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Allyson Marnoch is a working mother of two who lives in Perth, Scotland. Her love of animals, and hedgehogs in particular, inspired her to write Hog let, her first published book.Hoglet is a small hedgehog with a big attitude!
With no prickles to defend himself, he has to find a safe place to hibernate. A funny and heart-warming story about overcoming adversity.
Hamish the Hairy Haggis lives in the Highlands of Scotland. While everyone else in Inverhaggis enjoys a big Hogmanay party, Hamish is keeping his head down. Why? Because Hogmanay marks the start of the Haggis Bashing season. Can Hamish escape the Inverhaggis Burns Supper before he becomes the main meal? A fun and exciting story for children about the mythical haggis.
Jo Allan grew up on the east coast of Scotland and has been drawing since she can remember. Jo’s brilliant illustrations bring to life this funny story of Hettie the Highland cow who is always hungry! She eats grass, thistles, hedges and even Granny Macleod's washing! When Callum and Kirsty visit her, they give her treats to eat. Watch Hettie grow as she eats her way through many Scottish favourites, until she and the children finally learn their lesson.
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The best 3 classic children’s books to buy a new-born. I buy them every time a friend has a baby. What’s special about them is that the adult likes them as much as the child and they bear repeating again and again and again. - Jane Cox, Glendoick
A caterpillar hatches and begins to eat his way through all kinds of food. This is the one to introduce first as every page has a hole where the caterpillar has eaten and the baby can explore.
A child writes to the zoo to ask for a perfect pet and they send him a variety of pets that don’t quite meet the mark. Will the perfect pet ever arrive? A lift-the-flap classic.
A classic bedtime story: a little bunny is safely tucked up in bed and says goodnight to all the familiar things in his bedroom, one by one.
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"Here's a little baby, One, two, three, Stands in his cot, What does he see? Peepo!" This delightfully rhyming tale by Janet and Allan Ahlberg is all about what little baby can see happening in the world around him. The easy roll-off-the-tongue rhythm and rhyme of this family favourite can still be recited by us word for word - even 30 years later!
Two lonely creatures from very different world with very different personalities meet in the wild one day and very quickly find themselves becoming 'beast' friends. Colin Hutton, the self published author and illustrator of this fantastic colourful world brings these happy creatures to life within the bright pages, and take us on a fun adventure with the two new friends.
There's a big brown dog lying in the middle of the path, what do you do? Follow the colourful cast of annoyed animals as they attempt to climb over the giant 'lazy' dog. A charming book written and illustrated by local Perth man (and previous Big Personality) John Halvorsen shows just how wrong you can be when judging a book by it's cover, and how silly it can leave you feeling in the end.
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Some rabbits dream about lettuces and carrots, others dream of flowering meadows and juicy dandelions, but Ralfy dreams only of books. In fact, he doesn't just dream about them, he wants to read them ALL THE TIME. Soon his obsession sends him spiralling into a life of crime!
Brilliantly funny and beautifully illustrated this is a perfect book for book and library lovers aged around 5-6 years. A pure delight!
Mog doesn’t want to eat her supper. Mr Thomas doesn’t want to put out the bin bags as it’s cold and snowing. Somehow poor Mog is put outside and a family of foxes try to get into the house. Will Mog get back to the warmth? A lovely picture book that has not aged.
Odd the Viking boy has run away from home and in the forest he befriends a bear, a fox and an eagle. Each creature has a story to tell and they also need Odd’s help to defeat the Frost Giants. A great story for older children. Best read on cold winter nights.
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We do hope you enjoy these gorgeous books. Please do feel free to share your own favourites with us in our comments section.
Next month, #RhonaRecommends will be back with a special feature on dancing, singing and drama classes for kids of all ages. Please do let us know any you think should be featured.
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SCBP20th January 2016
Perthshire's only online magazine