We're continuing our celebration of all things Spacey with the run-up to the 50th Anniversary of the first moon landing - this time with a book that not only looks at that monumental space mission, but begins way back in the early days of the space race as the USA and USSR put their scientific might behind exploring space for the first time.

In "The Race to Space" by Clive Gifford and Paul Daviz, this absolutely gorgeously presented book presents a potted but thoroughly detailed history of the space race, beginning with Russia's first man-made satellite in space (Sputnik), right through to what may happen in the future as once again the world gears up to take the next steps towards exploring the rest of the Solar System and beyond.

Straight off the bat, this book is so eye catching, with Paul Daviz coming up with some absolutely stunning illustrations drawing on influences ranging from Russian 'Space Propaganda' posters, right through to NASA's amazing conceptual art. With Clive's thorough and precise facts and anecdotes detailing the early missions, the unmanned launches, animals in space, and of course the first humans to be launched into space and successfully returned to earth, it's a riveting read even if you feel you're relatively well informed about space exploration.

Utterly superb in every way.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A fact-filled and brilliantly presented book encompassing a huge chunk of space exploration history, and looking forwards to what we may achieve in space next.

"The Race to Space" by Clive Gifford and Paul Daviz is out now, published by Words and Pictures (kindly supplied for review).

Sometimes it's the simple things in life that make it worth living. Like finding a quiet spot (quite a quest in itself) to laze in a grassy field, listening to bird song and watching butterflies flitting between flowers.

Two new books are perfect for nature lovers who want to know more about these fascinating insects.

Starting with "The Butterfly House" by Katy Flint and Alice Pattulo, over 100 species of butterflies and moths are presented in exquisite detail, with tons and tons of interesting facts and nuggets of information about each species in turn.

Coupled with beautifully hand-drawn illustrations of each butterfly and moth, you'll soon get up to speed identifying some of our more common butterfly species, and perhaps even some of the rarer ones as you enjoy some time out in the summer sunshine.

Not just a book for country dwellers, you'll find that butterflies are everywhere, and moths have staked out a claim in many of our urban environments too.

Authoritative and detailed, this is a fantastic resource to dip into during the warmer months.


"The Butterfly House" by Katy Flint and Alice Pattulo is out now, published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books.

There's also "How to be a Butterfly" by Laura Knowles and Catell Ronca.

Should a butterfly be big or small? Should it be bright and bold, or perfectly pale? A joyous, imaginative, yet informative non-fiction picture book about what it takes to be a butterfly – body parts, behavior and life cycle – with the underlying message that diversity is a wonderful thing and that, in fact, there are 20,000 ways to be a butterfly!

Not only beautiful to behold, butterflies provide an opportunity to introduce a variety of environmental topics. Serving as key indicators of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, they face threats of extinction due to climate change and habitat destruction – all vital subjects for children today.

With stunning illustrations displaying a colourful array of different butterfly species, each labeled with its scientific name, and fascinating details about their anatomy and life cycle, there is plenty for young nature lovers to spot and explore time and again.

Here's a hugely attractive version of a children's classic story, brought back to stunning life with some truly amazing laser-cut illustrations and cutouts...

Here's a neat story idea, riffing on the whole "Chicken Licken" story mechanic of Chinese Whispers and rumour...

We've said many times that children are always ready for, and receptive to new and original ideas.

Sometimes it feels like children have a sixth sense when it comes to certain books - they can grasp the message and the concept quicker than we can, and they can also interpret books in their own little ways too.

"Free the Lines" is a book that seems beautifully designed to encourage and 'tap into' that sixth sense. It's a wordless picture book - and also one that has some fairly high-concept art too. No fluffy cuddly characters are required here, no twee rhymes as the book explores a journey, ecological issues and a hugely hopeful message in its bright blue page spreads.

A lone fisherman takes to the sea in his boat. We, as the reader, follow the journey as it unfolds - until a dark shape emerges on the horizon, a colossal trawler hoovers the very life from the ocean. Does the lone fisherman make the right choice with the action he takes?

Gorgeous line art helps the wordless story effortlessly flow

It's safe to say that we really don't see many books like this - and that's a shame because it feels like the publisher took a risk with a picture book that's quite unlike anything else out there - and it paid off beautifully.

"Free the Lines" by Clayton Junior is published by Words and Pictures - available now!

Sticking with Clayton for a moment there's also this fantastic minimalistic word book...

Alone Together pairs words so that younger children can learn about opposites.

Each page spread has a pair of pictures and their opposite meanings, designed to visually attract and build learning and language skills in a really neat way.

We peek in on ants, busy gathering food - will one lone ant struggle on alone or will many ants join in together to divide up the labour?

Bright colourful and economic illustrations make this suitable for the earliest ages - and also ensure that it's a book that children will come back to once they start learning to talk - and eventually learning to read.

I think this was the only 'puzzler' for us. Does Sober really have to mean 'boring' ?

"Alone Together" by Clayton Junior is out now, also published by Words and Pictures.