The Think Ups!
Claire Alexander
Walker Books
Hardback £12.99
It’s a rainy day. Anna and Kiki are stuck inside, wondering what to play. Anna suggests snakes and ladders – Kiki thinks that’s boring. Anna suggests hide and seek but Kiki says she already knows all Anna’s hiding places. But then Kiki has an idea – ‘We could play the Think-Ups!’ she says.
‘All you have to do,’ Kiki explains, ‘is think up a Think-Up and it will appear!’ And so begins a magnificent day of imagination. The only trouble is, what do you do when your imagination is too good and your Think Ups get a bit excitable, And find the kitchen!
With half-cut pages – always a winner – that reveal funny surprises at every turn, this is an adorable celebration of imaginary play, perfectly pitched for pre-school children. This would be a good book to accompany PE sessions, with children conjuring up their own imaginary animals, or for looking at some of the more unusual animals that are shown here, such as moose, octopuses and koalas.
Claire Alexander’s illustrations have that warm, soft-crayon look, and the Think-Ups are extremely cuddly! A really lovely book for any book corner, and a great inspiration for unlimited conversations, crafts and games, showing how the only plaything you ever really need is your own unlimited imagination.
The Magic Sandcastle
Clare Milford Haven and David William Press (illustrator)
Serenity Press
Hardback £12.99
(Available in UK 28 April 2022)
‘Sandcastle Competition - only items found on the beach to be used. No grown ups allowed to help. Prizes for best castles.’ 
So begins the story of the Fairchild children’s determination, while holidaying with their grandmother on Nantucket island, to build an award-winning sand castle complete with soldiers, turrets, and a drawbridge made from some driftwood and string from an old fishing net. But will all their efforts come to nothing when the tide comes in?
A journalist for 30 years, The Magic Sandcastle is author Clare Milford Haven’s debut picture book, having spent the past 15 years campaigning for men’s mental health since her eldest son James took his own life in 2006. Clare has since devoted her time to the charity she set up in her son’s memory, ‘James’ Place’. The Magic Sandcastle is a reflection of the happy times Clare spent with her family on Nantucket beach.
A great circle-time story book, The Magic Sandcastle could also be used to accompany PSED themes of team work, facing up to a challenge, and working things out. The illustrations are summer coloured – all golden beaches and blue skies, and drawn in a lovely simple style that brings all the joys of summer alive. A lovely book.
We Are Family
Lucy Reynolds and Jenna Herman (illustrator)
Doodles and Scribbles
Hardback £12.99
‘There are billions of creatures on planet Earth, but there is only one YOU!’ This is a book that celebrates animal life in all its forms, looking at the ways in which all creatures make their own way in the world while encouraging empathy and exploring social and emotional themes around family dynamics. 
The illustrations are bold, vibrant and exciting to look at and compliment the poetic text, which together explain the book’s core themes by focusing on the animal kingdom. The book was created in consultation with specialist inclusivity consultant, Beth Cox, and everything is presented in a straightforward format that suits early years.
We Are Family would make a lovely accompaniment to learning areas PSED and Understanding the World, with many opportunities to start conversations on individual childhood experiences, same sex parents, adoption, single parent families, the different views and attitudes in society, and always being kind to others.
When I See Red
Britta Teckentrup author and illustrator
Prestel
Hardback £10.99
The heroine of this powerful picture book feels her anger like a storm in a dark forest – I am furious. I’m seeing Red. I’m filled with rage. A storm’s ahead.
This book pulls no punches and positively celebrates anger in all its thundering, howling, overwhelming intensity. During early years, anger can be all consuming, isolating and frightening for children, and although Britta Teckentrup shows it as all these things, she also shows it as a source of power and an agent for change. 
Britta’s illustrations are extremely powerful; bold and dark and full of movement, then finally calm when peace is restored, and they pull you in to the story. I read this book to a four-year-old who loved the illustrations and really picked up on the emotions they represented.
Ultimately, this is a story of a girl’s emotional journey to find her own voice, and how through venting her anger she finds a sense of calm, while also offering children the opportunity to talk about and make sense of their own angry moments.
A great book for starting conversations on subjects of anger and sharing your frustrations, and it shows that rather than bottling up your negative feelings, you should let them go. Could also be used as a one-to-one story for reading to children when things get a bit overwhelming.
Baby, Sleepy Baby
Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank (illustrator)
Walker Books
Hardback £12.99
‘Baby, sleepy baby, I’ll sing down the stars – Till they dance right into your room.’ Lyrical and full of love, this is a beautiful new book celebrating the warmth and love felt when cuddling up to your baby before bedtime. 
Atinuke was born in Nigeria, and has based this story on a traditional Nigerian lullaby sung to her by her own father that delights in those magical family moments together. The illustrations here are big, round and cuddly, with a soft sleepy feel that completely evokes that moment just before you fall asleep. Young children always seem to like picture books about babies and this one proved very popular with the three-year-old I shared it with – especially the picture of a baby with a bare bottom! A lovely book for using as an accompaniment to Mother’s Day activities and when looking at families and bedtime routines.
Isabelle And The Crooks
Michelle Robinson and Chris Mould (illustrator)
Walker Books
Hardback £12.99
‘They are sneaky. They are stealthy. They are cunning. They’re the Crooks!’
Isabelle Crook is a very good little girl, who would never dream of breaking the law. Her family on the other hand, are the stealthiest, most cunning burglars around. Isabelle has no plans to join her family on their criminal outings to steal things or help them plan their next big job, in fact she doesn’t think stealing is exciting at all, she thinks it’s very, very naughty. I
In her new book, Michelle Robinson has put a great comic spin on the age old tale of good guys and baddies, and of course, by the end of the story Isabelle’s family have seen the error of their ways and, with Isabelle in charge, they’d never dream of breaking the law again – well, not often. 
A genuinely funny book, with Chris Mould’s illustrations adding exactly the right comic-book feel, and they’re full of little objects and goings-on for children to spot. A good book to read and talk about as a group - children always like books about badly behaved grown-ups!