February 2013 Book of the Month Allan Ahlberg at his masterful best with words that just slip off the tongue complemented by some delightful illustrations by Bruce Ingman. The two of them have come together a number of times now as you’ll see from the images below. You might find it hard to believe that you can make a wonderful story out of slices of bread but rest assured Allan Ahlberg has. Having read it I bet you’ll be off to make a sandwich now. Mine’s a marmite one! Hooray for Bread!
Three cheers for bread, HIP-HIP-HOORAY! Early in the morning the baker bakes a lovely loaf of bread. SO lovely, in fact, that by the time the sun goes down it's been gobbled up! Every. Last. Slice. Who eats it all? Well, the baker munches on its crunchy crust. The baker's wife eats delicious marmalade toast and the baker's son gets a tasty cheese and ham sandwich for his lunch. Le's not forget the dog, even he gets his share! HOORAY FOR BREAD! Slice by slice and crumb by crumb, everyone eats their fill of bread, with a teeny tiny mouse nibbling up the very last scrap. "Hooray" – squeak-squeak – "for bread!" But wait – there are some missing slices! Where could have they gone? Is there a tasty double spread just for YOU?
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As a child Allan was born in Croydon, but grew up in Oldbury in the Black Country. He says that if he hadn't grown up to be a writer, he would have loved to have been a soccer player.
As an adult Allan always dreamed of being a writer, but tried his hand at many other jobs before he achieved his ambition. He was a postman, grave-digger, plumber's mate and teacher - it was teaching that gave him such sharp insights into the minds of children, and enabled him to write his perfectly observed poetry about primary school life
As an artist Allan has collaborated with many illustrators, including Andre Amstutz, Gillian Tyler and Katharine McEwen, as well as his late wife, Janet Ahlberg (nee Hall) and his daughter Jessica Ahlberg. He has won numerous awards for his books including, the Kurt Maschler Award in 1986, The Children's Book Award in 1987, the Blue Peter Book Award 2001, and The Children's Book Award: Books for Young Children award 2002.
You can see Allan reading from Peepo! in this video:
