Tag Nia Tudor

Once Upon A Storytime / Grandmas are the Greatest

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These are both Bloomsbury Children’s Books publications – thank you to the publisher for sending them for review.

Once Upon A Storytime
Gareth Peter and Natelle Quek

Every night Nia and her mum lose themselves in a bedtime story, usually featuring the story components Nia likes most. One night after the story ends, Nia asks, “What if I get lost, like the children in that book?” She describes a scary scenario from a fairy tale, going on to ask if her mum would rescue her and her mum explains just how she’d rescue her. Nia continues conjuring up scary scenes and for each one her mum describes a rescue operation prefacing her plan with a reassuring “Yes, always!”

Nia comments on how brave her Mum is.

Mum then turns things around asking Nia, “But what if I was lost?” Her daughter responds positively and having established that they are both brave and always there for one another, it’s time to switch off the light, Mia safe in the knowledge that their adventures will always have a happy ever after ending.

With dragons, unicorns, wicked witches,

brave princesses, treasure and faraway lands, this is an enchanting bedtime book and one that shows young children stories can empower them. Natelle Quek’s scenes call forth wondrous images and with her clever use of dark and light hues, truly bring the nicely flowing story to life. Young listeners will love identifying the classic fairy tales from which Nia gets her storylines.

Grandmas are the Greatest
Ben Faulks and Mia Tudor

Taking little ones through every type of brilliant grandma, author Ben Faulks and illustrator Mia Tudor’s elevating book is a heartfelt celebration of intergenerational love. Prompted by a question from one small child to her Grandma, readers are introduced to all kinds of grans, each one special in her own way. Among others we meet an actor, a gardener, an ambulance driver, an acrobat and a mountaineer, there’s even a secret spy grandma. The important thing though, is that every one of them shares a relationship with her grandchild that is as precious and dependable as the Grandma who responds to the opening query.

Joyfully written and illustrated, this is a delight for any Grandma to share with her own grandchild or grandchildren.

Bees & Beetles / Not Just Another Book about Farm Animals / Not Just Another Book about Things That Mooove

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Bees & Beetles
Nia Gould and Molly Littleboy
Little Tiger

A surprising amount of information about bugs, in easily digestible portions, is found on the pages of this sturdy, split page ‘flip-flap’ book, the second in a series for the very young.

Children will enjoy being able to change the scenes by flipping the cut portions of the alternate pages to create a different but related scene for first ants, the second showing the inside of a nest; 

then spiders – the start and finish of a web. Following this, youngsters will encounter several different creepy crawlies – dragonflies, grasshoppers, beetles, fireflies and ladybirds on and among flowers in a meadow; transforming the habitat they’ll discover snails and slugs, earwigs, centipedes and below ground level, wriggling earthworms. Bees come next and finally various caterpillars and butterflies.

A useful book to support a minibeasts theme; one that is frequently explored by foundation stage learners.

Presenting information to young children in an entirely different, but equally effective way are

Not Just Another Book about Farm Animals
Not Just Another Book about Things That Mooove
Noodle Juice, illustrated by Jake McDonald
Noodle Juice

In the first the author offers facts in mouth- watering morsels about farms, and their livestock in a humorous style, with contributions from the animal residents along the way. There are spreads featuring hens, pigs, horses, sheep, cows, turkeys, ducks, geese, goats and even llamas. Did you know that you can tell whether a turkey is male or female by examining its poo?

Jokes abound – these are as likely to appeal to adults as the intended young audience and Jake McDonald’s illustrations are suitably comical.

The same is true in the second book that begins by giving a simple definition of transport and goes on to present spreads on myriad modes of moving from place to place. The information is presented by a cow narrator that seems to have a penchant for puns. Here’s an example. 

Readers will encounter feet (as in walking), boats, cycles, trains, cars, buses, trucks, planes, helicopters and rockets all of which have bovine drivers or pilots.

The busy final spread of both books asks ‘Can you find …’ In the farm book, readers have to try and spot the farmer; in the transport book there’s an elephant to locate.

Wacky fun for fact fanatics.

Zeki Goes To The Park / Grandads Are the Greatest

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Zeki Goes To The Park
Anna McQuinn and Ruth Hearson
Alanna Max

Another wonderfully loving little book starring the adorable Zeki. It’s a hot, sunny day and we join him and his Mummy as they set off for the park. There they meet up with some friends, Yu, her mummy and little baby sibling.

Zeki and Yu do the usual things that toddlers do in such situations such as use the swings (with parental help of course), build sandcastles

and bury themselves in the sand before sitting down with the others for a yummy picnic under the trees. Come sundown, they bid farewell to one another and set off home with their respective parents.

Anna McQuinn’s use of joyful, sometimes exuberant language as befits Zeki and Yu’s rides on the springy horses and their splashing in the cool water is a delight to read aloud and every one of Ruth Hearson’s illustrations radiates the wholehearted playfulness and focussed concentration of small children when engaged in activities they enjoy.

Perfect for sharing with toddlers around the age of Zeki and sufficiently robustly constructed to stand up to all the re-readings the book will surely have.

Grandads Are the Greatest
Ben Faulks and Nia Tudor
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

It’s the day of a special picnic – Grandads’ Summer Picnic – and it’s being held in a large field full of wild flowers and trees; an idyllic spot for each child to introduce his or her own very special grandad. This they do through Ben Faulks’ jaunty rhyming text and Nia Tudor’s wonderfully warm, inclusive illustrations, each with a wealth of details and an evident abundance of joy being able to share that special intergenerational love.

One grandad is a baker, famed for his yummy cakes, another is a retired builder; there’s an explorer,

an inventor, a barber, a fisherman who likes to tell salty tales, a magician who appreciates help from his young apprentice, a hang-gliding enthusiast, and a grandad who spends lots of time sharing books and singing songs with his young grand-daughter, someone who’s always there when a bit of extra comfort is required. Every one of them is different but all show an abundance of love to his grandchild.

Ideal for sharing with a grandparent on their special day in early October, but equally one to read with young children on Father’s Day coming up in June. (in the UK)

Everything Changes / When You Joined Our Family

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Everything Changes
Clare Helen Welsh and Åsa Gilland
Little Tiger

A parental break up is never easy for a young child and it’s certainly challenging for the young narrator of this picture book.

Clare Helen Welsh is a perceptive and skilled writer who handles difficult topics with great sensitivity, always keeping in mind that she’s creating a compelling story that is also a source of acknowledgement, guidance, and comfort. Through her sensitive words and Åsa Gilland’s exquisite illustrations we see and feel the emotional upheaval of the child from the time Mummy and Daddy announce one summer’s day against the backdrop of the seashore, that they can no longer live together.

The parents in this story both clearly very much love their child and using the natural world against which to have this story unfold is, like The Perfect Shelter, inspired. Herein we see the changing seasons as we follow the changes in the life of the three characters through the eyes of the child. Autumn brings a new house for dad, a garden with trees that shed their leaves forming a ‘blanket of red and orange’ and strong wind that causes the little one to wonder, ‘Was it my fault?’ Dad’s reassuring explanation in response calms his daughter’s inner turbulence however and her worries dissipate.

Winter brings snowy days and discussions with both mum and dad, further reassurance of their love for the narrator for ‘ it isn’t about hoping that the storm will pass … it’s about learning to dance in the raindrops!’

The story ends with a celebratory sixth birthday gathering of adults and children and the uplifting narrative conclusion, that change can bring good things and once you know that, everything changes. Åsa Gilland uses a changing colour palette for her striking illustrations that capture superbly the gamut of emotions and the different seasons of the text.

When You Joined Our Family
Harriet Evans and Nia Tudor
Little Tiger

This is a wonderfully warm look at the experience of adoption and a celebration belonging in a family, seen through the eyes of several adopters. Love is the key element that unites a family and love is what shines out from Nia Tudor’s illustrations on every spread.

The children adopted might look different from their new parent(s), be differently abled, tiny babies or of school age, it matters not. In this book we share in the entire adoption experience from those very first meetings to feeling a part of something unique and special:

there’s excitement, strangeness, reassurances, pride, unconditional love, a sharing of stories, sometimes the meeting of a new brother or sister and the beginning of new family traditions. All this is presented through a straightforward, affirmative text and Nia Tudor’s beautifully patterned, details illustrations that underscore the positive nature of Harriet’s words.

Both books are musts for primary school collections. I’d also recommend any family experiencing a break up to get hold of Everything Changes, and any new adoptive parents to have a copy of When You Joined Our Family to share.

The Queen on Our Corner

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Thank you to Katrina and Lantana Publishing for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour for this book

The Queen on Our Corner
Lucy Christopher and Nia Tudor
Lantana Publishing

This story told from the viewpoint of the child narrator was inspired by the author’s real life encounters with homeless and displaced people.

It appears, at the start that the only person aware of the lone woman who sits with her dog, is the narrator herself, although even she merely walked past at first. Conferring on the woman, the name Queen, the child envisages possible battles the woman has participated in, the journeys she might have taken, her countless adventures, 

perhaps even encounters with dragons; she eventually wins her mother around and the two of them offer simple acts of kindness to the woman. 

But that still leaves all the rest of the local people to convince of her worth and deservedness of their attention.

Attention is what the lone woman pays as she keeps a protective watch over the area looking out for any possible danger. Then, one windy night danger does indeed come in the form of a fire that grows and spreads; readers will suspect who is the person to shout the alarm call that galvanises the local people into action and brings the fire trucks to douse the flames.

Seizing her opportunity, next to shout is the girl narrator who informs everyone that because of ‘our Queen’ and her quick thinking, their homes and belongings were saved. At last, the woman receives, not only heartfelt thanks, blankets and water, but as the narrator suggests, they work together to create a home for their hero, a place from which she can regale them all with her stories.

Demonstrating the power of community, and the fact that everybody needs a place they can call home, this timely, thought-provoking tale coming in the wake of the terrible plight of the Afghanistan people, shows the importance of recognising the inherent worth of everyone – and homeless people especially, – no matter their circumstances or appearance.

Nia Tudor’s powerful scenes capture so well the changing feelings and emotions of the characters, particularly the narrator and the ‘Queen’. Her use of light and dark accentuates the unfolding drama and there are lots of interesting details to discover: look carefully for instance, at the final scene where the Queen is washing up.

Definitely a book to add to your home or classroom collection.

THE QUEEN ON OUR CORNER is now available in all good bookshops! OR, buy your copy from Lantana’s online shop and donate a book to children who need books the most with your purchase: www.lantanapublishing.com