Britains Got Talent(ed new authors and illustrators)

The Fearsome Beastie
One often gets the feeling that young pups these days are ever so slightly mollycoddled in the scary story department, so thank goodness for the latest offering from cooler than ice Giles Paley-Phillips!
 The Fearsome Beastie is going on sale next month and will no doubt delight your little tinkers!

Might need to keep the night light on after reading this! mwah ha haaaa

Thank goodness the nanny state has taken her eye off the ball and let this little treasure through the net !
Naturally one assumed that as I turned the pages the following familiar tale would unfold  "Monster comes to town, children realise the monster isn't scary after all and they all skip off into the sunset together to have a dolly's tea party - Not in this bad boy! NO

It's time to "Man up" Book Sniffers this is what happens in this unflinching observation of the real life horror that lurks just around the corner...
Monster comes to town, children are terrified, monster tricks them, monster eats them and then...THEN my friends we are introduced to possibly one of the most kick ass (apologies for the use of street slang) grannies the picture book world has seen for some time!

Axe weilding granny - everyone should have one!

This granny isn't going to mess around teaching this Beatsie the value of good manners, instead she chops him clean in half (thus saving previously "gobbled up" children)

HA-YA!

and makes a stew out of him which they all tuck in to..

Heston eat your heart out!

And that my friends is one heck of a good picture book.
Dark and scary in a Dahlesque fashion with a smattering of Grich about it this story is hilarious with a brilliant rhyming text this will be one to read over and over again...unless you get eaten by a beast in the meantime.

The Book Sniffer gives this terrific axe weilding picture book 4 bowls of snail porridge and a floating eye ball out of 5 - PRE ORDER IT NOW!

Images (c) Gabriele Antonini

A slice of Ali Berthon Pie!

Every so often a new face stops by the old dog basket and yesterday was no exception!

After a short undignified and slightly over excited greeting involving rather too much barking on my part and the accidental up turning of ones dog basket I settled down for a chat with rising star of the Children's Illustrative world the deeeelightful Ali Berthon.
She was terribly nice and she brought me a rubber chicken (rather beneath me but I accepted joyfully and stowed in my re gifting draw)  

Daft as a brush and terribly pretty ...a deadly combination.

Hello Ali - Splendid of you to drop by! It's lovely to meet new Book Sniffers, do tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in the zany world of children's books ...

"I graduated from Kingston Uni’s MA in illustration in 2010, along with Sheena Dempsey and lots of other very talented people. Since then I’ve been working on my first book, for the lovely people at Egmont. I’ve nearly finished the final artwork – hurrah!"

The Book Sniffer prides oneself on being ahead of the game and this new book looks like a corker! Can you tell us a little bit about it...

"The book is a comical story by Edward Hardy, called ‘Where is Fred?’. Fred is a fluffy white caterpillar who needs to hide from a hungry (and pretty dim) crow called Gerald. It’s been fun to illustrate because Fred is so cute and crafty, while poor old Gerald is completely clueless and gets madder and madder. I’ve sneaked a few dogs onto the pages, you’ll be pleased to know – not to mention the odd rabbit, flying saucer and dinosaur."

"Edward is the author of ‘Martha, No!’ (illustrated by Deborah Allwright and published by Egmont). He came to my degree show back in September, which was really nice of him, and it was great to find out more about him and his take on the book. He was also very kind about the fact that I’d had quite a lot to drink at that point and kept calling him ‘Ed.’ Cringe. The book will be out early next year."

Thank you so much for popping by Ali, it's been splendid meeting you - please feel free to take a few Boney'o's with you for the train journey home! Before you go could you tell us about a picture book which you have enjoyed sniffing of late... 

"My picture book recommendation for fellow Book Sniffers is.... “The Chicken Thief” by Beatrice Rodriguez. It’s so simple – like all the best stories. A fox steals a chicken and is chased by its friends through wild forests, over mountaintops and across the sea. There are no words, just gorgeous, funny pictures. The story has a lovely twist at the end – definitely worth buying to find out what happens!"

Doesn't the poor chap know Fortnums deliver these days!

Make sure you keep up to date with this rising star by checking out her blog here Images (c) Ali Berthon