Lemur Dreamer
Courtney Dicmas
Templar Publishing
Somnambulist Louis, resident of the top floor of 32 Pebbly Lane, worries the fellow residents of his apartment block with his nightly wanderings. But one night when Louis actually leaves the building

and snuffles out into the lane, they feel compelled to trail him as his dream-filled wanderings take him to the very edge, whereupon his fearless followers execute a daring rescue.

Once safely on terra firma, Louis recounts his dreams to his rescuers only to discover how he and they have passed the night. But Louis is one lucky lemur for not only do his friends forgive him immediately, but the following day present him with a wonderful cheer-up gift, guaranteed to keep their erstwhile wanderer securely grounded in his own home.
From the title page,

we know we are in for a treat with this one. Dicmas’ choice of colour palette is just right for those whimsical, dreamy scenes

every one of which is a joy to behold and the perfect counterpart to her dead pan telling.

Last year there was a plethora of possums: are lemurs to be the favourite animal inhabitants of picture books in 2015, I wonder. There’s another in

There’s a lemur in my laundry!
Jo Lodge
Nosy Crow
A top quality small chunky board book in a new ‘Slide + seek’ series for adults to enjoy with the very youngest, where sliding the lower or upper part of the page reveals the particular animal that has taken up residence in an unlikely place in the narrator’s home. So, as well as the title creature we have a sink with a seal, a frog in the fruit bowl,

 

a snake in the sock drawer, a lion in the lampshade and a bear in the bed. In addition to the delight of revealing the animals themselves in Jo Lodge’s rainbow coloured pictures, there are animal sounds and the repeat ‘I don’t believe it!’ to join in with, and lovely alliterative sentences to relish.
Great for beginner readers to share with toddler siblings too.
Use your local bookshop 

Don’t forget February 14th