Best of 2017 - Tiny Dinosaurs – Joel Stewart – Review & Story Sack

One of this year best picture books is the fabulous Tiny Dinosaurs by Joel Stewart, which has both dinosaurs and a dog (I do like a book with a dog especially a dachshund!) and in addition to being entertaining with lovely illustrations, it also has lovely message about dealing with change. 

The book is told by Rex. The dog about him and his best friend Daisy who are dinosaur mad. They pair are inseparable and play and read and dress up as dinosaurs all day. But status quo is interrupted by the arrival of some tiny dinosaurs which Daisy is obsessed by.

Felling left out and lonely, Rex leaves home, but everywhere he goes he’s reminded about what he’s lost. Being Best of Friends, Daisy soon comes looking for Rex, and he realises he was not shunned by apprehensive about change, and recollects ever other occasion he’s felt the same way, and reassures himself that it always turns out fine.

Tiny Dinosaur is a lovely gentle story with charming illustrations which reassures children that change is scary but that change is mostly good, given time and the right support – friends, making it truly one of the Best of 2017!

So here is a bit of a bonus – a story sack based on Tiny Dinosaurs…

Quick recap on what a story sack contains…

• A good quality fiction book, (picture book or novel) 
• A non-fiction book related to the story and themes in the chosen picture book. 
• Toys, (ideally a soft toy for younger children). 
• A game or activity also related to the theme of the chosen fiction book. 
• Optional worksheet based on the story and themes off the story sack. 

Books 

So the fiction book is sorted, so I’ve paired it with the lovely and vibrant ‘I Love Dinosaurs’ which is factual and fun.

Toys & Activity

Obviously soft toys are key, so we have a plush Daisy and Rex, plus some really tiny dinosaurs from Schleich, which comes with their own dinosaur terrain jig-saw puzzle, which doubles as the activity.

Worksheet 

For the worksheet I’ve made a simple colour –cut and stick make your own Rex-dinosaur like in the book. 

Best of 2017 - King Coo – Adam Stower

King Coo, which is penned and illustrated by Adam Stower with great comedic flare, is one of the Best of 2017 for one simple reason, my son read this book, and then re-read, and re-read , and read it over and over, and over again. It tells the tale of Ben Pole or ‘Bean’ who spend his life slinking and skulking about trying to avoid the school’s meanest boy, Monty Grabbe and his motley crew of thugs, when he falls (literally down a tunnel) to a unknown forest and meets the formidable and feisty King Coo. 

Spear wielding and passing an uncanny resemblance to The Adam’s Family’s Cousin It, the crown wearing beard adorned royal, is in fact not a boy but a GIRL.

‘I’ve never seen a boy with a BEARD before!’

 ‘How DARE you!’ replied King Coo indignantly. ‘I am a GIRL with a beard!’

With only, Herb, a tunnel obsessed wombat for company King Coo rules the forest, building tree-houses and swinging through the canopy. Ben and King Coo, become instant friends but the harmony is soon disturbed by the presence of Monty and his followers. Together Ben and King Coo defeat the intruders with an array of tricks and 'Heath Robinson' style traps. But Monty is not one to take defeat lightly and hatches a plan to get revenge on Ben and King Coo, plus ensnare Herb the wombat with the assistance of shady Ded Leigh, followed by the most dastardly of all - bulldozing the forest. 

But the self-proclaimed ‘Bearded Girl Genius’ King Coo, isn’t about to let anything happen to her pet wombat, or secret forest, so together her and Ben hatch their most ingenious plan and build their craziest invention to give Monty a taste of his own medicine.

King Coo is an excellent read for young readers, or to be read as a family, and is a enhanced by it beautiful and vibrant illustrations, putting it in the leagues of Chris Riddles’ s ‘Goth Girl’ books, or his and Neil Gaiman’s ‘Fortunately the milk’, but with a tad more eccentricity which would appeal to the readers of the Sarah MacIntyre and Philip Reeve books or fans of the’ 13 Storey Treehouse’.

King Coo is a light-hearted and funny story told together with the pictures. Every image and page designed to work together, with cheeky and charming characters and barmy inventions, all visualised in a fun and entertaining way. In fact the illustrations are so integral to the story telling that at one point it switches from text to graphic novel format.


It is no coincidence that King Coo a book which dares to transition from text to comic book format and back again is published by David Fickling Books who brought us The Phoenix Magazine, as they really are pioneers of the pushing the boundaries of children literature and with Adam Stowers’s King Coo they’ve struck gold.

Best of 2017 – This Zoo Is Not For You – Ross Collins

Time for another picture book on our round up of the best books of 2017. I don’t think there’s been nearly enough animals so far in our selections and so I remedy this immediately with the charming retro feel ‘This Zoo is Not for You’, which is both penned and illustrated by Ross Collins.

This Zoo is Not for You, is instantly inviting with its hardback tactile cover depicting beautifully imagined zoo animals, with the tiger, panda and flamingo all giving the dull and dreary duck-billed platypus the cold shoulder. The premise is simple, Platypus applies for a job at the zoo, but being strange and new is shunned by all its inhabitants, for being too dull, too common, too dreary and not throwing poo! 

Having failed his interview platypus, leaves and the other animals contemplate their behaviour, and realise they’ve been unkind and ponder the predicament, ‘What shall we do?’ However it is platypus, that saves the day, and soon the tables are reversed, in a beautiful play on words and twist of fate, all animals are reunited with platypus, and all is forgiven.


This Zoo is Not for You, is a delightful story about acceptance and friendship, and also being self-aware – being able to identify when you’ve done wrong, and being brave enough to remedy your actions, even apologising. Along with its poignant message, it is lots of fun, with vibrant illustrations that really have a retro mid-century feel, but in a thoroughly engaging modern style.

Best of 2017 – Superdad’s Day Off by Phil Earle and Steve May

Another of Barrington Stokes Little Gems of 2017 is the strangely familiar tale by Phil Earle illustrated by Steve May, about a father who takes his son out for the day BUT is so tried that he can’t play or do any of the exciting things his child has planned.

You see- familiar! How often have you had a day of work but have been so tired that a DVD, trip to the cinema or indoor play area, where you can sit and sip coffee while your child is entertained – sounded appealing?

However as much as you can empathise with this story, it has one fundamental difference, and the clue is in the title – SUPERDAD’S day off. Yes, Stanley’s dad is you guessed it – a superhero – Dynamo Dan. The reason he’s sooo fatigued is that he is busy twenty four hours a day saving the world. So when father and son go for a say trip to the park and disasters ensue, Stanley steps leaving his Dad to recharge his batteries. Stanley endeavours don’t go unnoticed and soon both he and his Dad are both adorning capes and protecting the world - together.

Superdad’s Day Off is one of the best of 2017, as it takes an all-too-familiar situation and twists it into a fun and family centric story, with lovely messages of empathy and love as son supports parent. The illustration by Steve May are vibrant and funny working beautifully with the text. The book is further enhanced by the activities at the end of the book and lovely dedication with a photograph of Phil Earle’s own Marvellous Mini -Superhero!

Best of 2017 - Nellie Choc-Ice Penguin Explorer by Jeremy Strong and Jamie Smith

Black Friday is almost upon us, the nights are longer and the season colder. Everywhere you look there is Christmas decorations and fake snow, which is a good place to start the next Best of 2017 review of the fabulous, Nellie Choc-Ice by Jeremy Strong and Jamie Smith.

Nellie Choc-Ice Penguin Explorer is one of Barrington Stokes’s Little Gems, and it is just that, it’s a frosty, funny, fast adventure about a feisty penguin named (you’ve guesses it) Nellie Choc-Ice. Nellie is an adventurer, that inadvertently explores not only beyond the colony in the south pole but the north pole too!

As Nellie is going where no penguin has gone before exploring the south pole, she encounters a large object that thinks is a killer whale, which crashes into her iceberg and sends Nelly floating off on an ice-raft , all the way to the opposite pole!

On her adventure Nellie encounters a series of dubious characters and manages to outwit them before finally being reunited with the ‘whale’ that takes her home.

As you would expect from Jeremy Strong, the story is fun and engaging, and it is enhanced by Jamie Smith’s energetic illustrations. Nellie Choc-Ice Penguin Explorer is definitely one of The Best of 2017!

The Hippo at the End of the Hall – Helen Cooper – Best of 2017

Why has Ben had an invitation to visit a museum he’s never even heard of?

It doesn’t open often, doesn’t even seem to want visitors.

And why are two unpleasant people plotting to get their hands on it?

There is so much delight in with Helen Cooper’s debut novel for children about the intriguing Gee Museum, one of those overstuffed with display cases of long-dead animals reconstructed with taxidermy and trays of bugs skewered with pins.

But this one is also touched by a little magic. And Ben soon gets caught up in trying to save the museum when he realises he can hear some of the exhibits speaking.

Ben, along with the very old lady who runs the museum, and some of the stuffed creatures, form an unlikely band of friends. They take on the developers who have evil plans for the museum, unleashing a strange, uncontrollable magic.

Ben also discovers a connection to his father and unearths that there might be more to the museum’s story and some very personal reasons to want to fight to save it.

This is Helen Cooper’s debut novel for children. She is, of course, the brilliant author of such classic and award-winning picture books as ‘Pumpkin Soup’ and ‘Tatty Ratty’, which have been shared and loved by so many children (and adults reading them).

One of the biggest delights of this book is that it has been illustrated by Helen, which brings the strangeness and peculiarly fascinating museum atmospherically to life.

From Flummery the owl to the detailed observations of the scientific devices, it is a little like pouring over a museum display case itself.

As someone who confesses to a fascination for pouring over museum collections (and may have taken their children too many times in the perfect excuse that the visit is really for them), this is a book I think lots of parents are going to love to read with their children. 

From the little fables, to the bees and the chapter headings – ‘Spite and Malice in the Fish Room’ being my favourite (when did writers start to use chapter headings less? I love chapter headings), it is a pure delight.

And as I live near Oxford, where Helen is based, it is particularly pleasing to know that some of our local museums have inspired the story and that some of the drawings come from those collections I have visited possibly too often and know far too well.

But then who hasn’t visited the witch in the bottle at the Pitt Rivers museum a hundred times and made up stories about it? It is so pleasing to think that someone has finally written one. 

It is the perfect feelgood story, made for sharing.

Nicki Thornton - one of my Best of 2017

Sofa Dog by Leonie Lord – Best of 2017

It is high time for a picture book to feature on SOTB Best of 2017 list, so here is the fabulously funny and charmingly illustrated Sofa Dog by Leonie Lord.

If you have a dog in the household or have ever had a family dog, then I’m sure this book will hit a cord, if you’ve not had the experience of sharing a house with a canine, then this is still; a humorous and entertaining tale, and maybe even serve as a warning to the nature of owning hounds!

Sofa Dog is a story about one sofa, one dog and the dog's human. Sofa Dog loves the sofa, and is only happy to share it only with it’s human, however begrudgingly Sofa Dog has to make way for not one but two cats, and just as Sofa Dog think it couldn’t get any worse there a rat-a-tat-tat at the door.

Before long the house is full and the sofa crammed with relatives, animals, and even a musical orangutan. The sofa gets so crowded that Sofa Dog gets pushed off and out into the rain. But soon something begins to move, and bite, and all the residents of the sofa being to itch. The itch leads to eviction, and Sofa Dog, has the Sofa back.

Being a owner of not one but two Sofa Dogs, I know that the observation Leonie Lord makes in the exquisitely envisioned picture book are all too true, and therefore believe that Sofa Dog is indeed one of the best of 2017!

The Legend of Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood - Best of 2017

There are several things that might surprise you about the great warrior adventurer; the amazing Podkin One-Ear, that son of a chieftain and famously great hero.

Firstly, Podkin isn’t impressive at all at the beginning of his great adventure. He’s too lazy to even want to be a hero. In fact, he is spoilt rotten. But then everything changes when the big bad Gorm, the dreaded enemy, arrives.

Kieran Larwood’s tale of a rabbit thrust into an unwanted adventure won this year’s Blue Peter prize. It features the wonderful, Podkin, who lives in a cosy and well-ordered world, entirely happy to leave it to his sister, Paz, to pay attention in sword-fighting lessons – or any lessons at all. What is the point of them?

Podkin, his big sister, Paz and little brother, Pook, have to go on the run in a harsh and snowy world. Podkin has zero survival skills and must rely on the kindness of others if what is left of his family and his whole burrow are to stand any chance of not being wiped out.

But in his heart, Podkin doesn’t want to be the sort of person no-one can rely on in a crisis. He needs to find out if any of his family have survived, save his burrow, and defeat the dreaded Gorm, who are ruthlessly taking over the previously peaceful world of the rabbits. 

Podkin might be the only one who has any chance of finding a way to defeat the Gorm. But is it too late to pay attention not just to sword-fighting, but to his history lessons and find any way a small, scared and not very brave rabbit can stop the evil Gorm from dominating in a world where they have been banished underground.

The Gorm are a terrifying group of baddies, part-iron, part-rabbit, seemingly invincible. Why have the Gorm suddenly got so powerful? How on earth can they be defeated? Podkin is plunged into a position where there seems to something he has much to learn at every turn as he tries to gather an unlikely team to take on the enemy. But he's a character easy to like in this wonderful tale of a very unlikely adventurer. 

Podkin discovers he has plenty of courage and learns to use guile rather than fighting skills, trying to outwit his opponents. He goes on an amazing journey, learning the history of the world he dearly loves and it so close to losing and finds friends and strengths he never knew he had.

A wonderful and imaginative adventure, sensitively told, packed with action and set in a well-realised world. This is definitely one of my Books of 2017.

Nicki Thornton