Happy Book Birthday to three brilliant titles from Walker Books

Summer is here, and like the most gorgeous luscious summer fruits, books are springing up here there and everywhere. Walker Books are producing picture book loveliness and their latest delicious crop is arriving today and celebrating a very happy book birthday.

First there's "The Lonely Giant" by debut author Sophie Ambrose. A modern fable, The Lonely Giant opens with the titular fellah kicking up a bit of a storm in his forest home. With no regard for his fellow animals, the lonely giant drains lakes, rips up trees and bushes, and destroys mountains.

As time passes, the forest disappears and all that's left behind is a barren landscape. No flora or fauna, just one lonely yellow bird that the giant swiftly captures and cages so she'll sing for him.

Of course, no caged bird sings for long so the yellow bird becomes sadder and sadder and as time passes the giant realises what he has done. Soon he's on a mission to replant the forests, to build the mountains back up and welcome back all the creatures who made his home worth living in.

A fabulous moral tale, beautifully illustrated and nicely balanced with a strong eco message. "The Lonely Giant" by Sophie Ambrose is out today from Walker.

Also out today, the zany and crazy new book from Timothy Knapman and Nikki Dyson, with a subject very much on our minds at the moment as the light nights and long summer days crawl along...

In "Dinosaurs Don't Have Bedtimes" a little boy's mum is trying desperately to get him to sleep. But the smartypants has an answer for everything (yes, that sounds VERY familiar at the moment, doesn't it mummy?) and points out that dinosaurs don't brush their teeth, don't wash their faces and definitely DON'T have bedtimes.

Poor exasperated mum tries just about everything, as the little boy becomes increasingly caught up in his fantastic fantasy world of roaring through the forest as a big scaly beast!

Will those eyes ever close? A hilariously funny, energetic and well observed bedtime read from two hugely talented folk. "Dinosaurs Don't Have Bedtimes" by Timothy Knapman and Nikki Dyson is out today from Walker Books.

The final book in our Walker roundup is something truly special and the third in a series that we've really loved to bits...

"Return" by Aaron Becker is the third book in the celebrated "Journey" trilogy, where all the answers are revealed and the mysteries underpinning this utterly fascinating wordless graphic novel are finally solved.

Return once again focuses on our female hero, whose busy dad can't find the time to play with her. She creates her own fantasy world, and a portal that leads her to excitement - and danger! Mythical creatures and nefarious protagonists await in this truly sumptuous and beautiful story as it reaches its final chapter.

"Journey" and "Quest" are also both still available, I urge you to grab all three as they're absolutely stunning pieces of work showing Aaron as an extremely talented author and artist.

"Quest" is released today in Hardback, from Walker Books.

Make it a Walker summer with one of these brilliant titles!

(All titles kindly supplied for review by Walker Books)