Ed Vere: what to read next

If you loved Ed’s How to Be A Lion, you might also enjoy Lion Lessons by Jon Agee, where a boy tries to learn lion-like skills only to find that the best use for his new fierceness is to protect others.

In the hilarious The Lion Inside, Rachel Bright and Jim Field explore ideas of fierce and fearful animals and remind us that we can always be brave, no matter how small we are.

And readers looking for other picture books to remind us that boys are allowed to be thoughtful and shy will also adore the award-winning Julian is A Mermaid and Ann Stott and Bob Graham’s Want to Play Trucks?

The lovely book Mr Big about a lonely, piano-playing gorilla might lead you to Tim Hopgood’s Cyril the Lonely Cloud in which no one wants Cyril, a rain cloud – until he finds a new place where he is very appreciated.

Alternatively, in Frann Preston-Gannon’s In the Swamp by the Light of the Moon, a frog feels rather lonely until he finds other creatures to join in with his song.

Ed’s brilliant two-word book Banana! is a brilliant one to read aloud with little ones, as is John Kane’s I Say Ooh, You Say Aah, which uses repetition to hilarious effect. Or try Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet’s one-word picture book Egg which explores the theme of fitting in and not being afraid to be yourself – with lots of hilarious moments.

If you loved Ed’s Grumpy Frog and are looking for other picture books that explore the tricky topic of anger, tantrums and expressing our emotions, Tom Percival’s Ravi’s Roar and Anna Llenas’ The Colour Monster are a great place to start.

For slightly older children, Shinsuke Yoshitake’s Why Do I Feel Like This? follows a little girl as she develops healthy coping mechanisms for when she feels really scared, angry or naughty.

If your little ones love the scary-yet-adorable monsters in Bedtime for Monsters they will probably also love Pip Jones and Laura Hughes’ loveable monster Chunk in The Chocolate Monster or Amy Sparkes and Sara Ogilvie’s Do Not Enter the Monster Zoo, featuring burping Purple Gurps, furry Furbles and the scary Squirgal.

Fans of brave cats like Max in Max The Brave might enjoy the Doodle Cat books by Kat Patrick and Lauren Farrell, and the Superkitty picture books by Hannah Whitty and Paula Bowles, featuring a sassy superhero cat.

For slightly older, newly independent readers, try the lovely the Kitty books by Jenny Lovlie and Paula Harrison, in which an adventurous young cat, the daughter of two feline superheroes, pursues nightly adventures.

Finally, if your little ones adored Fingers McGraw the Cheese Thief in Ed’s very first book, The Getaway, what about M N Tahl and Mark Chambers’ Supermouse and the Big Cheese Robbery, in which Supermouse (aka Peter Parmesan the mouse) must recover his town’s Big Cheese from the grip of villains that are definitely up to no gouda?

Or there’s Meg McLaren’s Pigeon PI, in which pigeon detective Murray MacMurray must find birds that have been going missing all over the city. And Elys Dolan’s Doughnut of Doom sees peanut-butter-sandwich-and-investigative-journalist Nancy McNutty go up against the mysterious doughnut creation from a secret lab and win – with some great detective puns throughout.

Those are some of our ideas – but what about you? What do you love reading?

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