Dexter Bexley has bumped square into a Big Blue Beastie. A bored Big Blue Beastie that ponders eating Dexter Bexley right up just for fun. Thinking quickly, Dexter suggests a much better idea. He and the Big Blue Beastie go into business together. No matter how many adventures Dexter can think up to distract him, the Big Blue Beastie continually finds himself bored and hungry. It seems that this might finally be the end for Dexter Bexley ... or is it?Joel Stewart spins a darkly comic yet ultimately reassuring tale about friendship.

Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie have been thrown out of town because of their loud HOOTING and now they're on the road in search of adventure. And what could be more adventurous than a deep, dark forest, a sleeping beauty and a tap-dancing dragon? Join the travelling band!

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.

Stanley Wells is a very ordinary boy. But one day he finds himself caught up in a very strange adventure. He meets the mysterious Dr Moon and his canine companion Morcambe - and encounters the terrifying effects of a Wenlock. After being thrown from a train, he realises he's just going to have to get on with things and somehow unravel the mystery of Sorrows, Wenlocks, the blank-faced children he sees all around him . . . and the captivating Umiko. A truly original work, filled with fascinating characters and strange happenings, from this unique talent. Features Joel's original artwork on every spread.

The last thirty years have witnessed one of the most fertile periods in the history of children's books: the flowering of imaginative illustration and writing, the Harry Potter phenomenon, the rise of young adult and crossover fiction, and books that tackle extraordinarily difficult subjects. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature provides an indispensable and fascinating reference guide to the world of children's literature. Its 3,500 entries cover every genre from fairy tales to chapbooks; school stories to science fiction; comics to children's hymns. Originally published in 1983, the Companion has been comprehensively revised and updated by Daniel Hahn. Over 900 new entries bring the book right up to date. A whole generation of new authors and illustrators are showcased, with books like Dogger, The Hunger Games, and Twilight making their first appearance. There are articles on developments such as manga, fan fiction, and non-print publishing, and there is additional information on prizes and prizewinners. This accessible A to Z is the first place to look for information about the authors, illustrators, printers, publishers, educationalists, and others who have influenced the development of children's literature, as well as the stories and characters at their centre. Written both to entertain and to instruct, the highly acclaimed Oxford Companion to Children's Literature is a reference work that no one interested in the world of children's books should be without.

This study questions the widely held perception that books, as an artistic medium, are superior to and more respectable than film or television, sometimes considered frivolous and pernicious. Criticism of both the big and small screens often obscures their signal accomplishments and the entertainment and insight they provide. The author analyzes our distaste for these media--and the romanticizing of the printed word that accompanies it--and argues that books and films are in fact quite complementary. A broad survey of film and TV offerings explores what enacted narratives have taught us about the nature of childhood.

This is the fourth volume sponsored by the United States Board on Books for Young People, following Children's Books from Other Countries (1998), The World Through Children's Books (2002), and Crossing Boundaries (2006). This latest volume, edited by Linda M. Pavonetti, includes books published between 2005 and 2009. This annotated bibliography, organized geographically by world region and country, with descriptions of nearly 700 books representing more than 70 countries, is a valuableresource for librarians, teachers, and anyone else seeking to promote international understanding through children's literature. Like its predecessors, it will be an important tool for providing stories that will help children understand our differences while simultaneously demonstrating our common humanity.

Stanley Wells is an ordinary boy, who happens to be quite curious. His friends are the mysterious Dr Moon and his canine companion Morcambe. Together they seem to stumble upon strange happenings and trip over mysteries that just need solving... Stanley is sleeping in the caravan at the bottom of the garden of his new house. He awakes at the sound of an odd whooooomphing noise and goes to investigate. There appear to be new trees in the garden... very odd. And now his mum and the twins are missing - could these things be connected. And what about Jim, the old man who lives in the woods with his parrot telling tales of the sea? Could he be involved somehow. Dr Moon is the only person who can help Stanley with this puzzle and luckily he's on his way...

Winner of the United Kingdom Literacy Association's Author Award 2011 for its contribution to extending children's literacy. Praise for the book: 'This book is about making readers. A compact summary of its contents would not do it justice. It is the accountof a life's work and it deserves thanks and readers. *****'. - Margaret Meek, Books for Keeps on-line, Number 185, November 2010. 'This book is a cornucopia of varied pleasures, offering something for all tastes, presented with an awareness of the complexities of the field and communicated with commitment, enthusiasm and deep knowledge'. - Eve Bearne, English 4-11, the primary school journal of The English Association, Number 42, Summer 2011. Choosing and Using Fiction and Non-Fiction 3-11 is a guide to the many kinds of text we want children to encounter, use and enjoy during their nursery and primary school years. So children’s non-fiction literature – including autobiography, biography, information and reference texts – is given equal status with fiction – nursery rhymes, picturebooks, novels, traditional tales, playscripts and poetry. The author addresses important issues and allows the voices of teachers, reviewers and children to be heard. The book supports teachers as they help children on their journey to becoming insightful and critical readers of non-fiction and sensitive and reflective readers of fiction. It also contains suggestions for practice which are in the spirit of the more flexible and creative approach to learning towards which primary schools are moving. It includes: help on using criteria to select quality texts of all kinds; annotated booklists for each kind of text for different age groups; suggestions for keeping a balance between print and screen-based texts; case studies showing teachers and children using texts in interesting and imaginative ways to support learning in English lessons and across the curriculum; advice on developing children’s visual and multimodal literacy; guidance on using the school library and embedding study skills in children’s wider purposes and learning; critiques of key theoretical perspectives and research projects. Although the main readership will be primary and student teachers, it is hoped that the book will be of interest and use to anyone concerned with the role of texts in children’s learning.