Your new picture book spring bookshelf!

Here at Walker HQ we're feeling the spring vibes and can't wait to show you our selection of picture books for the new season. Our top six picks for your spring bookshelf are all unique and there is something for everyone! 

Triangle

Multi-award-winning, bestselling duo Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen conspire again on a slyly funny tale about some very sneaky shapes.

Meet Triangle. He is going to play a sneaky trick on his friend, Square. Or so Triangle thinks... Visually stunning and full of wry humour, here is a perfectly-paced treat that flips the traditional concept book, and approaches it from a whole new angle.

A Lion is a Lion

All lions are fierce, right? Well, maybe, just maybe, this Lion – so well dressed and polite and charming – isn't too fierce for you...

A wicked, rollicking read-aloud which asks the question: Is a lion still a lion if he … wears a hat? And carries an umbrella? And is a lion still a lion if he asks for a dance? What about when he licks his lips and sas, “Oh yes, lunch would be lovely, thank you...” Is a lion still a lion then?

Raymond

This is the story of Raymond – an ordinary dog who, for a while, lives an extraordinary life.

What if dogs could walk and talk and go to work? Well, Raymond the dog has big ambitions beyond his ordinary, canine life in the big city. He wants to take himself for a walk and get his own dinner. 

And when he’s done all that? Well, he wants a job, just like his owners. But when Raymond begins a high-flying journalism career at Dogue magazine, he soon realizes it’s no walk in the park…

Lots

A stylish non-fiction picture book that conveys the magnificent diversity of life on this planet.

"Clear, direct, involving text, coupled with vivid, delicate illustrations make for a truly special work of non-fiction." – Guardian 

A beautifully illustrated introduction to the concept of biodiversity for younger readers. With words from Nicola Davies and exquisite artwork by Emily Sutton, this groundbreaking book is certain to enchant and inspire children.

When's My Birthday?

An exquisitely illustrated celebration of a birthday book, perfect for reading right before birthdays, on birthdays, and all year round!

when’s my birthday? where’s my birthday? how many days until my birthday? i’d like a big cake on my birthday with lots of chocolate on my birthday and lots of candles on my birthday 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6! In this joyous celebration of all things BIRTHDAY, acclaimed author Julie Fogliano and award-winning illustrator Christian Robinson bring you the perfect birthday book! Join our excited narrator in breathless anticipation as she lists all the things that will make her birthday the BEST birthday.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Nothing is sweeter, as everyone knows, than tiny baby fingers and chubby baby toes!

Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, this is a beautiful 10th anniversary board book edition of a picture book classic, and the perfect gift for a new arrival!

Check out the cute video celebrating the 10th anniversary of this book below!

  

Find all of these book at your local bookshop!

John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury win double BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award

John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury, two iconic children’s authors and illustrators have won the first ever double BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award.

The BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates the body of work of an author or illustrator who has made an outstanding contribution to children's literature.

John Burningham is the author and illustrator of such books as The Way to the Zoo and Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present. Helen Oxenbury, meanwhile, is best known for illustrating such classics as We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. The couple, who married in 1964, have won several literary awards individually but have only collaborated on one book together, There’s Going to be a Baby, published by Walker in 2010.

John said of winning the award: “I’m incredibly grateful to be given an award for a lifetime of work. I’m so very flattered when I hear people now say they love my books and that something I did 50 years ago still works and is enjoyed by their family.”

Helen commented “It’s particularly lovely as we have been awarded this honour jointly - and to get an award from BookTrust who know everything there is to know about children’s books is just wonderful.”

Deirdre McDermott, Picture Book Publisher, Walker said: “Walker Books are deeply privileged to have worked with Helen Oxenbury throughout her exceptional picture book career. Helen's instinctive ability to know what delights little children and the grown-ups that read to them has enabled her to create more than eighty picture books since she was first published by Heinemann in 1967. Her own groundbreaking baby board books and her toddlers’ first experiences series for Walker Books have influenced and shaped the imaginations of so many, many children over the years. It is remarkable to realise that all of Helen’s unparalleled achievements have taken place in the same household where another of the twentieth century’s most iconic picture book makers, her husband John Burningham, has also been writing and painting his own children’s books. In 2010, Walker Books worked with both Helen Oxenbury and John Burningham on their unique collaboration, There’s Going to Be a Baby, uniting two peerless masters of picture books together onto the page for the very first time. We congratulate Helen Oxenbury and John Burningham on their astonishing multitude of vivid and amusing picture books, and we look forward to their continued creative vision for many picture books to come.”

Win the Picture Book of the Month, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Nothing is sweeter, as everyone knows, than tiny baby fingers and chubby baby toes!

Illustrated by We’re Going on Bear Hunt’s Helen Oxenbury, this is a beautiful 10th anniversary board book edition of a picture book classic, and the perfect gift for a new arrival! 

 “Delightfully exuberant, this is a simple, glorious celebration of the differences and similarities between babies the world over” Observer 

All over the world, babies are different. Yet in some ways they are very much the same: each one has ten little fingers and ten little toes – to play with, to tickle, to wave. And each child is very, very special to its parents… Mem Fox’s gentle rhyming text makes this a brilliant read-aloud, and Helen Oxenbury's gorgeous art – featuring babies from a diverse array of backgrounds – will allow all children to see themselves in the story. With gorgeous golden foil on the cover and spine, this edition is one to share and treasure.

WIN!

We have five copies of Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes with posters to give away! To enter, just email your name and address to competitions@walker.co.uk with ‘Ten Little Fingers' in the subject line for your chance to win. 

Competition closes on 17th February 2018. Terms and conditions apply.

Pick up a copy of Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes in your local bookshop and check out the fun read-along video below.        

Mem Fox is the acclaimed author of many popular children's books including. In addition to writing children's books, she is a senior lecturer in education. Mem lives in South Australia with her husband. Find her online at memfox.com and on Twitter as @MemFox1.

Helen Oxenbury is among the most popular and critically-acclaimed illustrators of all time. Helen has won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal twice – in 1969, for The Quangle Wangle’s Hat and The Dragon of an Ordinary Family and in 1999, for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Find her on Twitter as @HelenOxenbury.