 New activity pages | Family review panel | Spooky book in focus | Statutory storytime
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 I want to be in a scary story by Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien
With a spooky theme for Halloween we've just added this book to our collection of scary stories . Told as a conversation between an unseen narrator and a little monster this story is great fun to read aloud –and for children to join in with when they become familiar with the story. Bold illustrations add to the humour and the spookiness.
Visit our activity page
Buy the book
 Gerald the Lion by Jessica Souhami
Is Gerald a big, bold lion or a small, grey cat with a big imagination, or both?
Find out in this vibrantly illustrated story with large print as we follow Gerald on his search for adventure. He encounters fierce animals, alien creatures, giants and dragons. But are they quite what they seem?
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Buy the book
 There’s a Rang Tan in my Bedroom, James Sellick, illus. Frann Preston-Gannon
When a little girl discovers a small orangutang (Rang-tan) wreaking havoc in her bedroom she finds out that her unexpected visitor’s rainforest home is being destroyed. Spurred to action, the little girl decides to do something about it.
In collaboration with Greenpeace and combining fact and fiction this book would be a brilliant introduction to a topic on rainforests or endangered animals for children aged over 5. The rhyming text and beautiful illustrations help to make it a book to talk about and enjoy reading again and again.
Visit our activity page
Buy the book here |
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 We're launching a brand-new feature on Lovemybooks – a family review panel. We're inviting families to share a book together – thinking about what they enjoyed about the story, and the conversations the book prompted. We hope this will be a useful resource for other parents in choosing new books and also different ways of talking about them.
Our first family review is from Karen and her daughters Coco and Leia who shared the beautiful Corey’s Rock by Sita Brahmanchari and Jane Ray.
 Overall verdict‘Corey’s Rock is an enjoyable, thought provoking read for children as well as being a visual treat.’
Karen tells us about the book here:
‘The story is about a girl called Isla, who moves from Edinburgh to the Orkney Islands with her parents after the death of her little brother. Although the book deals with quite heavy themes, there is a lightness to it thanks to the beautiful illustrations throughout and Isla’s discovery of legends about the Selkies - half human, half seal people.’
Both girls really enjoyed the book
‘The girls were drawn to Corey’s Rock initially because of the colourful cover illustration and the diversity of the family pictured. Intrigued by the cover they immediately began to discuss what they thought the story would be about. They read the book aloud to each other, this prompted discussion and enabled them to share their different ideas and understanding with each other.’
 Coco: I think it’s a moving story because it shows Isla getting through a difficult time in her life while at the same time showing that she will never forget or stop loving her brother. Isla’s dreams and imagination really helped her to overcome how sad she was."
Leia: "It’s quite an interesting story because Isla thinks her brother has become a Selkie and she can see him from Corey’s Rock whenever she likes.”
It was really good to hear the girls sharing their ideas about the book:
Coco: "I don’t understand why Corey’s mum wouldn’t go to see the rock?"
Leia: "I think it’s because she was too sad"
Both girls commented that the illustrations were their favourite thing about the book and they really studied them. Leia said: " I really liked seeing the five petals for Corey because they look like little hearts."
Coco: I liked the picture of Isla finding the seal skin because she said it felt like holding Corey again when he was alive. It’s special because she’s remembering good times. It reminds me of Wonder (by RJ Palacio) and Auggie’s story because that’s also a happy-sad story."
To read Karen, Leia and Coco’s full review see here:
Buy the book here
If you are interested in contributing to our family reviews email info@lovemybooks.co.uk
to find out more.
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With Halloween approaching our focus book has a spooky theme, The Grotlyn by Benji Davies.
In Rubi’s town rumours are spreading of strange noises and objects disappearing and she has a strange rhyme in her head about a Grotlyn visiting houses at night. This is a mysterious rhyming picturebook to cuddle up and share, with wonderfully rich illustrations and a surprise ending.
 Elena tells us about sharing The Grotlyn with her daughter Leila. She said the detailed illustrations in led to lots of talk, speculation and interest in finding out more.
Leila spent time looking at the pictures in the book even before we read the story together.
We watched the clip of the organ grinder on the activity page. This raised lots of questions and comments.
Leila noticed the organ grinder in the clip did not have a monkey. ‘Maybe it’s not kind? The monkey must miss his family because he should be in the jungle’ Looking at other pictures of organ grinders online, she noticed that all the monkeys wore ‘funny’ hats. She then looked back at the illustration in the book and noticed the monkey was holding his hat and guessed this must be to collect money from people. She noticed the monkey was chained to the old man and thought about why he wanted to escape.
  
Leila was super keen to write a postcard from the monkey to the organ grinder (who she named Benji Davies!). We looked at some postcards together and thought about where the monkey might have gone; ‘I think he has gone back to the jungle and the organ grinder is sad but also angry because who will help him now?’
We then spent some time looking at all the things the grotlyn had stolen and how the monkey had used them to escape. Leila looked really hard and spotted the bike wheel in the hot air balloon. This led to a conversation about hot air balloons and how they work. When we go to the library, we will try to find some information about them. There were so many things to notice in the book and it really encouraged us to look closer at the images, make connections, look things up that we didn't fully understand.
All in all Leila really enjoyed this book and I often found her reading it on her own and then she would often comment on something we had not noticed before.’
Visit our activity page
Buy the book here
See our collection of spooky stories and activity ideas
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 We were interested to hear that publishing company Egmont are campaigning for statutory storytime in every school after reporting research that show its impact.
Lovemybooks patron writer SF Said writes on Twitter:
‘Here’s evidence storytime really does turn kids into readers! Read them a story for the sheer pleasure of it and you will change their attitudes to literacy. This should be part of the school day by law. #StatutoryStorytime’
Storytime is something which used to be taken for granted but some schools struggle to fit it in with the demands of a crowded timetable. Michael Morpurgo, acclaimed children’s writer and former children’s laureate agrees, as you can see on this poster of his words illustrated by another children’s laureate and Lovemybooks’ patron Chris Riddell.
 Egmont’s research shows reading aloud to children is in decline, not only at school but at home too and that this is also having an impact on how much children read independently. The writers feel parents do not always realise the importance of reading aloud to their children particularly once they can read for themselves, tending to focus on ensuring school reading requirements are completed. Typically, parents believe children should only be read to at home until the age of 5 or 6.
Read about Egmont’s research and projects
The Lovemybooks team feel that reading aloud to your child continues to be important as they gain independence as readers and it’s fun too. Read our thoughts here and here.
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