Blog Tour – Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks by Sally Fetech

Join me for the birthday celebrations of Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks by Sally Fetech in what has been an amazing blog tour.

Author Sally Fetouh was inspired to write this touching story by her own daughter who has Down syndrome, feeling it was important for her and other children like her to be able to see themselves in literature. Two years ago, after reading a different story about a girl with Down syndrome to her daughter’s preschool class, Sally says:

“The children were so engaged in the story and asked questions. They were very accepting and loving of their friend—my daughter. I left with a heart overflowing with emotion and that inspired me to write my story.”
Sally Fetouh

Sally’s cheerful text and whimsical illustrations bring alive this heart-warming story of kindness and inclusion featuring a character with Down syndrome.

When young Jana receives heaps of beautiful socks from her parents after learning how to put on socks all by herself, she can’t wait to show her friends at school. They are always kind and patient with Jana when they play together. Jana decides to share a pair of her new socks with each and every friend. This calls for a school sock parade! All of the children had so much fun showing off their colourful socks together that they gave a very special and huge gift for their kind and generous friend, Jana, a box of more socks.

My stop on this fantastic tour will take the form of an author interview.

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Happy Birthday for Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks. Welcome to my blog, Much To Do About Writing.

Tell us a little bit about your picture book and how you developed your main character.

When young Jana receives heaps of beautiful socks from her parents after learning how to wear socks all by herself, she can’t wait to show her friends at school, who all want a pair when they see them. Jana decides to share a pair of her new socks with each and every friend until there are none left. This calls for a school sock parade!

All of the children have so much fun showing off their colourful socks together that they give Jana a very special gift for their kind and generous friend, Jana, a huge box of socks!

‘Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks’ showcases a beautiful experience at school, exemplifying acceptance and friendship. I was inspired to write this touching story by my own daughter, Jana, who has Down syndrome, feeling it was important for her and other children like her to be able to see themselves in literature. I wanted to base the character on someone who has Down syndrome and even though ‘Down syndrome’ is not mentioned in the story, some readers may be able to recognise and relate to some traits. For example, Jana doesn’t say as many words as her friends or she’s slower than her friends when they race. I wanted to include all these aspects in the character, while championing the strengths that children with Down syndrome have in their kindness, empathy and huge sense of fun.

What are the underlying themes of Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks?

The main themes are that of inclusion, acceptance, kindness and friendship. The story aims to show children that even though we may be all different, we are still the same in the way we want to have friends, play, learn and have fun. The analogy of socks plays on this, where the socks were all different, but they were still the same thing – socks!

What inspired you to use socks to highlight differences?

Down syndrome is about having an extra chromosome, and chromosomes are shaped like socks. I was inspired by Down Syndrome International’s #lotsofsocks campaign that happens every year on World Down Syndrome Day on March 21 where the whole global community gets together and wears their brightest, craziest, most mismatched socks to celebrate the extra chromosome.

What have you discovered about the publishing process since Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks launched last year?

It’s a journey that requires a lot of continuous hard work in terms of marketing and publicity to keep the book alive in the sense that I’m trying to get more parents, teachers and librarians interested in it. Trying to get the word out there about the book and the message behind it is part of this process and it doesn’t stop.

What writing tip would you give to people aspiring to write a picture book?

Think like a child (of the age you are targeting) and write from that perspective. Focus on the story first and invest in a great editor. The illustrations will follow on naturally from that.

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To find out more about Sally Fetouh and her book, Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks on her website is www.sallyfetouh.com/book. There is also a list of online retailers who stock the book, and some information about the illustrator, Alexis Schnitger.

I would like to thank Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

Blog Tour – Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani

Today it is my turn on the blog tour for Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani. This tour is part of the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA). This year, the BBNYA is celebrating the 55 books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 10 finalists and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website: https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Sunbolt is a young adult fantasy about an orphan called Hitomi. The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life. Sunbolt is publsihed by Purple Monkey Press.

The author, Intisar Khanani, grew up a nomad and world traveller. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah, on the coast of the Red Sea. Intisar used to write grants and develop projects to address community health and infant mortality with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. She is the author of The Sunbolt Chronicles, and the Dauntless Path novels, beginning with Thorn.

My stop on the Sunbolt tour takes the form of an author interview.

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Hi Intisar,

Welcome to my blog. It is with great pleasure that I end your magnificent blog tour for Sunbolt with an author interview.

Tell us a little about your writing career and your latest novel, Sunbolt?

I’ve had a pretty varied writing career – I indie published my first novel, Thorn, back in 2012, and then jumped into writing The Sunbolt Chronicles. Then in 2017, HarperTeen picked up Thorn, along with a companion novel (that accidentally turned into a duology). I just put out the last book in the duology – A Darkness at the Door – last summer, and am cycling back around to this series. I’m re-releasing Sunbolt as well as Book 2 through a lovely little indie co-op called Snowy Wings Publishing (yay new cover!) in the lead-up to getting out Book 3. So I’ve done both indie, trad, and hybrid publishing (that last one was indie for North America, and trad through the UK!), and am excited to back in the indie sphere for this series!

What are the underlying themes of your novel, Sunbolt?

Sunbolt has a few different themes at play—from belonging and in-group/out-group relations, to colonization of the mind, to learning to make allies in the most unlikely places (by which I also mean, compassion). I’m sure some readers will also find other things that speak to them—for example, Hitomi deals with grief from both parent death and abandonment. While that’s a smaller thread, it’s definitely there.

What is your favourite thing about writing for young adults?

Young adults are questioning the underpinnings of their world, their looking sideways at authority and pushing back at injustice, and experiencing so many things for the first time. They also pack a lot of hope for the future—they’re not giving up, they haven’t hit some kind of overblown cynical middle-age where they just throw the towel in. Not at all. They’ve got their fire and their not afraid to use it. They’re an amazing group to write for, and having the chance to explore those realities through my writing is an absolute gift.

Is there an aspect of writing for young adults you wish someone had told you when you started out?

Not really. I’ve learned a lot as I’ve been writing, but I don’t have any major regrets as yet. I think just bearing in mind that writing is a journey, as is learning your craft, is a great help. None of us can get everything right the first time, or even the fifth. That’s okay! Just do your best, both in telling your story and making sure you do no harm in doing so.

What’s your favourite writing snack or drink?

I really love a flavored hot chocolate! I mix up my own varieties, as I tend to like less sweetener in my chocolate. Right now my two favorites are peppermint hot chocolate and a spicy blend that includes ginger, cinnamon, and red pepper (plus more!).

How did you celebrate when you finished Sunbolt?

I don’t tend to celebrate too much beyond grabbing a bowl of ice cream. XD For me, a lot of the satisfaction is in doing the work. But some of my happiest moments are getting tagged on reviews where the story meant something special to a reader. I always hope for that with my stories, and there have definitely been a couple of really special (to me) reviews that I think back to for Sunbolt.

What are your social media links where can people find out about you and your books?

I use the handle @booksbyintisar pretty much anywhere I go. Right now I’m most active on Instagram @booksbyintisar and Twitter @booksbyintisar … though really, I’ve been reducing my social media usage overall to help both my mental health and my writing time (talk about a time suck!). That said, I do have a monthly newsletter where I love to chat with readers and also share my news, and currently have a new story going out a chapter a month to subscribers. You can find out more at booksbyintisar.com/newsletter.

Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed on my blog for the last stop of your Sunbolt blog tour.

Thanks so much for having me!

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You can find out more about Intisar Khanani and her books on her website: https://booksbyintisar.com/ and follow her on Twitter @BooksByIntisar and Instagram: @booksbyintisar.

You can buy a copy of Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani from Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35696827-sunbolt and Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunbolt-Chronicles-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00DE2RXEM

Book Review: I’m Not Scared A Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Adventure

Title: I’m Not Scared A Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Adventure

Written and Illustrated by: Britta Techentrup

Published by: Prestel Publishing

It is not very often nowadays you find a picture book suitable for the 5+ age range. Most picture books are reducing the word count and telling the story as sparingly as possible a lot of the detail needed to keep the emergent reader engaged is lost. In this beautifully written picture book Britta Techentrup has expanded her text to successfully create two distinct characters with their own voice and personality.

We met Little Hedgehog and Big Hedgehog before in Britta’s book, Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Take an Evening Stroll, a story exploring nature and the beauty of the world. In contrast, I’m Not Scared, examines the complexity of being afraid, from dark basements to deserted streets, strange noises and swooping birds to cars’ glaring headlights, menacing foxes and friendly cats.

Throughout the book Britta does not identify the gender of either of the hedgehogs but we understand they have a parent-child relationship. As they embark on their picnic walk we see the different ways they react to unknown situations – how Big Hedgehog is protective and Little Hedgehog tries to act brave, insisting each time they were not scared.

Britta’s distinctive illustrations with their wild and rich layers of natural colour bring their emotions to life. Through picture and text the book subtly demonstrates a variety of different strategies for dealing with fear such as, accepting kindness, being still, counting, holding hands and whistling.

This would be a useful book for the classroom to stimulate a discussion on identifying and dealing with things that make us scared. It would also be the perfect book for an older emergent reader to explore and enjoy.

I have also previously reviewed The Swing by Britta Techentrup. To read this review see: Book Review: The Swing.

An interview with… Liz Flanagan

For the last ever issue of Writers’ Forum #254 May 2023 I interviewed Liz Flanagan about her inspiration and worldbuilding for the Wildsmith adventure series.

Liz explained the spark for the Wildsmith stories occurred in the strange quiet summer of 2020 when life was so starkly different from what we’d expected. Before her daily walk of those lockdown months, Liz had never realised how essential walking in the woods was for her mental health.

“Even in those dark and worrying times, as soon as I was outside under the trees, I started to feel better, and I’d return from my walk more able to cope.”
Liz Flanagan

She found writing was an anchor for her and tried new things to keep busy when her other work was cancelled. She discovered she enjoyed writing for younger children. Her agent, Philippa Perry, suggested writing a middle-grade series, full of magic and hope. It’s not a massive leap to see where Liz got the idea for a beautiful forest, fostering magical animals, and discovering the magical power to heal animals and speak to them.

Liz elaborated she had been fostering cats and kittens for an animal charity, and so had three unexpected additions to their household during lockdown – a very nervous young cat and her two kittens. She often wished she could speak to her foster animals to reassure them and to find out what was wrong when they were ill or scared.

She told me she believes fantasy lets us explore real-world problems in an oblique way that can be safe for young children. Perhaps all writers do this: taking the stuff of our lives and weaving it into stories, even if it’s not immediately apparent where each element came from?

Liz said she started sketching out ideas on a piece of paper – characters, issues, locations – and this grew into a detailed chapter by chapter outline. Her outlines tend to be about a quarter of my final word count as she thinks it is think easier to make changes to a plan than it is to rewrite a whole story. She created a map, and added to it as the series grew. She also did sketches of rooms and locations around Grandpa’s house to make sure it made sense on the page. Joe Todd-Stanton’s bought these places brought to life with his incredible art.

In terms of worldbuilding she needed to be clear on the magical attributes of her characters from the start. she explained it had to be consistent within the story world and also have limits – otherwise there’s no tension. But, the witches’ spells and the wildsmith’s magical healing were described in more detail quite late on in the writing process.

After writing the first two books Liz realised the passage of time was important. and decided that time passing at the rate of around one season per book should be a feature, which is highlighted on the covers. Book one has glorious green summery forest leaves, and book two has lovely autumnal shades.

The story developed with a longer-term conflict in the shape of the war, which begins in book one and is resolved by book four. Then each story has an individual problem to solve, connected with rescuing a particular magical creature (or being rescued by one in the case of book three). There are several baddies who re-appear, as well as friends whom Rowan isn’t sure she can trust.

Liz revealed it was a challenge to keep the conflict mainly happening ‘off-stage’ so it remained age-appropriate and not too scary, but early reviews from teachers have been really encouraging. Having short chapters helps to keep the children turning the pages. It gives you that structure and encourages a natural ‘cliff-hanger’.

“My protagonist needed to have a very clear goal throughout, even if this changes as the story develops. I’m used to having lots of action in my older books, so I wanted to make these younger books equally exciting. However, it was certainly a challenge for me, learning how to write simply while keeping the pace, learning what to leave out and what to keep in.”
LIz Flanagan

LIz’s writing tip for writing for children is to think back to your own childhood. She said one thing we know really well is the childhood we experienced and how we ourselves felt as a child of different ages. So we have this incredible resource, if we can access these memories.

“Having once been a bookish, animal-fixated child who loved to climb trees, I definitely think I wrote Wildsmith: Into the Dark Forest for the seven-year-old I once was.”
Liz Flanagan

And even if we can’t retrieve our own memories, we can observe the children around us. Liz found this a helpful place to start: instead of trying to please everyone, select a child you know, or the child you once were, and write to please them.

Liz Flanagan can be found at: https://lizflanagan.co.uk, Twitter @lizziebooks, Instagram @lizziebooks17

To read the complete feature you can purchase a copy of #254 May 2023 issue of Writers’ Forum by ordering online from Select Magazines.

To read my future Writing 4 Children or Research Secrets interviews you can invest in a subscription from the Writers’ Forum website, or download Writers’ Forum to your iOS or Android device.

Book Reviews: The Crazy Critters Coronation

Title: The Crazy Critters Coronation

Written by: Wellow House School Year 1

Illustrated by: Wellow House School Year 1 using Canva

Edited and compiled by: Melissa Foster

Published by: Amazon

To commemorate the coronation of King Charles III last weekend the Year One class in Wellow School, near Mansfield Otto have written and illustrated this charming little story where their school mascot, Otto the Owl, sets off on an adventure to invite animals from all over the world to his coronation.

With the guidance of their teacher, Melissa Foster, Otto flies to each of the seven continents where he meets a different animal who will come to his coronation and celebratory garden party. This book is an inspirational example of writing for a purpose.

Each of the animals were chosen by a different child in the class who had to think of describing words beginning with the same letter as their chosen animal. For example, the snake is slimy, slithery and sad, to create a brilliant display of alliteration on nearly every spread.

The illustrations were made by the children for their chosen animal using Canva.

This book would be a good resource to inspire your own children to create their own picture books for publication. You can buy copies of The Crazy Critters Coronation by Wellow House School Year 1 from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/5oH3dz8

Book Review: Silver Linings

Title: Silver Linings

Written and Illustrated by: Fiona Woodcock

Published by: Harper Collins

I love the simplicity of this large, A4 hard-back picture book, Silver Linings by Fiona Woodcock.

Pip is not having a good day but her best friend Parker is forever the optimist and always manages to see the bright side of everything that goes wrong for her. But when disaster strikes for Parker it is up to Pip to put the smile back on his face.

This is a lovely heart-warming story of friendship with a theme of having a positive mental attitude. Young children will empathise with the things that happen to Pip that could potentially ruin the day but will cheer with glee at parker’s imaginative and fun solutions. Fiona’s pastel artwork add a feeling of joy whilst reading Silver Linings. Every page oozes hope and the spirit of fun and adventure. The underlying message of looking for the silver lining in everything is portrayed in a touching and comforting way.

This book was a pleasure to read. Silver Linings will resonate with children and adults alike. Ideal for bedtimes and to read to the class. Fiona’s pastel artwork adds to the feeling of joy whilst reading Silver Lining. Every pages oozes hope and the spirit of fun and adventure.

I would like to thank Fiona Woodcock for the gorgeous postcard with the lovely handwritten message I received with the book.

The answer is YES I enjoyed reading this book and I’m sure others will too.

You can buy copies of Silver Linings by Fiona Woodcock from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.

Book Review: Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the King

Title: Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the King

Written by: Jane Riordan

Illustrated by: Andrew Grey

Published by: Farshore Books

When Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends go on an expedition to a Royal London Park they don’t expect to find themselves in the middle of a royal adventure. This charming story takes place at a very special Royal Coronation.

Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet lose Eeyore in the crowd so they come up with an ingenious plan to find their friend. Along the way they meet a King Charles III and learn about the importance of kindness, helping others and new beginnings.

I was particularly impressed by the detailed architecturally accurate illustrations of iconic landmarks in London by Andrew Grey. This is a remarkable achievement when you consider the speed they must have been drawn to get the book published in time for the royal coronation.

There are some well chosen interesting facts thrown in such as the River Thames runs through London, King Charles III’s love of the environment, the thistle being the national flower of Scotland and the pelicans in St. James Park were a gift to King Charles II in 1664.

This classic character children’s book will make a wonderful keepsake to honour the historic coronation of King Charles III.

The ideal commemorative gift centred around a children’s character we all love.

Blog Tour – Inheriting Her Ghosts by S. H. Cooper

Today it is my turn on the blog tour for Inheriting Her Ghosts by S. H. Cooper. This tour is part of the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA). This year, the BBNYA is celebrating the 55 books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 10 finalists and one overall winner.

Inheriting Her Ghosts is a Victorian gothic horror novella. Eudora Fellowes discovers she’s the sole heir of her estranged great-aunt’s seaside manor house High Hearth, so leaves her childhood home with her two faithful hounds hoping for a peaceful escape and a new start.

But High Hearth is a place of tragedy and deception, and Eudora discovers that the secret to her great-aunt’s clandestine history lies behind the door with no key. She soon realises Inheritance often comes with strings attached, but rarely are they as tangled as those hanging over High Hearth. What awaits is a dark legacy shrouded in half a century of secrets. It doesn’t take long before Eudora realizes she’s not the only one to call High Hearth home.

The author, S.H. Cooper is a Florida based, multi-genre author with a focus on horror and fantasy. Her work has been published by Sleepless Sanctuary Publishing, Cemetery Gates Media, and Brigids Gate Press. In addition to short story collections and novels, she is also the writer for the horror comedy podcast, Calling Darkness.

When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing, talking about writing, or sleeping (wherein she dreams about writing). She is kept up and running through the tireless efforts of her extremely supportive family and coffee. Her horror novel, Inheriting Her Ghosts, is published by Sleepless Sanctuary Publishing on the 9th July 2021

My stop on the tour involves an interview with the author, S. H. Cooper about the writing of Inheriting Her Ghosts.

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Welcome to my blog. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed by me as part of the penultimate stops of your blog tour for your haunting new book Inheriting Her Ghosts.

Tell us a little about yourself and the inspiration for your book Inheriting Her Ghosts.

I’m an American author of horror and fantasy. I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember, completing my first novel-length manuscript (which would much later become my YA fantasy novel, The Knight’s Daughter) at eleven years old. While I’ve always loved horror as a genre, I didn’t start writing it until 2016, when my sister suggested I check out the NoSleep subReddit to combat a long bout of writer’s block. It worked like magic and suddenly the words were flowing! Since then, I’ve published a slew of short stories, six books, co-edited two anthologies, and co-wrote a podcast.

Inheriting Her Ghosts drew inspiration particularly from Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black and Guillermo del Toro’s 2015 film, Crimson Peak. I’ve always been drawn to haunted houses and the gothic flair of both works struck a chord with me. The story of IHG came quite unexpectedly as I’d not done much in the gothic vein, and never anything Victorian. One day, I just heard a very distinct voice in my head (that sounded exactly like voice actress Erika Sanderson of The NoSleep Podcast) say, “The house inherited me as much as I did it. We were alike, this house and I…”, and wrote it down, not knowing I’d just met Eudora Fellowes and been given the opening lines to her dark tale.

How do you select the names of your characters?

Honestly, most of the time, there isn’t much of a selection process at all. It often feels less like I’m coming up with stories and more like I’m simply transcribing something that’s being told to me. Crawford Bentley was always Crawford Bentley, I never wondered over what to call Black Shuck and Cerberus. They just were. Eudora was actually a rare exception. She started with an entirely different name that never quite felt right, and early on, my editor, Elle Turpitt, confirmed my suspicion that it seemed off. Without knowing exactly what I was looking for, I started scouring Victorian baby name lists and when I finally came across the name Eudora and surname Fellowes, it just clicked and I knew without any doubt that was meant to be her name.

What is the most difficult part of your writing process?

Getting in my own head. Longer works in particular give me a lot of time to second guess, cast doubts, and worry over the most minute details that a reader probably won’t even notice, much less question (“Is the color of this furniture appropriate for the time period?”, “Is ‘nightgown’ or ‘night clothes’ the better term?’, etc.). Thankfully I have a wonderful group of fellow author critique partners and, as mentioned before, my editor, Elle. They’re great at helping me work through my own thoughts and excellent motivators.

What part of Inheriting Her Ghosts was the most fun to write?

100% Eudora’s relationship with her dogs, Black Shuck and Cerberus. They’re loosely based on my own dogs and it was so easy and enjoyable to bring the love I have for them to the page. While my pups aren’t as large, intimidating, or (let’s be honest) well trained as their book counterparts, I have no doubt they’d put themselves between me and any perceived danger and I’d definitely throw down with a ghost if it threatened them.

Where is your most productive place to write?

This is my “Don’t be like me, be better” answer: My phone. It’s a horrible habit. Don’t do it. Since I can take it anywhere, location doesn’t matter that much, but it must be totally quiet and uninterrupted. While music can help get me in the mood to write before I actually sit down to do so, it gets shut off the moment I’m ready to put proverbial pen to paper and if anyone interrupts me while I’m in The Zone, I…typically politely ask them to wait until I’m done, but there is some serious side-eye while I do it.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve ever been given about writing?

Take every piece of advice you’ve heard about writing and chuck it out the window. Ok, maybe not the stuff about having to be disciplined and, as with any art form, needing to practice, but most of the other fluff. The “How Stephen King Writes a Billion Novels a Year” and “One Hundred Ways You NEED to Change to Be a Real Author” type schlock. Writing is an extremely personal process and what works for Mr. King might only be a roadblock for you. Maybe you’re a plotter, maybe you’re a panster, maybe you write better with a set word count to reach, maybe it’s easier to never count words at all. The how you do it isn’t nearly as important as the fact you’re just doing it. Figure out your system and grow in the way that works best for you (unless your way is writing on your phone…).

Thanks again for your time in answering my questions. I am looking forward to taking a peek at the last posts in the tour tomorrow.

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You can find out more about S. H. Cooper and her books on her website: www.authorshcooper.com and follow her on Twitter: @MsPippinacious and Facebook: @pippinacious.

To can buy a copy of Inheriting Her Ghosts by S. H. Cooper on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58424258-inheriting-her-ghosts and Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0977PL7BB.

Book review: The King’s Hat

Title: The King’s Hat

Written by: Shelia May Bird

Illustrated by: Mark Beech

Published by: Welbeck Publishing

To celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, I am posting a commemorative book review to mark the occasion.

In this fun rhyming picture book, The King’s Hat, by Shelia May Bird and Mark Beech our new King is finding his crown a little heavy to manage. His good friend Tom the gardener explains monarchs must wear all sorts of hats and he must be brave and allow himself to be the king he was born to be. The joyful rhyming text of The King’s Hats will delight little ones as they explore all the roles their king might have to take and the many hats he will have to wear during his reign.

I really enjoyed The King’s Hat because it made me laugh. The rhyming verses are a pleasure to read. I’m sure every child will love listening to this exquisite story published to coincide with the Coronation of King Charles III today, Saturday 6th May. It also coincides with The Big Help Out, designed to encourage a national day of volunteering, which will take place on Monday 8th May and is intended to create a ‘lasting legacy’ for this coronation weekend.

Mark Beech’s glorious and hilariously warm illustrations with a caricature-style are fun and his traditional pen and ink style bring the story to life. I particularly like the illustration of King Charles dancing around the garden in his kilt pretending to play a golden spade as a guitar.

The Kings Hat spread two

I believe young children will be able to identify and understand the different roles King Charles has to undertake and will enjoy thinking of other hats he can wear on other occasions. In the classroom children will love making and designing their own hats for a particular purpose and could do all sorts of role play using a selection of different hats.

I would recommend this book for all primary school book corners to commemorate this momentous event in British history.

You can buy copies of The King’s Hat by Shelia May Bird and Mark Beech from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org, an organisation with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops.

Book Review: Mr Men Little Miss The New King

Title: Mr Men Little Miss The New King

Original concept by: Roger Hargreaves

Written and Illustrated by: Adam Hargreaves

Published by: Farshore Books

The Mr Men and Little Miss have been delighting children for generations with their charming and funny antics. Bold illustrations and funny stories make Mr Men and Little Miss the perfect story time experience for children aged two up.

In this charming and funny commemorative edition King Charles III goes on a royal tour of the Mr Men Little Miss world. It’s a right royal giggle from start to finish.

There have been preparations in every land. Everyone is very excited. In Happyland, Mr Happy and Little Miss Sunshine have planted a special flower display, while in Loudland, Mr Noisy and his band have been practising day and night and in Coldland they build a royal snowman.

Finally, King Charles III arrives at Middletown Airport for the Cleverland parade, where Miss Brainy had calculated the exact number of flags that were needed for them to wave. The King’s next stop is Nonsenseland where he looks right at home and the tour continues until he reaches Happyland and the grand gala ball and banquet.

A mad, raucous romp of a book guaranteed to make children squeal with laughter.