April Author of the Month

This is the story of the witch and her cat who take a wild ride on the broom. The witch keeps losing her possessions in the wind and each time she lands to retrieve something an animal pops up wanting to ride on the broom. The witch happily collects a dog, a green bird and a frog but the broom snaps in half sending the animals tumbling down in to the bog. The poor witch then meets a dragon that wants to eat her. Just in time the animals rise from the bog all covered in mud and looking like a very frightening monster. Together they manage to frighten the dragon away.

In return the witch invites each of the animals to throw something in to her caldron. She casts a spell to create a ‘truly magnificent’ broom with seats for them all and a shower for the frog. 

Room on the broom is written in rhyme and beautifully illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

This is the story of the Duckbill dinosaurs who live on one side of the river and eat plants and the meat eating  Tyrannosauruses who live on the other side wishing they could swim.  Just by chance a stolen Duckbill dinosaur egg lands in the Tyrannosaurus nest. The baby Duckbill feels very out of place in the Tyrannosaurus family who name him Drip because he refuses to hunt or eat meat. Drip discovers he can swim and decides to join the Duckbill dinosaurs who make him welcome on the other side of the river.  A thunderstorm brings down a tree providing a bridge. The Tyrannosaurus family walk across to eat the Duckbills but they spot their reflections in the water. They are so scared they all fall in and are carried off to sea leaving the Duckbills to enjoy life in peace and safety.

This is a beanstalk story which begins in Groil, the land of the giants. Most giants do not believe in humans, iggly plops in giant language, just as most humans do not believe in giants. A giant child, Jumbeelia, climbs down the beanstalk to collect three human children and a sheep to take home with her.  Groil is a new and scary world for the children Simon, Colette and Poppy,  who are made to live in the dolls house in Jumbeelia’s bedroom. They manage to survive the attention of the family kitten and Jumbeelia’a cruel brother and escape back to earth.   
Reading this story will certainly make you think twice before climbing a beanstalk should you come across one. The book includes a dictionary of Groilish so that you can find out what the giants say.

Chack the blackbird and Apollo the swallow met when they were both learning to fly. Apollo told Chack that one day he would fly to Africa but Chack did not believe him. Chack told Apollo that he would turn black and his white blossom tree would one day be covered in orange berries but Apollo did not believe him either.  By the time the berries have appeared Apollo has gone.  Chack sends a message asking Apollo to ‘come to the tree’ with the dolphins who pass it to the camels who pass it to a crocodile who passes it to a monkey. Each time the message changes so that by the time it reaches Apollo it does not make sense at all.

A tiny snail has a longing to sail the world.  She makes a silvery trail on the black rock that says ‘ Lift wanted around the world’  Along comes a big humpback whale who offers the snail a lift on his tail.  Together they travel around the world and see wonderful sites like icebergs and volcanoes.  Safe on the whale's back the snail is overawed by all the sky and sea and land which make her feel so small.  One day the whale loses his way and becomes trapped on a beach as the tide goes out.  Determined to help her friend the snail manages to reach the nearby school and write ‘Save the whale’ on the blackboard.  As a result all the people help to refloat the whale.  In time they arrive safely back to the snail’s rock where she is able to tell the amazing story of how a tiny snail saved the life of a gigantic whale.