toddlers – Picture Book Dragons

I Am An Artist by Marta Altés

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Siobhan

Marta Altes I Am An Artist Book Cover against a colorful rug. The cover shows a small boy surrounded by paint which has splashed on the floor, while crayons lie all around. His pet cat looks at a drop of paint which is about to fall from his brush while the boy looks proudly at the title I AM AN ARTIST that he appears to have painted on the wall. — The perfect book for a little artist who likes to scribble on walls!

Kids who push boundaries are challenging for parents, but they make for the most joyous picture books. One of my absolute favourites is I Am An Artist by Marta Altés, which sees a little boy lament his mother’s lack of artistic vision. Where he sees himself pushing his creative boundaries, experimenting with texture, colour and form; his mother sees a little terror causing chaos. Our young hero decides that his mother must be feeling neglected by his focus on his art, and decides to create something truly special to show how much he loves her.

The first time I read I Am An Artist by Marta Altés to my daughter I was giggling too much to be able to read coherently. I know we’re not meant to use the word as parents, but it was the sheer naughtiness of the boy’s creative experiments combined with his art critic narrative analysis that got me. His calmly oblivious ponderings as his mother runs around trying to save their home from destruction. That and the look of shock and awe on my daughter’s face when she saw the final artwork. It definitely puts my own children’s experiments with wall scribblings in perspective.

If you’re looking for a picture book for a young artist, or a child with a sense of mischief, then I think this is one of the funniest picture books in the world. It’s short enough to be manageable for the most rushed bedtime, and like some of the greatest picture books, the illustrations tell as much of the story as the words themselves. Parents will especially enjoy the son’s assessments of his mother’s own artistic experiments…. The whole book is filled with wicked good humour and I wouldn’t be without it on our shelves.

A photograph of a page from I Am An Artist by Marta Altes, the young boy who has drawn an artist's moustache on his face looks on proudly at an open fridge filled with plants in pots which he has called Spring In Winter. The food from the fridge is spilled on the floor with mud from the pots. — Everything inspires this little artist! He’s just so creative…. his poor mother, and their poor cat!

Big Feelings

The Grumpy Fairies by Beth Stevens

Posted on January 30, 2022January 27, 2022 by Siobhan

I often think the best picture books for kids are the ones in which they recognise themselves, so I think The Grumpy Fairies by Beth Stevens has something for all children and their carers, because the little fairies in this book are proper grumpy. Or as Beth Stevens puts it “I mean foot-stompy, frowny, bottom-lip-sticking-outy kind of grumpy. I mean ‘it’s just one of those days’ grumpy.”

Yes, these little fairies are so grumpy that they don’t want to help with their fairy jobs. They stomp noisily through the woods, and are far too busy being grumpy to help the mouse gather acorns for its burrow, take the snails for a walk or help clean up the hedgehog poo! But living in the woods is a goblin, and his favourite food is fairies – not the syrupy sweet sickly good and helpful fairies, but the sweet and sour grumpy fairies – and it’s not long before our grumpy little friends are forced to confront their own behaviour!

It’s the classic face plant of grumpy despair that gets me with this

It came as no surprise to me that Beth Stevens won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Best Illustrated Book 2021 with The Grumpy Fairies. The pictures of the fairies are guaranteed to make anyone with a slightly grumpy on occasions small child giggle, from the stamping feet to the face plant on floor tantrum, the poses are highly recognisable, and the lack of co-operation is gently poked fun at with a huge amount of warmth and good humour.

I like to pick out The Grumpy Fairies as a bedtime read on days when the terrors have been particularly uncooperative – I mean come on guys, I was only asking you to put the pen lids back on, it’s not like I was making you clean up hedgehog poo!

Big Feelings

My Big Shouting Day by Rebecca Patterson

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Siobhan

Even the toy rabbit is getting a headache

Have you ever had a Big Shouting Day? Let’s face it, we all have at one time or another. Our youngest terror is going through a particularly shouty phase at the moment, so we’ve been reading My Big Shouting Day by Rebecca Patterson a lot in solidarity.

One morning, Bella wakes up to find her little brother Bob licking her jewellery collection, and that is the start of her Big Shouting Day. When she gets going she just can’t stop! Ballet is too itchy, her foot is sore and bed is for babies. Little upsets make for big tantrums, which are very relatable for anyone who lives with their own little terror. Fortunately, it all ends happily with a cuddle with Mummy, a nice bedtime story, and after reflecting on her feelings, Bella feels much better after a good night’s sleep.

The drop and refuse to move is a very popular technique here during big shouting days

This book is a fantastic prompt for talking about shouty tantrums and how we manage our feelings. The first time we read the book, it was a little hilarious to watch the horror and admiration on the face of our own Big Shouter when we read the book the first time. Our own terrors now talk about having had their own Big Shouting Days, and it’s always nice to remember that things will often feel better after a good night’s sleep, even if parents and carers still feel frazzled from the Big Shouting Day the next day!