It is a marvellously funny and repetitive story that will enthuse and assist children as they listen to the words. They form a familiar rhythm as the story progresses and once you start reading it you almost immediately feel you’ve read it before. There's harmony in the air when the animals get together to make music and put on a concert with a difference!

A hairy mammoth takes a cheeky little baby on a thrilling ride through a moonlit landscape populated by a sabre-toothed tiger, a leaping hare, a laughing hyena and even, just maybe, by a big brown ... Read more

Picture books

Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.

A brilliantly funny story all about celebrating difference, from the stellar picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and David Roberts – perfect for young dinosaur fans everywhere! The poor fellow even gets the king to share perfect meal idea and if he could serve it to the king the prestigious job would surely be his. The ensuing story shows the king learning to take care of his own needs while teaching the squirrelly chef what really needs doing in the kitchen. The book is funny and a sly mini-documentary on getting people to help themselves. After all, we only truly appreciate a reward when we’ve earned it fairly and through our own efforts. When a crime needs solving, there’s only one dog for the job! Join Nell the Detective and help solve the mystery of the missing books. The Nottinghill Carnival takes central stage in this story about families, memories and the power of dance and festivals. Author Yaba Badoe tells...Meet everyone's favourite crime-busting ladybird in this collection of four brilliantly funny stories from the bestselling What the Ladybird Heard series, read by Alexander Armstrong – perfect f... Read more What follows is an insight into a modern way of working together; in the process both have fun and I’m guessing the king as never been more content with his monarchy and office. There was once a very hungry king, who needed a cook like anything... the story begins. But none of the applicants seem to match his high standards. Enter Wobbly Bob, the chef who would love to attempt all of the King's culinary challenges if only he dared. His chant of "I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm terribly scared!" was enjoyed by my Reception class. They seemed to understand the humour of the ending, that it was actually the King who had managed to prepare the delicious meal by helping Bob with every stage of the process, yet he ends up hiring him because he believed it was Bob who was the fantastic cook. As one of my 5 year olds so shrewdly observed:- " he doesn't need a cook after all, he can do it all himself!"

In Poems to Perform, Julia Donaldson has chosen poems with performance by children in mind, and her notes and ideas on performing them are included in a special section at the end of the ... Read more Written by Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo, and illustrated by Karen George, Freddie and the Fairy is a delightfully witty, rhyming tale. Written by Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo, and illustrated by prize-winning Karen George, Wake Up Do, Lydia Lou! is a gentle and playful bedtime read - full of fun sou... Read more There's a hullabaloo at the seaside when a toddler takes his friends on a stroll to the end of the pier. There are buzzing bees, bicycle bells and a whole beachful of noisy fun. Even the smallest t... Read more From a star picture-book partnership, Julia Donaldson and the award-winning Catherine Rayner comes a gorgeous story about friendship and working together.I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. My novel The Giants and the Joneses is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic Princess Mirror-Belle who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. but the king is very fussy; he tries all the cooks in the kingdom, but no one is good enough. Then he spots Wobbly Bob. Maybe Bob can whip up his favourite dinner? But how will Bob be able to cook for the king when he’s scared of . . . well, everything?! The Paper Dolls is a stunning, lyrical story of childhood, memory and the power of imagination from Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo, and award-winning illustrator Rebec... Read more