Daisy and Her Needles by Keith Balding

It's a rhyming couplets poem in a little book of watercolour and gouache paintings which give humour to Daisy the obsessive knitter who knits everything in her life, from a fire to a tree of apples. It's certainly a very woolly existence Even her husband is knitted! A normal flesh and blood husband would quickly become unravelled given her fanatic clicking of the needles.This is indeed a very obscure little book which will take its place on the Little Bookshelf of Little Books in my classroom, for all my students to appreciate or at the very least, wonder about.

Fat Cat by James Sage & Russell Ayto

Cornfield rivalry between three farmers, Big, Bluster and Smarts, exacerbated by an invasion of mice makes for a refreshing new story line for young readers and older readers alike. Big and Bluster work diligently on their own mouse traps throughout the day and night to rid their respective field from the furry plague, each taunting the other about their efforts. Meanwhile, Smarts quietly stands modestly off to one side watching the antics of the other two with no comment knowing the fat cat he has acquired is doing a fantastic job keeping his fields clear from vermin. After a while the other two come to their senses and Smarts, as his name implies, solves everyone's problems. The end papers of the corn fields are particularly striking, especially the one at the end with three mice bidding their sad adieu.

The Day the Animals Came by Frances Ward Weller & Loren Long

Saint Francis loved animals and so did lonely little recently-emigrated to New York, Puerto Rican girl Ria . She is desperate to participate in the Feast of St Francis to which her neighbour Mrs Blum has taken her. She is worried she will miss the experience because  unlike all the other people  lined up ready to enter the cathedral looking foward to having their animals blessed, she has no pet accompanying her. As Leunig would say"you must know the ways of a duck"  and surely it is a mischievous duck, Groucho, who reminds Ria of her homeland and is the reason she is asked to join the Procession of Animals. "The church beyond yawned like a cavern. Lined with breathing walls of pets and people, the aisle they walked stretched to a far-off alter. Ria took a big breath and stepped through the doors." This beautiful, string-bound hardback book with its fascinating paintings by Loren  Long  is a welcome addition to my bookshelf of quality children's picture books.The four page spread depicting the procession makes you feel as if you are there.
The book is based on the procession which takes place annually at New York's City Cathedral.

The Fly by Petr Horacek

Imagine a picture book where the fly is the main character, and you get a humorous story buzzing with action.  "Two goggly eyes, six hairy legs, two transparent wings...It's me! The House Fly. But people don't like me being in the house." The swish and the sudden  flap of the fly swat moves this unusual but entertaining story along until its witty finale. The reader is taken on a journey of the arduous and dangerous day in the life of a much maligned fly, from his food sources, through his daily exercise regime, to his favourite smells. The book has beautiful paintings overlaid with collage and potentially splattering flaps. The the large crayon speech bubbles which dominate the pages constantly emphasize the fly's tiny presence. The entire book consists of double page spreads which is visually appealing and gives the poor fly a larger landscape on which to eke out his otherwise frugal existence. The end covers add a nice touch. Designed primarily for the infant school market, this book also has great appeal to older children too.

Petr's blog is worth visiting and has a couple of animations on it based on two of his other picture books:
http://www.petrhoracek.co.uk/

The Great Wungle Bungle Aerial Expedition by Jill Arkell, Wayne Talbot and Greg McKee

A great swirling willy willy carries Wendi Wallaby off into the Australian outback skies and thus begins the Wallopa Wallaby's quest to track her down. He enlists the aid of Ranger Bugwatch and together with the talents of Snuffle and Trundle Echidna, Bluey, Bindie and Scribble the Kola Brothers, Wentworth Pelican, Felicity Flossy Fleece the flying doctor, and Ulinga, an indigenous boy, they build a pedal-powered flying machine from recycled materials. This is the first on many  inventions they make in their quest to travel the skies in search of Wendi. There is the giant boomerang, the 18 footer sky boat, an airship, a satellite but all have their own limitations. The detailed and humorous illustrations by Greg McKee and Wayne Talbot are awe inspiring and will keep children poring over them for hours. McKee is a man of many talents with a background in industrial design, zoology, illustration and animation. To read more about him and the illustrations in this book follow the link below; it is well worth your visit..

http://www.mckeewildthings.com/Illustrations.htm

Braithwaite's Original Brass Band by Peter Stevenson

This wacky picture book by Peter Stevenson focuses on Braithwaite's Original Brass Band, which is supposedly the best band in the land. The band is comprised of a very odd looking group of heavily-moustached men who are clones of each other. One day whilst endeavouring to practise for the Oswaldtwhistle International Musical Championship, their instruments malfunction and  their notes float away into the sky. So they adventure into Outer Space to retrieve their music. They find themselves on a planet inhabited by little pink monsters and thus begins the  negotiation with the Maetstro (a conductor who collects the best bands in the universe) to regain their lost music. I really love the twist at the end when Great-Grandfather's old instruments from the attic are given a new lease of life. Author/illustrator Peter Stevenson has quite a number of books under his belt and his website is worth visiting. He has also written his first book in the Welsh language entitled Oes Ben Tylwyth Teg.  http://peterstevensonart.co.uk/books.html

Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes illustrated by Kate Greenaway

This is an enchanting, stitched,  little hardback published by Chancellor Press. The late eighteenth century style illustrations by Kate Greenaway do justice to these traditional nursery rhymes. Greenaways paintings were reproduced by chromoxlography, a process which was popular from the mid nineteenth to the early twentieth century, by which colours were printed from hand-engraved wood blocks. This is a beautiful facsimile of the original 1881 edition filled with over forty famous nursery rhymes. It is a welcome edition to our poetry section in the Little Library of Rescued Books in our classroom.

The contents page  and one of the first rhyme of the book