LJ's beautiful books

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal Illustrated by Brigette Barrager  Published by Puffin. All ages. This is a magical, gorgeous and touching picture book - especially for lovers of Unicorns! The beautiful cover is so striking but it also captures the heart of this story, which is belief and friendship. This story is told from the perspective of the unicorn, who dreams of a little girl to be friends with when no one else believes in little girls. Super clever twist! She dreams of the things her and her little girl will do together which makes for such pretty and joyful illustrations full of colour and affection. (My favourite is the girl and unicorn using magic to heal a bunny... 😍)  This is a perfect gift book with both simple text for little readers and stunning artwork for all.  Buy on Waterstones.com  

By Kieran Larwood Published by Faber & Faber Ages 9 and upwards Book one captivated us with the story of these bunnies, and book two continues the tale of Podkin and his company with a new mission, some new characters and new special gifts/weapons but much the same imagination, emotion and suspense as the first. The gifts play a crucial part in this book - and the most exciting parts are when Podkin and Paz get to use them. (The ability to grow plants to overcome the evil iron reminds me of Tolkien and Blake's love of nature over industry in their writing, but here with the added benefit of bunnies...) Book two also focuses a little more on the narrating bard himself, which connects past and present stories for the reader through his experiences and hints at a bigger story... Both books one and two have now proven riveting rabbit reads of skilled storytelling with immersive worlds - the wonderful illustrations included. You will love these characters. Buy from Wa

By Eric Carle Published by Puffin All ages Time for one of my favourites... because I think this is one of the most beautiful picture books there is (but not as well known as a certain caterpillar...)! This story highlights the male seahorses and fish that carry and look after eggs instead of the female - which makes it a unique picture book to begin with, however visually this is Carle at his colourful best. Mister Seahorse himself is a BEAUTIFUL work of art (and wait for the babies!). This seahorse, with the fish and plants make for such vibrant images on each page. In addition, some sea plants are on see-through pages for both a collage AND hide-and-seek effect for the reader. This art, story and format makes for a very special, standout, picture book. Buy on Waterstones.com

By Michael Bond Published by HarperCollins  Ages 5 yrs and upwards  There are many Paddington adaptations and editions now, so I wanted to go back to the first, original story and illustrations, to see what lies at the heart of this classic and loved character. Right at the start, Paddington, with no home or relatives in England, is taken in and accepted by the Brown family as one of their own. This alone is a heartwarming and timeless message. Bond writes with such humour too: 'Mr Brown... stirred his tea and looked out of the window, pretending he had tea with a bear on Paddington station every day of his life'. The stories that follow show Paddington himself as extremely endearing and cute as he innocently and accidentally gets into trouble or an odd situation - often just trying to help and sometimes with hilarious effect: 'Mr Brown... looked as though he had just been struck by lightening...' However, there are some inspired moment

By Kieran Larwood  Published by Faber & Faber 9 yrs and upwards I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover alone, then learnt it was a Lord of the Rings-type adventure story -  but with bunnies... Sold! Podkin and his two siblings (the baby is so darn cute) make a bunny Baudelaire-esque trio who escape the evil Gorm (Orc-like rabbits). They face danger wherever they go, but are helped by a kind witch, a blind sellsword (that's a very exciting chapter btw) and a secret, special weapon...  The tale itself is narrated by a travelling rabbit bard to a group of excited little rabbit listeners. But the story is so gripping that I felt the suspense almost more than the rabbits listening themselves!  I found the woodland and rabbit folklore setting enchanting, the story engrossing and  the illustrations inside by David Wyatt exquisite accompaniments. There are some sad and scary moments, but this adventure of a one-eared little rabbit is full of hope, m

By Michael Whaite Published by Puffin books All ages This picture book is a fun, colourful celebration of all kinds of cat - including their different personalities. The types of cat are part of an overarching rhyme which finishes in a wonderful illustrated collage of cats.  Readers who have or know cats will enjoy choosing or matching them to the ones in the book - I know I did! Buy on waterstones.com  

By Nicholas Bowling Published by Chicken House 13 yrs and upwards I was excited to discover this YA novel as it is set in Tudor London with witch hunts, an asylum escape, Queen Elizabeth AND Mary Queen of Scots... not to mention it has a beautiful cover!  The story centres around orphaned Alyce, who is  trying to find help from John Dee of Queen Elizabeth's court  whilst being on the run from grim witch hunters and a ghostly Mary Queen of Scots. She picks up a companion, Solomon, along the way and is mysteriously followed by a raven wherever she goes... This YA novel is full of intrigue, surprise and imaginative descriptions of old London. The biggest surprise early on is that *Spoiler Alert* Queen Mary Stuart is a witch! I immediately thought of 'Antickes and Frets' by Susanna Clarke who has Mary cleverly perform subtle magic through her embroidery, but Bowling's Mary wants to conquer all using use dark magic and therefore is more of a 'villa