Out today is this very timely book about being kind to others, and instilling in them an unparalleled feeling of joy when you're around. Surely something we can all aspire to in these troubled times.

"Hello! A Counting Book of Kindnesses" by Hollis Kurman and Barroux is perfect for tinies who are just learning to count for the first time, and who could also do with a huge dose of kindness in their lives - whether they're still in lockdown at home with their parents, or back at school dealing with the difficulties of social distancing and the curious situation we all still find ourselves in.

Hollis' wonderful sentiments coupled with Barroux's brilliant illustrations make this one a mini wow for early years.

Let's take a look inside this lovely book:

"Hello! A Counting Book of Kindnesses" by Hollis Kurman and Barroux is out today, published by Otter-Barry Books (kindly supplied for review). 

A scintillating and atmospheric tale from an amazing author and illustrator, drawing together influences and sources from the amazing verbal tradition of First Nation folk tales.

"Wild Wolf" by Fiona French may well have a distant-past setting, but the strong female characters and their situations will feel utterly relevant to girls and women today.

When Bravest Warrior is refused as a suitor by beautiful Proud Girl his heart turns to anger.

In revenge he makes Ice Man, who leads Proud Girl into great danger.

But Wild Wolf, guardian spirit, is watching.

Can he rescue Proud Girl and could pride and anger turn to forgiveness and love?

Sum this book up in a sentence: Fiona's deft storytelling and amazing artwork bring this tale to life for a modern audience, showing that self-belief, bravery and cunning can defeat even the mightiest foe.

"Wild Wolf" by Fiona French is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books (kindly supplied for review)

Ahead of Mother's Day on the 22nd March, how about a fantastic poetry compilation with poems by Justin Coe and Illustrations by Steve Wells.

"The Magic Of Mums" is released today by Otter-Barry books, celebrating the amazing awesomeness of mums, in a diverse collection of poems perfect for reading aloud.

Meet gentle mums, action mums, hardworking mums and just plain awesome mums in this fab collection of rhyming and non-rhyming verse.

Everyone knows that mums are special, and this brill book follows nicely on from Justin's other collection "The Dictionary of Dads" (just in case you're stuck for a father's day present for later on in the year.

"The Magic of Mums" by Justin Coe and Steve Wells is out today, published by Otter-Barry Books.

Something more whacky suit your tasts? How about "There's a Crocodile in the House" by performance poet Paul Cookson with illustrations by Liz Million.

There's a crocodile in the house! How on earth would you deal with something so dangerous yet so whacky? (We loved this bounce-along rhyme that's absolutely perfect for a bit of audience participation and reading-aloud fun).

Other strange subjects find their way into Paul's collection in a truly rib-tickling selection box filled with variety and fun.

Kids love poetry and these two books are a great addition to any home or class library.

"There's a Crocodile in the House" by Paul Cookson and Liz Million is out today, published by Otter-Barry Books (both books kindly supplied for review).

Once proud, but now an animal whose days seem numbered.

In "The Last Tiger" by Petr Horacek, Tiger is strong and mighty.

Everyone knows that Tiger is lord of the jungle, but all his strength and boldness cannot keep him safe from the human hunters.

Poor Tiger is captured, his fate unknown.

In captivity, the tiger realises that what really matters is not strength or power, but freedom.

Moving, thought-provoking and superbly illustrated, this book doesn't hold back with its clear message that we are responsible for the welfare of animal species across the globe, and as tiger numbers are dwindling in the wild, it's up to us to ramp up our conservation efforts to ensure this magnificent beast doesn't disappear entirely.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Fabulous stuff as ever from Petr, an immense talent in kidlit.

"The Last Tiger" by Petr Horacek is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books (kindly supplied for review). 

We love non-fiction books that cover unfamiliar ground, and in "The History of Prehistory" by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom, this dynamic book-creating duo travel back as far as time itself to dig into the very origins of our earth.

Starting with the way the earth formed, and the continents began to divide, through to when the first primitive lifeforms began to emerge from swampy seas, to evolve into all manner of fascinating creatures, Mick and Brita bring us further up to date with an adventure that is truly 4 billion years in the making.

With two awesome kids to guide us through on our journey, we'll learn more about the world we live in as it was way way before us hairless apes crawled down out of the trees for the first time.

Mick and Brita also effortlessly cover eco issues as well as showing some of the unique life that has existed on our planet throughout time.

This is a real treat of a book, stretching back into the distant past with a truly unique perspective on prehistory that isn't just your average Dinosaur book.

"The History of Prehistory" by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books (kindly supplied for review). 

We both miss Nan. Nan, my grandmother, and C's great-grandmother succumbed to Dementia 3 years ago - so it's fair to say that we approach children's books that deal with this horrific illness with some trepidation.

"Me and Mrs Moon" by Helen Bate once again demonstrates just how Helen manages to take the trickiest subjects to turn into children's stories, and turns them into something both brilliantly observant and sensitively conveyed.

"Me and Mrs Moon" tells a story from the perspective of two young children who adore their elderly neighbour.

Maisie and Dylan love Mrs Moon. She picks them up from school every day and they have great fun together. 

We love books that begin as an idea, a notion, perhaps a project - but spin up into something that could change the way you think and even perhaps (hopefully) one day change the world.

"Migrations: Open Hearts, Open Borders" is one such book, beginning with an idea from two teachers of illustration at Worcester University, emerging at a time when the refugee crisis began to intensify back in 2017.

Their idea was fairly simple, to put out a call to illustrators all around the world to ask them to send an original postcard illustration, to eventually form an amazing installation at the Bienalle of Illustration at Bratislavia in Slovakia.

No one quite expected the huge response that they would get, with hundreds of cards arriving by post and some of the most famous illustrators working in children's literature and beyond all contributing some amazing thought-provoking pictures and messages.


Since then, the installation has been put together and displayed in various places around the world, and will be installed in Amnesty International's London offices in the summer of 2019.

This book gathers together fifty of the postcards, mailed from 32 countries, and reproduces in actual size in this very special book which is available now.

All the works have been donated and the book's royalties will be shared between Amnesty International and IBBY (International Board on Books for Youth).

Leading children's book illustrators from the UK, including Christopher Corr, Neal Layton, Jackie Morris, Jane Ray and Chris Riddell, have contributed cards, along with illustrators from Argentina to Russia, South Africa to Iran, with an introduction written by world-renowned talented illustrator Shaun Tan.

Using the strong imagery and theme of a migrating bird, the book is both thought-provoking and utterly beautiful, with the strong message of acceptance and the dissolution of our preconceptions about nationality and borders emanating from every page.

This really is something stunning and well worth picking up.

"Migrations: Open Hearts, Open Borders" by various artists, is published by Otter-Barry Books (kindly supplied for review)

From amazing Author-Illustrator Patricia McCarthy, author of "Run Elephant Run" comes a new adventure - this time diving under the waves into the deep blue ocean off the coast of California.

"Dance Dolphin Dance" journeys out into the ocean, deep down in the kelp forests where Dolphins love to play.

A young Dolphin dances with sea lions but danger is always just around the corner.

Suddenly he meets a Great White Shark... and then a Killer Whale... Dance, Dolphin, dance for your life!

A dramatic underwater chase set in the Pacific Ocean takes us on an amazing journey exploring the various flora and fauna that lives in our oceans, with 36 sea creatures and birds to spot.

Children will delight in the story, but also be able to spot creatures both familiar and unfamiliar, from the Red Octopus and Blue Cannonball Jellyfish to the Crowned Squirrelfish and the Sea Otter.

This book is utterly beautiful, and piques the curiosity of young readers as they try to find all the amazing creatures - and enjoy Dolphin's playful antics.

Sum this book up in a sentence: An utterly beautiful undersea adventure highlighting the importance of our oceans and the rich diversity of life that call the seas their home.

"Dance Dolphin Dance" by Patricia McCarthy is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Fashion is definitely a 'thing' with C, who loves to design outfits and make clothes for her dolls.

So we were keenly interested in this new title from Otter-Barry, looking at costumes and clothing from all around the world - but also looking to the future at what we may all be wearing in a few years time!

"The Wonderful World of Clothes" by Emma Damon is a gorgeously illustrated celebration of style, a smorgasbord of wearables from many, many countries - each with their own culture and uniqueness that can feed into a child's imagination as they begin to think about how clothes are made, how they came about, and perhaps even how they'll be made and designed as technology begins to play more of a role in how clothing is produced.

See what children wear in Siberia, in the Sahara desert or at the Vietnamese Moon Festival. 

Here's a fabulous story that's a little bit scary and spooky at first...

Our Poetry Book of the Week this week is a fantastic way to celebrate National Poetry day. A superb anthology of contemporary and classic poems...

A gorgeous sumptuous luxurious story book that's perfect for settling down with before bedtime, well how could we possibly resist?

This one sneaked under our radar but is released today, and if there's one thing we love it's a poetry book kids can really identify with...

Oooh now this is definitely something fresh, exciting and original. A book about evolution for tinies? Picture Book of the Week fare for sure...!

Here's a couple of brilliant new books from Otter-Barry kicking off with a riotous and crazy set of stories about a very odd fellow indeed...

Here's a rather fabulous book that may well tap into some well-known defaults in children's books, but to great effect and for a very good cause...

Here's an absolutely beautiful keepsake version of a mesmerising poetry anthology for children, first published over 100 years ago.

This lovely edition has been brought bang up to date by Otter-Barry Books, with new illustrations from children's literary legend Michael Foreman and a foreword from Alexander McCall Smith, author of the fantastic "No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" series.

Stretching across many different subjects, but always with a core theme of celebrating a child's boundless imagination, and thirst for adventure and excitement, these beautiful poems have been published and republished many times, and are so well known that their titles have seeped into children's literature and popular culture in so many different ways.

There's adventure on the high seas in "My Bed is a Boat" and "Pirate Story", amazing dreamscapes in "The Land of Nod" and "Young Night-Thought" and so many other classics, that are beautiful to read aloud in Louis-Stevenson's lyrical and lilting prose.

It's a beautiful collection, truly.

"A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson and Michael Foreman is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books (Kindly supplied for review). 

Here's a distinctly different, some may say 'odd' little tale (that's certainly how Charlotte described it) that should delight and thrill little ones...

There are fewer animals that are cuter than baby elephants...

More nautical naughtiness on the high seas, but this time the trouble is pint-sized...