A Soldier’s Sketchbook

Russell Rabjohn was just eighteen years old when he joined up to fight in the First World War. In his three years of soldiering, he experienced the highs and lows of army life, from a carefree leave in Paris to the anguish of seeing friends die around him. Like many soldiers, he defied army regulations and recorded everything he saw and felt in a small pocket diary.

I Am A Story

From cave drawings to the invention of the printing press to our digital age, discover how a story has been told in many different ways from the past to today. It’s always been around, making us happy, sad, excited, or scared and bringing people together. With simple text and delightful illustrations, Dan Yaccarino reminds us of the power of story.

The Little Bear Book

As a bear strolls through the forest, he meets a lonely gorilla, a noisy crocodile, a lion, and even an elephant. They all look as if they are missing something, so the bear steps in to save the day, using his magic pencil to draw just what they are looking for. Originally published in 1988, this enchanting story by a picture-book master is available again for a brand-new audience.

Purple, Green and Yellow

Brigid is on the trail of the ultimate felt marker. At first, she’s satisfied to be drawing wonderful pictures. But soon she must have the markers that wash off with water. Then she needs the markers that smell. But she’s happiest when she gets the super-indelible-never-comes-off-till-you’re-dead markers. She draws brighter-than-real lemons and roses and then goes too far: Brigid draws on herself. Nothing will remove the color, so Brigid reaches deep into the box of markers, finds the people-colored marker, and covers up all the other colors. She looks better than before, too good to be true. And Brigid is certain that no one will find out her secret. Especially since her father awakes from a nap and looks in the mirror. He looks a bit too good to be true too…

The Garden of Empress Cassia

Mimi lives with her parents above her father’s herbalist shop. She hates being Chinese and being teased at school. More than anything she loves to draw, so when her art teacher gives her a box of pastels Mimi is thrilled. These are no ordinary pastels for the inscription on the box warns that they are “A treasure for some, a curse for others”. Mimi is able to draw amazing scenes on the footpath outside her father’s shop and the pastels breathe life into the pictures for those able to see it. When Gemma, her tormentor at school, steals the pastels, Mimi knows she must get them back – not only to keep them safe and their magic intact, but to save Gemma from the pastel’s curse.

Tommaso and the Missing Line

The strange thing happens—the day his line goes missing—Tommaso knows what he must do: find it. It’s the line on the drawing he puts in his pocket every day, the line he drew of the hill by his nonna’s house, and he knows he must find that very one. It suddenly dawns on Tommaso whom to ask: Nonna. Nonna will know.

The Pencil

The creators of THE RUNAWAY DINNER and PREVIOUSLY team up to imagine the comical world that comes to life when a lonely pencil starts to draw.

“One day that little pencil made a move, shivered slightly, quivered somewhat . . . and began to draw.”

Welcome back Banjo, the boy from THE RUNAWAY DINNER! Once a pencil draws him, there’s no telling what will come next — a dog, a cat, a chase (of course), and a paintbrush to color in an ever-expanding group of family and friends. But it’s not long before the complaints begin — “This hat looks silly!” “My ears are too big!” — until the poor pencil has no choice but to draw . . . an eraser. Oh no! In the hands of Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman, can anything but havoc and hilarity ensue?