Books : Children's Books : Authors & Illustrators : C

Shop Categories

The Very Hungry Caterpillar [Board Book]

Eric Carle

Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a perennial favourite with children and adults alike. Its imaginative illustration and clever cut-out detail charts the progress of a very hungry caterpillar as he eats his way through the week.
This board book edition of what is surely a classic picture book is glossy, sturdy and ideal for curious little hands to get to grips with. (Ages 9 months to 2 years)--Susan Harrison
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox: 6 (Artemis Fowl)

Eoin Colfer
Dear Zoo

Rod Campbell
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Picture Puffin)

Bill Martin
The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Book and Toy Gift Set

Eric Carle
Artemis Fowl

Eoin Colfer

Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl, describes his creation as "Die Hard with fairies". He's not far wrong. Artemis Fowl is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history and with his trusty sidekicks, Butler and Juliet, in tow he hatches a cunning plot to divest the fairyfolk of their pot of gold. Of course, he isn't foolish enough to believe in all that "gold at the end of the rainbow" nonsense. Rather, he knows that the only way to separate the little people from their stash is to kidnap one of their number and wait for the ransom to arrive. But when the time comes to put his plan into action he reckons without Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaisance) Unit--a sort of extra small Clarice Starling with pointy ears and wings--and her senior officer Commander Root, a man (sorry, elf) who will stop at nothing to get her back.
Fantastic stuff from beginning to end, Artemis Fowl is a rip-roaring, 21st-century romp of the highest order. The author has let his imagination run riot by combining folklore, fantasy and a fistful of high-tech funk in an outrageously devilish book that could well do for fairies what Harry Potter has done for wizardry. But be warned: this is no gentle frolic so don't be fooled by the fairy subject matter. Instead what we have here is well written, sophisticated, rough and tumble storytelling with enough high-octane attitude to make it a seriously cool read for anyone over the age of 10. --Susan Harrison
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony: 5

Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident: 2

Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception

Eoin Colfer
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: AND Through the Looking Glass (Penguin Classics)

Lewis Carroll
Airhead

Meg Cabot
Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code: 3

Eoin Colfer
Maisy's Bedtime (Maisy storybooks)

Lucy Cousins

Maisy's Bedtime is another story in the very popular Maisy series by Lucy Cousin. It is a very simple account of Maisy's preparations for bed, something to which young children can easily relate. It is a board book, the words are simple and easy to understand, the illustrations are clear and colourful and the whole book offers lots of opportunities for discussion showing young children that reading can be enjoyable and fun. (Suitable for children aged 3 years and above.) --Susan Naylor
The Bad-tempered Ladybird (Picture Puffin)

Eric Carle

The Bad-Tempered Ladybird is another beautifully illustrated picture book by Eric Carle. At the start of the story a friendly ladybird is eating a breakfast of aphids on a leaf, when it is joined by a very bad-tempered ladybird who also wants to eat the aphids, but refuses to share.
The bad-tempered ladybird then proceeds to pick a fight with every animal he meets, never satisfied that they are big enough to fight. As the story progresses, the animals get bigger and bigger and this would be a good story to discuss the concept of size with a young child. The book is cleverly laid out and as the animals get bigger, so to do the pages. The illustrations in this book are of the usual high standard expected from Eric Carle. This book would also be excellent for consolidating a child's understanding of time, as at the top of each page it shows a clock face with the time that the bad-tempered ladybird meets each animal.
Finally, the bad-tempered ladybird arrives back where it started and is now prepared to share the aphids with the friendly ladybird. The story ends happily with the ladybirds helping the leaf by eating the aphids and both ladybirds going to sleep, as the fireflies come out to dance around the moon.
This book would be suitable for children aged 4-7 years old. --Amanda York
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Picture Puffin)

Eric Carle

Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a perennial favourite with children and adults alike. Its imaginative illustration and clever cut-out detail charts the progress of a very hungry caterpillar as he eats his way through the week.
This board book edition of what is surely a classic picture book is glossy, sturdy and ideal for curious little hands to get to grips with. (Ages 9 months to 2 years)--Susan Harrison
The Very Busy Spider

Eric Carle

Every young child should be introduced to this story, as great a classic as its predecessor The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This colourful picture book describes a spider's day. Blown onto a farmyard fence, she starts to spin a web. The other animals ask if she wants to play, but in every case "The spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web." The book is "touchable:" the strands of web and other elements are embossed onto the page and you can follow them with your fingertips. But the best thing by far is Carle's familiar--but still breathtaking--skill as an illustrator; his cow and goat and dog (just to mention three favourites) capture the essence of each animal in a way few artists can hope to approach. (Ages 0 to 4 years) --Richard Farr
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Penguin Popular Classics)

Lewis Carroll
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (Picture Puffin)

Bill Martin

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear? is a classic picture book that will delight young children. It has a simple repetitive text that makes it easy for young readers to join in. Eric Carle beautifully illustrates this book, with bold and colourful pictures of animals.
The book follows a similar format to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? The reader is introduced to a new animal on each double-page spread. This is an excellent book for developing children's prediction skills as they will really enjoy predicting which animal will be heard next. This book would also be good for introducing the use of question marks, as each double page includes a question and an answer. Interesting vocabulary is used to describe the noises made by the animals which will challenge a young reader eg: "braying, trumpeting, snarling" etc.
This book is an absolute must for children aged 3-5, but will be enjoyed by children aged 0-7. If your child enjoyed Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? they are sure to enjoy this book just as much. --Amanda York
Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel

Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin
Mummy Laid an Egg (Red Fox Mini Treasure)

Babette Cole

Have you ever wondered how much your children know about human reproduction but are afraid to ask? Then this is the book for you. Written and illustrated by the award-winning Babette Cole it is, according to the Bookseller: "Funny, factual and frank...a superb book...the ideal ice-breaker for parents."
Mum and Dad decide that it is high time to tell their children about the facts of life, and put forward theories about gingerbread, growing seeds in the greenhouse, being squidged out of tubes and laying eggs. However, the children have clearer ideas about seeds, tubes and eggs and put their parents right. (Ages 6 and up) --Susan Naylor