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Sheena Dempsey is a children's illustrator and picture book author from Cork. She has illustrated many books including Dave Pigeon written by Swapna Haddow (Faber & Faber, 2016) which was shortlisted for the Sainsbury's Book Award. Sheena now lives in London with her partner and her retired racing greyhound. She loves to write and draw characters that are bursting with fun, humour and mischief.
This is book three in the Mermaid School series which is already a firm favourite with lots of young readers. In this episode, mermaid Marnie Blue and her friends have a new PE teacher, Mr Marlin, aka snarlin’ Marlin, motto ‘if you don’t come first, you lose!’. He reinstates the old Golden Glory sports day competition, and though to Marlin winning is everything, Marnie is more concerned with making sure her friends are happy, and with tracking down the whereabouts of the long-lost Golden Glory Crown. The set up allows for lots of fun and games, friendly and not-so-friendly rivalry, and a gentle emphasis on the importance of fair play. The story also moves along the sub-plot, involving Marnie’s glamorous auntie Christabel and her romance with a handsome human! Spending time with Marnie and her friends is fishy fun, and their undersea world will be very tempting to young landlubbers. Pretty illustrations by Sheena Dempsey add to the charm. One to recommend to fans of The Worst Witch and readers who like Marnie should get to know Lyla, star of Rebecca Patterson’s new Moon Girl series too. There are some great reviews from our Kids Reader Review Panel for the first in this series - Mermaid School - read them here!
Eleven little children, the ‘Yoga babies’, are shown doing different yoga poses, always with a parent or adult nearby, and the benefits are clear: yoga is just right for stretching, developing physical skills, calming and relaxing – and it looks great fun too. The text is in rhyme, perfect for reading aloud, and the illustrations are full of details that little children will recognise, while also clearly demonstrating ten different yoga poses. Fearne Cotton clearly finds yoga hugely satisfying and helpful and the book conveys her passion very well indeed.
After the success of Yoga Babies, the best-selling duo Fearne Cotton and Sheena Dempsey are back and this time the babies are hungry! Mealtime is a joyous and often messy occasion and these babies are shown thoroughly enjoying their food. From picnics to birthday parties, cooking and shopping the book carries a positive message about being relaxed and having fun with food. Written in rhyming text and accompanied by detailed and brightly coloured artwork this is a perfect book to share at bedtime, and might help soothe a worried fussy eater!
There are adventures galore in the second episode of this new series starring little mermaid Marnie and her friends and family. This time the action is all to do with the annual entertainment extravaganza that is the Clamshell Show. Marnie really wants the part of Queen Maretta, but so does her friend Orla, and nasty new mergirl, show-off Gilly Seaflower too. When the curtain finally goes up, there’s as much drama behind the scenes as on stage, and the sudden surprise appearance of a human! Marnie and her friends are very appealing characters – naughty aunt Christabel is a hoot – and their underwater world very tempting. Pretty illustrations by Sheena Dempsey add to the all-round charm. Young readers should dive in straightaway. Fans of The Worst Witch will enjoy the lively stories in Mermaid School, and readers who like Marnie should get to know Lyla, star of Rebecca Patterson’s new Moon Girl series too.
There are some excellent series for young readers at the moment: Amelia Fang, the Royal Rabbits of London, Isadora Moon, and now Mermaid School. Marnie Blue is worried about her first day at Mermaid School, for all the usual reasons: will she make friends? will the teachers be very strict? When she arrives, it seems her teachers expect her to take after her aunt Christabel, now a famous singer and DJ, who was a right terror! And for some reason, fellow first year Orla seems to have it in for Marnie too. It’s all a lot more interesting than the average primary school, and Orla’s story in particular involves Marnie in a very exciting adventure. Very nicely told, and the underwater world is enticing; young readers won’t be able to put this down.
After the success of Yoga Babies, the best-selling duo Fearne Cotton and Sheena Dempsey are back and this time the babies are hungry! Mealtime is a joyous and often messy occasion and these babies are shown thoroughly enjoying their food. From picnics to birthday parties, cooking and shopping the book carries a positive message about being relaxed and having fun with food. Written in rhyming text and accompanied by detailed and brightly coloured artwork this is a perfect book to share at bedtime, and might help soothe a worried fussy eater!
Yoga has never seemed more tempting than in this lovely new book, written by Fearne Cotton and illustrated by Sheena Dempsey. Eleven little children, the ‘Yoga babies’, are shown doing different yoga poses, always with a parent or adult nearby, and the benefits are clear: yoga is just right for stretching, developing physical skills, calming and relaxing – and it looks great fun too. The text is in rhyme, perfect for reading aloud, and the illustrations are full of details that little children will recognise, while also clearly demonstrating ten different yoga poses. Fearne Cotton clearly finds yoga hugely satisfying and helpful and the book conveys her passion very well indeed.
May 2018 Book of the Month | | Interest Age 5-8 | | The villagers in this charming story rely on their telephone for different reasons and when the local line is damaged in a storm they are all affected. Margaret can't organise her May Fair, Jean can't keep in touch with her family and Will's mum might miss the latest naughty escapades her son has got up to! After the telephone company arrives to fix the wires things get more complicated as the houses are mistakenly connected to the wrong number and confusion reigns. But as the neighbours have to relay messages to each other the community starts to grow closer. Based upon true events this is a heartwarming tale of friendship and solidarity borne out of adversity, with the uplifting message that co-operation and kindness brings the highest rewards.
Dave Pigeon and his best friend Skipper were living happily in the Human Lady's house, but now they're travelling in a box to Pawsville Vets ... maybe Dave will finally get his broken wing fixed. The pet shop is full of new friends... Jet the dog, Cricket Ball Face the hamster... and with friendship comes a bit of healthy competition, and what could be better that a race for a racing pigeon? But the only animal who thinks Dave is capable of going up against the infamous Mickey Lightning is Dave himself.
Yoga has never seemed more tempting than in this lovely new book, written by Fearne Cotton and illustrated by Sheena Dempsey. Eleven little children, the ‘Yoga babies’, are shown doing different yoga poses, always with a parent or adult nearby, and the benefits are clear: yoga is just right for stretching, developing physical skills, calming and relaxing – and it looks great fun too. The text is in rhyme, perfect for reading aloud, and the illustrations are full of details that little children will recognise, while also clearly demonstrating ten different yoga poses. Fearne Cotton clearly finds yoga hugely satisfying and helpful and the book conveys her passion very well indeed.
In a nutshell: pigeontastic comedy capers with Dave and Skipper | Things are not looking good for pigeons Dave and Skipper. The Human Lady who feeds them has gone on holiday leaving them easy prey to the devious Reginald Grimster, a man with an irrational hatred of pigeons dating back to his schooldays (a pigeon pooed on him). Soon Skipper is a prisoner, along with lots of other pigeons, as Grimster gets ready to turn them into nuggets. Narrated by Dave, with frequent interjections by Skipper, this is totally nutty, totally original and a hoot from start to finish. With frequent illustrations, and pages of speech bubble dialogue it’s particular fun for gaining reading confidence. Don’t stop the pigeon! ~ Andrea Reece
Interest Age 5-8 | One of our Books of the Year 2016 | July 2016 Book of the Month | Meet the Buttons. Mrs Button runs a shop – the nicest thing about it, she says, is the people – Mr Button runs the post office. The story is set in the days before text messages, emails, the internet and if you want to send a message urgently, a telegram is the way to do it. Young Billy Button longs to be a telegram boy, delivering those important messages on a shiny red bicycle. He gets to do it too, breaking a few Royal Mail rules but ensuring two people get to live happily ever after in the process. It’s a really happy story, a celebration of communication and of thinking the best of our neighbours, and lovely to look at too. Easy to read, this brings to mind Allan Ahlberg’s Happy Families series in its charm, warmth and optimism.
Join Dave Pigeon and his sidekick Skipper on their quest to defeat the most evil cat in town. There will be funny bits, scary bits and biscuity bits. It is perfect for 6+ readers to share with an adult as it has short speech bubbles running with the text for youngsters to read plus there are some brilliant laugh-out-loud black and white illustrations on every page by the superbly talented Sheena Dempsey.
With the perfect blend of knowing observations and truly funny art, Sheena Dempsey's very first picture book perfectly captures the anxieties and frustration of having a new sibling. Ruby is finding her new baby brother a problem because mum spends too much time with her baby brother. Ruby wants to play with her mum, all by herself, every, all the time, without any babies! But when mum and Oliver do eventually join her to play she realises that baby brothers can be fun too and perhaps she shouldn’t send him off in a rocket on his own quite yet!!
Marnie Blue is so excited! She is going on a school trip to see the legendary palace of Queen Maretta with all her friends. But when Mum is too unwell to join the trip, Aunt Christabel agrees to come in her place, and she was offishially the naughtiest mermaid the school has ever known. Marnie expects mayhem. Will they board the whale-shark on time? Will everyone eat their packed lunches on the way there? And just who is sneaking around the palace causing all sorts of mischief?
Fred may look ordinary, but sometimes people who look ordinary turn out to be not very ordinary at all ... because it just so happens that Fred is a Wizard! The only problem is that Fred is completely, mind-boggingly TERRIBLE at magic... And now he's training with the amazing Merlin, hoping to transform from the worst wizard around to a magical marvel. But when an ancient magical book is stolen and Merlin goes missing, Fred discovers that sometimes magic isn't the answer and that he has other talents that can help him solve the mystery that's got everyone else stumped! From Simon Philip, author of You Must Bring a Hat and I Really Want the Cake, and Sheena Dempsey, illustrator of Dave Pigeon, comes a tale full of magic and fun.
Following the success of his first picture book, The Magic Moment, musician and mindfulness expert Niall Breslin (Bressie) is back with another important life lesson for young children, beautifully brought to life by illustrator Sheena Dempsey. When Freddie sees all the presents his friend Ben gets for his birthday, he feels a bit sad ... Nana teaches Freddie how to be thankful for everything he has - together they count all the wonderful things in their lives. This gratitude trick is a helpful technique for dealing with the uncomfortable and often confusing feelings of jealousy that children inevitably encounter. Praise for Take Five: 'Take Five explores the difficult feeling of jealousy, in a sweet story that teaches the value of being grateful for what one has.' Sunday Independent 'A genuinely useful book for anxious children.' Irish Independent Praise for The Magic Moment: 'The sort of book that could be genuinely helpful to an anxious child.' The Irish Times 'Teaches children a really simple and effective mindfulness technique for managing big feelings.' Dr Malie Coyne 'A book with an important message.' Irish Independent
Following the success of his first picture book, The Magic Moment, musician and mindfulness expert Niall Breslin (Bressie) is back with another important life lesson for young children, beautifully brought to life by illustrator Sheena Dempsey. When Freddie sees all the presents his friend Ben gets for his birthday, he feels a bit sad ... Nana teaches Freddie how to be thankful for everything he has - together they count all the wonderful things in their lives. This gratitude trick is a helpful technique for dealing with the uncomfortable and often confusing feelings of jealousy that children inevitably encounter. Praise for The Magic Moment, by the same author 'The sort of book that could be genuinely helpful to an anxious child' THE IRISH TIMES 'Teaches children a really simple and effective mindfulness technique for managing big feelings' DR MALIE COYNE 'A book with an important message' IRISH INDEPENDENT
Originally published as Wizard Vs Lizard, get ready for a laugh-out-loud magical adventure from award-winning author Simon Philip and Sheena Dempsey, illustrator of the much-loved Dave Pigeon series! Fred may look ordinary, but sometimes people who look ordinary turn out to be not very ordinary at all ... because it just so happens that Fred is a Wizard! Sounds pretty great, right? Except that Fred is absolutely, completely, mind-boggingly TERRIBLE at magic. At school, he's stuck in a class of wizards half his age, feeling like a twit among tots. At home, he's endlessly teased by his siblings and always a disappointment to his parents. All Fred wants is to become a better wizard.... So when he hears about a competition to meet Merlin (yes, THE Merlin!) Fred knows it's his one chance to prove to his family that he's not the worst wizard in town. The catch? To win the competition he has to capture the tail of a terrifying, fire-breathing lizard...
WINNER of the Greenhouse Funny Prize; SHORTLISTED for the Sainsbury's Book Award and numerous regional awards, this hilarious series is adored by its readers! Our favourite pompous pigeon is BACK! And about to trade places with a pigeon prince, descended from Indian royalty. Dave Pigeon and his best friend Skipper are taking in the sights of London. Whilst pecking around the gates of the Royal Palace, looking for high-brow snacks to feast on, they meet Prince Raju Pigeon, one of the Queen's personal birds from the Royal Lofts. Raju is tired of royal life and longs to see life beyond the palace gates. Dave suggests they swap places for a short while! Raju will get to see how normal pigeon lives and Dave will be pampered in the Royal Lofts. Of course, this all goes to Dave's head and as he laps up the royal treatment becoming more unbearable than ever. But life in high society is not all it's cracked up to be . . . A very feathery prince and the pauper story, rich in diversity, packed full of gorgeous illustrations and giggle-until-you-wee jokes, perfect for emerging readers. 'A hilarious new series.' Angels and Urchins 'A really enjoyable read for children just moving into chapter books.' Books for Keeps 'Readers will love this action packed story about friendship, bravery and the lengths a pigeon will go to to secure themselves a crumbly treat.' Reading Zone 'I can't imagine any child not loving Dave and waiting excitedly for his next adventure.' Serendipity Reviews 'Readers will love it as it is full of daring and bravery, and much backfiring of ridiculous schemes and much crossing out.' The School Librarian
SUMMER HOLIDAYS = BORING! And Danny's dreading another one at his gran's. He's desperate for action, fun and adventure! And this year - amazingly and unbelievably - he gets it all, when he finds a dodo on a tiny island. A what? Yes! This is going to be the wildest summer holiday ever! (It might even be more than he can handle.) Are you in? A hilarious tale of wish fulfilment gone wrong that every child will relate to - perfect for fans of Pamela Butchart, My Brother Is a Superhero and David Baddiel's The Parent Agency.
Mum loves to dish up vegetables for dinner, but the little girl is sick of them! One day the saucepan breaks and the little girl goes off to buy a new one. That's when she discovers the magic pudding pot... Hopscotch Twisty Tales combine carefully controlled text levels and word counts with highly entertaining and original stories, perfect for 5-7 year olds starting to read independently.
In more adventures of these disastrous superheroes, Pucker Power centres on the adventures of Pucker, the Power family's mutt of a pug-dog. After he is dognapped, along with a beautiful French poodle, the Powers must follow the clues through Dublin, Paris and St Petersburg to bring their beloved pup back home. This playful, upbeat new series of adventures from Little Island will be a hit with everyone in the family, from young readers right down to the family pet. Complete with powerful website at www.readthepowers.com with blogs from one of the characters and and animated book trailer and theme song. Special appeal to dog-lovers!
The prince has a problem: Cinderella's wedding ring is missing! He writes to the King to ask for help, who writes to the Ugly Sisters (who he thinks have taken it), who are so angry at the accusation they write to a witch, asking her to spoil Cinders' wedding...Will the big day end in disaster? Find out as the story unfolds through letters that you can open by lifting the flap of the envelope.
Perfect for pet-lovers (and especially guinea pig lovers) everywhere, this funny story of finding a home and a person to care for him is told from the guinea pig's humorous perspective. Features Bruno, a wildly inventive boy, and his new pet, Titch, a neurotic, slightly melodramatic guinea pig. Can they get past their differences? Sheena Dempsey offers a contemporary and comical take on new pets and new friends.
From a fresh new Irish talent comes a picture book about new babies, busy mums and a little girl with a very BIG imagination! Ruby loves nothing more than playing, especially with Mum. But Mum is always so busy with Oliver, Ruby's little baby brother, and Ruby is tired of waiting. She's already looked at TONS of books, painted SO MANY pictures and she's even dressed her dog Rory in a very fetching stripy jumper. Babies are so boring. Ruby stomps out into the garden and there she begins to wonder ... what if she could magic Oliver away? With a delicious blend of knowing observations and truly funny art, Sheena Dempsey's very first picture book perfectly captures the anxieties and frustration of having a new sibling.
Meet the Powers: the not-so-super superheroes. Despite their amazing talents, the Powers are not very good at controlling them ... Poor Suzie - Dad has set the kitchen on fire again and Mum has turned the rain on indoors to douse the flames. JP has flown straight into a wall, and the dog, Pucker, is a whirlwind of paws and ears and noisy howls. A perfectly-paced adventure story featuring a colourful and genuinely funny family, The Powers will entertain and charm young readers. Sure to appeal to fans of The Incredibles films.
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