CLPE’s April New Books Round-Up - Hear from our Librarian!

Each month CLPE's Librarian, Phoebe Demeger, will reveal some of her favourite books she has recently added to our Literacy Library.

Discover April's below:

EYFS

The strikingly illustrated I Hear a Búho (Raquel MacKay and Armando Fonseca, Scribble) is at once a celebration of imaginative play and the bond between mother and child, and an early introduction to the Spanish language. The rhyming patterned structure introduces an animal, the sound it makes, and its name in Spanish, followed by a spread of the child pretending to be that animal with the repeated phrase “Sí, mamita, that perro/gato/rana is me”. Closes with a glossary and a helpful pronunciation guide.

We Are the Wibbly! (Sarah Tagholm and Jane McGuinness, Bloomsbury) is a delightfully unique take on the life cycle from frogspawn (or ‘wibbly’) to frog. Not only is our tadpole hero undergoing some unexpected changes, can they ever keep up with their friends’ development? Featuring charming idiosyncratic language – “Oh my crikeys!”, “What is the happening?!” – and some lovely interplay between “I” and “we” as new identities emerge.

My Brother is an Avocado (Tracy Darnton and Yasmeen Ismail, Simon & Schuster) uses the framing device of comparing a baby’s growth to different fruits and vegetables, told through an expectant big sibling’s perspective. Along with vibrant watercolour illustrations, the book thoughtfully addresses the wide range of emotions, such as excitement, impatience and apprehension, that come with waiting for a new baby sibling – how, after all, do you cuddle an avocado? A fun, informative and reassuring picturebook.

In Zehra Hicks’ Panda & Penguin Find a Thing (Andersen Press), expressive illustrations and an inviting colour palette tell the story of two friends whose relationship is challenged by the discovery of a mystery ‘thing’ (a mobile phone) which, while fun at first, distracts Panda and Penguin from the things that really matter. A charming friendship story and an early introduction to the topic of phone use.

KS1

From Katie Cottle, the author-illustrator of The Green Giant comes Night Flight (Puffin), in which nature-loving Ellie and her mum move from the countryside to the city. Ellie is confused by the absence of birds from her surroundings, until a magical encounter with a starling reveals that light pollution has been disrupting the birds’ navigation, and she rallies her community to help make a difference. An empowering tale joining other such ‘child activist’ titles as Can You See the Stars Tonight, Look Up, and more.

Barefoot Books is fantastic for spotlighting stories from around the world, and Our Nipa Hut: A Story in the Philippines (Rachell Abalos and Gabriela Larios) is no exception. It follows a Filipino family and their gently personified nipa hut home as they prepare for an oncoming storm, with humans and house taking care of one another. Onomatopoeia and collage illustrations lift the story off the page, and the book closes with extensive and age-appropriate backmatter on nipa huts and weather-resistant architecture.

Slug Life (Moesha Kellaway) has possibly my favourite premise of the year, in which Stevie the slug is so fed up with being called “pest”, “disgusting” and “gross” that his mum sends him to ‘slug self-esteem class’ to learn about what makes his species so brilliant. What follows is an informative and inventively presented celebration of slugs, their superpowers, and their key role in the ecosystem, and marks the start of a new series on ‘Misunderstood Minibeasts’ from Rocket Bird Books.

Taking the form of an illustrated journal and written in consultation with The Halo Collective, Me and My Hair (Kimberley Kinloch and Jessica Gibson, coming soon from Usborne) is an exuberant study of hair types, hairstyles, hair care, and the cultural, historical and social aspects of hair. The focus is on Black hair but covers many different hair types too, making this a truly inclusive and accessible guide.

Lower KS2

Two stunning new collaborations from Walker Books:

- Terrible Horses brings together poet and author Raymond Antrobus and renowned illustrator Ken Wilson-Max in a sophisticated tale about the often-fraught relationship between siblings, and the power that words and images can hold to process emotions and broach understanding.

- The Magic Callaloo is a vibrant and moving retelling of the ‘Rapunzel’ fairytale, replete with brightly painted illustrations by Sophie Bass and beautifully imaginative prose by Trish Cooke. Our Rapunzel is a girl called Lou with blossoming Afro curls, and the story draws in elements from African folklore and history, thoughtfully illuminated by Cooke in an opening Author’s Note.

Coming soon, the start of a new series by two icons of children’s publishing, author Kieran Larwood and illustrator Joe Todd-Stanton. Dungeon Runners: Hero Trail (Nosy Crow) combines elements of game shows, puzzles, TTRPGs, and Tolkien-esque fantasy (it even opens with a map!) in a fast-paced and engaging adventure about a trio of unlikely heroes seeking to prove themselves. Heavily illustrated and wildly inventive.

A new title from CLPE Patron Lauren Child is always cause for celebration. We return to the world of Clarice Bean with Smile (HarperCollins), in which the irrepressible Clarice takes on the climate crisis by embarking on a project about the role that earth’s tiniest creatures play in looking after our planet. A story about climate anxiety and environmental activism told with curiosity, optimism and Child’s trademark wit and warmth.

Subtitled ‘Soil, Sand, and Everything Underground’, Under Your Feet (Dr Jackie Stroud, Dr Marc Redmile-Gordon and Wenjia Tang, Dorling Kindersley) is a comprehensive and well-produced guide to soil, covering such topics as types of soil, things that live and grow in soil, and soil’s multifaceted role in sustaining ecosystems and managing climate change. Features a mix of illustration and photography, and produced in association with the Royal Horticultural Society.

Upper KS2

The Little Books of the Little Brontës (Sara O'Leary and Briony May Smith, Walker) is a work of narrative non-fiction about the childhood of the Brontë siblings, with particular focus on the ‘little books’ they stitched and wrote together, years before their publishing careers began. It is a powerful decision to tell this story in present tense, giving a sense of immediacy and bringing the characters fully to life. Closes with an Author’s Note, a timeline of the Brontë’s lives, and a bibliography. See also: The Brontë Girl (ZunTold), the latest novel by Miriam Halahmy, which imagines the Brontës’ maid as a girl who also dreams of becoming a writer.

Alyssa and the Spell Garden (Faber) is a magical work of urban fantasy from YA author Alexandra Sheppard, in which Alyssa, sent to live with her mysterious great aunt in North London for the summer, learns not only of a secret school and spell garden which enriches and protects the local community, but of her own magical heritage too. But the garden soon comes under threat from eviction, alongside the rapidly changing face of the wider neighbourhood due to gentrification. A contemporary and empowering story about self-discovery and the power of community.

Clare Pollard, the author of Fierce Bad Rabbits, puts a unique spin on Arthurian legend in The Untameables (illustrated by Reena Makwana, The Emma Press), which recentres the ordinary peoples of Arthur’s kingdom above his self-involved, thuggish knights, in this offbeat novel of not only quests and beasts, but of power, oppression, solidarity, and the natural world.

Also from the world of myths and legends comes Gods of the Ancient World (Marchella Ward and Xuan Le, Dorling Kindersley), a stunningly produced and wide-ranging guide to global mythologies. Illustrated stories from ancient cultures, from Norse and Mayan to Central African and Indigenous American, are interspersed with factual spreads and photographs of artefacts – a fascinating and inclusive compendium.