West Sussex Children’s Picture Book Award - WINNER!

We're pleased to announce that Ross Collins is author and illustrator of our winning title for this year's West Sussex Children's Picture Book Award: Picture Books to Shout About!

West Sussex Story Book Award - reminder:

If you have signed up for the West Sussex Children's Story Book Award 2016, we hope you are enjoying the 4 shortlisted titles. Don't forget that your vote for the winner must be submitted by Thursday 30th June.

What must I do before the visit?

It is important for your school to collect together the required number of Schools Library Service books to be exchanged prior to the visit. Where schools have a central non fiction and fiction collection they may choose to take the exchange books directly from these collections. Other schools may have our fiction in classroom collections, in which case you may decide to allocate the exchange across your classes or year groups and/or the library and nominate a couple of children from each class or year group to help undertake the exchange with a member of staff.

A member of staff must accompany the children visiting the mobile. Space on the mobile library is limited -  ideally one member of staff and a couple of pupils at any one time. For a swift rotation of classes you may wish to timetable your class representatives and their accompanying member of staff  to swap the books. Be sure to make arrangements to let the next class know when it’s their turn!

If you have any specific requests please do contact the Schools Library Service before the Mobile Library visit and we will try to make sure books are available.  

Bertie & Blue by Kristyna Litten 9781471123740 £6.99  Bertie the giraffe leads a routine life with no unexpected changes or surprises and that's just how he likes it. Then one day he meets Blue who is a giraffe with a difference. Blue helps him to see life from another perspective and appreciate things he didn't notice before.Blue worries that Bertie's herd won't accept him because he is different but in fact he fits in just fine. A simply told tale of accepting differences and seeing the world around you with new eyes.

I'll Wait Mr Panda by Steve Anthony 9781444916669 £11.99 From the pen of Steve Anthony comes another tale with Mr Panda, a bear of few words. In this story, reminiscent of ‘Little Red Hen’, Mr Panda is baking. Various creatures ask "what is it?"; "Wait and See" is the reply but no one will wait except for patient little penguin. Will penguin's patience be rewarded? The simply drawn, brightly coloured illustrations will attract younger readers who can join in with the repeated refrain in the text, adding to their enjoyment of this story.

Izzy the invisible by Louise Gray ISBN: 9781848125094 £5.99

Izzy is clumsy and careless most of the time so it is no surprise when she knocks over one of her Grandma's potions and instantly becomes invisible. Invisibility has it's advantages but Izzy learns that there is a price to pay when you cant be seen.

This is a charming tale with light hearted humour and realistic family relationships. An easy read for an emergent reader. 

Creature Teacher Goes Wild by Sam Watkins ISBN: 9780192742674 £5.99

Another hilarious adventure with Jake and his class. The class are going to a theme park with their teacher Mr Hyde. Will they survive the day without Creature making an appearance and causing havoc? A lighthearted short chapter book for early readers who are looking to build their confidence.

 Storm Horse by Nick Garlick ISBN: 9781910002599 £6.99

Flip has suffered the loss of both his parents and is taken in by his uncle who is a farmer on an island. Flip rescues a horse and his uncle agrees to let him keep it as long as he stays out of trouble. Unfortunately the lure of the island's secrets combined with becoming a target for the local bullies results in his uncle giving the horse away and Flip has to overcome his own fears to get what he wants. This a moving portrayal of the relationship between a boy and his horse, but also a pithy observation of life in a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business. The townsfolk don't like strangers and Flip has to work hard to gain their trust, while his uncle learns not to judge too quickly.

Five children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders ISBN: 9780571323180 £6.99

A page turning sequel to E. Nesbit's Five Children and It, set on the eve of the First World War, where the five children have grown up and the war will change their lives for ever. Cyril is off to fight, Anthea is at art college, Robert is a Cambridge scholar and Jane is at high school. The Lamb is the grown up age of 11, and he has a little sister, Edith, in tow. The sand fairy has become a creature of stories ... until he suddenly reappears. The children are pleased to have something to take their minds off the war, but this time the Psammead is here for a reason, and his magic might have a more serious purpose. This is an absorbing and heart warming read that stands alone, and can be read and enjoyed by a generation of readers who have yet to come across E. Nesbit and the world of magic.

Informative Picture books  

The Black Book of Colours by Cottin, Menena & Faria, Rosana (translated by Amado, Elisa) ISBN: 9781406322187 £11.99

Thomas can’t see colours, but he can experience them through hearing, smell, touch and taste. Through the use of raised line drawings, braille and simple text the reader is led through the world the way Thomas sees it. Winner of both the Bologna Ragazzi Award and the English Association Picture Book Award this unique and insightful book creates the perfect introduction for sighted children to understand the wonderful and varied ways in which all of us sense the world around us.  

 A River by Marc Martin ISBN: 9781783704330 £12.99

There is a river outside my window.  Where will it take me?   So begins this imaginary journey from the city to the sea – past factories and farmlands, roads and rainforests.  Geography and art combine to wondrous effect: from the tactile embossed cover, through the beautiful landscape illustrations, to the detailed end-papers showing the artist’s studio containing the objects which have inspired the imaginative journey.

2016 Somme Centenary

Tom Palmer, children's author and football player is writing another free live story for the National Literacy Trust to tie in with this June’s centenary of the Battle of the Somme.  It will be set during the Euro 2016 football tournament and the main characters will be school pupils on a battlefield tour and First World War soldiers. Email admin@tompalmer.co.uk for a reminder when Chapter 1 is released.

Childnet are challenging pupils aged 7-11 to create a 60 second film in response to this theme. They are looking for creative, imaginative films which reflect a positive and inspiring message. You can use comedy, animation or music, create an advert, documentary or news report.

The deadline for submitting entries is Monday 13th June to be in with a chance of winning great prizes for your school. Shortlisted finalists will then be invited to a private screening at London’s BFI on Monday 18th July, where the winners in both categories will be revealed by the judging panel.

All shortlisted finalists will be notified on Monday 20th June 2016. 

Early Years Literacy Survey - Dads are being urged to get more involved in their children’s early literacy development

The National Literacy Trust’s survey indicates that the gender gap in reading starts early, with parents reporting that 70.6% of their pre-school daughters read stories daily, compared to 61.1% of their sons. Parents were also more likely to report that there are ‘no barriers to your child developing their early literacy skills’ if they had a girl (50.1%) than if they had a boy (43.1%). This points to an opportunity for fathers to be reading role models from the outset, as the influence of dads has great benefits for all children, in particular boys

 The Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, now in its 12th year, is the chance for our booksellers to champion new and emerging talent within three categories: Illustrated Books; Younger Fiction; and Older Fiction. The overall winner of the prize has been awarded to David Solomons for My Brother is a Superhero, which also won the Younger Fiction award. The Older Fiction award went to Lisa Williamson for The Art of Being Normal and the Illustrated book award went to David Litchfield for The Bear and the Piano.

A survey of 485 ATL members last month suggested a patchy picture on library provision.

Of the education staff who responded to the survey:

• Almost all (94%) said their school had a library
• But more than two fifths (41%) said the library did not have enough space for all the students who wanted to use it
• And nearly a third (32%) said their school did not have a designated librarian to manage the library

To read more of this news report go to the BBC News channel.

CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway Awards 2016 Shortlists announced

The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people.

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

They are judged solely by librarians and the roll-call of past winners includes: Arthur Ransome, C.S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, Noel Streatfeild, Sally Gardner and Penelope Lively for the Carnegie; and Raymond Briggs, Shirley Hughes, Janet Ahlberg, Lauren Child and former Children's Laureates Quentin Blake and Anthony Browne, as well as current Laureate Chris Riddell for the Kate Greenaway accolade. Check out this year's shortlists for an overview of the cream of children's publishing this year.

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards Shadowing scheme engages thousands of children and young people in reading the books on the shortlist via reading groups in schools and public libraries with dedicated educational and digital resources to support each shortlist.

Blue Peter Book Awards 2016

The Epic Book of Epicness and The Nowhere Emporium, both written by graphic novelists who are now writing story books for children, have won the BluePeter Book Awards for 2016. The Epic Book of Epicness is written by Adam Frost and won in the Best Story with Facts category. The Nowhere Emporium is written by Ross MacKenzie and won the Best Story Book category.

ELMER DAY – MAY 2016 

On Saturday 28th May 2016 Andersen Press are launching the first ever Elmer Day.

It will be an annual celebration with hundreds of events taking place up and down the country. Join in the fun by holding your own Elmer Day event in your library. Sign up at www.elmer.co.uk/elmerday to receive an Elmer Day pack.