No catches, no fine print just unconditional book loving for your children with their favourites saved to their own digital bookshelf.
New members get entered into our monthly draw to win £100 to spend in your local bookshop plus lots lots more...
Find out moreRashmi Sirdeshpande is a lawyer turned children's author, with two young children who ask her lots of questions. Rashmi writes non-fiction picture books that ignite children's curiosity, as well as fictional stories that crackle with imagination. When she's not playing with words, you'll find her on her yoga mat twisting herself into all sort of shapes.
Commenting on what inspired her to write Good News, Rashmi Sirdeshpande said: “I grew up loving comics, picture books, puzzle books and fact books. Anything that sparked that WOW feeling inside me. Anything that carried me away! Because books are the cheapest ticket to absolutely everywhere - real and fantastical. And I love that today especially, there really is something for everyone out there. I wrote Good News to give young readers the facts about the biggest challenges we face on this planet but also the facts about how far we've come already, how much amazing work is being done, and how we have so many reasons to be hopeful about the future. Good News is the hardest, truest, most important thing I've ever written and to see it shortlisted for this incredible award means everything to me. Everything.”
Photo credit Charlotte Knee
Discover that bereavement can be a beginning, not an ending, in this beautiful story of one boy's grief when he loses his beloved grandfather. Dadaji loves to teach others to paint, especially his grandson. But after Dadaji passes away, the boy can't bear to use the favourite paintbrush his grandfather left for him. When a little girl knocks on the door, the boy discovers how many lives Dadaji touched with his art, and finds a way to continue his legacy.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month May 2022 | The classic story of Mole, Ratty and Mr Toad’s bucolic adventures on the river bank, on the river and, above all, in Mr Toad’s car are joyfully captured in this re-telling for younger readers. Picking out the strands of Kenneth Grahame’s great story that celebrate the warmth between the three friends, the beauty of the English countryside and the recklessness of Mr Toad which leads to him having to be rescued from prison!, Rashmi Sirdeshpande gives the flavour of the plot in simple, easy to understand language. Jojo Clinch’s striking illustrations capture the story perfectly.
A World Book Day 2022 Mini Book | Ever thought making money was just for adults? Or that business was boring? And that inventing stuff was only for super clever people? Think again. Though this book may be small, it’s bursting with big ideas for budding entrepreneurs. From understanding money and looking after it, to the nuts and bolts of setting up a business, making your big ideas a reality and using your cash for good. Don’t have a big business idea just yet? Don’t fear. Being a boss isn’t just about making money. It’s about building confidence, thinking outside of the box, problem solving and being 100% fearless. Which isn’t a bad place to start, right? So don’t leave everything to the grown-ups. It’s time to boss it. Packed with tips and tricks from real businesses and fantastic role models.
Rehearsals are under way for the big production of Hey Diddle Diddle, but poor Cow has the collywobbles and does not believe she could possibly jump over the moon and indeed there are spectacular failures! Rikin Parekh’s witty and lively illustrations will have young readers rolling in the aisles. He captures expressions of frustration, irritation, fear and embarrassment so perfectly. But this is not a story played just for laughs, it has a lovely message. Cow needs the support and encouragement of the troupe to give her the bravery to carry on trying. We will all be rooting for her too and the joy of succeeding at last will be felt by all. It is perhaps one of the most important life lessons for any child to learn. That it is OK to fail because life is a learning curve, but you should not be discouraged from trying again. A model example to use to discuss resilience and how we learn, but a genuinely heart-warming and funny story too.
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Awards 2022 Best Books with Facts | From the same stable as the very excellent Dosh: How to Earn It, Save It, Spend It, Grow It we have a clear, accessible, fact packed analysis of the crises facing the world, charting the progress that has been made and the grounds for hope. I think everyone has recognised that this generation of young people may feel completely overwhelmed by what they have experienced and be suffering serious mental health issues as a result. This book aims to help re-set their view of the world. The fascinating introduction explains psychologically the human fascination for bad news and how media focuses on the memorable story, which is inevitably horrific. There is an excellent summation of what fake news is and the difference between disinformation and misinformation and then some brilliant tips on how to fact check and spot fake news. But this is by no means a recipe for complacency since every section: Humans, Politics, Planet, Health, Society and Arts, begins by outlining the problems, before the mix of quotes, anecdotes and fact boxes and case studies shows exactly what has been achieved already and what is in progress. This includes many projects that I certainly had never heard of, such as the Great Green Wall of Trees being built across the whole of Africa. Every section also includes Challenges – empowering ways in which an individual can contribute to solving and not being the problem. It is highly admirable that this book goes beyond the obvious environmental issues to include politics and society and it is salutary to remind ourselves of the progress made on human rights, education and equality. Also admirable and entirely fitting with the concept is a list of information sources and the origins of all the quotes used. An invaluable and much needed resource from an author with a real facility for straight talking and not talking down to young people. The LoveReading LitFest invited Rashmi to the festival to talk about Good News with 13 year old Jack - find out why every child should read this book! The digitally native, all year round, online literature and books festival, with new content released every week is a free-for-all-users festival. What are you waiting for? Check out a preview of the event and sign up to become a member.
Following the success of her debut book How to be Extraordinary, which focused on inspiring children to be the very best that they can be, this important companion title shows the impact of people working together and what results they can thereby achieve. Once again this demonstrates that the author has a real gift for narrative nonfiction making these true stories really come to life with the selection of salient facts and lucid explanations setting the scene and explaining the issues so very clearly. The fifteen stories range from the origins of democracy in Ancient Greece and the mystery of just how the skilled workers of Ancient Egypt built The Great Pyramid to famous and not so famous campaigns for change. So alongside Greenpeace and Save the Whale we have the lesser known Tree Planters of Pipilantre and as well as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, we have the Singing Revolution in Estonia and as well as the Anti- Slavery Campaign we have the 1965 Freedom Ride campaigning for justice for indigenous people in Australia. There is also an obvious care taken to ensure the examples are as international as possible so the campaign for voting equality for women is not solely focused on the UK. The lively layout and illustrations make this an irresistible text for library browsers with appeal across many ages and the quality of the writing makes it one that would read aloud very well. Highly recommended.
Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2022 Information Books 3-14 | This fun and accessible financial handbook will help boys and girls build their confidence, develop a positive money mindset and set themselves up for a better future. Having some dosh in your pocket can be really exciting. And when it's used as a force for good, those pennies have the power to change the world. But managing money can seem daunting, especially in uncertain times. This book is here to build your confidence, transform you into a money expert and look toward the future. Whether you want to become an entrepreneur, be a savvy shopper, save all your pennies or splurge on something you really want, children's author and former lawyer, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, is here to help you make the right decisions. Discover what money is, why it mattes, how to spend it and ways to make more of it in this fun and brilliant guide.
What would happen if you showed a T-Rex a book? Well, she wouldn't know what to do with it . . . would she? A madcap, super silly adventure story rooted in the transformative power of books, created by incredible new picture-book duo Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Diane Ewen
Each of the 15 subjects selected for this collection gets a lively, well-designed, double-paged spread with bite sized and accessible chunks of information about the life and career of each extraordinary individual. These range from the familiar – David Attenborough, Michelle Obama, Nelson Mandela, Mo Farrer etc- to those that were completely new to me and, I am sure, to most young readers! These include Britain’s first female spy- Krystyna Skabarek; Aeham Ahmad, the pianist of Yarmouk and Keiko Fukuda Sensei, who became the only woman to be awarded the 10th Dan in Judo at the age of 98! The illustrations by Annabel Tempest are very effective in capturing both time and place as well as the character and emotions of the individual. Written by a graduate of the Penguin Random House WriteNow scheme, which endeavours to ensure that books and authors better reflect the society we live in, this is a rich resource for KS1 libraries and classrooms. It will support the study of lives of significant individuals in the past and show good examples of resilience and positive role models. It is a book which will be dipped into and read with pleasure but lack of contents or index means that it is less useful as a research tool. But this is an author to watch: one whose evident passion for writing information texts which are set to ignite curiosity in young readers shines through.
From the creators of Never Show a T-Rex a Book - WINNER OF THE QUEEN'S KNICKERS AWARD A laugh-out-loud 'what if . . .?' adventure... What would happen if you showed a diplodocus how to draw? One day she'd be messing around with crayons and paint - and the next she'd be a global art sensation! Full of fun - get drawing with Dippy!
Discover that bereavement can be a beginning, not an ending, in this beautiful story of one boy's grief when he loses his beloved grandfather. Dadaji loves to teach others to paint, especially his grandson. But after Dadaji passes away, the boy can't bear to use the favourite paintbrush his grandfather left for him. When a little girl knocks on the door, the boy discovers how many lives Dadaji touched with his art, and finds a way to continue his legacy.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month May 2022 | The classic story of Mole, Ratty and Mr Toad’s bucolic adventures on the river bank, on the river and, above all, in Mr Toad’s car are joyfully captured in this re-telling for younger readers. Picking out the strands of Kenneth Grahame’s great story that celebrate the warmth between the three friends, the beauty of the English countryside and the recklessness of Mr Toad which leads to him having to be rescued from prison!, Rashmi Sirdeshpande gives the flavour of the plot in simple, easy to understand language. Jojo Clinch’s striking illustrations capture the story perfectly.
Rehearsals are under way for the big production of Hey Diddle Diddle, but poor Cow has the collywobbles and does not believe she could possibly jump over the moon and indeed there are spectacular failures! Rikin Parekh’s witty and lively illustrations will have young readers rolling in the aisles. He captures expressions of frustration, irritation, fear and embarrassment so perfectly. But this is not a story played just for laughs, it has a lovely message. Cow needs the support and encouragement of the troupe to give her the bravery to carry on trying. We will all be rooting for her too and the joy of succeeding at last will be felt by all. It is perhaps one of the most important life lessons for any child to learn. That it is OK to fail because life is a learning curve, but you should not be discouraged from trying again. A model example to use to discuss resilience and how we learn, but a genuinely heart-warming and funny story too.
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Awards 2022 Best Books with Facts | From the same stable as the very excellent Dosh: How to Earn It, Save It, Spend It, Grow It we have a clear, accessible, fact packed analysis of the crises facing the world, charting the progress that has been made and the grounds for hope. I think everyone has recognised that this generation of young people may feel completely overwhelmed by what they have experienced and be suffering serious mental health issues as a result. This book aims to help re-set their view of the world. The fascinating introduction explains psychologically the human fascination for bad news and how media focuses on the memorable story, which is inevitably horrific. There is an excellent summation of what fake news is and the difference between disinformation and misinformation and then some brilliant tips on how to fact check and spot fake news. But this is by no means a recipe for complacency since every section: Humans, Politics, Planet, Health, Society and Arts, begins by outlining the problems, before the mix of quotes, anecdotes and fact boxes and case studies shows exactly what has been achieved already and what is in progress. This includes many projects that I certainly had never heard of, such as the Great Green Wall of Trees being built across the whole of Africa. Every section also includes Challenges – empowering ways in which an individual can contribute to solving and not being the problem. It is highly admirable that this book goes beyond the obvious environmental issues to include politics and society and it is salutary to remind ourselves of the progress made on human rights, education and equality. Also admirable and entirely fitting with the concept is a list of information sources and the origins of all the quotes used. An invaluable and much needed resource from an author with a real facility for straight talking and not talking down to young people. The LoveReading LitFest invited Rashmi to the festival to talk about Good News with 13 year old Jack - find out why every child should read this book! The digitally native, all year round, online literature and books festival, with new content released every week is a free-for-all-users festival. What are you waiting for? Check out a preview of the event and sign up to become a member.
A love letter to learning and the power of numbers from exciting talents, Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Diane Ewen. A laugh-out-loud 'what if . . .?' adventure that celebrates maths being fun in this riotous read. If a Stegosaurus knew how to do sums - well, what would happen? Maybe she'd learn to code, to invent, to fly to the moon! From the creators of Never Show a T-Rex a Book!
Following the success of her debut book How to be Extraordinary, which focused on inspiring children to be the very best that they can be, this important companion title shows the impact of people working together and what results they can thereby achieve. Once again this demonstrates that the author has a real gift for narrative nonfiction making these true stories really come to life with the selection of salient facts and lucid explanations setting the scene and explaining the issues so very clearly. The fifteen stories range from the origins of democracy in Ancient Greece and the mystery of just how the skilled workers of Ancient Egypt built The Great Pyramid to famous and not so famous campaigns for change. So alongside Greenpeace and Save the Whale we have the lesser known Tree Planters of Pipilantre and as well as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, we have the Singing Revolution in Estonia and as well as the Anti- Slavery Campaign we have the 1965 Freedom Ride campaigning for justice for indigenous people in Australia. There is also an obvious care taken to ensure the examples are as international as possible so the campaign for voting equality for women is not solely focused on the UK. The lively layout and illustrations make this an irresistible text for library browsers with appeal across many ages and the quality of the writing makes it one that would read aloud very well. Highly recommended.
Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2022 Information Books 3-14 | This fun and accessible financial handbook will help boys and girls build their confidence, develop a positive money mindset and set themselves up for a better future. Having some dosh in your pocket can be really exciting. And when it's used as a force for good, those pennies have the power to change the world. But managing money can seem daunting, especially in uncertain times. This book is here to build your confidence, transform you into a money expert and look toward the future. Whether you want to become an entrepreneur, be a savvy shopper, save all your pennies or splurge on something you really want, children's author and former lawyer, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, is here to help you make the right decisions. Discover what money is, why it mattes, how to spend it and ways to make more of it in this fun and brilliant guide.
If this is your author page then you can share your Facebook updates with your readers right here on LoveReading
Find out more