Earth Heroes Lily Dyu

In this timely book from travel journalist Lily Dyu we meet twenty individuals – conservationists and inventors from around the globe who are actively engaged in their work to save the world, to counter climate change and save its humans and our precious wildlife.

There are familiar names such as Greta Thunberg, Sir David Attenborough and Stella McCartney are present – we read fascinating information about their backgrounds and what set them on their paths.

Alongside these are less well-known people whose work is also inspiring – these include Mohammed Rezan, architect of floating schools in Bangladesh; Isabel Soares from Portugal, a pioneer of cutting down food waste by persuading people to use ‘Fruit Feia’ (ugly fruit), and the ingenious Chewang Norphel who was responsible for the building of artificial glaciers in Ladakh that have transformed thousands of lives.

Great for individual reading or classroom use, Lily Dyu’s engaging text is readable and pitched just right for its intended audience of young readers and cover designer Jackie Lay has provided splendidly designed art with a relevant and inspiring quote to introduce each entry.

Lily’s final words speak to us all “… we need to fight for the planet we love. The future is ours for the making. You too can change the world.” A powerful rallying cry for sure.

One Fox Kate Read 

One moonlit night down on the farm, with his two sly eyes, one famished fox is on the prowl. The three plump hens need to keep their ears and beady eyes open. 

However that fox is in for a big surprise when he takes six silent steps towards the hencoop and taps seven times upon the outside…

With a dramatic and satisfying climax (although not for the fox), debut author/illustrator Kate Read takes us right up close to the action in her counting story.

With an economy of words, she creates a visual comedy that is both exciting and gently educational, but it’s her superb visuals that carry the power. Bright, textured art combining paint and collage, that build up expectations of the outcome and then turn the tale right over on itself.

Angel on the Roof Shirley Hughes

Come with me to 32 Paradise Street, Notting Hill, London where something wonderful unfolds.

Shirley Hughes in her inimitable style presents the story of a friendship that develops between a boy, Lewis Brown, and an angel.

One night this angel alights unnoticed on the roof of the building wherein Lewis lives with his parents, spends the night there and next morning shakes his wings causing a golden feather to fall, landing on the sill of the window through which Lewis is looking.
(Having an underdeveloped leg, Lewis prefers people watching to interpersonal encounters.)

The boy notices the feather, knows it’s something special and clambers up to the roof to investigate.

What he sees is an angel with a beaming smile. Lewis pours out his heart to the being and thus begins their relationship. The two walk together through the streets of west London, the angel wearing an overcoat belonging to Lewis’s father. We never see its face, but alongside the angel Lewis feels alone no longer and gradually things change for the better at 32 Paradise Street.

For fear of spoiling the story, I’ll say little more other than that one night Lewis has the experience of a lifetime and things continue to change for the better both in his life and those of other people.

This is such a sublimely beautiful book; it’ll make you feel uplifted and having read it and wondered at Shirley’s illustrations with those touches of gold, you’ll want immediately to find others to share it with. I certainly did.