LJ's beautiful books

Beatrix Potter  Published by Puffin  7 years old and upwards  This beautiful cover illustration by the incomparable Beatrix Potter is called 'Louisa Pussycat Sleeps Late'.  The Fairy Caravan by Potter is less well known than her books for younger children and has fewer (but still wonderful) illustrations. However this longer book deserves just as much appreciation for her imagination, humour and charm. After an unfortunate incident with hair potion (!), Tupenny the guinea pig runs away and joins a little travelling circus of animals that are invisible to the 'Big Folk'. The tales that follow in each chapter are both stories of the group's adventures and of stories they hear from other animals. These range from fanciful - cats running a costume shop; to serious - sheep being rescued by shepherds; to magical and mysterious woodland adventures and tree fairies.  Highlights for me include a charming Christmas scene where the chickens think snow

By Rihannan Fielding and Chris Chatterton Published by Ladybird All ages What's better than a sparkly unicorn book? A Christmas sparkly unicorn book!  This picture book is a new festive addition to the cute 'Ten Minutes to Bed' picture book series and a second pre- bedtime adventure for Twinkle the little unicorn. This time, told in the same style of a rhyming countdown, it's Christmas Eve and 10 minutes before Twinkle's bedtime she meets Father Christmas who has one missing poorly reindeer but lots of presents to deliver. Is there enough time for Twinkle to help? The illustrations throughout are all on a purple-blue-pastel background which is gorgeous. The pictures of Twinkle with all the reindeer are guaranteed to make you smile, as are the little touches such as the poorly reindeer's hot water bottle or the excited rabbits that appear throughout the book.  This is a pretty, perfect, picture book gift for little ones and unicorn lover

By Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell Published by Puffin All ages This is one of my all time favourite picture books that touched my heart immediately. I believe should be considered a 'classic'. It has deservedly won the UNESCO Prize and been shortlisted for the Smarties Prize and the Kate Greenaway Medal.  'Something Else' (pictured on the cover with his adorable mini-me teddy that I love) is called that because that's how everyone else sees him. He is 'different' and made to feel lonely for it. Until he meets another creature considered 'different'... The text is simple and short, but, paired with such vivid and emotional illustrations proves so powerful in few words:  'He didn't see the things they saw'. The first time I read it - and I mean read Riddell's expressive pictures just as much as Cave's text - I nearly cried with the empathy I felt for 'Something Else'.  This story is about fr