Our Book of the Week this week shows that there's nothing to be afraid of in the dark. In fact, when the sun goes down you might find that the night-time world is every bit as fascinating as the daytime.

"When the Stars come out" by Nicola Edwards and Lucy Cartwright is a thoroughly detailed and absolutely fascinating look at our world when shrouded in darkness.

Beginning with a look to the stars and a guide to the constellations and other amazing things we might see in the night sky, the book goes on to encompass a wealth of subjects that aren't just all about space or the stellar skyscape, but takes a look at how we humans are affected by the darkness, and how our friends in the animal kingdom also use the night-time as well.

There are many myths and legends surrounding the fall of night, and these too are examined - along with the mythical creatures that we've dreamed up in oral history and written stories, passed down from generation to generation.

For us, the really amazing facts marry perfectly with gorgeous stylish illustrations to bring this fascinating subject to life. The best bits were the passages about how important sleep is, like a thorough recharge of our bodies' depleted energy levels.

What an amazing book. Definitely not to be missed.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A huge book filled to the brim with amazing facts and nuggets of info around the cover of darkness and the fall of night, with truly stunning illustrations lending it a real touch of class.

"When the Stars Come Out" by Nicola Edwards and Lucy Cartwright is out now, published by 360 Degrees Publishing (kindly supplied for review). 

We've been taking a look at Little Tiger Press's brilliant range of new titles arriving this spring.

Kicking off with a true feast of glorious natural history facts and figures, curated by Libby Walden and featuring the work of ten amazing illustrators who truly bring the subject to life.

"In Focus: Forests" is a book packed with amazing animals, glorious greenery and all the things that call the forest "Home".

The book talks about some of the most famous forests on the planet such as the Black Forest in South-West Germany, on the border with France. This vast area is a truly amazing biodiverse environment that is protected, and thus is full of life from the forest floor right to the tips of the tall spruce and fir trees that stretch into the sky.

Grace Easton draws an amazing picture of The Black Forest and in turn, other artists examine the Rainforests (Suzanne Washington), The Anatomy of Trees (Julie Colombet), National Parks (Sol Linero), Forest mythology (Irene Montano), Peoples of the Forest (Alessandra Santelli), Produce and Preservation (Jenny Wren), Mangrove Forests (Aaron Cushley), the Amazon Rainforest (Marc Pattenden) and Kelp Forests (Stephanie Fizer-Coleman).

As you can see, this one really does cover a lot of ground and is a nice hefty book to dig into, with great fold-out spreads.

"In Focus: Forests" curated by Libby Walden is out on the 4th April, published by 360 Degrees Publishing. 

Next is a really fun way to take a step back in time with "Wilfred and Olbert's Epic Prehistoric Adventure" by the rather amusingly named Lomp.

Wilfred and Olbert are our time-travelling guides on a trip back to the very dawn of time, as the dynamic duo discover a mysterious artefact that allows them to nip through a portal back to any period in history.

By presenting a really cool comic-like story but also seeding the story with amazing and incredible facts about prehistoric life, this is a really excellent approach to helping kids cross over from stories into non-fiction with ease.

With characterful and brilliant illustrations, and a whole host of facts all about prehistoric times, from life that began under the sea, to gigantic creatures that later stalked the earth and soared through the sky, this is a real winner and we absolutely love this approach. Let's hope there are more adventures for Wilfred and Olbert soon!

"Wilfred and Olbert's Epic Prehistoric Adventure" by Lomp is out on the 4th April 2019, published by Little Tiger. 

A truly out-of-this-world treat for younger readers now, with the perfect introduction to outer space in "The Big Beyond" by James Carter and Aaron Cushley.

James specialises in interesting and absorbing books on the subject of space, and this is no exception as we learn a little more about humankind's efforts to move beyond our home planet out into the inky blackness of space.

Learn all about space shuttles, rockets, and the International Space Station in this beautifully illustrated and presented guide that will give tiny tiddlers a real head start when it comes to learning more about space science and space exploration.

Really brilliant this. We never get tired of space books!

"The Big Beyond" by James Carter and Aaron Cushley is out on 4th April 2019, from Caterpillar Books

"When the Bees Buzzed Off" by Lula Bell and Stephen Bennett is our final book from Little Tiger's spring selection and carries one of the most important eco-messages relevant to our lives at the moment.

Bee numbers are in decline. For most people this doesn't feel like it's a big deal but bees are a truly vital part of our ecosystem, our pollinators that make sure that all our amazing plant life - and of course our food - can grow and flourish.

The rest of the minibeasts realise the bees have disappeared, so it's up to them to join together and find out what has happened to their buzzy friends.

This is beautifully presented, with engaging "lift the flap" bits to enhance a story that is a great introduction to the importance of bees and other insect life that lives on our planet.

"When the Bees Buzzed off" by Lula Bell and Stephen Bennett is out on 4th April 2019, published by Little Tiger Press.

(All books kindly supplied for review)

It seems incredible to think that just a few short years ago, it looked like children's Non-Fiction was suffering from...for want of a better way of phrasing it...a serious lack of inspiration. There were a lot of books, but most seemed to be a bit too 'schooly' for us. Most followed a fairly formulaic approach, dishing up dry facts with uninspiring illustrations.

All that changed - in fact around 2015 according to our blog history, we celebrated a really amazing year of astonishingly fantastic non-fiction titles and it feels like it's just got better and better every year since.

Innovative publishers, like 360 Degrees Publishing (a new imprint of Little Tiger Press) now understand that non-fiction titles aren't purely for 'school work' or reference, they're actually huge fun to read - particularly for readers who don't always get on with stories and fantasy.

So we're taking a look at two of their titles, to celebrate National Non-Fiction November.

First is "Foods of the World" by Libby Walden and Jocelyn Kao. We instantly loved the 'small format' of these books, and the approachability. Aimed at younger readers, "Foods of the World" couples simple but informative text with gorgeous illustrations almost good enough to eat.

Find out about different foods around the world, from the familiar English roast dinner and American burgers, to some truly wonderful (and some very odd) alternatives. Ever fancied trying a 100 Year Old Egg? It's a Chinese delicacy but you might not want to pack them in your lunch for school!

There are some lovely little insights into world culture revolving around food and its importance and significance around celebrations and international holidays, religious and traditional festivals that revolve around tasty treats.

The illustrations are colourful and despite their aimed-at market, these are still as engaging for a 10 year old as they would be for a 5 year old.

"Foods of the World" by Libby Walden and Jocelyn Kao is out now, published by 360 Degrees Publishing. 

Also from 360 Degrees Publishing, there's "Festivals and Celebrations" by Sandra Lawrence and Jane Newland.

This touches on some of the subjects covered by "Foods of the World" as we take another global tour of the many ways people around the world celebrate, come together and enjoy family time while exchanging gifts and enjoying some wonderful food.

Again, the book takes the approach of mixing the familiar and the unfamiliar - showing for instance how different countries celebrate Easter and Christmas, but also have their own colourful festivals and celebrations that are equally vibrant and amazing.

As with "Foods of the World", "Festivals and Celebrations" contains brilliant and descriptive text with gorgeous illustrations to immerse kids in the subject matter. Again the small format is pretty cool too (though we love a huge big non-fiction title to sprawl out on the floor with, these are dinky and bag-sized so perfect for shuttling between school and home).

"Festivals and Celebrations" by Sandra Lawrence and Jane Newland is out now, published by 360 Degrees Publishing.

(Both titles kindly supplied for review as part of National Non Fiction November).

So we have another innovative and vibrant new contender developing brilliant non-fiction titles, we look forward to seeing what 360 Degrees come up with next.

Let's take a closer look at some awesome Autumn releases from Little Tiger and its imprints...