JUNO Book Club
Autumn Book Club: eight new books for children
Pepper and Me By Beatrice Alemagna, Thames & Hudson The little girl in this story falls and scrapes her knee. She doesn’t like the sight of blood and the scab that forms there scares her. It hangs around for ages, so the girl decides to name it Pepper. Pepper begins to talk and gradually becomes a tolerated companion wherever the girl goes. It’s such a quirky concept for a book, but the slowly healing scab – a feature of childhood – is very clever in capturing the way time passes when you’re a child: long days spent outside, trips to see grandparents, getting bored and making up stories. Pepper is there throughout, and by the time she goes, the girl has grown up a bit, and she’s learned how to live with something that once scared her. The River’s A Singer: Selected Poems By Valerie Bloom, illustrated by Sophie Bass,...
Autumn Book Club: eight new books for children
Pepper and Me By Beatrice Alemagna, Thames & Hudson The little girl in this story falls and scrapes her knee. She doesn’t like the sight of blood and the scab...
Books for Inspiration: Van Gogh and friends
Goodnight, Starry Night: Bedtime Poems Inspired by Works of Art By Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Allison Colpoys, Thames & Hudson In this gorgeous collection of poems by Joseph Coelho inspired by works of art, words and images work together to encourage children into a state of calm and peacefulness. The first artwork in the book is Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’, accompanied by the poem ‘River Sky’. Coelho’s soothing words help us to look deeply at the painting and we’re swept into its dreamy world. Art psychotherapist Mary Rose Brady who consulted on the book, describes how we attune with our children when we read these poems aloud at bedtime, helping them to feel safe and regulated, ready for sleep. The book is perfectly curated to achieve this. Small Stories of Great Artists By Laurence Anholt, Taschen These delightful stories tell of real children who were touched by the lives...
Books for Inspiration: Van Gogh and friends
Goodnight, Starry Night: Bedtime Poems Inspired by Works of Art By Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Allison Colpoys, Thames & Hudson In this gorgeous collection of poems by Joseph Coelho inspired...
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...