Wednesday 12 October 2016

Two innovative and brilliant new titles for tinies from artistic genius Clayton Junior, published by Words and Pictures

We've said many times that children are always ready for, and receptive to new and original ideas.

Sometimes it feels like children have a sixth sense when it comes to certain books - they can grasp the message and the concept quicker than we can, and they can also interpret books in their own little ways too.

"Free the Lines" is a book that seems beautifully designed to encourage and 'tap into' that sixth sense. It's a wordless picture book - and also one that has some fairly high-concept art too. No fluffy cuddly characters are required here, no twee rhymes as the book explores a journey, ecological issues and a hugely hopeful message in its bright blue page spreads.

A lone fisherman takes to the sea in his boat. We, as the reader, follow the journey as it unfolds - until a dark shape emerges on the horizon, a colossal trawler hoovers the very life from the ocean. Does the lone fisherman make the right choice with the action he takes?

Gorgeous line art helps the wordless story effortlessly flow
It's safe to say that we really don't see many books like this - and that's a shame because it feels like the publisher took a risk with a picture book that's quite unlike anything else out there - and it paid off beautifully.

"Free the Lines" by Clayton Junior is published by Words and Pictures - available now!

Sticking with Clayton for a moment there's also this fantastic minimalistic word book...

Alone Together pairs words so that younger children can learn about opposites.

Each page spread has a pair of pictures and their opposite meanings, designed to visually attract and build learning and language skills in a really neat way.

We peek in on ants, busy gathering food - will one lone ant struggle on alone or will many ants join in together to divide up the labour?

Bright colourful and economic illustrations make this suitable for the earliest ages - and also ensure that it's a book that children will come back to once they start learning to talk - and eventually learning to read.




I think this was the only 'puzzler' for us. Does Sober really have to mean 'boring' ?
"Alone Together" by Clayton Junior is out now, also published by Words and Pictures.