At Lovemybooks we feel that encouraging creative activities (including music, dance, drama and art) at home and at school is vitally important and our activity pages always include many ideas for imaginative responses to stories. Here we have created a new list focusing on the visual arts.

In our brand-new collection, you will find books to encourage children to have fun with art activities, develop the confidence to be creative, experiment and express themselves. There are books which explore colour and pattern in the world around us, make links between colours and feelings and others  which show how through drawing and painting children can create imaginary worlds and have virtual adventures. We have also included books about artists and art works which may inspire gallery visits, prompt art activities, lead to imaginary exploration of the stories behind the pictures or even encourage children to (virtually!) step inside them.

The Artist   
Ed Vere, Puffin
Age3-7

A brave and passionate young artist, full of ideas, hatches a plan to share the joy and beauty she sees in the world. She sets off for the big city and in no time her creations adorn the walls of the tallest buildings and people come from far and wide to see her work. But one day she makes a mistake. Embarrassed and discouraged, she stops painting; will anyone be able to persuade her to continue?

With a warm and encouraging message for young artists everywhere, this is a delightful picturebook celebrating the messy beauty of our world and what it means to be an artist.
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An Artist’s Eyes             
Frances Tosdevin, illus. Clémence Monnet
Frances Lincoln
Age 5-7

Jo goes for a walk with an artist and is amazed by the way she sees colours; the indigo of evening in the sea, the lime of gooseberries in the forest. Will he ever be able to look at the world the way she can? With encouragement, open eyes and an open mind he begins to notice more, including swirly circles of sunshine and sparkly squiggles in the sea. This is a story which shows there is no one way to see like an artist. It may encourage conversations about the colours and patterns in the world around us.

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Colours, Colours, Everywhere
Julia Donaldson, Sharon King-Chai(illus), Two Hoots
Age 2-5

A little girl opens her paint box and wonders what to paint today. She starts with a blue tree frog and in no time at all the two of them are off on an adventure with a hot air balloon, oceans, islands, helicopters and lots and lots of colours. This is a concept book with a difference; a story celebrating colour in the world around us. It is a  lovely book, with a rhyming story and beautiful illustrations, with flaps to lift and holes to peep through. It is likely to encourage talk about colours, colour collections of objects or cut out from magazines and of course painting too.  

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The Colour Monster
Anna Llenas
Templar
Age 3-5

A little girl introduces her friend the colour monster, who is very confused, because his colours are mixed up together. She tells him this is because his feelings are mixed up too and offers to help him sort them out into bottles. Each double page is devoted to a colour themed feeling with for example yellow for happiness and blue for sadness. The monster’s feelings are happily sorted out by the end of the book, with the colour monster turning pink and feeling full of love. A story likely to encourage experimentation with colour and discussion about feelings.

The Colour Monster is available as a board book, a paperback and as a paper engineered book with spectacular pop-ups.

Read a parent’s comments here

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The Day the Crayons Quit       
Drew Daywalt, illus Oliver Jeffers
Harper Collins
Age 5-9

When Duncan gets out his box of crayons at school one day, he finds a stack of letters waiting for him. They are from his crayons, who are feeling very disgruntled. The red, blue and grey crayons feel overworked, while the pink and beige crayons feel underused. The orange and yellow crayons bicker about which of them should be used for the sun and the black crayon objects to always being relegated to an outline. Duncan responds to their complaints with a wonderfully creative use of colour and young readers may be inspired to experiment with colour themselves.

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The Dot      
Peter.H.Reynolds
Walker Books
Age 5-9

Vashti doesn’t enjoy art club – she feels she just can’t draw. Vashti’s teacher is determined to change her mind and encourages Vashti to make a mark – she angrily does so, jabbing the paper to make an orange dot. Instead of disapproving, her teacher asks her to sign it. Vashti is incredibly surprised when the next day her signed dot has been beautifully framed and displayed on the wall. In no time at all Vashti is determined to produce better dots and creates a gallery of dot themed images. When she comes across another child with no confidence in their ability to produce a picture, Vashti knows exactly what to say. The perfect story to encourage reluctant artists to have a go and develop confidence.

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Watch the story read aloud

Journey
Aaron Becker
Walker
Age 7+

A young girl, who lives in a sepia world, is bored. She has playthings but no one to play with. She picks up a red crayon, draws a door and escapes! An adventure in a fantastical world follows, complete with a beautiful forest, a walled city, steam punk machines, armed guards and lots of jeopardy. Her magical crayon has a crucial role in the story, for example facilitating a daring escape via the hot air balloon she hastily draws.

The first of a trilogy, this is a wordless picturebook which celebrates the power of drawing an inventiveness to create worlds and adventures. It may inspire children to create their own illustrated adventures perhaps choosing their own magical crayon.

See video here
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Katie and the Starry Night
James Mayhew
Orchard Books
Age 5-7

Katie visits an art gallery with her Grandma. She loves the painting of Van Gogh’s starry night and is looking at it while Grandma falls asleep. The stars seem to be moving, and then they escape from the picture! A magical adventure story in which we step inside five Van Gogh masterpieces with Katie as she searches for a way to catch the stars before the security guard notices they are missing, and Grandma wakes up. An imaginative introduction to Van Gogh’s work, one of a series about different artists and art works by the author.

Watch the story read aloud Katie and the Starry Night by James Mayhew – Read Aloud – YouTube

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Luna Loves Art     
Joseph Coelho, Illus. Fiona Lumbers
Andersen Press
Age 5-7

Luna and her class are off to visit an art gallery, the biggest building Luna has ever seen. Here they come across some iconic artworks including Van Gogh’s sunflowers and Louise Bourgeois’ sculpture ‘Maman.’ Luna notices Finn is feeling sad, lonely and grumpy. Luna’s mum encourages her to be friendly to him and together they discover that art comes in all shapes and sizes just like families. Art works in this imaginary gallery are introduced on the end papers. Another in the series of stories about Luna.

See our activity page for Luna Loves Library Day

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Matisse’s Magical Trail  
Tim Hopgood, illus Sam Boughton
OUP
Age 5-7

Matisse is an artistic snail creating drawings while everyone sleeps. Although adults passing by ignore his artwork, one day a little boy called Leo discovers his creations and shows his friends.  The children are very impressed and gather objects for Matisse to decorate. He creates a trail from one object to the next and onto the wall. When their teacher sees the trail, she encourages her class to add colour to it, transforming the school and amazing passers-by.

This is a lovely picture book about creativity and working together, showing how small changes to the environment can have a transformational effect. It may inspire your child be creative themselves and perhaps find out about the artist Matisse (particularly his famous snail collage).

Visit our activity page

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Miró’s Magic Animals
Antony Penrose
Thames and Hudson
Age 5-9

Many years ago in the middle of the 20^th century Antony Penrose met the famous Spanish artist Joan Miró when he was a child. Antony’s mother was a well- known photographer and his father was an artist. This delightful book tells us about Antony’s meetings with the artist, including a visit to London zoo, but the book is also a playful introduction to Miró’s work. It is highly illustrated and carefully put together with photographs, reproductions of Miró’s works and illustrations by children.

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See our activity page here

Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City
Rob Biddulph
Macmillan
Age 7-9

Peanut’s dad has disappeared, and she really misses him. she finds a mysterious message from him, and a magical pencil hidden in a box. She discovers whatever she draws with it comes to life. Peanut draws a door, she opens it and ends up in Chroma, a world of colour and creativity.

Peanut discovers a man called Mr White, has captured her dad in Chroma. Peanut goes on a mission with her little sister Little Bit and a boy called Rockwell to find her dad and stop Mr White from destroying all the creativity in Chroma.

Scroll down our family reviews to find one young reader’s response to Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City 

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Tiger Walk
Dianne Hofmeyr, ill. Jesse Hodgson
Otter-Barry Books
Age 5-7

During a visit to an art gallery Tom is fascinated by a painting of a tiger which seems to be watching him. When he gets home, he draws his own tiger picture. That night he dreams the tiger steps out of the picture and takes him on a night-time adventure. Together they travel through jungles, underwater and to icy caves meeting all sorts of animals on the way. Tom is a bit hesitant about these unfamiliar situations but with the tiger’s encouragement confronts his fears and enjoys the experience. So much so that by the end of the book he feels as brave as – a tiger! Perhaps he actually IS a tiger!

Inspired by the famous tiger painting by Henri Rousseau this is an appealing story about overcoming fears. The story is very well written with lovely descriptions and a pleasing pattern and the illustrations are beautiful, making it a great picture book to share. It may inspire trips to art galleries in which children might imagine the stories behind the paintings.

Visit our activity page

Buy the book

For an excellent selection of art books for children and adults visit the Bankside Gallery Bookshop in London.
Situated on the South Bank, close to the Tate Modern, 48 Hopton St, London SE1 9JB. See also online

Mini Grey
Walker Books
Age 3-7

Traction Man has an important job to do and an action outfit for every mission. He’s an action man with a difference: his quest is to save endangered spoons, fend off the vacuum monster and evil pillows, dive for wrecks in the sink and rescue damsels in distress in the garden. All with the help of his loyal pet, the brave little scrubbing brush. This playful, quirky story is a fantastic feat of the imagination that is bound to excite young readers.

Mini Grey writes
‘The idea for Traction Man is Here came from a real thing that happened when I worked as a teacher. I was on playground duty and a little boy called Midge zoomed up to me. He had brought his Action Man into school, and his Action Man was wearing a new, home-made outfit (knitted by Midge’s granny I think.) The outfit was a suit, knitted out of emerald green wool with big buttons. And because it was knitted it looked just like a green romper suit that a baby might wear. The Action Man was clearly trying to rise above the suit and stay brave and heroic nonetheless. And I felt sorry for the Action Man and hoped it would get to home-time without anyone laughing at him. Years and years later I remembered Midge and his Action Man in the playground, and that is where the story started. Traction Man’s adventures mostly come from the perspective of being action-figure-sized, and the magic thing you can do when you’re playing with things (and making picture books too!) which is to make anything come to life.’

Share the story

Read aloud
Before reading the story, encourage children to look at the cover and talk about what they notice. Then read through the book, pausing to talk about the pictures.

Join in
As you read and reread the book, encourage children to join in where they can, especially the speech bubbles. Their confidence and enjoyment will build as you revisit the book together and children become more familiar with the story and story language.

Talk about the story
There’s a lot to talk about, here, and you can find out which part of the story children like best and talk about the reasons why.

Tell the story
Using the pictures in the book, children can tell the story in their own words and making their own sound effects.

Watch the story
Traction Man read here by children:

From Charlotte Jones  

Things to make and do

Water play
Fill the sink or a bowl with water and kitchen objects, just like the story.
Children can enjoy playing and making up their own stories, with sound effects.

Role play
Children can assemble their own action outfit and act out their own heroic deeds. Take photos of the action and make into a picture story (like a comic strip) with captions and speech bubbles

Design an outfit

Design a new outfit for Traction Man

Use magazine pictures, spare pieces of fabric and glue to design a new Traction Man outfit for an intrepid new mission.

Create Traction Woman
Children can draw their own Traction Woman and tell the story of her amazing adventures.

Unusual pet
Scrubbing brush is a perfect, if unusal, pet for Traction Man. Search the house for another pet for the action man. Decorate with pet features and think about how the pet can help our hero.

Find out more
Find more books by author/illustrator Mini Grey:

Traction Man meets Turbodog

* Toys in Space

* Biscuit Bear  

Three by the Sea

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon

Egg Drop

The Pea and the Princess

Find out more about Traction Man

Watch Planet Duvet created by children here

Watch another version created by children here

Buy online

Michael Rosen, Arthur Robins (illus)
Walker Books
Age 0-5 years

Little Rabbit Foo Foo enjoys nothing more than speeding through the forest and bopping any poor hapless creatures he comes across on the head. However, he is being watched by the Good Fairy who warns him that he will have three chances to change and if he doesn’t change she will turn him into a Goonie!

This is a funny anarchic tale about a very naughty rabbit who meets his match. The illustrations add to the humour of the story. The rhythm and repetition of the chorus make this fun to join in with or even singalong to.

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud to your child. Children are likely to want you to read it more than once, lots of times in fact!

Join in
Encourage children to join in with the rhyme as you read it aloud – you might decide to sing the rhyme as in the versions above. Once children are really familiar with story you may find they naturally say words from the chorus at other times, or you could start this off at bath time or when going for a walk perhaps.

Talk about the story

• Talk about Little Rabbit Foo Foo, what he does in the story and what the good fairy says to him.

• What would your child say to him about how he treats the other animals?

• Share favourite parts of the story. Your child might naturally want to look back at one particular page or you could say I like this page because…. which one do you like?

Look at the double page spread before the story starts and talk about all the creatures you can both see in the large picture and what is happening.

Watch Michael Rosen perform the story

Watch an animated version read aloud

Things to make and do

Make puppets
Make stick puppets of Little Rabbit Foo Foo and the Good fairy. Use the illustrations in the story to help you. See our information on making stick puppets. Children could help with colouring them in.

Draw a goonie
Give children paper and crayons to draw their own goonie. Talk about the drawing with them. What is it going to look like, what might it do?

Play the story

Children can act out the story as you read or recite it aloud – practice in pretending to bop animals on the head will be important first of all! 
Or you could use the stick puppets you made to have a conversation between Little Rabbit Foo Foo the Good Fairy – it might be fun for children if you take the part of the naughty rabbit and they play the fairy!

 

Find out more

Read more stories for young children by Michael Rosen

We’re Going on Bearhunt with Helen Oxenbury 

This is Our House with Bob Graham

A Great Big Cuddle with Chris Riddell 

Visit Michael Rosen’s YouTube channel for poetry performances and story telling 

Read more books illustrated by or written and illustrated by Arthur Robins

Max the Flying Sausage Dog

The Teeny Tiny Woman

Macavity the Mystery Cat 

Ross Montgomery, illus. David Litchfield
Faber and Faber
Age 5-7

 A little tortoise has a cosy home in a bin in a quiet park. But he longs for company. Looking up at the night sky he thinks he spots candles – there must be other animals living up there he thinks but how can he get there? Inspired by a discarded space book he goes in search of a space ship and spots what seems to be a rocket on the other side of the park. There follows a long journey across the park, through the sand pit and paddling pool, which feel like a desert and ocean to the little tortoise. He does not find a rocket but instead he finds adventure and friendship not so far away after all.

Space Tortoise is a beautifully written picturebook with magical illustrations and an engaging story which you and your child will enjoy sharing and returning to.

Read an extract here

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the story aloud pausing to talk about the questions posed in the text and when your child wants to talk about what is happening in the story or the pictures.

Join in
When your child becomes familiar with the story (after hearing it read aloud a few times) they might like to join in with parts of it, for example the dialogue between the tortoise and the mouse.

Tell the story
Children could tell you the story, using the illustrations as a guide. This sort of activity helps children get familiar with stories and how they are structured.  You may find they tell the story using some of the same words as the author or they may tell it using their own words.

Talk about the story

• Share favourite pages and talk about them. Are there particular lines or illustrations you each like?

• Why does tortoise think that the clock tower is a space rocket?

• What must it feel like to be tortoise travelling across the sand pit or paddling pool?

• What would children like to happen next, ie after this story ends?

Things to make and do

Make a space suit
Collect together some junk eg plastic bottle tops and straws and make an improvised space suit together for a small soft toy just like space tortoise.

Play the story
If you have access to a sand pit and paddling pool at home or the local park children could act out tortoise’s journey across the park with a small soft toy in its space suit. You could use a plastic container for an improvised boat.

Make a papier maché hot air balloon
For a longer project, children may be inspired to make a hot air balloon as tortoise does in the story. You could use colourful magazines for the final layer. See here for a how to guide.

Draw a map of the story
Your child could draw a map of the park with the places mentioned in the story. They could plot tortoise’s journey across the park from his home to the clock tower. Talk about the map and tortoise’s journey together.

Light a candle
Light one or more candles or nightlights, make the room dark and watch the flames move and flicker. Talk about how they look and move.

Look at the night sky
On a dark, clear evening, look up at the sky with your child. Can you see the stars? Find ways to describe them. Can you see any shapes or patterns? See below to find out more about the night sky.

Make a sparkly picture
Using a candle or yellow wax crayon children could draw small star shapes on thick paper and then paint over with a thin wash of paint or ink. See the stars sparkle as they appear through the paint.

Write an invitation
Write an invitation to come and visit for tea from the mouse to the tortoise or from tortoise to mouse.

Find out more

Find out more about Ross Montgomery and David Litchfield 

Read another book by this author/illustrator team The Building Boy

Ross Montgomery is also the author of other books for older children including Max and the Millions and Perijee and Me 

David Litchfield is also creator of The Bear and the Piano, The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle and The Secret Giant

Find out more about tortoises
Talk about what your child already knows and what would they like to find out.

Use these links or information books here, here and here to try to answer their questions.

Find out more about stars and the night sky
Visit a planetarium for a space show such as this one for London & SE based families in Greenwich.

To find other UK planetariums see here

Stephanie Clarkson, illus. Gwen Millward
Nosy Crow
Age 3-5


It is superhero day at school and Milly enthusiastically gets her outfit ready, complete with special superhero badge. But she has a problem because she doesn’t have any superpowers! When she gets to school, she realises several other children need her help and she discovers her superpower is being super thoughtful so that everyone has a super day.

A lively picturebook which combines superhero fun with an underlying message that being kind is the very best sort of superpower.

Watch the story read aloud

Share the story

Read Aloud
Before beginning to read the story talk about the images on the end papers together. Read the story aloud to your child.

Join In
Join in with the superhero words in bold eg Kerpow! Whizz!  Bam! Maybe making gestures at the same time

Talk about the book
Talk about Superheroes and what you know about them
What superhero skills you would like to have
What Milly did that was special
Talk about any unfamiliar vocabulary eg ‘X Ray vision’, ‘arachnophobia’ ‘force field’

Things to make and do

Dress up as a superhero
Find some old clothes and bits of cloth to make your own superhero outfit, just like Milly. You could put underpants on top of leggings too! Take photos, perhaps striking some superhero poses. You could print the photos and make a mini book to stick the photos in perhaps captioned with some superhero words like Bam! Zap! and Kaboom!

Draw a picture of yourself as a superhero
Children could draw a picture of themselves as a superhero on a single sheet of paper (or in a folded paper book) so that they can add pictures of their adventures being super thoughtful and helpful.

Make a superhero badge
Use a circle of card and draw a big initial capital letter stick a safety pin on the back.

Make up superhero names
Create alliterative superhero names eg ‘Phenomenal Phoebe’ or ‘Magnificent Max’ or ‘Daredevil Dinesh’

Make a super poster
Make a big poster with ‘Bam!’ ‘Kaboom!’ or ‘Zap!’ and pin it up on a wall. Whenever someone in the family does something super thoughtful, write it on a sticky note and stick on the poster.

Find out More

Read more books about superheroes – Heroes and Villains

Several topics are introduced in this story which your child might be interested in finding out more about including colour mixing, spiders, force fields, X rays and superhero jokes. Here are links for a couple of these:

Find out more about colour mixing
Amazing Archie in the story loves the colour green. Find out more about colour mixing and how to mix blue and yellow paint together to make different shades of green. Collect green things together eg leaves, vegetables and toys and see if your child can mix the same shades of green.

Find out about spiders CBeebies – Our Planet, Spiders and Animal Shelters, Spiders (bbc.co.uk)

Find out more about Xrays Taking an x-ray – CBBC – BBC

X-Rays – CBeebies – BBC
Paint a skeleton with white paint on black paper.

Anna McQuinn, Rosalind Beardshaw (illus)
Alanna Max 
Age 3-5 years

Lulu would love to have a pet cat of her own, but her Mummy isn’t so sure. Cats can be hard work. Mummy and Lulu go to the library to find out how to look after cats and Lulu practices at home with her toys. Eventually Mummy agrees Lulu can have a pet and they go to a cat shelter and find the perfect pet. Lulu is told about all the things she needs to do to prepare and she busily gets ready for her new pet’s arrival. She names her Makeda after an African Queen. Lulu and Makeda have lots of fun together.

This is a warm-hearted story about adopting a new pet, the pleasure it can bring and the responsibilities involved.  Endorsed by the National Cats Adoption Centre, this is the perfect introduction to pet owning for young cat lovers and would be cat owners.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before you start to read the story, look at the cover together, and talk about what you can you tell from the picture and title about Lulu, the cat and what might happen in the story.

Read the story aloud to your child, pausing if they want to talk about what is happening or what they can see in the illustrations.

Tell the story
Once familiar with the story children, could tell the story to you using the pictures to help them. It doesn’t matter if they use their own words to do so.

Talk about the story
Talk about the things children found interesting, or puzzling about the story.
Talk about all the different things Lulu and her family did to prepare for the new pet.
Count the number of toy cats in Lulu’s room and the number on the end papers.

Things to make and do

Acting out
Children could act out looking after a cat with toys like Lulu does.

Visit the library
Look for information books about pet keeping to find out more.

Make your own book
Make book of instructions together about how to look after a pet or how to get ready for a new pet cat

Make a pair of cat’s ears
You can make this for or with your child – see here

Children can wear the cat ears like Lulu does. They might like to pretend to be a cat, thinking about how they move.

Find out more

Find out more about the national cat adoption centre here

Read another story about Lulu. The series includes:

• Lulu loves stories
• Lulu loves the library
• Lulu reads to Zek
• Lulu loves Flowers
• Lulu’s first day
• Lulu’s Sleepover (from Sep 2021)

Find out more about author Anna McQuinn on her website including the other books she has written. Also included are articles and resources related to Lulu gets a Cat such as how to tell how a cat is feeling by looking at their tail, see here 

Watch a cartoon fairy tale
Lulu reads her cat Makeda the story of Puss in Boots. Watch a cartoon version here.

These picturebooks celebrate the joy of music and dance encouraging families to listen to music, make music and have fun moving to the rhythms together.

Our collection includes both stories and non-fiction.

Animal Boogie
Debbie Harter
Barefoot Books
Age 0-3

change

Set in an Indian rainforest, Animal Boogie is a colourful picturebook with a tuneful rhyme which you can read aloud to your child, sing together and even dance! There is lots to talk about in the colourful illustrations, including playing spot the animals hiding in the jungle.

See our activity page

The Bear and the Piano  
David Litchfield
Frances Lincoln Books
Age 5-9

One day a young bear cub finds a piano in the forest. Gradually he learns to play, and the other bears love to hear him. One day some humans discover the piano playing bear and invite him to play in the city. Soon he is the toast of the town with his name in lights. But he misses the forest and his friends.

This is a stunning picturebook with an appealing story about commitment, success, fame and friendship. If your child enjoys the story, there are two more wonderful books in the series The Bear the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle and The Bear the Piano and Little Bear’s Concert to enjoy.

See our activity page

The Drum                                                 
Ken Wilson Max, Catell Ronca
Age 0-3

The Drum is a vibrant picture book for the very young which explores body movements, rhythm and life. When the drum starts playing, people start moving. This is a book which will make toddlers and their parents want to beat out rhythms or get up and dance.

See our activity page

Everybody Can Dance
Kara Navolio Ruth-Mary Smith
Brandylane Publishers
Age 3-7

A rhythmic rhyming inclusive picture book celebrating dance and encouraging everyone to get up twist twirl and tap their feet.

Watch a trailer

Watch the story read aloud on CBeebies

Giraffes Can’t Dance  
Giles Andreae, Guy Parker Rees
Orchard Books
Age 3-5

Gerald the giraffe dreads the annual jungle dance – he is just not built for dancing. Luckily a thoughtful cricket sees Gerald’s predicament and is on hand to give him some advice and build his confidence. Gerald finds there is music all around him and that he can create his own dance. A colourful rhyming picturebook which makes this book a popular story to read aloud.

See our activity page

Watch the story read aloud

John’s Turn 
Mac Barnett, ill. Kate Berube,
Walker Books
Age 5-7

Every Friday at John’s school there is a special assembly where children share their talents. John is nervously waiting to show his ballet dancing. As his performance begins, he transforms, lost in the music and the familiar movements which become more and more spectacular. His audience are captivated.

Challenging stereotypical assumptions that ballet is not an activity for boys, this is a simple, appealing and powerful book about having the confidence to be yourself and share your passions.

Luna Loves Dance
Joseph Coelho, Fiona Lumbers
Andersen Press
Age 3-7

Luna loves dancing and looks forward to her dance exam. But when everything goes wrong, she loses confidence and thinks she will never be a dancer. Fortunately, her family help her recover her confidence and love of music and dancing. A joyful and reassuring story, beautifully written and illustrated which celebrates the pleasure of dancing to music, and the importance of family love in coping with life’s ups and downs.

See our activity page for Luna Loves Library Day

Mrs Noah’s Song                           
Jackie Morris, ill. James Mayhew
Frances Lincoln
Age 5-9

Mrs Noah loves to sing, she sings all day long.  She sings the songs her mother taught her and shares them with her children. She encourages her children to listen to the musical sounds around them, the birds and insects, the wind and the sea. On one special day she introduces them to a very special song: the dawn chorus.

This is a book which celebrates the songs we share and introduces children to the music in the natural world around them including the wonder of the dawn chorus.

See here for an activity page for another story about the dawn chorus
See here for another Mrs Noah activity page

Once Upon a Tune
James Mayhew
Otter Barry Books
Age 7+

This is a stunning book containing six stories which have inspired great pieces of music including The Sorceror’s Apprentice and In the Hall of the Mountain King and Scherherazade.

The stories are beautifully told and the illustrations are wonderful with collaged images depicting the story worlds. The back of the book provides information about the composers and the writers whose stories inspired them. There is also a suggested playlist so that families can explore the music inspired by the stories.

A wonderful blend of music, art and storytelling, this is a perfect gift book which may ignite interest in the music which inspired the stories.

The Very Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Tim Lihoureau and Philip Noyce, illus Olga Baumert                        
DK Children
Age 5-9

Two children set off on an interactive musical adventure. In a riverbank scene we are introduced to the cello, press a button to hear it play the swan theme from Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals. A New York Street scene introduces the clarinet and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. This is a great introduction to the instruments of the orchestra for the very young. Information about composers, instrumentalists and the make-up of the orchestra is also included. Spot the ear worm on each page.

Elys Dolan
Oxford
Age 5-7+

Mr. Bunny runs a factory which makes chocolate eggs.  It is staffed by chickens who are fed chocolate so that the eggs they lay are made of chocolate too! The process is described in detail, but all is not well at the factory because Mr Bunny is not a good employer. He is keen to improve his profits by increasing production which means conditions for the workers get even worse. In the end the chickens go on strike and Mr Bunny discovers the error of his ways when he finds trying to manage without his workers is not an easy prospect.

This is an amusing story which won the 2019 LOLLIES award (laugh out loud picture book prize) . Written in comic book format with lots of visual jokes this story is great fun and an interesting opportunity to discuss workers’ rights and the idea of protest with your child.

Listen to children talking about Mr Bunny’s Chocolate factory

Share the story

Read aloud
Before starting to share the book talk about the question on the title page together – how does your child think chocolate eggs are made?

Read the story aloud to your child – starting with the narration on each page and then the speech bubbles – you might like to point these out as you read them.

Join in
This book would be great fun to read together when you return to it. You could share the reading of the speech bubbles, or one of you could be the narrator and the other could read the chicken’s or Mr Bunny’s words.

Talk about the story

• Share what you both liked about the book – this might be to do with the story or the illustrations.

• Talk about how the workers in Mr Bunny’s factory feel in the middle of the story when he wants them to work harder and at the end.

• What would your child have liked to say to Mr Bunny when he wanted the chickens to work harder?

• Talk about anything that puzzles children for example unfamiliar words or phrases such as ‘crank chocolate production up to the max’, ‘quota’ or ‘poultry’.

Things to make and do

• Act out an imaginary conversation between Mr Bunny and one of his workers together complaining about conditions in the factory and making demands.

• Your child could write a letter to Mr Bunny to complain about the way he is treating his workers or make a list of demands for better treatment.

• Make a protest banner. Your child could use a large sheet of card and stick it onto a wooden baton. What will they choose as a slogan?

• Decorate an egg, see here for links to lots of ideas for decorating eggs

• Children could design a chocolate bunny producing machine, drawing their ideas on paper or making a junk model.

Find out more

Find out how chocolate eggs are really made

Watch this film at the Cadbury factory in Bourneville to find out how chocolate eggs are really made.

Read more books by Elys Dolan

Titles include

Steven Seagull Action Hero 

Weasels

Nuts in Space

Knighthood for Beginners

Find out how to draw Mr Bunny, from the book’s creator Elys Dolan

Experiment with chocolate

Find out how long it takes to melt chocolate on a hot day or by heating in a pan.

Reading a chapter book for the first time is traditionally viewed as a badge of honour on the road to becoming a confident reader. We have included a selection of titles here which children developing experience and confidence as readers may enjoy. However many picture books have plenty to challenge young readers so should not be cast aside.

You might want to share the reading for the books with more text here such as The Owl who was afraid of the Dark and The Magic Finger. Although children need to be able to read most words so that they can understand and enjoy the stories don’t worry if they can’t read every single word accurately.  Some children may want to read the books aloud to you, others may prefer to read to themselves (even if they are actually reading out loud as they do!)

Ken Wilson Max, Catell Ronca (illus)
Tiny Owl
Age 0-3

The Drum is a vibrant picture book for the very young which explores body movements, rhythm and life. When the drum starts playing, people start moving. This is a book which will make toddlers and their parents want to beat out rhythms or get up and dance.

Watch a trailer below.

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book to your child, doing some of the actions as you read.

Join in
As you read the book again, demonstrate the different actions such as shaking your hips or stomping your feet. Children will enjoy joining in. The book has a strong rhythm and you could show your child how to tap this out with their hands on the floor or by clapping their hands as you say the words.

Talk about the book

• Look for all the drums in the illustrations. Talk about the animals in the final spread – do children know what they are? What sounds do they make?

• Show your child how to feel their heartbeat and yours.

• What would you play on the drum like the one on the last page? Make up some rhythms together.

Things to make and do

Dance the story
When children are familiar with the words they can join in saying them with you and enjoy doing the movements together.

Beat a drum ( a noisy activity!)
Collect together different containers such as plastic boxes, wooden bowls or saucepans to be drums and wooden spoons for drumsticks and play rhythms together listening to the different sounds you make. If you want to make a drum for your child, this link is helpful:

Play a rhythm
With older children you could try clapping and tapping rhythms together – can your child copy you or join in?

Find out more

This book is the first of a new series called Children, Music, Life from Publisher Tiny Owl who say: ‘Music is one of most emotional and enduring forms of storytelling; early cultures often share their stories through music.’

• Authors Philip Pullman and Pippa Goodheart talk about the importance of music for young children here

• Watch rural African children playing drums

• For a poem about rhythm and life see our patron Michael Rosen perform Hand on the Bridge here