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Find out moreMick Manning and Brita Granström specialize in lyrical non- fiction picture books. They have written and illustrated over 60 books and have won many awards, including the Smarties Silver Award, the English Association Award and The Royal Society Young People’s Book Award. Their previous books, published internationally and in many languages, include the award-winning Fly on the Wall series, Tail-End Charlie, What Mr Darwin Saw, Charles Dickens: An Extraordinary Life, Nature Adventures, Wild Adventures, The Beatles and William Shakespeare. Mick and Brita live in the Scottish Borders. Read a Q&A with Mick and Brita here.
The partnership of Mick Manning and Brita Granström has undoubtedly transformed the approach to non-fiction over the past 20 award-winning years and here they have illuminated that tricky curriculum requirement of studying Britain in the Stone Age with their trademark information picturebook style. This book actually is much more than that; it defines the start of history, which is from the point at which humans began to write and record and asks the reader to take a bold and imaginative journey through the millennia that came before. From the very formation of the Earth and Moon to the beginnings of life and the slow progression and development of our planet, through dinosaurs, extinction events and to the eventual appearance of man. The lively text does not talk down or patronise and is highly educative in the use of correct terminology for naming the epochs and creatures as they develop. The inclusive characters that accompany the reader on the journey help to ground us in the familiar and personify our curiosity. The images are striking and informative while being gently amusing. A very informative glossary and a Timeline Game to help test your understanding complete this valuable package. An exciting book which will be picked up for reading pleasure as well as being a real asset for the curriculum.
A friendly and inspiring introduction to art history, telling the stories of the world's greatest paintings and artists from prehistory to the modern day The Story of Paintings begins with the cave paintings of our Stone Age ancestors and continues through to the modern day. Mick Manning and Brita Granstroem take your on a tour of their personally selected gallery which showcases the work of some of the world's most famous artists and few a less well-known ones. The artists featured include van Eyck, da Vinci, Bruegel, Rembrandt, Velazquez, JMW Turner, Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, Georgia O'Keefe, Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Jackson Pollock as well as Dame Laura Knight and Kalan Khan. The friendly text and illustrations help children to appreciate the art, highlighting interesting biographical details and picking out key details to spot. The book's large format means the art is reproduced on a wonderfully impactful scale. This really is a book to give and treasure. The creative team of Mick Manning and Brita Granstroem are well-known for their ground breaking children's information books. Their many awards range the TES Information Book Award for What's Under the Bed? and the English Association Non-fiction award for Charlie's War Illustrated.
April 2017 Book of the Month Who better to take young readers on a guided tour of the British Library than Mick Manning and Brita Granström? Words and pictures work perfectly together to give children a vivid sense of the greatest library in the world, and some of the amazing books to be found there. It begins with a look at the St Cuthbert Gospel, a photo of the book part of a collage also featuring a representation of the saint in his coffin and sketches depicting the book’s extraordinary history. There are equally lively pages on the Lindisfarne Gospel, Beowulf, Mrs Beeton’s cookbook and many more. The approach is as varied as the books featured, while the facts contained will inform and fascinate readers of all ages. It concludes with notes on the authors of the featured books and a helpful glossary. A unique and fascinating way of examining the history of the book through one of our greatest institutions. ~ Andrea Reece
Shortlisted for the English Picture Book Award 2016 | Mick Manning and Brita Granström have developed a picture book approach to non-fiction that brings their subjects to vivid life. Beautifully illustrated throughout in coloured pencil and watercolour and with pen and ink for the hand lettering, this is beautiful to look at and packed with information. There is lots on Shakespeare’s childhood – stories of the famous as children always catch the imagination of young readers – and the book provides a very clear impression of Tudor life. It explains the ‘lost years’, when no-one really knows what Shakespeare was up to, and cleverly puts the plays in the context of Shakespeare’s life and times. There are retellings in a sort of comic-strip of some of the most important plays – Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet – while comic-strip style speech bubbles throughout let readers hear Shakespeare’s words and world. Children can read this book in so many different ways, and Simon Callow, quoted on the cover, is right when he says this is a perfect introduction to the real Shakespeare.
The lyrical text gives an emotional insight into the world of the woolly mammoths and is accompanied by an illustrative fact strip giving more information on how we know about the lives of Mammoths today, taken from the very latest Mammoth findings. This book also includes a useful glossary and geological time line.
Follow the amazing dramatic life of a theatrical icon, vividly described in words and pictures. With lively graphic-novel descriptions of many of Shakespeare's most famous plays, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Henry V, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and The Tempest, and drawing on the latest biographical research, this is the perfect introduction for children to the life and works of William Shakespeare. Endorsed by Simon Callow, Shakespearean actor and biographer: "I can't think of a book more likely than this enchantingly illustrated tome to connect young people to the greatest, most exciting, most human, most surprising writer of them all. A great achievement."
January 2014 Book of the Month The most famous band in history is brought to life in this illustrated history of their life and times. The stories of the ‘fab four’ as schoolboys from the years before they met through how they got together and set up their band to dealing with fame, fortune and millions and millions of screaming fans are told in words and pictures evoking the mood of the time – albeit making it look a very long time ago indeed! Full of facts and fun to browse this also captures the mood of the time and exceptional impact The Beatles made on teenage life.
April 2013 Non-Fiction Book of the Month The incredible story of the building of the mighty Stonehenge is brought to life in the action-packed illustrations to this book. How such a feat was achieved without the help of any technology has always been a cause of wonder. Here, the story of how the stones were dragged for many miles, how they were heaved into position and how they were cleverly fitted together so that the building would last, is visually re-enacted while the history of the time and what we know about how man managed 5,000 years ago is explained in the text and accompanying speech bubbles.
During World War II, many spies were dropped from Britain into France to help fight the Nazis. One of them was a woman called Christine Granville, who risked her life to save her comrades. Follow her incredible true story is this beautifully illustrated graphic novel by award-winning authors Mick Manning and Brita Granstroem. Collins Big Cat Progress builds confidence, helping struggling pupils not only to read, but to love reading Dual-banded books provide age-appropriate interest level material matched with a lower reading ability level Every book is levelled by reading expert Cliff Moon to ensure precise, systematic, measurable progression to help close the ability gap The books use a range of reading strategies: phonic, graphic, syntactic and contextual to build confident, accurate, fluent readers Designed to build speaking and listening skills, as well as reading skills, the books are highly visual and include incredible illustrations and photographs Every book has a Key Stage 2 look-and-feel to engage older pupils and avoid stigmatisation Topics are relevant for children in years 3-6 and connected to the curriculum and framework objectives for these years to support inclusion Progress titles contain a Reader Response page to encourage the pupil to respond to and recall what they have read. This offers an ideal opportunity to check comprehension Ideas for Reading, written by primary literacy expert Gill Howell are included in the back of every book to help you support the reading needs of each child This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.
The eventful ups and downs of the life of Charles Dickens, the best-selling author of his day, are told in words and pictures in this excellent introduction to the man and his works. Many of the scenes that Dickens includes in his books were taken from his own childhood during which he experienced much poverty and hardship, including working in a factory when he was 12. He later became a journalist before his enormous success as a novelist. The lively illustrations capture Dickens’s eventful life, including his successful tours of America where he was treated as a superstar.
Inspired by his uncle's experiences, Mick Manning's simple but moving story invites children to travel from the safe familiarity of a seaside holiday to the beaches of Dunkirk to discover one of Britain's most tragic and heroic events of the Second World War. Produced in association with the Imperial War Museum.
** Winner of The English Association 4-11 Book Awards - Key Stage 2 Non-Fiction ** Mick Manning's mother was a young woman in Wales at the outbreak of World War II. This fascinating book, a companion to the the very successful Tail-End Charlie about Mick's father's life in the RAF in World War II, tells her story using the same innovative non-fiction narrative style. At the outbreak of war and the start of food rationing, she left school aged 14 to work in a local greengrocer's shop. Later joining the WAAF (the Women's Auxiliary Air Force), she became a wireless operator and eventually a Y service listener for the secret signal decoding operation at Bletchley Park where the famous German Enigma Code was cracked. The book also looks at other essential women's roles during the war including the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service), Land Army, Fire Service etc, and a wide range of aspects of life affected by the war effort. Simply written and using speech bubbles and captioned illustration boxes of artefacts and documents from the period, this is a dramatic and engaging introduction to its subject.
This picture reference book provides an absolutely terrific insight into one of the world's most famous scientists and is a great introduction to youngsters of an important piece of history. Darwin's adventure on the Beagle and his findings on the islands he visits are captured brilliantly through vibrant illustrations, text and fact boxes. It's a book that both parent and child can spend hours sharing. The Hardback was published to coincide with the 200th anniverary of Darwin's birth as well as 150 years sinces the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. It concludes with a simple explanation of the theory of evolution. Written by an outstanding team in the field of children's non-fiction, this is a book to enlighten and inspire young readers.
Shortlisted for the 2010 Blue Peter 'Best Book with Facts' Award. Nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2010. As a boy, Mick Manning listened to his father's hair-raising tales about life as an RAF airgunner during the Second World War. Now, years later, he has carefully recreated his father's stories, writing them down as if his dad was speaking the words. In collaboration with Brita, he has illustrated them too. Photos and memorabilia accompany the true story of the author's father's World War Two experiences. Through scrapbook-style journal entries, this book aims to tell the story of the brave young men who risked everything for the sake of their country and yours... This is a book for Charlie's grandchildren, and for everyone.
As a boy, Mick Manning listened to his father's hair-raising tales about life as an RAF airgunner during the Second World War. Now, years later, he has carefully recreated his father's stories, writing them down as if his dad was speaking the words. In collaboration with Brita, he has illustrated them too. It's for Charlie's grandchildren -- and for everyone. Find out what it was really like to: Put up with food rationing ! Undergo RAF Training! Take off in a bomber! Face enemy fighters! Survive the Battle of the Bulge