Little Beauty

With his hyper-realistic artwork full of striking detail, the award-winning Anthony Browne tells a story of an unlikely friendship.Once there was a very special gorilla who had almost everything he needed. There was only one thing he didn’t have: a friend. With no other gorillas at the zoo, the keepers try something new. Will the gigantic ape strike a bond with another sort of creature, one as tiny and innocent as a kitten? Sparked by the story of a real gorilla who learned to sign, LITTLE BEAUTY is a celebration of a most surprising friendship.

Artie And Julie

Artie was a happy little lion, and Julie was a happy little rabbit—until one day Julie was sent to the grassland to eat grass, and Artie was sent to the grassland to eat . . . rabbit! Distracted from their destinations, they both discover a delicious jellyberry patch. Driven by a sudden storm into a nearby cave, they become friends before they know they are meant to be enemies. Each returns home with a new friend, a tuft of each other’s fur as a keepsake, and a surprising story to tell their parents. A unique design adds depth to this clever tale—when Artie and Julie are apart their parallel stories are told on separate split pages, but when the two become friends the pages join together as well. Filled with playful art that adds a whimsical tone, this amusing story encourages young readers to overlook differences and demonstrates that fear should never be an obstacle to friendship.

Featured in Vol. I, Issue 4 of WOW Review.

Little Leap Forward: A Boy In Beijing

A sensitively written, real-life sory about a boy called Litle Leap Forward, growing up in he hutongs of Beijing in the 1960’s, at the time of the Cultural Revolution. Little Leap offers children an intimate and immediate account of a child’s experiences as Mao Tse Tung’s Great Leap Forward policy tightens its grip on China.

Who’s Scaring Alfie Atkins?

Alfie is not afraid of ghosts, but when it’s getting late, he is worried that ghosts would come. When he is alone or it is dark, he is scared of ghosts.

Linnea’s Windowsill Garden (Linnea Books)

Linnea loves plants. She grows them all over her room – in pots, and crates, even in glass jars.
In this book, she takes you on a tour of her indoor garden. She tells you about her orange tree (and plantable pits and seeds, including melons, tomatoes, and grapes); she shows you how to take a cutting from a Busy Lizzie and how to trim an avocado plant.

And she teaches you what keeps plants satisfied: the art of watering properly (plants don’t like standing with their feet in water) and fertilizing. And what to do when plants are attacked by whiteflies or other nasty bugs.

Linnea also makes garden-cress cheese (from homegrown cress, of course); discusses the pleasures and possible pitfalls of growing an amaryllis; and writes a plant newspaper, The Green Gazette.

Linnea’s Windowsill Garden will informs and inspire anyone who wants to grow an indoor garden of their own.

Bear’s Day Out

Bear usually spends his days singing to himself and wading playfully through the water in his cave by the sea. But then, one day, he hears the noises of the city traveling on the wind, and he decides to give city life a try. At first, the sights and smells are new and exciting. But when the hustle and bustle of the people, the markets, and the traffic all become too much for Bear, it will take a little bit of kindness from some helpful young strangers to get him back home again. Bestselling author Michael Rosen’s rhythmic text and Adrian Reynolds’ adorable, lively illustrations make this a perfect read-aloud for story time.

Close To The Wind: The Beaufort Scale

In 1810, a British naval officer and surveyor named Francis Beaufort developed a scale to give sailors a common language for describing the wind. From 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane), stunning artwork and jaunty prose show what life at sea must have been like for a young boy serving as a midshipman in the 1800s. As William sails from Naples to the Caribbean, we learn intriguing historical information and nautical terminology, and witness how the wind affected day-to-day life on a ship. Detailed illustrations show the wind at work, and readers will be engrossed and fascinated as they watch the storm develop in magnificent full-color paintings.