Seen and Not Heard

The children of Shiverhawk Hall are to be seen and not heard... So what do you think they get up to when no one's around?! Pillow fights and midnight feasts (starting with pudding of course!) but they must be back in the nursery before sunrise.




This is a lovely book to read aloud, the words skip, stop and rhyme over the pages. Every little detail has been thought about in this delightful picture book, the names of the children alone make the book pretty darn cool:
Lily and Percy Pinksweet
Billy Fitzbillian III
Lila and Vila DeVillechild
Prudence, Peter and Pearl Plumsey

Katie May Green's illustration is so soft, with sweeping neutral colours throughout and cheeky grins from all the children. Katie got some of her inspiration from old Victorian paintings of children - see her post on Walker Books' website here

Oh and don't forget to look out for the black cat on nearly every page and the teeny tiny mice!

Seen and Not Heard by Katie May Green is published by Walker Books in hardback at £11.99 and is available at all good bookshops and at waterstones.com

Before After

Firstly, format wise this book offers something different - it’s a large hardback fiction size but purely illustrated, not a single word graces the pages.

I really love the way that this book says so much with pictures, and pictures alone. Each page depicts a before and after scenario - an acorn and an oak tree, an inkwell and quill opposite a typewriter, a pumpkin and a carriage. Some are fairly obvious, a caterpillar and butterfly for example. Whereas others are more complex, a rocking horse and a rocking chair. Each double page spread is a delight - the simple drawings and choice of colours are perfect.

Reading in sequence, page after page, you’ll notice a few of the images are potentially connected in one way or another but I won't spoil it... A particularly lovely book to discover with children (and adults!)

This gorgeous book by Anne-Margot Ramstein & Matthias Aregui is published by Walker Books is available in hardback at £12.99 and is available at waterstones.com

Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom

This is a brand new totally awesome colouring book for older children and grown ups that haven't quite grown up yet (like me!)

Millie Marotta is a freelance illustrator based in Wales, her intricate work is perfect for for filling in with bursts of colour. Her book is absolutely full of pages (ninety to be exact - if you include the fab endpapers which are free to colour too!) of animals and nature to bring to life.

Every detail has been thought about. If, like me, you have a bit of OCD with things like stripes (I almost always alternate two colours) you'll notice there is always an even number of stripes - PERFECT!

Armed with my Muji felt tips and my Fabriano colouring pencils I set to work! I'll let the pictures do most of the talking this time...

Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom is published by Batsford at £9.99 and is available at Waterstones Piccadilly, waterstones.com and most independent bookshops.