We were lucky enough to be contacted by two extremely talented folk all the way from Bulgaria, to highlight a new book series specifically designed to help younger children learn their colours.

"The Fairy of Colours" is the publisher behind the range, and author Verginia Genova with illustrator Veselka Velinova have published the first three titles in the range digitally, and are about to begin a kickstarter to publish the books in Bulgarian and English in glorious hardback formats too.

Each book is hand painted and as you can see from the images below, the illustrations are truly and absolutely stunning to behold - fused beautifully with Verginia's lyrical and poetic storytelling.

"A Blue Fairy Tale" and a tempestuous storm!

"A Green Fairy Tale", at home with the grasshopper family.

Beautiful hand-painted artwork appears throughout each book.

We're very impressed with the first three books, which look amazing. You can find out more about the books on the "Fairy of Colours" website and now you can also check out the Kickstarter for this exciting project too! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/556900240/the-fairy-of-colors

Fabulous adventures await with Max (and his little brother)

Not one but two lovely books grace our Indie Pen-Dance slot this week. A while ago, Eric James got in touch with us to let us know all about his kickstarter for a children's book called "Max's Little Brother".

Eric and family. (Monster not pictured!)

Shaolan Hsueh - the genius behind Chineasy

Children have a natural aptitude for learning new languages and as their vocabulary in their own native language progresses, it's the easiest time to introduce them to other languages as they progress through early years development.

We've been contacted by the developers of a new project called Chineasy - with the aim of introducing children (and adults) to the complex and sometimes seemingly unapproachable world of learning Chinese.

Behind the programme is Shaolan Hsueh, a businesswoman and entrepreneur who has developed an extremely visual and approachable way of closing the gap between eastern and western culture and language gaps.

Chineasy has a Kickstarter campaign which you can join in with here. 

Chineasy's visual approach to learning a language is a natural fit for children.

We've taken a look at some of the example words and images that are used in the learning programme and they're smart and intuitive.

It's a brilliant idea, which will at least help with the character recognition aspects of learning chinese characters and it'd be great to see it come with phonetic and spoken stuff eventually too (it already looks like a system that would lend itself very well to app-based learning).


Stop by the Chineasy Facebook Page  or visit the website for more information on this interesting project.

One of the best bits of being a dad? You betcha!

"Hugs from Dad" is a new up and coming book that needs your help. Written and developed by Kev Payne, it's nestling on Kickstarter and garnering lots of attention. Kev lives a stone's throw away from the mighty force in Children's Picture Books - Babette Cole - and has been very lucky enough to gain some insider knowledge and guidance from the fantastic lady herself.

If you'd like to take a look at the book, perhaps even star in it yourself with your child (wow!) then drop by Kev's kickstarter page via the following link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1112299486/hugs-from-dad-childrens-book

We wish Kev all the best with his endeavour, it looks like a fab little book idea!