February may be the shortest month, but it’s also one of our biggest months for new books! From novelty and activity books that encourage interactivity, to chapter books and middle grade fiction, there’s something for everyone. They’re available now from all good bookshops. Watch our books video here, and let us know which books have caught your eye!
We’re publishing lots of exciting novelty and board book titles this month
Can You Say It Too? Tweet! Tweet!, illustrated by Sebastien Braun, is that latest book in our Can You Say It Too? series, and is full of fresh and bright pictures that are a perfect antidote to these grey winter mornings. Perfect for children who are just starting to talk, the sturdy flaps show familiar garden birds. Children are encouraged to spot, name, and mimic the birds, all while lifting the flaps to uncover more of the scene! If the page full of cherry blossoms doesn’t make you look forward to Spring, I don’t know what will!
Take a look:
The latest title in our series of Sing Along With Me! books, Five Little Ducks, is also published today. Who doesn’t love a good singalong? Scan the QR code on the inner cover and listen to the music while you read, or sing the tune for yourselves! Five sturdy slider mechanisms, featuring bright and cheery illustrations by Yu-hsuan Huang, mean little ones can interact with the story. Watch our Sing Along video here.
A new pair of First Concept books, published in collaboration with The British Museum, are out today – discover amazing animals, objects, and simple first concepts in these colourful and stylish photographic board books, featuring incredible objects from the Museum’s collection. Inquisitive toddlers will enjoy learning about the different objects from around the world, and parents and older children can scan the QR code and learn even more on our fact-packed websites.
We’ve published a board book edition of Books Always Everywhere, so even tiny hands can help turn the sturdy pages and get involved in story time. For the very young, books can be anything – from a chair to a hat, but the best thing they can be is a book! Written by Jane Blatt, and with delightful and nostalgic illustrations by Sarah Massini, it’s never too soon to share a good book with your little ones.
Take a look inside:
And we’re delighted to be publishing Superhero Mum today – a super-funny picture book celebration of all the amazing things a mum can d0, perfect for Mother’s Day! The mum in this story doesn’t wear a cape or fly to earth from outer space, but she plays the best games, tames unruly hair, and can make bumps and bruises better with just a kiss. This mum really DOES have superpowers! Written by Timothy Knapman and Joe Berger, the team behind Superhero Dad, this book celebrates all of the things, big and small, that make mums brilliant.
Look inside:
We’ve published the newest book in the Make & Play series today, to help you get excited for Easter! Illustrated by Joey Chou and with 3D press-out decorations, Make & Play: Easter is packed with hours of activity fun. Featuring 25 unique and colourful designs, the press-out pieces can be easily slotted together to create bright and cheerful Spring decorations, from adorable chicks to cute Easter bunnies. Turn to the back of the book and discover special Easter recipes, songs, and craft activities!
Take a look:
The first of our fiction titles continues our Spring theme, with lambs a-plenty! A Lamb Called Lucky is the latest in the Jasmine Green series, written by Helen Peters and illustrated by Ellie Snowdon. It’s packed full of excitement, tension, laughs, and adorable baby animals. This time, Jasmine has her hands full with a tiny motherless lamb who needs her help. She’s determined to look after Lucky and keep him safe, but there are bigger dangers facing the flock… ones that come in the dead of night. This is brilliant storytelling, ideal for young animal-lovers, and fans of Holly Webb and Dick King-Smith.
Look inside:
Get ready for the latest hilarious instalment in the Izzy series, from the Blue Peter Award winners Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham: The Phantom Lollipop Man. Izzy and her friends are SURPRISED to find that their lollipop man has DISAPPEARED! Maisie thinks he’s gone to Rome but if that’s true, why do they keep seeing a strange floaty cloud around the school? Could it be the the lollipop man is a phantom and he’s come to spook them all?! The punchy, short chapters and laugh-out-loud humour are great for readers who are growing in confidence.
Read the first few chapters:
Possibly the sparkliest, most shimmery books ever, we’re thrilled to publish the first two books in our brand new Unicorn Academy series, written by Julia Sykes and illustrated by Lucy Truman. Imagine a school where you meet your own unicorn and go on adventures with them! That’s what happens for the girls at Unicorn Academy on the enchanted Unicorn Island. In each story, you can get to know a different girl and her unicorn as they discover their magical abilities together. This new series of magical, action-packed adventures are perfect for young readers eager for their first chapter book! Come for the holographic foil covers, stay for the magic!
Look inside Unicorn Academy: Sophia and Rainbow (book one):
Look inside Unicorn Academy: Scarlett and Blaze (book two):
The latest Secret Diaries book is published today – The Secret Diary of Thomas Snoop, Tudor Boy Spy. Fact meets fiction in this exciting tale of Tudor espionage and treachery from Roald Dahl Funny Prize winning author Philip Ardagh and with hilarious illustrations from Jamie Littler. Thomas Snoop is training to become a SPY (but shhhh!). Entrusted with a TOP SECRET (shhh!) mission by the mysterious Lord Severn, Thomas must travel to the magnificent Goldenhilt Hall in order to uncover a traitorous plot against the crown… This book is perfect for fans of Horrible Histories, combining fascinating historical facts with great characters and exciting plotlines.
Read the first few chapters:
Last and certainly not least, we are proud to publish Make More Noise!, a timely collection of ten short stories from ten of the UK’s leading women writers. The ten stories are a mix of modern fairy tales, real-life contemporary drama, historical fiction, and more. Featuring short stories by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-wining The Girl of Ink and Stars, M.G. Leonard, author of Beetle Boy, Patrice Lawrence, author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-winning Orangeboy, Katherine Woodfine, author of The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow, Sally Nicholls, author of Things a Bright Girl Can Do, Emma Carroll, author of Letters from the Lighthouse, and many more. This collection is published to celebrate women and girls everywhere, and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in the UK. £1 from the sale of each copy with go directly to Camfed, a charity working to educate girls and women in Africa.
Take a look inside:
Congratulations and Happy Publication Day! to all our marvellous authors and illustrators!
