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Christmas - with a little help from the toys...

A beautiful, gold foiled Christmas story about Father Christmas making sure each child has the right gift - with a little help from their toys!

It is Christmas Eve and Noah’s toy elephant Fanfan has gone missing!

But Fanfan has an important place to go to. Every year he and other toys travel to the same place in a clearing in the woods where a very special person is waiting to see them all.

This person who wears red clothes and has a large white beard is writing a list for all the toys’ children.

The illustrations are truly beautiful with a far away feel to them, perfect for the story of The Toys Christmas. Genevieve Godbout has a unique style, excellent for children’s books and has captured the essence of this story.

The author Claire Clement has written the story which is a delight and so good for a Christmas bedtime tale.

Genevieve lives in Montreal where she works as a children's book and fashion illustrator. She studied traditional animation in Montreal and at the prestigious school of Gobelins in Paris. Genevieve was born and raised in Quebec, but spent seven years in London, UK, after her stay in France.

Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, part of the Quarto Group have a wonderful flair for publishing amazing children’s books with high quality illustrations and text.

The Toys’ Christmas is a beautiful hard back picture book which will make the perfect present for children aged from 2- 6 years.

Sue Martin - Children's Literacy Specialist

 

 


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


 

The Little Fir Tree is by Hans Christian Andersen and re-imagined by Christopher Corr in this beautiful paper back picture book from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

When the tree is taken into town at Christmas it feels like all his dreams have come true. But what happens after Christmas?

A delightful retelling of this original story with  text set amidst illustrations from Christopher Corr, which are bright, engaging and tell the story in their own right.

The Little Fir Tree wishes and dreams of all the things he could see and places he could visit but the birds laughed at him and said,

“ Don’t wish your life away, little tree, Every moment is precious. Look at the sunlight falling through the green leaves. It is so beautiful.”

And then the little fir tree is cut down by some lumberjacks and taken into town where  he is bought and carried into a grand house and placed in a beautiful room. Children come and decorate him with wonderful things and he feels he very proud.

So when he  is taken out of the house he doesn’t know what will happen to him… But all ends well and what happens next is for you to read in the book itself!

Just the right gift for Christmas, and why not put it on your own Christmas tree, or maybe a present for the tree itself!

I am saving my book for story time around the tree on Christmas Eve...

Sue Martin     Children's Literacy Specialist

Dolphin Book Blog, part of Books Go Walkabout

 

 


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


 

Michelle grew up as a young child  on the south side of Chicago. She  worked hard at school  and from High School attended Princeton University, where she became one of their finest graduates. From Princeton she went on to Harvard, and graduated in law.

We know Michelle Obama as a very famous First Lady of the United States from 2009-2017, in fact the first African American woman to ever serve in this position, being married to Barack Obama. Michelle  wasn’t just a good lawyer, she worked with not-for-profit organisations. She now campaigns for poverty awareness, education, health and many things which prevent people being able to be the best they can be.

Little People, Big Dreams captures the heart of Michelle as a person who follows her beliefs and work tirelessly to support and help those who cannot. Equality is at the core of what Michelle does.

If you already have a collection of Little People, Big Dreams, this book of Michelle Obama will be the perfect addition. If you are just getting started on Little People, Big Dreams,  there is no better place  to start.

Written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara and illustrated by Mia Saine, this is an amazing series of books about people, about people who started small but had big dreams for the future. It makes a perfect series for any school library and for home too.

Publishers are Francis Lincoln, part of the Quarto Knows, and they have the way of creating books where you can dive straight in and stay immersed for a long time! This empowering book features stylish and quirky images with extra facts at the back plus a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the inspiring woman’s life.

My review copy is going straight to a small school nearby, which have a whole shelf of Little People, Big Dreams.

Sue Martin

 

 


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Tatenda says a great BIG THANK YOU!!  This time it cheers up the whole community. Because lately it seems that everyone's heads are too foggy with worry to hear Tatenda, This book was inspired by the Thursday Clap for Carers. Whilst we are still in the Covid19 pandemic it is a good opportunity to continue to say thank you. 

A picture book with a real difference and a strong message. Now, as we enter our second lock-down it has real resonance, people's heads are '...foggy with worry and clouded with fear'.

Tatenda has the HUGEST Thank You  and it becomes a rainbow of colour which he tries to capture and as everyone tries to help him, people start talking again, they start looking each other in the eye and they all join in to make the BIGGEST thank you yet.

Joseph Coelho, the author, decided to write this story when we were all first at home.  We joined in with everyone on the street to say thank you to all who helped us get through this crisis. Joseph wants to underline the 'power in gratitude' and as he says, 'a power that is available to us all, old and young, big and small.'

Along with illustrator Sam Usher and publishers, Frances Lincoln they have created a book which we can all use at anytime and especially now, in the second lock-down in the UK 2020.

A simple message, told from the heart, THANK YOU! 

Sue Martin


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Brains are amazing! They are responsible for every single thing we do.

The Great Big Brain Book shows how our brains work and all the things and activities we do are directed by the brain, from sleeping and dreaming, to language and memory.

Illustrations and bite sized sections of text deliver the facts in an engaging and memorable way. You can use them to explore more about the subject or as an introduction to how are bodies and minds work together so well.

It is part of the series of The Great Big.... books about all sorts of things which children ask about all the time. It gives some answers and is a fascinating collection of thought processes.

At home I have a very large and detailed book about the brain, so far I have only ever read the first chapter, so maybe this will help me to get a little further!

Mary Hoffman is an internationally acclaimed author of over 120 books for children, with an amazing selection of genres, titles and age groups.

Ros Asquith who has partnered Mary on many books is the illustrator with  such a distinctive style and aptitude for pictures that will be a great part of the text for young children.

Frances Lincoln Children's Books are the publishers and The Great Big Brain Book not only joins an amazing series but an amazing publisher of total quality books.

 

Sue Martin


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Discover how Astrid Lindgren grew up to become a best loved author, and creator of Pippi Longstocking, the character who never wanted to grow up. 

It is from Frances Lincoln Children's Books, Little People, BIG DREAMS series. We discover that at the age of four, Astrid met a whole new world of giants, fairies as a friend read to her and she discovered books.

Astrid did her best to learn to read as soon as she could, once she had exhausted the local library she started to write her own books. There was no stopping Astrid and she wrote many books including the much acclaimed stories of Pippi Longstocking.

Published  on March 3rd, this book is just in time for World Book Day on 5th March. It is a wonderful autobiography of Astrid Lindgren and contains a time line of important aspects of her life. There are now over 36 titles in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series and they are a great collection for any school or home.

Isabel Sanchez Vegara is the author and  she is excited by new concepts in children's' books and a creative way to enhance active learning.

Linzie Hunter is the illustrator, with a wealth of experience, including work for Apple, BBC and The Guardian. The illustrations are endearing and full of character.

A moving book, with a story to match with stylish and quirky illustrations, a great addition to the series and a great book for World Book Day.

Sue Martin


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Toad has Talent cover image and web link
Buy this book here...

A beautifully illustrated book in hardback, teaching children that they don't know what they can do until they try! Full of animal characters who all perform, until the little snail realises that toad has not given it a go!

Every year when Moonlight Pond freezes over, a talent contest takes place deep in the woods. Ducks dance, mice perform... But guess which little animal doesn't compete.

Toad watches the talent show from behind his rock, careful to keep hidden, because Toad doesn't have a special talent... or so he thinks!

 

In the days of TV talent shows this is a great book to show that all children can have try to take part. The illustrations are full of atmosphere and humour and mix well with the story, making you wonder which came first, the story or the pictures?

Richard Smythe graduated from an illustration Master's degree in 2010 and has since worked with a number of publishers including Frances Lincoln.

 

'He's amazing' shouted the Moose,  when Toad danced and twirled. Guess who was the winner of the competition?

Sue Martin

 


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Look Fo Ladybird in Plant city
Buy this book on-line here...

Ladybird has gone missing! Daisy is so worried, as Ladybird heads for Plant City and may be lost forever!

Basil the detective, and Daisy, search and search through this amazing Technicolor array of places and creatures.

This is a Technicolor 'search and find' book, like no other. The artwork is amazing and very detailed, so finding the ladybird on each page takes some searching. But she is there, just keep looking.

The scenes are full of energy and packed with things to look at, children will have great fun finding all sorts of things as well as the ladybird; like the aphid juice bar or a root pizza in the restaurant.

 

This is the first in a series of books from Katherine Manolessou, published by Frances Lincoln and is definitely one to watch out for and to buy. The format is in hard back and a really good size for opening out on the carpet and sharing together in the search for ladybird.

Katherine is an up and coming illustrator who has worked with Ted Baker, The Guardian and Random House and is also an Associate Lecturer at Camberwell College of Arts. Her previous book with Frances Lincoln is Tveg: The Story of a Carrot Crunching Dinosaur.

Thoroughly recommend  Look For Ladybird in Plant City, we are sure you will have huge amounts of fun.

Sue Martin


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Tug of War cover image and web link
Buy this book here...

When Elephant and Hippo are nasty to Tortoise, he shows them that while he may not be big, he certainly is brainy!

A funny and heart warming story from a well-known myth from West Africa with beautiful illustrations and meaningful text.

Tortoise is out to find a friend in the jungle but is called names by the two biggest creatures around, the elephant and the hippopotamus. With the help of bird, tortoise decides to let them know that he is worth having as a friend,even if he is not extra-large and grey.

A tug of war follows and elephant and hippo fall over backwards in a very inelegant position, as the rope eventually snaps. They discover that it would be good to have tortoise as a friend.

Tug of War
Great illustrations!

A second book from Naomi Howarth, whose debut novel, The Crow's Tale was shortlisted for the 2015 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. Naomi has huge talent in illustration and a background of working in art in costume and film, leading to a stunning career in children's illustrations and writing.

 

Published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books, we know that you will love this hard back book at home, in the library and at nursery and school.

Sue Martin


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


Elliot's Arctic Surprise -cover image and web link
Buy this book here...

Elliot was on holiday by the sea. He went for a paddle and built a sand whale. It was fun but what he really wanted was an adventure...

He finds a message in a bottle from Father Christmas, asking for urgent help to save his home. Elliot sails to the Arctic with children from all over the world. to stop the oil drillers and to rescue the Arctic.

A  great picture book with a plenty of meaning. Through the story and  illustrations we follow Elliot in his quest and discover icebergs falling into the sea, oil rigs creating heat and undermining the stability of the Arctic.

Written by Catherine Barr and illustrated by Francesca Chesa and published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

 

The book has been developed in conversation with Greenpeace and the blurb on the back cover from Booktrust states, 'If the people of the world unite to protect the planet, there is hope for a better future.'

A good reason why children's books are so important in creating an understanding of truths and  reasons for making a difference.

Sue Martin


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.