Books
Picture
Books
Blaiddi (Wolfie) is my latest picture book and my first in to be published in the Welsh language. Bethan Gwanas has done a fantastic job on the adaptation/translation and it has been beautifully illustrated by Jenny Williams. Jenny and I are hoping to interest a publisher in producing an English version.
Published October 2010 by Gwasg Gwynedd £5.95
Baby
Baby blah blah blah!
Illustrated by Francesca Chessa.
Published by Gullane Children's Books
There's going to be a new baby in the house and Emily's not too happy about it.
She thinks that babies spell trouble. Mum and dad do their best to reassure her,
but then Emily discovers that there is one more surprise in store...
School Library Journal REVIEW.
SHIPTON, Jonathan. Baby Baby Blah Blah Blah! illus. by Francesca Chessa. unpaged. CIP. Holiday House. Mar. 2009. RTE $16.95. ISBN 978-0-8234-2213-5. LC 2008034895.
No matter how many new baby books you have on your shelves, you’ll want to make room for this bright and bubbling treasure. Emily likes lists, so when her parents inform her that they are expecting a new baby, she makes a list of the pros and cons. The good things include “Its head is soft and snuffly,” and “You can tickle it to bits!” The bad things are that a baby “doesn’t do anything except…suck, dribble, spit up, and…cry.” But the worst thing, according to Emily, is that it will turn everything “upside down and inside out.” The child’s parents allay her fears by telling her a story about another baby who turned their lives upside down and only made them better. And they assure her that they will always love her, “no matter what the babies do,” because, guess what? Mom is having twins. A spread of happy baby pictures at the end of the book attests to Emily’s love for her siblings. Chessa’s colorfully messy, childlike illustrations perfectly match the breezy tone of the story, and Emily, with her lovable quirks, serious air, and vertical red braids, is the type of character who could carry a whole series. This is a relentlessly positive new-sibling book that will go right to the heart of children’s fears.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
www.bookpage.com
...the sibling in Baby Baby blah blah blah!, written by Jonathan Shipton and illustrated by Francesca Chessa, is worried about the upcoming blessed event in her family. While Emily makes lists of the good things about having a little baby brother or sister, she is worried about the crying, spitting up, dribbling and, most of all, the attention that the baby will get. She imagines all the talk of babies (blah, blah, blah) and knows her world will be greatly changed. Warm, oversized illustrations show Emily processing her fears and her parents' calm reassurances that really do make her feel better. Emily's point of view puts the older sibling at the center of this drama. Opening endpapers show Emily at the center of her family but what's that we see in the closing endpapers? Well, it appears that Emily's mom has more than one baby in that growing bump!
EMILY'S PERFECT PET illustrated by Garry Parsons
Gullane Children's Books £4.99
Junior Magazine Book of the month - June 2003
It's Emily's birthday and she is
desperate for a pet. But mum and dad think it's a very bad idea; ponies kick,
puppies grow into huge slobbery dogs. Emily is not going to give up that easily!
Lucky Duck Macmillan Children's Books. Illustrated by Suzanne Diederen
£4.99
(Out of print but available second hand).
Duck is Lenny's best thing and they do everything together, so Lenny is heartbroken when Duck is lost one summer. Lenny never forgets his special friend, not even when he is all grown-up with children of his own. Then one day, Lenny's son, Ben, makes a very important discovery.
How
to be A Happy Hippo Little Tiger Press 1999 illustrated by Sally Percy
£4.99
There's something wrong with poor Horace. He's got everything he needs but he's not a Happy hippo. There is something missing from his life and that something is time spent mucking about with his very busy dad. (Out of print but often available second hand through Amazon.) Reviews
In the
Night.
Harper Collins 1991 illustrated
by Gill Scriven
Everyone is fast asleep. a small child wakes up slips out of bed and tiptoes to the window. The mysterious magic of the night and the cosiness of a warm bed are glowingly contrasted in this atmospheric picture book for bedtime. Reviews
(Out of print but available second hand through Amazon or www.abebooks.co.uk )
Busy Busy
Busy!
Andersen
Press 1991 illustrated
by Michael Foreman
His mother may be in a bad mood, but in this poignant and affectionate story a little boy shows how simple understanding can free her from the chains around the kitchen sink- just in time. Reviews
(Out of print but available second hand - try www.amazon.co.uk www.abebooks.co.uk and ebay)
Horrible Crocodile. Heinemann 1995 illustrated by Claudio Munoz
There's only one thing wrong with going to school and that's Flora. She bites! But one day Flora makes a dreadful mistake luckily it unexpectedly leads to a happy solution to the problem.. Reviews
(Out of print and very rarely available in UK. The US version 'No Biting Horrible Crocodile' is more common. Try www.abebooks.com )
What
if?
Macmillan 1999 illustrated
by Barbara Nascimbeni
What if you went out into the garden and found a sunflower as tall as a skyscraper? This is the exciting story of a small boy who climbs up the sunflower and finds himself in another world. Reviews
(Out of print and very rarely available in UK. US edition is more common. Try www.abebooks.com
Inspiration
I was a dreamy child. I remember being about six years old lying on my back in
the hot summer grass and staring up at the big white clouds. They looked so soft
and inviting...and some of those shapes looked very familiar. I could make out
mountains and dragons. What if there were cloud people living up there and
looking down on me! What would they look like? What sort of people would they
be? What if? is an adventure that starts off with a rainy day and a curious
child staring out of the window. It's that daydream come to life at last! I hope
your children will enjoy reading and listening it as much as I enjoyed writing
it.
The Cooking Pot. Heinemann Education 1996
This is for very young readers and is my version of traditional folk tale featuring Twm Sion Catti; Wales's answer to Robin Hood. (Only available in education packs)
Waiting for snow. FBA Publications 1999 illustrated by Jenny Williams
Going to the Match. FBA Publications 2000 illustrated by Jenny Williams
Showtime. FBA Publications 2001. illustrated by Jenny Williams
These books are part of a series written for use in Welsh primary schools featuring the adventures of Gareth and Bethan. They are also published in Welsh.
Second hand copies of Jonathan Shipton Books.
