Little People, Big Dreams series is published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

Agatha Christie - cover image and web purchase link — Purchase this book from BgW here…

The books tell the lives of outstanding people who went on to achieve incredible things,yet all of their ideas began life as a dream.

The two newest books in the series follow Marie Curie and Agatha Christie. Marie Curie who loved learning in science, when women were not usually scientists, and Agatha Christie, who taught herself to read at the age of 5, and went on to be one of the most well known crime writers

The books are written by Isabel Sanchez Vegara, from Barcelona, Spain and she brings a fresh approach to learning for life.

The books are superbly illustrated in syles which fit the era of the characters. Frau Isa is from Vienna and has a dreamy nostalgic style which fits well with the Marie Curie book.

Marie Curie cover image and web purchase link — Purchase this book from BgW here…

Elisa Munso is from the University of Barcelona and illustrated the Agatha Christie book in amazing black, white and red sketches.

Each of these inspiring and informative little biographies comes with extra facts about Marie and Agatha’s lives as an addition to the story and creates a timeline of the period to base the story.

It would be ideal for linking to International Women’s Day on March 8th and also 2017 is the 150th anniversary of Marie Curie’s birth, so some brilliant timing.

[plasso id=”CGRDcjrzDs” text=”Buy any of these books from BgW here…”]

Recommended for ages 7 plus.

Sue Martin

Books Go Walkabout

The Dragon’s Hoard by Lari Don and Cate James

Dragons are looming large in our blogs this month!

The Dragon’s Hoard has eleven amazing stories from Viking Sagas, and it’s packed with warriors, battles, Berserkers, monsters and zombies. A really good book for story time as the nights get longer and darker in the northern hemisphere.

Lari Don is the author and Cate James is the illustrator in this recently published book from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. As a team the production of this book is brilliant, it brings mythical and historical characters to life through the excellent stories and wonderful illustrations.

It can be used as a good resource for Key Stage 2 National Curriculum work on the Vikings. It is a very creative and inspiring read on the Viking period of history from long ago. It is a good book to have in the library and also at home as the short stories are easy to share together and will bring some magic to stories around the fire or at bedtime.

Lari Don was born in Chile and has lived in Scotland for a long while, a keen interest in Scottish Landscapes and myths and fables. She has written many books including the award winning YA novel Mind Blind.

Cate James lives in Sydney and has many successful books including the Lollipop and Grandpa series. She also is a volunteer visiting artist at the Sydney Children’s Hospital.

And as for the dragon’s tales… maybe we can find some more to add to this months collection of dragons good and bad, friendly and fierce.

Sue Martin

The Phillipa Pearce Lecture 2016

Minnow on the Say by Phillipa Pearce — Review or buy this book from Amazon.co.uk

The 2016 Phillipa Pearce Lecture promises great things… Allan Ahlberg has titled his lecture John Wayne & Sibelius or The Train Has Rain In It.

The lecture will be held on Thursday 1st September at 5.00pm at Homerton College, Cambridge.

It is an annual event and hosted as a tribute to the wonderful work of Phillipa Pearce who grew up close to Cambridge in the 1930’s. Her most famous books include; Tom’s Midnight Garden, Minnow on the Say and A Dog So Small.

Allan Ahlberg is the author of over a hundred books for children and winner of many awards, including two Greenaway prizes for Each Peach Pear Plum and The Jolly Postman.

He tells brilliantly funny stories and he has some fine collections of poetry.

We are looking forward very much to the lecture.

Sue Martin Books Go Walkabout

Cambridge

Adder, Bluebell, Lobster
Wild Poems by Chrissie Gittins

Adder, Bluebell, Lobster - book cover image — Review or buy from Amazon.co.uk here…

There is more to this Wild Book of Poems from Otter-Barry Books than meets the eye!

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!

They are all words which have been left out of the latest Oxford Junior Dictionary. Join authors such as Michael Morpurgo and Margaret Atwood, who along with 28 other authors, protested against Oxford Junior Dictionary’s replacement of natural words with 21st century terms.

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

Ifeoma Onyefulu -Exhibition of Photography,
Archway Library, London

A talk at Archway Library image — Ifeoma and her Archway audience…

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.

Ifeoma’s exhibition was held at Archway Library in Islington, London. The photographs were from Ifeoma’s travels over the last few years in Africa including Senegal, Mali, Nigeria and Ghana.

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.

Visit ifeomaonyefulu.co.uk and you will find lots of information about her books and her travels, a really interesting blog and series of adventures into African countries.

Our team work with Ifeoma and are delighted that her exhibition was such a success.

Her most well known book, A is for Africa, is out in a new edition this year and published by Frances Lincoln and is a great book to have.

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers

Books Go Walkabout

Spot the Bird on the Building Site by Sarah Khan

Spot the Bird on the Building Site is a new book in this series of Spot the… by Sarah Khan and illustrated by Moreno Chiacchiera. It is published by Quarto Kids, QED.

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.

Spot the Seal around the World cover image — Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk

Spot the Mummy in the Museum cover image — But this title from Amazon.co.uk

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.

Have fun reading, exploring and finding out…

Sue Martin

Dolphin Booksellers and Books Go Walkabout

Outside. A Guide to Discovering Nature

A real discovery book, excellent in all aspects at creating a love of nature, finding out and just getting outside with a purpose.

Outside. A Guide to Discovering Nature was published by Frances Lincoln in March 2016 and is a great book to buy now for the summer holidays and for enjoying time together in the Big Outside.

The authors are: Maria Ana Peixe Dias and Inês Teixeira do Rosário and illustrated by Bernardo P. Carvalho, all from Portugal.

This book won the Bologna Regazzi award, which aims to arouse curiosity about fauna, flora and to get to know the outside world.

Every page turned has an intriguing illustration or fascinating information in the text. From how to build a swing and reach the clouds, with facts about making a swing in a tree to the different types and styles of beaks on birds! It is literally packed with information for children ages, 8-12 and for adults who have maybe forgotten that stuff or never knew!

Who does this footprint belong to?
What is this worm up to?
What is the name of this tree?

Even if we live in the city, nature is still all around us: clouds and stars, trees and flowers, rocks and beaches, birds, reptiles or mammals.
What are we waiting for?

I will definitely be using this book through the summer and can’t wait for a child or two to share our time in the Outside. A Guide to Discovering Nature.

Very much recommended!!

Sue Martin

Books Go Walkabout Dolphin Bookshelf

Kalpana in Nepal

We have been supporting Kalpana and her family in Nepal for five years now. She is the oldest girl in her family and they live in the countryside and mountains of Nepal.

We were delighted to receive these photos of her with her brothers and sisters, looking so happy and a real family.

We send money to Kalpana’s uncle, Bhim Bahadur Sunawar to help give Kalpana an education. Although recently, the money has been needed just to help with their housing and shelter after the earthquakes.

I journeyed to Nepal in 2010 on the Everest Base Camp Trek. I suffered badly from altitude sickness, two days from the base camp at 14,000ft, and Bhim was the guide who walked me down the mountains on our own over four days.

The link on the photo will take you to the blog.

If we can help in some way to support Kalpana and her family we know this goes directly to making her life better.

We send money, books and clothes and hope one day to visit again with a Books Go Walkabout project.

Revd Sue Martin FaithGoesWalkabout.org

Kalpana in Nepal2