Bringing wildlife closer

Busy Spring: Nature Wakes Up

Our book, Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story has been nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal. It is also a schools years 1 + 2 'Power Of Reading' recommended top choice with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. They've put together lesson plans on it for their members: https://clpe.org.uk/powerofreading

Winter Sleep combines story telling with science. A boy and his gran share a woodland adventure and discover where life disappears to in winter. A non fiction section explains more about the different ways animals get through winter: hibernation, torpor, diapause, brumation and more. Illustrations by Cinyee Chiu.

My Bookshop website offers home delivery of my books and most good published UK books & gives a fairer share to writers, illustrators & small businesses: Link

Guardian: "In this gorgeous non-fiction picture book for 5+ a girl and her grandpa walk to the beach, noticing grasshoppers, dragonflies & the aftermath of a fire, & discuss the delights & dangers of the hot, hot summer. Boundless blues & vivid yellows impart a sunlit heat that rises off the page, while the story addresses the changing climate with openness & hope."

I am proud to share this great new ecology story book for primary school age children. It's written by Penny Worms and illustrated by Hannah Bailey. I was consultant editor.

The book blends non-fiction with story telling, exploring keystone species that have special 'superpowers' and explains how these help keep whole ecosystems healthy.
It's been recommended by the Sunday Times and it's been endorsed by the British Ecological Society.

Some profits from the book will help young people from less privileged places into careers in ecology. The book has won the KS1 Best Curriculum Support Award from @booksfortopics. It can be pre-ordered here.

There are translated overseas editions of these 4 books in: French, Dutch, German, Romanian, US English, South Korean and Chinese.

It is a busy spring for me, with two books out in March. Busy Spring: Nature Wakes Up is a follow up to our popular children's book, Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story. It is written for young children [4-6 ish] in the same format as Winter Sleep, combining story telling with science and natural history.

The book begins with a story of discoveries of seasonal wildlife in a family nature garden, followed by a non-fiction science section on plants, mammals and the Earth in temperate areas in spring. We introduce pollination, metamorphosis, plant life cycles, animal behaviour, phenology, climate & ideas for children to learn and do.

Busy Spring was voted a Best Innovative Non Fiction Book of 2021 by 400 judges on @inclusiveStoryTime. It is available in shops, online & at: UKBookshop

International editions and book translations

The Most Important Animal of All

My UKBookshop:

"A laugh-out-loud compendium of animals with bizarre body parts that serve a vital function.

Funny Bums, Freaky Beaks is a heart-warming reminder of the power of being different."
- A Waterstones
top nature book pick.

"The child-appeal of Funny Bums, Freaky Beaks and Other Amazing Creature Features (Welbeck) isn’t limited to the title – this compelling compendium of animals is grouped by body parts from strange toes to perplexing necks, with lively text... and intricate, vibrant illustrations."
- The Guardian

Medal nomination and top school choice

New book! Wild Summer: Life in the Heat

Why blend in, when you were born to stand out? Here is wonder, nature & amazing science, told in animal voices. Funny Bums, Freaky Beaks is our number 1 best selling science and nature book. It is a celebration of difference & weirdness. It is also now available in paperback, and there is a Dutch edition [Grappige Billen, Gekke Bekken] and American English edition [Funny Butts, Freaky Beaks]. Our book is a Guardian top pick in non fiction books for children.

It's another collaboration with my writing buddy Sean and this time the brilliantly cheeky illustrator Sarah. It is written for children aged 5-10, but reviews indicate that preschoolers & grown ups are enjoying it too. This book was created during a challenging time, for me & the world, a weird period when ideas of 'normal' were turned on their head, when many of us found a welcome distraction in being reminded of how extraordinary the natural world is.

Our book has spent several months as the Amazon UK Number 1 'most wished for' children's book on zoology and number 1 best selling children's zoology book. You should be able to order it on this link and at most good bookshops: UKBookshop Huge thanks to everyone who has supported and loved this book. We are with quite a small/new independent publisher who believed in us when no-one else did, and this book got to the number 1 spot in a pandemic without a marketing budget and no funded promotion, with no literary tours of fancy festivals, just with a lot of passion from everyone involved and kind interest from book reviewers :-)

Funny Bums reviews:

Alex Morss

Funny Bums, Freaky Beaks reprint

"This compendium intrigues and delights the reader. It celebrates evolution and creates a feeling of awe and wonder at the variety of the natural world. The book informs and inspires and can be dipped into again and again. Highly recommended for children aged 6+"
- The English Society

"Behind every kid that knows all the animal facts, there is a well-thumbed compendium like this one.

Full to the brim with all sorts of extraordinary adaptations, the authors take us on a journey across body parts through page-after-page of lavishly illustrated spreads."
- BBC Wildilfe Magazine

The third children's picture book in our seasonal wildlife narrative science series is out now. I am pleased with how many wildflowers and insects we crammed into this one. We gently introduce lots of examples of the impacts of a warming climate on wildlife and ways different life forms have adapted to heat, plus some of the challenges they will now face, and ways we can help. We combine a story, Cinyee's lovely illustrations and a non fiction science section. This book is a Guardian top pick and it's been voted 'Best of 2022: Innovative Non Fiction' by the @InclusiveStoryTime reviews community on Instagram.