Tag Archives: picturebooks

Conservation Superstars: Unveiling the Secret Lives of Wildlife Guardians and Their Amazing Careers

I’m so excited to be part of the book tour for “Caring Conservationists who are changing our planet” by Kate Peridot, and richly illustrated by Sarah Long. There’s a super mix of conservationists featured from the obvious (Sir David Attenborough), and I’m embarrassed to say I had not heard of most of them myself so found it really interesting. Great mix of info on the people, facts, and simple activities. I actually think there’s a great angle here to discuss career options as well as the animal aspects.

Extension activities for parents/ teachers

For fun, I thought I’d ask ChatGPT to give me some ideas for extension activities as the activities included in the book are fairly simple. Here’s what it suggested (unedited):

  • “Wildlife Detective: Solve the Conservation Mystery!” – Frame the blog as a thrilling detective adventure where children must solve a conservation mystery. Introduce different conservation careers, such as wildlife biologist, park ranger, or marine biologist, and present clues and challenges for children to uncover the solution.
  • “Conservation Champions: Create Your Dream Team!” – Encourage children to assemble their own dream team of conservationists. Provide descriptions of different conservation careers and ask children to choose team members with complementary skills. They can design their team’s logo, create backstories, and imagine exciting conservation missions.
  • “Conservation Safari: Explore the World of Wildlife Careers!” – Take children on a virtual safari to explore various wildlife careers. Each stop on the safari can introduce a different career, such as animal trainer, wildlife photographer, or animal behaviorist. Provide interactive quizzes or games to help children discover which career suits them best.
  • “Animal Rescue Challenge: Become a Wildlife Hero!” – Present a series of animal rescue scenarios and challenge children to think like wildlife rehabilitators. Provide information about the animals in need and ask children to come up with creative solutions to rescue and care for them. Encourage them to share their ideas and discuss the importance of teamwork in conservation efforts.
  • “Conservation Art Show: Express Your Love for Nature!” – Highlight the role of artists in conservation and encourage children to unleash their creativity. Ask them to create artwork, such as paintings, sculptures, or digital illustrations, inspired by nature and endangered species. They can share their artwork with family and friends and discuss the importance of art in raising awareness about conservation.
  • “Animal Planet Interview: Meet Real-Life Conservation Heroes!” – Conduct imaginary interviews with renowned conservationists, presenting them as guests on a talk show. Children can come up with their own interview questions and learn about the experiences, motivations, and challenges of these inspiring conservation heroes.

What do you think? I actually think ChatGPT has done a pretty good job of coming up with extension activities suitable for a range of ages, and if it was my book (and I really wish it was as it’s fab), I’d be doing a downloadable class pack building on some of these.

Blurb

Travel around the world and discover the stories of 20 conservationists and the endangered animals they are helping to save, including the orangutang, blue whale, Indian tiger, rhino, honeybee, Komodo dragon and sea turtle. Positive, uplifting and packed full of information, with 20 fun activities for children to try, this book will show children no one is too small to make a difference.

Author bio

Kate is an author of both fiction and non-fiction children’s books. Originally from London, she now lives with her family in the South of France. She writes wild and adventurous stories about animals, people and STEM that encourages a can-do spirit, a quest for knowledge and a sense of adventure. Caring Conservationists (Walker Books) is her first non-fiction children’s books. A further nine books are in production launching between 2023-2025. 

Queen Bees, and a tribute

Oh my, I love this book! Why? Before I start, here are two random facts about me.

  1. I have planted a wildflower “meadow” (aka patch).
  2. I am signed up for a beekeeping course in 2023. I’m terrified of getting stung, so we’ll see how it goes!

Anyway, put the above together, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be invited to take part in the book tour for Flicker’s Garden Rescue. Was I disappointed? Absolutely not! The illustrations are so gorgeous, the message is spot on, the story is sweet, and, although I doubt it was written as a tribute to our beloved late Queen, it seems fittingly poignant.

Here’s a screen grab of one of the stunning illustrations by Bryony Clarkson, who I’m pleased to say is fully credited on the cover. I could look at this all day.

Blurb

Flicker's garden Rescue book cover

Aitchoo! Queen Bee has the sneezies and is having trouble organizing this year’s pollination. Without pollen, the plants won’t be able to make the seeds and fruits for the annual Garden Party. Luckily, Flicker and her friends are on hand to save the day.

About the author

Jodie Parachini is a children’s author and editor. She lives in a village in Hertfordshire, England, where she loves swimming, gardening, and taking long, rambling hikes with a smelly dog. She can be found at www.JodieParachini.com

Bath time book fun

I remember the days when my son spent hours playing in the bath. That was before the teenager years where personal hygiene slipped down the priorities …

Anyway, the lovely Sue Wickstead sent me a proof copy of her forthcoming book, David’s Bathtime Adventure. Like all of her books, it’s a cosy read and beautifully illustrated by Jo Anne Davies. I do wish the illustrator was credited on the cover, particularly since the same illustrator has done all of Sue’s books so it’s a true partnership.

David's Bathtime Adventure book cover

Sue’s books tend to have a far higher word-count than the publishers typically favour – picture books are “supposed” to have 400 to 600 words and 24 pages (according to the ‘rules’). I haven’t counted but I’d guess this is around 1,000 words which makes it ideal to read aloud, obviously either before, during, or after bath time. It would be great if there was a waterproof version of this book!

Whilst on the face of it, this is a simple story of a familiar activity, Sue Wickstead is a teacher, and there is a subtle educational aspect woven in which ties to the ‘learning through play’ activity at the back of the book – finding out about what sinks and floats.

Blurb

Learning through Play (Water) Children love splashing and pouring, spraying and making waves. It enhances their creativity and imagination and provides opportunities for some wonderful investigation and scientific learning. Finding out what sinks, what floats, testing and ideas. Developing awareness of the physical world.

About the author

Sue Wickstead author picture

Sue Wickstead is a teacher and an author and writes children’s picture books.

Sue once worked with a playbus charity based in Crawley. This led her to write the photographic history book about the project. The ‘Bewbush Playbus’ book was published in 2012. Sue then began to write a fictional tale about the bus. ‘Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus’, his number plate JJK261 gave him his name and has now been followed by more picture books (ten to date) which all indeed have a bus connection as well as links to her teaching journey. Her latest books are less bus focused, although they do sneak in, and cover familiar daily activities.

Sue is a regular visitor to this blog and you can see some of her other books featured here

https://lexirees.co.uk/2021/06/09/not-a-bus-book/

https://lexirees.co.uk/2020/07/20/hop-on-board-another-bus-journey-and-a-giveaway/

https://lexirees.co.uk/2020/02/10/why-sparky-made-me-cry/

https://lexirees.co.uk/2019/04/20/do-you-remember-play-buses-as-a-kid/

Some of Sue’s books have been entered and shortlisted in ‘The Wishing Shelf Book Awards’, her book ‘A Spooky Tale’ was a silver medal winner in 2019. It is a story written with her class in school and is aimed at the younger reader.

Got a messy sibling problem?

It’s my stop on this fabulous book tour today and I’m really excited! Why? My favourite poem to read when I do school visits is “Messy Room” by Shel Silverstein. I act it out and it’s always a huge hit. So this new picture book, How Messy, by Clare Helen Welsh and Olivier Tallec really appealed.

When I read it, what caught my attention was how the situation with the two characters, Dot and Duck, could be used to help siblings sharing a room with each other when one is very messy, and the other is not. This reminded me of sharing with my sister – I’m not going to tell you which one is me, but I bet you can guess!

It is a super simple story with very few words, so ideal for the youngest of pictures book readers – perhaps the older sibling could even read it to the younger sibling? I would have definitely read it to my sister (yes, I’m the older one, but I’m still not telling if I was the messier one!)

I have to comment on the lovely colours used in the illustrations – very traditional English beach holiday. And having rediscovered the staycation – I approve!

Blurb

Dot and Duck are best friends, but Dot hates mess and Duck hates tidy. Duck leaves the bed unmade, the cupboards open and breakfast everywhere. How messy!

In the morning, Duck makes Dot pancakes for breakfast, how kind! But Duck leaves a BIG mess! At the beach, Dot carefully lays out her towel and picnic… and Duck digs a big hole covering everything with sand! SO messy!

Characterful watercolour illustrations bring this story to life, and big font makes the story easy for young readers. How Messy! is a simple yet hilarious story with a touching ending and an important message about accepting differences and learning to compromise.

About the author and illustrator

Clare Helen Welsh is a children’s book author who lives in Devon with her husband and two children. In 2013 Clare won the The Margaret Carey Scholarship for Picture book Writers and in 2014 she received the silver medal at The Greenhouse Funny Prize for her debut picture book Aerodynamics of Biscuits. She teaches primary school and has over ten year’s experience in Early Years and Key Stage One education.

Olivier Tallec’s work has been called “sensitive”, “stunning”, “breathtaking”, and “beautiful”. Tallec was born in Brittany, France, in 1970. After graduating from the École Supérieure D’arts Graphiques in Paris, he worked in advertising as a graphic designer, after which he devoted himself to illustration. Since then he has illustrated more than sixty books

I like to move it move it

OK, now you’ve got that tune stuck in your head all day! But I can’t look at this book cover without starting to sing.

The fact that it’s written by professional movement coach and award-winning author Darryl Edwards of the excellent TED Talk “Why working out isn’t working out” is very obvious. His childhood reminds me of my own – outdoors until called in for dinner, and more likely to fall out of a tree than bed. So I knew I was going to love My first animal moves. And I do. I really do.

One of the online gym classes I did during lockdown (with Sarah Liebelt, not Joe Wicks) started every session with bear crawls. By the way – do you remember when WHSmith confused me and Joe Wicks and the tweet went viral with lots of people admiring my beard 🤣! If you missed it, here goes …

Anyway, back to the book, I can see an author visit using this book being fantastic, energetic, fun. After all, as he demonstrates in the talk, exercise should be fun. Focus less on working out, and more on playing out.

Win!

If that sounds good, you could win a signed copy of the book and a fitness cards deck by entering here. (UK only)

Blurb

Nathan loves to play, but he loves his video games more. Can a trip to Animal Moves land convince him there’s more fun outdoors? 

Best-selling author and speaker Darryl Edwards has created this fun adventure inspired by his passion for encouraging kids to move in an ever-increasing sedentary environment.

MY FIRST ANIMAL MOVES

Discover the joys of animal moves with your little cubs in this first book of movement. Join Nathan and his cute, but sometimes lazy, dog as they crawl, jump and balance their way through the animal kingdom re-enacting moves designed to emphasise fun. It’s all in this exercise for kids book that focuses on family fun boredom busters.

HELPING KIDS MOVE AND GETTING KIDS OFF SCREENS THROUGH FUN ANIMAL PLAY

✓ Do you want to make physical activity for kids fun?

✓ Are you looking for ways to help your children develop strength, coordination and balance?

✓ Do your children love learning about animals?

✓ Are you worried about too much TV and screen time? 

✓ Do you want to teach young children about the importance of physical activity?

✓ Would you like easy and fun fitness games to include in your day?

My First Animal Moves is your answer. Play along together, keeping everyone healthier and happier, promoting physical, mental and emotional well-being. You’ll all release more mood-enhancing hormones as a result, which help you feel good every day.

My First Animal Moves distils the ideas in his bestselling Animal Moves book and Animal Moves Fitness Decks into a colourful picture book for children.

A Children’s Book to Encourage Kids and Their Guardians to Move More, Sit Less and Decrease Screen Time.

This unique story takes a different stance to many popular titles in this arena, with a fun activity that encourages children’s active play while aiming to get families moving and reading together. It takes the humour and colour in kids’ yoga books such as Breathe Like a Bear by Kira Willey, Yoga Bug by Sarah Jane Hinder, and You Are a Lion by Taeeun Yoo to a whole new energy level with active play for the entire family.

Get My First Animal Moves to help your family thrive through movement today.

About the author

Darryl Edwards is a Movement Coach, author of the best-selling books “Animal Moves” and “My First Animal Moves”, and a thought leader in the area of creativity and innovation in fitness and health. 

Darryl developed the Primal Play Method™ to inspire others to make physical activity fun while getting healthier and more robust in the process.