Jenny Peckles Lays Eggs with Speckles by Rachel Emily & Paul Delaney (Farshore)
Jenny Peckles Lays Eggs with Speckles is an absolutely brilliant rhyming story about a group of chickens who will do anything to get into a book. Whether it’s Chuckleston Barclay who added her own “sparkly” to her eggs or Featherly Botts who added her own “spots”, these silly birds can’t be trusted. But when a dangerous hawk comes along, they band together and prove they’re worth being in a book after all. Hilarious wordplay makes Jenny Peckles Lays Eggs with Speckles perfect for a class read aloud.
If You’re Hoppy and You Know It by Alison Brown (Farshore)
A play on the popular children’s song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, this charming lift-the-flap book celebrates the joy of springtime and Easter with delightful characters. Bunny and friends hunt for eggs, clap their paws, shake their tail, jump for joy and shout hooray! Children will love singing along to this fun book!
Egg, Egg, Egg! by Sarah Finan (Post Wave Children’s Books)
Egg, Egg, Egg! is a gorgeous peek-through board book. Little readers will love finding out about eggs from chickens to a delicious, healthy meal. The lovely rhyming text with added onomatopoeia and engaging illustrations pull readers through to each page until day is done. Perfect for preschool or for encouraging children to try new foods at home, Egg, Egg, Egg! will be read again and again.
Ant Party by Ross Montgomery & Sarah Warburton (Walker Books)
It’s Andy Ant’s birthday and he wants a party. The trouble is, his house is too small. He invites just a few neighbours and asks them to keep it to themselves. But – as can happen with parties, they tell a few more, who tell a few more, who tell a few more. Soon every ant in the jungle has been invited. Andy has never seen so many ants! The story takes a perilous turn when an anteater shows up! Andy takes charge and saves the day!
Bold, bright illustrations of hundreds of ants with huge personalities will have readers asking for this fun story night after night!
One Goose Two Moose Three Raccoon Four Baboon by Kael Tudor & Nicola Slater (Scholastic)
There’s animal chaos in this rhyming counting book. Simon wants everyone in the right lines, nice and orderly. Moose tries to help but no one will listen. The racoons, baboons, cockatoos, kangaroos and everyone else just want to have fun. Finally, they realise it’s ok for the animals to be together and everyone sets off on a tour happily. Full of laughs and hilarious characters, this book is a riotous read-aloud!
The Tortosaurus by Katie Cottle (Little Tiger)
The Tortosaurus is a charming story about being true to yourself and coming our of your shell. When Dot starts at a new school, she’s nervous about making friends. At home, it’s different, she has a wonderful friend – her pet tortoise, Monty. When her teacher asks the class about pets, Dot realises a plain old tortoise might be boring so she tells them she has a “tortosaurus”. Suddenly, she and Monty have a lot to live up to. Pressure grows and Dot still doesn’t have the good friends she longs for. It’s only when she starts being honest and looking for children who are like her that she finds true happiness. The Tortosaurus is sure to prompt a lot of discussion about how to make a new classmate feel welcome as well as how to approach new situations with confidence while being true to yourself.
There’s a Bear on my Chair by Ross Collins (Nosy Crow)
Nosy Crow is celebrating 10 years of There’s a Bear on My Chair! This special edition has all the same larger than life illustrations and a multitude of words that rhyme with “bear”. Mouse is beside himself with frustration that there’s a bear on his chair. His emotions get bigger and bigger until finally the bear gives up and heads home – only to find there’s a mouse in his house…
Oh No, Flo! by Catherine Cawthorne & Mike Byrne (Templar Books)
Farmer and her sheepdog, Flo, are a great team. They look after the animals and make sure all the farmyard jobs get done. One day, farmer is ill. Flo decides to take on the role of farmer and sort everything out. The trouble is, she can’t quite remember all the jobs and the other animals aren’t much help! The result is a funny farmyard fiasco that, somehow, still ends with a tummy rub! Oh No, Flo! is sure to be a bedtime favourite or a great addition to an EYFS farm topic.
A Seed in the Universe by Elyon Liu (Post Wave Children’s Books)
A Seed in the Universe is a cleverly designed peek-through book showing children the relationships between things in the environment. From a seed to an apple to a caterpillar to a bird and all the way to the wider universe, simple sentences linking objects with “which” or “who” allows readers to explore connections and relative clauses in a natural progression.
All the Wonderful Ways to Move by Laura Baker & Sandra de la Prada (Little Tiger)
All the Wonderful Ways to Move celebrates movement and flexibility in a fun way with a whole host of animals. Young readers will love exploring rhythm and feeling the beat with stomps, claps, bending and jumping. The multi-generational pair of a child and his grandmother add a lovely dimension to the enjoyment of physical fitness and moving together.
Come What May by Debi Gliori (Bloomsbury)
Come What May embraces readers in assurances that no matter what mess or difficulty the day brings, love stays the same. Small is having a bad day. Feeling full of roars, scratches and stings, Small questions whether love tires, shrinks or fades. Over and over, Large reaffirms their love and how, come what may, it will never change.
This is a gorgeous story to share with loved ones. Perfect for cuddling up together, readers will giggle at times when they have felt upset and angry then feel comforted in the knowledge that love is always there to help them feel better.
I’m Going to Make a Friend by Darren Chetty & Sandhya Prabhat (Little Tiger)
Moving school or home can be unnerving. I’m Going to Make a Friend helps readers explore real emotions and strategies for coping with change. Making new friends comes with so many questions. Should I speak up first or will they come to me? Will they like the same things or will I need to try something new? Will there be a group of children to fit in with or just one new friend? As this likeable character thinks through the friend-making process, they build a “friend” out of boxes and craft supplies. This friend is a lot of fun and eventually attracts the attention of a real friend who wants to work together to build a lovely relationship.
Books by Kate Heap:
Click on the image to purchase from Bookshop.org:
Purchase from Amazon:
Disclosure: If you buy books using the links above, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org whose fees support independent bookshops. As an Amazon Associate, Scope for Imagination earns from qualifying purchases.
Scope for Imagination 