Frances Lincoln Publishing continues to scour the globe for the very best in children's books, this time with a huge weighty tome full of the joys of outdoors. Let's go outside...

Have you ever got to the very end of a book and wished that you could leap right back to the start and read it all again? Well here's a challenge for you. Get to the very end of "Follow the Firefly", an entertaining romp through a busy jungle and city, to find out what happens to a tenacious little glowbug on his quest to track down a flashing light. He meets lots of odd characters who helpfully point the way, but children will spot all the other things going on in each scene. Like, for instance, a jumping jackrabbit.

You see when you reach the end of the Firefly's adventure, the book urges you to work in reverse and unpick the tale of that rabbit, as he runs away from a gnashing dog in the other direction!

It's a neat idea and we've not seen anything like this before. Bernardo Carvalho's largely wordless story is perfect for little ones who have an eye for detail and love the fast pace of this story. There's no time to get bored as we chase there and back! Love it!

Charlotte's best bit: The big grumpy gorilla doesn't take too kindly to naughty dogs chasing his friend rabbit!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Love that cute moment at the end of the Firefly story as he meets his paramour!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Book Island)

Is it slightly unusual that a children's picture book can evoke sound and movement in your head as you read? We've been taking a look at the amazing range of children's books from Tate Publishing and "Coming and Going" really sticks in the mind as a book that fully immerses you while you're reading it, and almost feels like a treat for all five senses. Yet it has quite a serious core environmental message that is not dumbed down for children, is thought provoking and of course promotes a million questions from C about why we human beings do the things we do.


In "Coming and Going" we have a human's eye view of our planet and the amazing creatures who live on it - and how we should take great care to ensure that we protect them, and have less of an impact on their habitats and resources. The theme is travel, hence the title "Coming and Going" and we find out how even the tiniest animals can travel great distances without burning fossil fuels or having an adverse effect on our ecology.

Isabel's lyrical text has a huge impact and allows the message to sink in gently without hammer blows. Bernardo Carvalho's illustrations are truly beautiful (as you can see from this blog post and the images we've included), underlining the message with artistic flair.

This is a hugely impressive book indeed!


Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte's favourite insects (Butterflies and moths) are able to travel huge distances with no jet engines!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Thought provoking, stylish and gorgeously presented. An impactive and immersive book with an important core message.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)