Ella Paton Illustrates

I bought this book whilst at University studying children's book Illustration. The use of an alien as a main character who see's our world from an outsiders perspective was fascinating and made me think more about how a child see's the world that we take for granted. Basic plot: Beegu is a child alien who gets accidently left behind on a trip to Earth. Beegu explores and tries to find friends and make connections in this unknown and alien world. There are high points and low

This was bought purely because of the Author, we are big Emily Gravett fans in this house (can you tell?) and this came up on Amazon and I thought it looked fun and cute so bought it. (I have a book problem and no, I'm not ashamed!). I'm glad we did buy this, it's an odd book and has a slightly unusual rhythm to it but it's a really simple feel good story about acceptance of difference and how not all families look the same. Basic plot: Duck wants to lay an egg, all the other

This is an oldie but a goodie on our bookshelf! This book was bought on a trip to visit friends who live by Wales and spotting a cute local bookshop I had to pop in and found this gem in  the children's section.  Shortly after we got home we met up with Grandma and Grandad and they'd bought this Jellycat Monkey as Little Q was really into monkeys at the time. The timing was great as suddenly we had this awesome book and her very own Monkey to have adventures with! Basic plot:

This book was uncovered from a pile of books at the library by Little Q's Grandma, she just pulled it out and went ' ooh I like this illustration style' and I just leapt to have a look! That is a strong argument for a lovely clear front cover! Also the title was clear and implied some sharing social skills exploring which with a 2 yr old is quite the recurring theme! Basic plot: Little mouse finds a bear sitting on his chair, Bear is oblivious to Little Mouse's annoyance and

This weeks book is brought to you by my own inability to say no to fun looking books when out and about … noticing a trend here? This book was bought in Brighton and the visual links to Brighton landscapes tugged those nostalgic heart strings to the city I grew up in and I couldn't resist. Basic plot: Some new neighbours move into a slightly conservative neighbourhood and are met with prejudice and assumptions. This is a story about not judging people hidden in a hilarious ta

This weeks book is brought to you by my own inability to say no to fun looking books on Amazon. Whilst buying a book as a birthday present for one of little Q's friends this came up as a deal if bought with the original purchase and thanks to prime, 24 hours later it came through the door. Oops! Basic plot: What do animals sit on ? Cat seems very sure of himself. Frog is not convinced. By the end of it the lovely rhyme meant that little Q was nodding along to the rhythm of t

This weeks book is brought to you by little Q's Auntie Alice who gifted us this inspired piece of literature. Initially thought that it might be a bit long but its become a firm favourite in this household. Basic plot: a bear finds a piano in the woods, gets really good, becomes famous. The subtleties are what makes this book so beautiful and a book you want to return to again and again. The illustrations seem to be a blend of print, drawn and digitally manipulated that creat

As an aspiring children's book illustrator (there, I said it, secrets out!) I love to peruse the children's book section and am awed by the range of ideas, fantastic characters and wonderful messages that you see available now. I consider this good small business research as well as good for the soul. Luckily I seem to have passed this on to little Q and we will happily spend most Friday afternoons in the library looking through the books on offer and choosing our reading mat