An ideal introduction to sharing stories for young babies and toddlers

An ideal book to share with a baby or toddler

Using bright primary colours and plenty of action, a simple idea has been rendered simply wonderful with an injection of humour.

Ed Vere studied fine art at Camberwell College of Art and has been writing and illustrating children's books since 1999. He is published in both England and the US. Ed is also a painter, working from his studio in East London and is represented by galleries in London and Los Angeles. After a year and a half living in Barcelona, Ed now lives and works in London.

This sturdy touch and feel book features a succession of colourful frogs, from one with silky feet, to another with bumpy spots, to another with shiny toes.

After gaining a degree in Education at Exeter University, Fiona worked as a writer and researcher for a publishing company who produced booklets for zoos and museums, and then as a teacher in Kent and the Netherlands.

She joined Usborne Publishing as an assistant editor in 1989, and is now editorial director.  Fiona has gone on to produce over 150 titles for Usborne and frequently features in charts of best-selling authors. Her books include the award-winning That's Not My... series,  The Beginner's Cookbook series, and many fantastic activity and cloth books.

When a young girl goes to live in a magnificent old house at the edge of town, she doesn't seem at all worried to find that it is haunted by not one, but many, floaty white ghosts.

A visually absorbing re-telling of Aesop's fable

In the eyes of a child, however, traffic can be endlessly entertaining and varied and Emma Garcia has captured that childish wonder and fascination for vehicles of all shapes, sizes and sounds.

From the 'Beep Beep' of the little red jeep as he zooms away, to the 'Chugga Chugga' of the old, green camper van as he rolls off, all types of traffic are given real character by strikingly simple text and magnificent print and collage illustrations.

Early one morning a little boy is woken up by a scary monster – the Grump.

Sarah Garson studied a BA in Illustration at Middlesex University in London and has a Masters degree in Children's Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art. In 2006, Sarah was shortlisted for Booktrust’s Best Emerging Illustrator prize for Andersen title, The Grump, which was also highly commended by the prestigious Macmillan Picture Book Prize. Her subsequent books have gone on to be nominated by the Cambridgeshire Picture Book Award (Daydream Dan) and the Coventry Book Award (One, Two, Cockatoo!). She now lives and works in Melbourne, and divides her time between Australia and the UK.

Cat's feeling grouchy: he's been harshly woken up again by the farm cockerel crowing. 'Something's got to be done about that', he mutters and after a little thought, weaves a crafty spell.

Emma Dodd was brought up in Guildford, Surrey, in a family of artists. As a child she loved the work of Peter Firmin, John Burningham and Gerald Rose and from as far back as she can remember she wanted to be an illustrator.

Emma studied graphic design and Illustration at Central Saint Martin's School of Art and has worked in advertising, editorial and book illustration. She has illustrated bestselling Noisy Noisy series for Ladybird Books and, with author Giles Andreae, won a Booktrust Early Years Award in 2010 for I Love My Mummy.

The illustrations are lively, humorous and detailed in this rhyming bedtime story, perfect to share in particular for dads and daughters

We see a little girl (and her trusty dog) jump upon a whale’s tail and get taken deep underneath the sea, where colourful fish dance and dart across the pages, eels shimmer in ruby red and emerald green and clownfish form a merry band.

On emerging from this underwater paradise, expecting to see the dull, bland world she had left behind, the girl is confronted by a charming, winter’s surprise.

The illustrations in this book are quirky and imaginative and the underwater scenes are delightful, with plenty of detail to discover on each reading.

A story that gently explores themes of expectation, loneliness, friendship and valuing others.

Award-winning author and illustrator Catherine Rayner was born in Harrogate and now lives in Edinburgh. She has a BA Hons in Visual Communication and Illustration from Leeds College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art.

Much of her inspiration – and occasionally modelling! – for her illustration comes from her pets: her horse Shannon, guinea pig Marvin, dog Ellie, cat Ena and goldfish, Bruce.

However, it was animals of a slightly larger kind who were the inspiration for her first picture book, Augustus and His Smile – Catherine drew many of her initial sketches of him whilst watching the tigers at Edinburgh Zoo.

In 2006 Catherine was awarded the Best New Illustrator Award at the Booktrust Early Years awards and was also short listed for the V&A Illustration Awards 2006.

Augustus and His Smile was selected as one of five picture books to be featured and recommended on Channel 4's 'Richard and Judy Christmas Party' in December 2006.

Since January 2007, Augustus and His Smile has been nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal and short listed for the 'Read it Again' Cambridgeshire Picture Book Award and the English 4-11 Award 2007.

Catherine also regularly exhibits her art work in galleries all over Scotland and also illustrates her own range of cards. Catherine's other books include, Harris Finds His Feet (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal), Sylvia and Bird, Norris, the Bear who Shared, Posy, Ernest (shortlisted for the 2010 Early Years Awards) and Solomon Crocodile.

Catherine was selected as one of Booktrust's Best New Illustrators 2008.

Read an interview with Catherine Rayner

Visit Catherine's gallery of illustrations