Children’s Book of the Week: Tidy by Emily Gravett

Our children’s book this week is Tidy by the award-winning author and illustrator Emily Gravett.  

1. Emily reads… Tidy

We recommend this reading of Tidy by the author, Emily Gravett.

2. Emily draws… A Badger called Pete

Fans of Emily Gravett’s illustrations will love her draw-along videos.  This one is of Pete, the badger in Tidy.

3. How to make a paper badger

This tutorial shows you how to make an adorable badger out of a recycled cardboard tube.

4. How to draw a badger

Learn how to draw a cartoon badger with this YouTube video by Shoo Rayner.

5. Dry leaf craft ideas

Badger wants a tidy world, but by the end of the story he learns to appreciate the messiness of nature.  Here are some cool things to do with autumn leaves.

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Children’s Book of the Week: Walking Through the Jungle by Julie Lacome

This week our children’s book is that Rhyme Time classic, ‘Walking Through the Jungle’. We found five jungle-themed things to make, do or watch.

1. Walking Through the Jungle – signed story
   
   Leanne reads the story using British Sign Language – if you’re new to signing, this a great way to learn some new words.

2. Paper plate snake craft

Sssss! Over there – it’s a paper plate snake!

3. T is for Tiger handprint craft

Grrrr! We found this awesome tiger craft made out of a child’s handprint.

4. Tiger face painting

Kids love to be transformed by face paint! Teach yourself a popular face paint design with this quick tutorial.

5. How to Make a Crocodile Paper Puppet

To finish our walk through the jungle, here is a snappy puppet tutorial. Watch out for those teeth!

Children’s Book of the Week: Moomin and the Wishing Star by Tove Jansson

Our children’s book of the week is part of the world-famous Moomins series.  Adults and children alike find things to love in the quirky characters.  Here are five things to do, inspired by the story.

1. How to draw Moomins

Jim McGee shows you how to recreate Tove Jansson’s drawings of Moominvalley characters.

2. How to make an origami star

Moomin finds a special pebble, but is it really a star?  Create your own star with this origami tutorial. 

3. Twig stars

Here is a different way to make a star, this time out of twigs.

4. Moomin storytime with Sophia Jansson

Discover another classic tale from Moominvalley, read by Sophia Jansson, the author’s niece. 

5. How to draw Moomin

To finish up, we found another quick drawing tutorial featuring Moomin.

Children’s Book of the Week: The Chocolate Monster by Pip Jones and Laura Hughes

This week’s children’s book of the week is The Chocolate Monster by Pip Jones and Laura Hughes.  The Chunk is a monster who goes around stealing chocolate.  We found five chocolatey things to do online, all inspired by the story.   

1. The Chocolate Monster Read Aloud

Let’s kick off with an awesome read aloud version of the story; watch it here on YouTube.

2. One Minute perfect chocolate mug cake

Here is an extremely simple recipe that makes a delicious chocolate cake in a mug.

3. Monster bookmarks

We love these super-cute monster bookmarks, and kids can make them over and over again.

4. DIY Paper plate monsters

These paper plate monsters are in fact masquerade masks, perfect for Halloween.

5. Paper plate monster craft

And finally, the classic paper plate craft gets a monstrous twist.

Children’s book of the week: The Last Chip by Duncan Beedie

Our children’s book of the week is The Last Chip by Duncan Beedie. It’s a heart-warming tale with some affectionate illustrations featuring the city of Bristol. 

We’ve taken a look around and found some lovely resources online all about this lovely story. Take a look and have a go! 

1. Storytime and drawalong with Duncan Beedie 
   
   

Duncan Beedie not only reads the story, he also treats his audience to a drawing tutorial over on YouTube

2. Printable pirate headband for kids 

There’s a rather fierce pirate seagull in the story – and this is a good excuse to make a pirate headband.  

 

3. Pigeon printable craft 

We like this printable craft activity for its sensitive portrayal of a pigeon.  

4. Drawalong with Duncan Beedie 

Another chance for kids to learn to draw with Duncan Beedie! 

5. Paper plate pizza craft  

Inspired by a search for food in the story, children can adapt this pizza-themed activity and create a plate of their own favourite food.

Children’s book of the week: Goodnight Moon

Goodnight Moon is a classic American picture book from the 1940s written by Margaret Wide Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd.  It tells the comforting story of a young bunny wishing goodnight to all the objects in the “great green room”. 

Children’s book of the Week: Booboo Baby and the Giraffe

Boo Boo Baby has lots of fun bouncing from animal to animal – but here comes a… rhino! “Boo hoo!” says Baby Boo Boo, so the animals comfort her, bouncing her back to bed. This is a wonderfully soothing bedtime story from the author of Handa’s Surprise.

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Lucy the giraffe can’t sleep – the zoo is full of such a lot of different noises.  Ellie has the solution – she organises a way for everyone to live together and express themselves in a beautiful way.

The ‘Ellie in Concert’ orchestral suite

Andy Jimenez has composed an orchestral suite for the book.  Listen to it here, accompanied by an animation based on Mike Wu’s illustrations.

Cardboard tube elephant craft

Mike Wu’s ‘Ellie’ books are proving very popular.  Here is a cute elephant craft for fans of the books.

Panpipes craft for kids

‘Ellie in Concert’ shows us that it is possible to create music out of surprising ingredients.  This is a great way to make a musical instrument out of 8 drinking straws.

Paper plate hippopotamus craft

This craft takes paper plate animals to another level, without being complicated.  The result is very comical hippo with impressive teeth.

DIY music shakers

Music shakers are a great way to enable children to explore music.  We particularly like these cardboard tube shakers decorated with tissue paper.

 

 

Children’s book of the week: Daisy 006 and a Bit

Daisy: 006 and a Bit’ by Kes Gray, illustrated by Nick Sharratt is the story of Daisy, who was first introduced as the pea-refusing star of ‘Eat Your Peas’.  There are now over fifteen Daisy books, including this one where she wears a moustache and joins the Secret Service.

A reading of ‘Daisy: 006 and a bit’ by Kes Gray

Check out the author Kes Gray reading ‘Daisy: 006 and a bit’  over here.

 Explore Daisy’s website 

If you’re wondering who Jack Beechwhistle is, or if you’ve forgotten the name of Dylan’s snake, this is a fun way to find out.   Click here to find out more about Daisy over here.

Draw Daisy with Nick Sharratt!

The lovely Nick Sharratt shows you how to draw Daisy, line by line, in felt tip over here.

How to make a Caesar wheel

Budding secret agents need some kind of code-cracking device to send and receive messages.  Luckily the clever people at Bletchley Park have created this printable Caesar wheel.

How to make invisible ink

Another way for kids to send a secret message is to experiment with invisible ink.  Here are some great ideas for creating hidden messages.

 

Children’s book of the week: Llamas in Pyjamas by Russell Punter

A group of llamas have a sleepover and experience some ghostly happenings in this unexpectedly spooky story!