JUNO Book Club
Late Summer Book Club: eight new books for chil...
Dive, Dive into the Night Sea By Thea Lu, Walker Studio This narrative non-fiction book is beautifully illustrated and designed. The greyscale illustrations shot through with torchlight and bioluminescent colour are full of atmosphere. We enter an eerie yet magical silent world, where manta rays swoop overhead and sperm whales drift vertically near the surface as they sleep. Flaps on each page lift to reveal more secrets of the sea at night. The story can be enjoyed by younger children, following the narrative text, while older children will be fascinated by the hidden information. Billie’s Buzz By Alison Brown, Farshore Billie the bee desperately wants to be in a pet show so she can show everyone her talents. She finds a boy looking for a pet, and together they brush up their skills ready for the contest. But when the day arrives, the boy advises Billie not to buzz and...
Late Summer Book Club: eight new books for children
Dive, Dive into the Night Sea By Thea Lu, Walker Studio This narrative non-fiction book is beautifully illustrated and designed. The greyscale illustrations shot through with torchlight and bioluminescent colour...
Books for Inspiration: Nature Up Close
World of Rot: Learn All About the Wriggly, Slimy, Super-cool Decomposers We Couldn’t Live Without By Britt Crow-Miller, illustrated by Bruno Valasse, Storey Publishing Decomposition is “the important process of recycling what’s dead back into what’s living”. I loved finding out what happens when a tree falls and how it becomes a “‘nurse log’ for new life”, and how the build-up of gases inside a decomposing whale can take an explosive turn! We learn about the organisms that undertake the important job of decomposition and discover some that live in our houses, and others in our bodies! World of Rot gives us a surprisingly fresh perspective of the natural world, and I love the vibrant illustrations. The Animal Body Book: An Insider’s Guide to the World of Animal Anatomy By Jess French, illustrated by Jonathan Woodward, DK This book is a fascinating exploration of animals, inside and out. Stunning photographs...
Books for Inspiration: Nature Up Close
World of Rot: Learn All About the Wriggly, Slimy, Super-cool Decomposers We Couldn’t Live Without By Britt Crow-Miller, illustrated by Bruno Valasse, Storey Publishing Decomposition is “the important process of...
Late Summer Book Club: three new reads for adults
Reviews by Alice Ellerby and Jess Hazel It’s Not Fair: Why It’s Time for a Grown-up Conversation About How Adults Treat Children By Eloise Rickman, Scribe Rickman describes children, collectively, as “the most discriminated-against group in our society”. In It’s Not Fair, she asks us to consider ‘adultism’: “the structural discrimination and oppression children face from adults, and society’s bias towards adults”. The book is enlightening. It is a call for children’s liberation. Among the topics it covers are politics, parenting and education, and it reveals the harm caused to children through adultism inherent in each. It focuses on the UK, Australia and the US, where the prevailing attitude towards children has been to consider them as ‘belonging’ to their parents. Rickman likens this to the way women were once seen the book is enlightening. It is a call for children’s liberation as the property of their fathers and husbands,...
Late Summer Book Club: three new reads for adults
Reviews by Alice Ellerby and Jess Hazel It’s Not Fair: Why It’s Time for a Grown-up Conversation About How Adults Treat Children By Eloise Rickman, Scribe Rickman describes children, collectively,...
Summer Book Club: three new books for adults
Soulful Pregnancy: A Life-changing Guide to Creative and Empowering Pregnancy By Alice Grist, Womancraft Publishing This guide to pregnancy and new motherhood invites you to mark your pregnancy as a life-changing transition; to experience it mindfully and to be conscious in the decisions you make in becoming the parent you would like to be. The book is divided into trimesters and, broadly, has a chapter per week of pregnancy, each with its own focus, such as Navigating Chaos, Grandmother Wisdom and Self-acceptance. The chapters all follow a similar format: an introduction to the theme, a meditation, a soulful practice, a creative practice, journal prompts and an affirmation. They are only a few pages long, but each chapter provides a powerful focus for a week of reflection and creative exploration. A lovely dimension to this book is that Grist herself is pregnant as she writes it. This makes her a real companion...
Summer Book Club: three new books for adults
Soulful Pregnancy: A Life-changing Guide to Creative and Empowering Pregnancy By Alice Grist, Womancraft Publishing This guide to pregnancy and new motherhood invites you to mark your pregnancy as a life-changing...
Summer Book Club: seven new books for children
Solstice: Around the World on the Longest, Shortest Day By Jen Breach, illustrated by 14 global artists, What on Earth Books This book is set on the solstice – the summer solstice if you’re in the northern hemisphere, or the winter solstice if you’re in the south. We travel from the southernmost tip in Antarctica, where the sun doesn’t rise, to Svalbard in Norway, where it doesn’t set, with 12 other stops along the way. At each one, a child introduces us to where they live. They tell us about their family, the local environment, their customs and food, and we learn a few words from their language. Nobomi, who lives in Cape Town, is on a boat watching whales migrate along South Africa’s west coast, and Tuta, from Ecuador, is celebrating Inti Raymi, the sun festival that happens on the solstice, the last day of the Incan year. Solstice...
Summer Book Club: seven new books for children
Solstice: Around the World on the Longest, Shortest Day By Jen Breach, illustrated by 14 global artists, What on Earth Books This book is set on the solstice – the...
Books for Inspiration: Grandparents
Until You Find the Sun By Maryam Hassan and Anna Wilson, Hodder Children’s Books Aminah loves listening to her grandfather Da’s stories. When she and her parents move to another country, Aminah doesn’t know how she’ll manage without him. Da reassures her, “I am always with you. You will find sunshine wherever you go.” Amid the bad weather and unfamiliar language, she doesn’t find it immediately, but from far away, over the phone, Da assures her that her adventure is just beginning. One day, she finds a friend to make snow angels with, and her new home starts to feel less cold. This is a touching depiction of long-distance family love. Da’s steadfast belief that things will be OK offers real comfort to Aminah in helping her cope with change. Esma Farouk, Lost in the Souk By Lisa Boersen and Hasna Elbaamrani, illustrated by Annelies Vandenbosch, Floris Books Esma can’t...
Books for Inspiration: Grandparents
Until You Find the Sun By Maryam Hassan and Anna Wilson, Hodder Children’s Books Aminah loves listening to her grandfather Da’s stories. When she and her parents move to another...
Spring Book Club: nine new books for children
The Second-hand Boy By Jennifer Lane, UCLan Publishing This is an intriguing middle-grade novel about a boy called Billy whose feelings of not fitting in are compounded when best friend Marty moves away. Bullying at school and his mum’s mental health challenges weigh ever more heavily on him. Billy discovers a copy of Tom’s Midnight Garden, which has been annotated by its previous owner, James. Billy starts to get to know James by the notes he leaves in the margins, until, one day, he appears to him in real life. Events lead Billy into an exploration of parallel universes, imaginary friends and unexpected relationships, as he battles with his demons to understand what’s real and to find his place in the world. A tense and thought-provoking read. My Baby Sister is a Diplodocus By Aurore Petit, Gecko The child in this book is so excited when his baby sister arrives....
Spring Book Club: nine new books for children
The Second-hand Boy By Jennifer Lane, UCLan Publishing This is an intriguing middle-grade novel about a boy called Billy whose feelings of not fitting in are compounded when best friend...
Books for Inspiration: Amazing Brains
The Brainiac’s Book of the Body and Brain By Rosie Cooper, illustrated by Harriet Russell, Thames and Hudson Pitched at children aged 7–10, this book is packed with weird and wonderful information about the body and brain. It dives into different functions and processes, from dreaming to memories, the senses to motion, how the eyes work to how genes mutate. It looks at how the body has been studied through history, and has experiments to illustrate quirks about the way we work. It’s well laid out: there’s a different subject to explore on every double-page spread, with digestible text and bold, entertaining illustrations. Funny, sometimes gross, accessible and inclusive, there is so much in this book to fascinate curious young minds. My Amazing ADHD Brain: A Child’s Guide to Thriving with ADHD By Emily Snape, Summersdale This book for young children offers a positive exploration of ADHD. Pip, a little...
Books for Inspiration: Amazing Brains
The Brainiac’s Book of the Body and Brain By Rosie Cooper, illustrated by Harriet Russell, Thames and Hudson Pitched at children aged 7–10, this book is packed with weird and...
Spring Book Club: three new books for adults
Cancer as an Initiation: Opening Up to the Gifts of Cancer and Letting the Love In By Rachael Crow In Cancer as an Initiation, Rachael Crow describes how her cancer diagnosis became an opportunity to make real change in her life, to bring elements of home, work, health, emotions and relationships into balance. Her illness initiated deep soul searching and the chance to emerge anew. When I spoke to Crow for My Life My Way (page 80), she mentioned I was one of the few people without cancer who had read her book. What I thought when reading it, however, was how useful it was to read it in those circumstances. It made me rethink what the experience of illness could be. I have always feared getting a serious illness, particularly since having children (Crow acknowledges in the book that the most difficult thing to come to terms with was...
Spring Book Club: three new books for adults
Cancer as an Initiation: Opening Up to the Gifts of Cancer and Letting the Love In By Rachael Crow In Cancer as an Initiation, Rachael Crow describes how her cancer...
Early Spring Book Club: seven new books for chi...
D is for Dog By Em Lynas, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie, Nosy Crow This A to Z of dogs is a delight! Written in playful rhyme, it catalogues an alphabet of dog mischief: “A is for action and B is for bark. C is for catching a ball in the park.” But as well as alphabetising the dogs’ antics, the dogs themselves have been given the same treatment, and on the first three pages, we meet an Afghan hound, a beagle and a collie. This gets quite interesting towards the end of the alphabet, with a xoloitzcuintle (a Mexican hairless dog) and a zwergspitz (another name for a Pomeranian). Every member of the pack is celebrated – smart and scruffy, tall and short – and from nose to tail, each one is drawn with wonderful character. The boundless canine joy is irresistible for dog lovers big and small. I’m Feeling...
Early Spring Book Club: seven new books for children
D is for Dog By Em Lynas, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie, Nosy Crow This A to Z of dogs is a delight! Written in playful rhyme, it catalogues an alphabet...
