The Alligator's Mouth Award

The Alligator's Mouth is a bookshop in Richmond, Surrey UK. One day I hope to visit this shop which is filled with a rich collection of children's books. 

The Alligator’s Mouth Award was founded in 2018 by specialist children’s bookshop The Alligator’s Mouth in partnership with The Bright Agency. The aim of the award is to champion and celebrate highly-illustrated fiction titles for 6–8-year-olds – an important, and often overlooked, category of books that helps children build reading stamina and gain confidence at a crucial stage of their reading journey.

These shortlisted titles and winners' lists are very useful if you are looking for titles to add to your library. The library where I volunteer has nearly all of these books and many are very popular choices with the students.

Here is the current short list and some previous lists:

2026 Winner Bear and Bird: The Secret and other stories

• Bear and Bird: The Secret and Other Stories written and illustrated by Jarvis (Walker)
• Beastie Bros: The Cabbage Juice Crime written and illustrated by David O’Connell (Scholastic)
• Cat and Dumpling: Home Sweet Home written and illustrated by Nicola Kent (OUP)
• Croaky: Caverns of the Gemosaurus written and illustrated by Matty Long (OUP)
• Good Bits written by Kes Gray and illustrated by Ruby Wright (DK flip, DK Children's)

Read more about the Rabbit and Bear series

Read about Huxley and Flapjack

Read about The Girl who talked to trees

Read about the Claude series

Read about Harry Stevenson

Read about Hotel Flamingo

Read about Two Sides

Soccer World Cup Books Books Books

The Soccer (Football) World Cup is a perfect opportunity to showcase some terrific junior chapter books and series with your library visitors/students. I had thought about doing this post and then I saw the same idea (with all the current books) posted by The Kids Bookshop (Melbourne). So, I will begin with a few from this terrific shop (please support your independent booksellers). Here is the link to all their sport titles:

Here are some other soccer (football) books and series I spied in a library recently (note some are not new and are out of print but that is the wonderful thing about a library - you can still find and read older books):

There are six books in this series

There are four books in this series

The other book in this series is Cup Run

Losers

There are three books in this series

There are more than 12 books in this series

There are four books in this series

Myra in the Middle

Vicky and June: Friends at Play

This 64- page, early chapter book, shares five short stories

about these two friends. Short sentence structure,

repetitive elements, and accessible vocabulary

make this book a wonderful choice for

​kids learning to read on their very own. Patricia Toht

Yes this book does have short sentences, accessible vocabulary etc but forget about that - it is not a reader - this book is a real story that young, newly independent readers are sure to enjoy and laugh over and perhaps even relate to as these unlikely friends - hedgehog (June) and squirrel (Vicky) discover that it is okay to like different things - blue or red, cake or biscuits, reading or playing, and follow the leader or hide and seek. Going back to those colour differences - wait a minute red and blue make purple - that's a great colour too!

You may know that I am always on the look out for junior or beginner or easy chapter books with satisfying stories and hopefully full colour illustrations. The Vicky and June series fit these criteria. Yes, these books are a little expensive here in Australia (AUS$18) but if you can find the money I highly recommend you consider adding these to your library.

Bookseller blurb: Join Vicky and June - the very best of friends - as they play, chat and laugh together in this first book in a charming new chapter book series from beloved author Patricia Toht. Vicky the squirrel likes games that are loud and fast, like follow the leader (and she's always the leader). June the hedgehog prefers to read, or play quiet games like hide and seek. But Vicky thinks June is a little too good at hiding! Vicky and June like different things, but they are best friends, and best friends can always find something they both enjoy. ... Vicky and June's beautifully illustrated adventures are full of warmth, humour and sweet, treasured moments. Join these best friends as they explore their cosy woodland world across four charming chapters in the first book in this brand-new series. Perfect to read aloud together, or for children who are just starting to read by themselves.

The second book in this series is coming soon:

Doggo and Pupper by Katherine Applegate

I am always on the hunt (as you might know if you read this blog regularly) for easy or beginner chapter books with appealing stories and hopefully also colour illustrations. I am not a huge fan of the illustrations in this series but the stories are fun!! and well written as you would expect from a master storyteller like Katherine Applegate.

This sweet, seven-chapter early-reader series opener employs simple language, with several short sentences per page and lots of dialogue, to bring these close friends and their fun adventures to endearing life; young readers will be charmed. The colorful illustrations that combine collage and digital techniques are lively and expressive. Kirkus

Here is a video where Katherine Applegate talks about and reads the first book in this book series (11 minutes).  You could also check out the US publisher page (Macmillan). 

Book One Doggo and Pupper blurb: Doggo is used to things being a certain way in his family. He likes routine. Cat says he’s become boring. That is, until Pupper shows up! Pupper is playful and messy, and turns the house upside down. Soon, the humans realize that Pupper needs some training, and off he goes to puppy school. When Pupper comes back, he’s well-behaved. He’s not playful. He’s not messy. But Doggo soon realizes that Pupper also isn’t happy. So Doggo steps in to help, and rediscovers what it means to have fun.

Book Two Save the World blurb: Doggo likes routine: napping, eating, and more napping. Life is good.

Life is good for Pupper, too, even though he worries a lot, about things like giant squirrels. If he were braver, he might even be a hero. Maybe even a hero who can fly! But heroes aren’t afraid of giant squirrels . . . When Doggo and Pupper meet a baby bird who also has worries, they are determined to help. Doggo and Pupper may not know how to fly, but they are very good helpers. Maybe they are even heroes!  [Book two has a Kirkus Star review: Charming and utterly delightful.]

Book Three Search for Cozy blurb: When Cat announces that the Humans have given her a surprise present, Doggo and Pupper are all ears. But when they find out that Cat has a new bed and misses her old one, they set out to help her search for cozy.

Sadly, I do need to tell you that these books may be too expensive for your school library - yes they are available but the cost between AUS$20 and AUS$25 each. I realise up to AUS$75 is too much to spend on just three books.