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Ashley King is a passionate Illustrator who hand draws, paints, creates, doodles, scribbles and loves coffee and cake. He graduated from Coventry University with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Illustration and Animation, and his first illustrated children's book Erica's Elephant, Sylvia Bishop, was published by Scholastic in 2016 with rave reviews.
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Interest Age 5-8 | March 2020 Book of the Month | Clever children who use their wits to get the better of much more powerful adversaries star in this duo of stories by the one and only Michael Rosen. Masha escapes a big and thoroughly bad bear in a particularly delicious way, while little Peggy outsmarts her admittedly rather stupid king to win big. Rosen’s lively, direct style make these stories wonderfully accessible for those growing in reading confidence, and Ashley King’s full colour illustrations add to the appeal of this little gem of a book.
Magic! There’s a new adventure for Elsie Pickles and her friend and sometime employer witch Magenta Sharp. Bored, Magenta has decided to open a magic shop in Elsie’s village, Smallbridge. Attention to detail has never been one of Magenta’s strengths, and she relies on new gadget the Spellatron 3000 to set it up, ignoring the first rules of witchcraft - read the instructions, follow the recipe, know how to stop it if things go wrong. Things do go wrong of course, but not before the shop has provoked protest from some village residents who want to keep Smallbridge ‘witch-free’, to quote one of their unfriendly placards. Thanks to Elsie – and some magic tickle dust - all is resolved happily in the end. Kaye Umansky is one of our best writers for children and here she subtly and seemingly effortlessly mixes social comment into a very funny comic adventure.
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A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month September 2018 | Kaye Umansky, the creator of the much-loved Pongwiffy stories follows up Witch for a Week with a new adventure about Magenta Sharp, a rather muddled local witch, and Elsie Pickles, the little girl she gets to help her. In this new adventure Elsie is invited back to the wandering tower that is Magenta’s home to help the witch to sort out the terrible chaos of her magic-selling business. Magenta has been ignoring the paperwork and she is now attracting so many complaints that she is threatened with the loss of her magical licence! Can Elsie save Magenta’s business? And can she also help her to keep an unruly genie under control while she is about it? as ever, Kaye Umansky’s magic is deliciously frothy and ridiculously good fun.
Tony Bradman packs a great deal of adventure and humour into this little book, all presented in a way to make it ideal for new readers. Elvis is an impetuous young squirrel, and persuades his friend Chuck to leap onto the bird table without looking. Uh-oh, before you can say “Breakfast is served”, a huge crow called Ronnie has snatched Chuck away. Can Elvis persuade the other garden birds to help him in a rescue attempt? It’s a learning experience for Elvis, while readers will appreciate the short chapters and bright full colour illustrations, and as well as the exciting story of course, which all keep the pages turning smoothly
In a nutshell: one of our funniest writers works her magic From the creator of the much-loved Pongwiffy books comes a new series that mixes magic, friendship and comedy together, with an extra helping of charm. Young Elsie Pickles helps out in her family shop, in the dull little town of Smallbridge on the river Dribble. When the local witch arrives to advertise for a house sitter Elsie jumps at the chance and begins a week minding a magical tower and looking after the witch’s talking raven Corbett. As Elsie settles in and gets to know the witch’s other friends and neighbours, she can’t help trying a little magic herself. Elsie, Corbett and their friends are wonderful characters and this is a lovely read; full of fun and adventure, comedy and excitement, it will keep children smiling from beginning to end. ~ Andrea Reece
The first book in a heartwarming and timeless new series with a brave and spirited heroine, from the acclaimed duo behind THE BOOKSHOP GIRL. Betsy Bow-Linnet is determined to become a world famous concert pianist like her parents. There's just one problem: no matter how hard she practises she doesn't share their musical talents. So when a mysterious letter arrives from a woman claiming to know of an unusual Method that will make Betsy's playing 'stupendous', Betsy jumps at the chance. There's just one condition: she must keep the Method a secret. But it isn't just one secret - it's forty-four tiny secrets in the shape of a boxful of pygmy mice! Betsy is mystified - how are they going to help her play the piano and - more importantly - how on earth can she keep them all a secret? Gorgeously illustrated in two-colour, this is a warm, funny and pitch-perfect story about the true nature of family love and finding your real talents in the most unexpected of places. Perfect for fans of ISADORA MOON, AMELIA FANG, OTTOLINE and HARPER.
Everyone is already the spell of this charming new series from Kaye Umansky... 'A Bewitching tale, charmingly told and is certain to delight any witch in the making' M.G, Leonard, award-winning author of Beetle Boy 'A gorgeous story that bubbles with charm, wit and magic' Abi Elphinstone, author of The Dreamsnatcher 'Bursting with memorable characters, a huge sense of fun and a big dollop of honey, flowers and strawberry-scented magic!' Joe Berger, author of Lyttle Lies and Hubble Bubble 'A sulky raven, a grubby dog and a common-sense heroine with a strong sense of customer service. This is a funny, magical treat!' Holly Webb, author of Lost in the Snow The wonderful Elsie Pickles is back in her second adventure! This time, local witch Magenta Sharp needs help with her mail order magic service, Sharp Spells on Tap, and once again mischief and marvellous magic are about to transform Elsie's life. Because with a grumpy genie on the loose set on causing trouble, getting Magenta's business back on track isn't going to be easy... A magical adventure from Kaye Umansky, the bestselling author of the spellbinding children's classic Pongwiffy, brought to life with charming illustrations from rising star Ashley King!
When Bam the panda accidentally breaks Red's drum, he needs to think of a way to make it up to Red! Oxford Reading Tree Story Sparks is an emotionally-engaging fiction series that will fire children's imaginations and develop their comprehension skills. The variety of authors and illustrators broadens children's reading experience, with something to appeal to every child. This story is one of six titles at Oxford Level 1+, which are phonically decodable with some extra high-interest words to expand children's vocabularies and enrich the stories. All the books in the series are carefully levelled, making it easy to match every reader to the right book.
This story is about a little girl named Property Jones, so-called because she was left in the lost property cupboard of a bookshop when she was five years old. Property loves living in the bookshop, but she has a whopper of a secret ... she can't actually read! So Property doesn't see the newspaper article announcing the chance to win the Montgomery Book Emporium, the biggest and most magnificent bookshop in the world! When her family win the competition, Property finds herself moving to the Emporium, a magical place filled with floor upon floor of books and a very bad-tempered cat. But all is not at it seems at the Emporium and soon Property Jones finds herself in a whole heap of trouble.
When Erica Perkins wakes up on the morning of her tenth birthday, the last thing she expects is to find a very confused elephant sitting on her doorstep. So begins an unlikely friendship. But can a small girl and a rather large elephant learn to live together in a tiny terraced house? And when the dastardly owner of the local zoo plots to steal the elephant, will Erica be able to outsmart him?
When Erica Perkins wakes up on the morning of her 10th birthday, the last thing she expects is to find a very confused elephant sitting on her doorstep. So begins an unlikely friendship. But can a small girl and a rather large elephant learn to live together in a tiny terraced house? And when the dastardly owner of the local zoo plots to steal the elephant, will Erica be able to outsmart him?
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