Age

Catalog sorted by age group

Dear Vincent

17 year old, Tara McClusky’s life is hard. She shares the care of her paralysed father with her domineering, difficult mother, forced to cut down on her hours at school to help support the family with a part-time rest home job. She’s very much alone, still grieving the loss of her older sister Van, who died five years before. Her only source of consolation is her obsession with art and painting in particular. Most especially she is enamoured with Vincent Van Gogh: she has read all his letters and finds many parallels between the tragic story of his life and her own. Luckily she meets the intelligent, kindly Professor Max Stockhamer (a Jewish refugee and philosopher) and his grandson Johannes, and their support is crucial to her ability to survive this turbulent time. The book tackles the difficult topic of suicide fearlessly, with a novel that’s not afraid to go to the dark places but which resolves its story beautifully.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VI, Issue 3

Peck, Peck, Peck

Pecking his way through the door of a house, an intrepid little woodpecker busily raps on a rhyming sequence of indoor objects, from a hat and a mat and a racket and jacket to a teddy bear and a book called Jane Eyre.

Maude: The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton

Being noticed is what all the members of the Shrimpton family lived for – all except, that is, for Maude. She prefers to blend into the background rather than stand out in a crowd.

Old Bear

Old Bear has been up in the attic for a very long time, but he hasn’t been forgotten. Bramwell Brown and his friends Little Bear, Duck, and Rabbit attempt to rescue Old Bear from the attic and bring him safely back home. A beautifully-illustrated classic picture book from popular author-illustrator Jane Hissey tells the familiar story of how a much-loved teddy bear is lost and finally found again.

Jazzy In The Jungle

Jazzy the lemur and Mama JoJo love to play hide-and-seek in the jungle. As little readers help search for Jazzy – lured by die-cut windows showing glimpses of what’s to come-they also explore a bold new world full of vivid tropical colors and lively jungle creatures. Featuring an all-new format, this innovative, thirty-two-page picture book boasts three sections – each with shaped, die-cut pages – and offers a double gatefold at the end to encompass all the animals of the jungle. Behind a final flap, Mama JoJo says to Jazzy, “Found you, Baby Jazzy,” and Jazzy answers back, “I love you, Mama JoJo.” Bravo to Lucy Cousins!

Nat the Cat’s Sunny Smile

Nat the Cat packs a picnic to share with her friends Billy Goat and Hugo Hare. But Billy feels grumpy and Hugo feels sad, then Nat starts to lose the smile she had. This is the tale of a smile gone astray and how it came back to save the day!

See What a Seal Can Do!

A lyrical portrait of seal characteristics and life explains how seals appear to be slow and sleepy creatures on land but are powerful, graceful and dynamic animals under the water who cleverly outmaneuver predators and skillfully catch fishy dinners.