Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate illustrated by Charles Santoso

“Here at Second Chances,” Pocket continued, “we report to two lovely humans. Elizaveta and Dasha, her daughter, make sure we are prepared for new homes. ... “Our job,” Pocket said, “our only job, is to wait with hope. Always with hope. 

And while we wait, to care for each other.”

Elizaveta and her daughter, Dasha, are refugees from war-torn Ukraine. Their cat named Zephyrina brings them gifts in the form of old discarded toys. Dasha has named their home Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured. When the toys arrive they have a few days outside on display just in case their actual owner comes by to retrieve them then the toy is taken inside and restored. First stop the freezer to remove any bugs then off to the day spa (bathroom) for a thorough cleaning. The plan is that over time to old toys will find new homes. Dasha also writes a history for each bear - I loved this idea. 

Look closely - Pocket is standing on the piano to address the gathering of toys.

What Elizaveta and Dasha don't know is that these toys have nighttime adventures and that they have a 'leader' named Pocket. He is a tiny pocket bear made to comfort soldiers during World War I. As this story begins Zephyrina has bought in a new bear. Later he is named Berwon. The curious possibility about this new bear is that he might be from the famous Steif factory. If that is true he could be worth a lot of money so it is at this point of the story an unscrupulous antique toy dealer arrives. She connives to steal Berwon - his rescue will leave you breathless. 

Every part of this book made me smile especially the gentle wisdom of Pocket and the voice of the street wise cat Zephyrina also known as Corporal Z. Here are a few text quotes:

Thing about Pocket, first thing you noticed, was his height. Guy was tiny, even for a stuffed toy. Three and a half inches max, nose to toes. He was fond of saying—Pocket was fond of saying many things - “We are, all of us, small for a while. But only a fortunate few stay small forever.”

He said the most important feature of a mascot bear, besides his size, was the positioning of his eyes. Dark glass edged in gold, they were set higher than you might expect. That way, if a soldier, pining away for his family or his sweetheart, glanced down at his pocket, he would see a little bear gazing up at him. I had my doubts when Pocket told me this. It seemed like an awfully big burden to put on the shoulders of a tiny bear.

“Your fellow recruits are all here after lives of many kinds.” Pocket began striding up and down the piano keys. “Some brutal. Some brimming with sweetness. Some wild with adventure. Some unhurried and serene.” He smiled. “All complicated. All beautiful.”

She lowered Berwon into the bubbles, careful to keep his head above the water. She only immersed the toys briefly. Didn’t want to get them too wet, I suppose. “I love watching you at work.” Elizaveta leaned against the wall and smiled. “You’re so gentle.” Dasha reached for the brush. She stroked the fur on Berwon’s back. “I like it. It feels good to take something messed up and make it, you know … not so messed up.”

The sign says Welcome to Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured

You will need to wait until February 2026 to pick up this book here in Australia (I read the ebook version). Hopefully it will be available from your favourite independent bookstore [9781760266622].

It would be wonderful to share this book as a family read aloud. Think about exploring words such as incredulous; imperfections; arctophiles; spry; and altruist. The 93 chapters are very short so you could read 5 or 6 each night. This book has 272 pages. You also must hunt out other books by Katherine Applegate. I have SO many favourites. Here is her website. Here are some teachers notes - not sure I would use these. I think this is a book just to read and love!

During World War I Farnell contributed to the war effort by making miniature soldier bears that were often given to soldiers by their loved ones as good luck. The bears had upturned faces so they could look out from their soldier’s front pocket to see what was going on. Read more here

Applegate’s writing is exquisitely nuanced; she couches profound themes in accessible language that depicts relatable situations. Gentle, generous Elizaveta and Dasha poignantly underscore the human impact of wars. Santoso’s enchanting, delicate, black-and-white illustrations bring the timeless feeling of a classic to this hopeful, humanizing story of the distressed looking out for each other. Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb: Thimble-born from tip to toe, Pocket Bear remembers every moment of his becoming: the glimmering needle, the silken thread, the tender hands as each careful stitch brought him closer to himself. Born during the throes of WWI, he was designed to fit into the pocket of a soldier’s jacket, eyes sewn a bit higher than normal so that he always gazed upward. That way, glancing at his pocket, a soldier would see an endearing token of love from someone back home, and, hopefully, a good luck charm. Now, over a century later, Pocket serves as unofficial mayor of Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured, where stuffed toy animals are refurbished and given a fresh opportunity to be loved. He and his best feline friend Zephyrina, known far and wide as “The Cat Burglar,” have seen it all, and then some. An unforgettable tale of bravery, loyalty, and kindness, Pocket reminds us all that love comes in many forms (sometimes filled with fluff), and that second chances are always possible.

The text skillfully balances the perpetual appeal of animated toys, the warm connections between various characters, and the villainous action of the collector’s thievery to offer readers a well-paced, reassuring tale of friendship with just a bit of mild tension. An earnest consideration of the trauma of war brings added depth: not only was Pocket on the battlefield years ago, but Dasha recently lost her dad to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Fans of Applegate will be pleased with another work that is sweet but not saccharine, cozy but not twee. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Applegate’s latest strikes at the heart, addressing the vitality of empathy, the long-lasting effects of war, and the power of found family. Readers follow the plot through Zephyrina’s perspective and journey from a tough street cat to a loving pet. One can either let their past harden them or let it soften them to the world around them, and the characters of Applegate’s book strive for empathy and softness. School Library Journal, starred review

Final wisdom from the author Katherine Applegate in her author notes:

If you’ve ever loved a stuffed toy, you’ll understand. And if you haven’t, well, there’s still time, as Pocket says. There’s always time.

Companion books:

The Barnabus Project

Barnaby Unboxed

They Threw us Away

Teddy and Co

Dougal the Garbage dump Bear

Unreal: Can you tell fact from fake? by Kate Simpson illustrated by Leila Rudge

"Some of the displays from our Myths and Legends exhibit were brought here to the Natural History wing (of the museum) by mistake. ... 

Could you help me sort the real-world animals from the myths?"

This is a fantastic book and it has been so thoroughly researched - and the coloured pencil illustrations by Leila Rudge are perfect. I was alerted to this book when I saw the brochure for a recent local children's CBCA NSW event where Kate Simpson was one of the guests. I will confess I don't read many nonfiction books but I really enjoyed testing myself on each of the challenges - real or unreal. AND I was wrong more than I was right.

Every teacher of Grades 3-6 and every school library should make a chart using the introductory page from this book which explores these important research questions:

• Who is providing me with this information?
• Do they have evidence for their claims?
• Why are they telling me this?
• How recent is the information?
• Do other sources agree?

The first habitat was easy - which is real which is unreal - Kraken; Vampire Squid; Marine Iguana; Narwhal; Lamprey = Kraken. But then I started to go wrong. I had never heard of a Chupacabra - turns out this creature is an urban legend. Thank goodness because it is supposed to drink the blood of its prey. I also learnt some new vocab from this book such as the word cryptid which means an animal that some people believe is real but whose existence is not backed by science - such as the Loch Ness Monster. I am also curious to read more about foxfire fungus; the turtle frog (its Australian); zombi ant fungus; and the plantasian. I did think sewer alligators could be real - luckily they are not. Kate Simpson tried to trick me but I knew the spaghetti tree was an April fool's joke.

This book would be a delight to share with a class. If you or your school are members of PETAA they have developed some teaching ideas. There are ten animal categories in this book. I think it would be fun to share one category with your students each week. You could share the page; spend three or four days researching the creatures; vote for your choice of 'unreal' and then reveal the truth at the end of each week. A related topic could be museums - check out this Pinterest. 

We know that sorting fact from fiction is a useful skill for all readers to acquire as early as possible. This book with its tantalizing topics, its brief descriptive texts accompanying the engaging illustrations will keep children engaged and learning for hours. It’s a book to explore, to delve into and to share. Storylinks

This book is brimming with fascinating creatures, some I had not heard of (the turtle frog, tarsier and jerboa to name some) and mesmerising facts for each creature. The facts included are unique to each animal and may include information about their diet, habitat, adaptations, temperament, as well as information about what makes them unique, their life cycle plus many other engaging facts. For the incredible plants and fungi included (a plant that moves, a tree with exploding fruit, a carnivorous plant and the zombie-ant fungus) readers will learn more enthralling facts about each of these. Reading opens Doors

Author blurb: There's been a mix-up at the Museum - some of the displays from the Myths and Legends exhibit have snuck into the Natural History wing. We have to sort it out, but how can we tell fact from fiction? Animal from apparition? Megafauna from monster? Kids will have fun guessing which animals and plants are real and which are fake in this extraordinary exhibition of the strange and wonderful animals and plants that inhabit our world ... and our imaginations. And a brilliant guide to help us know what to look for when tracking down truths.

I missed this book last year - I was so pleased to see Unreal was a 2025 CBCA Eve Pownall Notable title. 

I previously adored these books by Kate Simpson:

How to move a zoo

Ouch!

Leila Rudge is the illustrator of two books that I really loved sharing with readers in my school library. We have sent her an invitation to participate in our IBBY Australia Mini Masterpiece art auction for 2025. I do hope she agrees to send us a post card sized piece of her beautiful art.

Gary

Once upon a small rhinoceros

IBBY Australia

Dear Leila,

We need your support. We were so delighted by the success of the inaugural 2023 Mini Masterpieces fundraiser that we’re going to run it again to raise funds for the Australian branch of the International Board on Books for Young People, IBBY Australia. 

We’re inviting celebrated Australian children’s book illustrators to donate post-card sized artworks for an online auction. Can you take part?

Formed in 1966, IBBY Australia is one of 82 National sections of IBBY, and each year must pay a membership fee of almost $10 000 to remain part of the international IBBY organisation.

IBBY was established following the Second World War and aims to build bridges to international understanding through children’s books. As you may be aware, IBBY Australia promotes Australian authors and illustrators by submitting their work for several IBBY administered international awards, including:

• the Hans Christian Andersen Award

• IBBY Honour Book List

• the Silent Books collection 

• the Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities list 

The Mini Masterpieces auction will run from 14 November to 28 November, with the original artworks promoted as a unique Christmas gift. Each piece will have a reserve of $75.

We welcome your support to help IBBY Australia continue to promote Australian creators internationally. Your contribution will be acknowledged and celebrated on our website and our social media channels. 

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicolas Day illustrated by Brett Helquist

Who stole the Mona Lisa?  This book is a fantastic mystery/detective story. By the end you might discover the answer to this age old question. 

Publisher blurb: On a hot August day in Paris, just over a century ago, a desperate guard burst into the office of the director of the Louvre and shouted, La Joconde, c’est partie! The Mona Lisa, she’s gone! No one knew who was behind the heist. Was it an international gang of thieves? Was it an art-hungry American millionaire? Was it the young Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who was about to remake the very art of painting? Travel back to an extraordinary period of revolutionary change: turn-of-the-century Paris. Walk its backstreets. Meet the infamous thieves—and detectives—of the era. And then slip back further in time and follow Leonardo da Vinci, painter of the Mona Lisa, through his dazzling, wondrously weird life. Discover the secret at the heart of the Mona Lisa—the most famous painting in the world should never have existed at all. Here is a middle-grade nonfiction, with black-and-white illustrations by Brett Helquist throughout, written at the pace of a thriller, shot through with stories of crime and celebrity, genius and beauty.

Here is a detailed summary of the plot.

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of the writing in this book - it is funny at times, and shocking and interesting and even matter of fact. 

None of them saw the man leave the closet. But if any had, they might not have noticed. He was wearing a white smock, the uniform of the Louvre maintenance workers. It was a suit of invisibility. He was too normal to be noticed.

The Mona Lisa was gone for over twenty-four hours before anyone realized it was gone. If not for the persistence of Louis Béroud, it might have been days. It might have been a week. The theft of the Mona Lisa—the art heist of the century—was discovered because Louis Béroud got bored. The Louvre was lucky.

Everyone in Paris could tell you it was obvious what had happened. It was just that everyone told you something different was obvious. It was blackmail, obviously. It was sabotage, obviously. It was the work of a madman, obviously. It was the work of an extremely wealthy man, obviously.

I especially love the way the narrative flipped between scenes and characters and also back to the time of Leonardo himself. 

Back in Florence, he hears from a silk merchant who wants a portrait of his wife. And in 1503, Leonardo, after turning down far more prestigious commissions, after expressing little interest in painting at all, says yes to Francesco del Giocondo. No one knows why. If Leonardo met Lisa before he took the commission—we don’t know whether he did—maybe he saw something in her. Something that took him beyond financial calculations. Or maybe not. Why this woman? It ranks among the greatest mysteries in the history of art.

I read The Mona Lisa Vanishes last year (on my Kindle) while traveling. Over the coming days and weeks I am catching up on all the books I still need to share. I highly recommend The Mona Lisa Vanishes for readers aged 11+ and then you should plan a trip to an art gallery or even better time in Paris to see the actual painting and all the other treasures in the Louvre. The narrative style combined with all the actual facts of the case plus lots of background information about Leonardo make this book an engrossing one to read.  

Awards: The Mona Lisa Vanishes won the Robert F. Sibert Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction. And A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year • A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year • A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year • A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Best Book of the Year • Booklist “Top of the list—Youth Nonfiction” 2023 • NPR "Books We Love" 2023 • New York Public Library Best Book of 2023 • Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2023 • The Week Junior “The Fifty Books Kids Love Most”.

A multistranded yarn skillfully laid out in broad, light brush strokes ... Kirkus Star review

Colby Sharp talks about this book - I agree with so many of his thoughts - so many things you will learn about this painting and its rise to fame and the myriad of characters involved in the theft. 

I am quoting the entire School Library Journal review:

Most readers will not know that the Mona Lisa painting was once stolen from its home at the Louvre. This nonfiction middle grade book contextualizes this historic moment with world events. The publicity that surrounded the theft only added to the painting’s fame. Readers will learn of the heist, discover new connections to other artists, and find out fascinating details and facts of the long-ago crime. Moving back and forth between the caper and the life of Leonardo da Vinci, the text takes readers around the world figuratively and literally. Day writes in a pleasant conversational style, addressing readers directly. The story moves along at a reasonable pace and includes many historical figures; the abundance of cultural references makes the story challenging, but interesting.

Take a look at my previous post about Leonardo's Horse. You might like to explore these books too:

Oscar's Lion by Adam Baron illustrated by Benji Davies

Reading this book is a roller-coaster ride. Oscar wakes up (a little later than usual) and he wonders why his parents didn't call out telling him to get ready for school. He picks up his favourite book, reading this is part of their family morning routine, and he heads along the hallway to his parent's room. BUT his mum and dad are gone and in their place he finds a huge lion. 

Sadly, I cannot tell you too much more because anything I say here will spoil this story. Since I have given this book four stars and because the paperback edition has only just arrived here in Australia I am going to suggest you go out and find or buy or borrow this book yourself - I am certain you will enjoy it because there are so many surprises here including flying a spitfire plane and meeting Admiral Nelson and being part of the Battle of Trafalgar but just how this, and many other things happen, and how it all relates to a lion, are things you need to discover for yourself. 

Content warning - there is a distressing scene near the beginning of this book (it's okay the lion has not eaten Oscar's parents) involving a bully and a birthday party and some vicious cruelty towards young Oscar but the resolution of this will give you a smile. 

This is definitely a story where you just have to suspend disbelief and roll with it. There is no point in wondering why Oscar is not more upset about his missing parents and there is no point in thinking it is all very convenient that the lion can shape-shift into an insect or a bird. Yes, there are some deeply sad moments in this story along with some that are funny and slightly incredible. As an adult reader you may have guessed the ending long before your young reading companion, but I think that will just allow you both to go back and hunt out the story signposts. The reviewer at BookBag disagrees. 

The narrative voice accepts all of the magical at face value and is a skilful portrayal of a child’s view of the complexity of life as the plot tumbles through historical, real life and eccentric exploits. Books for Keeps

Listen to the first couple of chapters here. The audio is perfect and this could be way to introduce this story to your young reader or library group. You can read a brief interview with Adam Baron about the topic of grief. And you can read more about him and see his other books here. 

My copy of this book has an extra very appealing feature - the fore edge is red. The fore edge is a term used to describe the vertical edge of a book opposite the spine. The part you see when the book is closed. This, along with illustrations by the wonderful Benji Davies, is why I picked up this book in one of our large chain bookstores. 

Summer of Shipwrecks by Shivaun Plozza

Do you have a best friend? Is this friendship so important to you that you would try to change yourself to keep this friend? Is it possible to think of someone as your best friend when you only meet once a year for two weeks when your families visit a seaside campground? It is this last point that I found a little unlikely and yet this was the main driver of the plot - with Sid desperate to win the approval of Lou. 

Sid regards Lou as her best friend and so when Lou brings Hailey along this year it is clear things will be different. You have read this plot line before I am sure - once there were two friends and now there are three girls - is there a way they can all be friend. The annual holiday location is called Shipwreck Coast and Sid is totally caught up in the story of a shipwreck from years ago. 

"Since forever I've spent the last two weeks of summer holidays camping at Penlee Point, so I know about every shipwreck that's ever happened her. ... The Penlee set off form London ... March, 1879; there were fifty -four people on board; ... the Penlee hit a reef off Desperation Point and only took ten minutes to sink; the ship was carrying nineteen million dollars worth of treasure; ... only one person survived: Katherine Natpier."

Last summer Sid and Lou found a coin which surely must come from the ship's treasures. Sid has huge plans for her time with Lou but this year everything is different. Hailey just wants to sit on the beach. Hailey is 'cool' and she wears a bikini and she has her period. Hailey seems to know about boys - how to flirt with them and get their attention. None of this interest Sid but she feels she needs to change so she and Lou can go back to the way things were.

It has taken me a while to read this book mainly because instead of settling down and reading long sections I tended to read only 3-5 pages at a time. I was a little invested in the main character Sid but most of the time she really exasperated me. I just wanted to say 'please stop trying to please Lou because she is no longer noticing you'. 'Please be brave enough to be yourself'. 'Please stop making promises and telling lies so you can get back with Lou'. Lou is giving all her attention to Hailey and Lou in turn is letting Hailey manipulate her activities, taste, reactions to boys and especially her relationship with Sid. Growing up should not be this hard. Poor Sid. 

The suggested age for this book is 10+ but I think it might better suit 11+. Other reviewers really enjoyed this book:

Summer of Shipwrecks is a tender and poignant story of best friends growing apart, and the grief that accompanies this change. It’s also an exciting mystery of long-ago shipwrecks and lost treasure, and how life continues – even after incredible suffering. For me, a highlight is the relationship which slowly develops between Sid and her almost-stepsister, which vividly relates all the awkwardness, pain, and surprising moments of joy which can occur as two families become one. Readers ... who like contemporary, character-driven fiction will wholeheartedly enjoy this story. StoryLinks

ReadPlus review. Reading Opens Doors.

Here is an interview with the author and Joy Lawn for Paperbark Words. There is a link to a set of teachers notes for Summer of Shipwrecks on the UQP page but in my view this is not a book I would use for class study - it feels more like a book to be read privately by a girl who is either at the end of Primary School (Grade 6) or just beginning High School. 

If your readers enjoy this book, I would recommend these companion books especially Junonia which follows very similar themes of change and growing up and summer holidays and altered expectations. 

Shouting at the rain (5 stars from me)

Junonia (5 stars from me)

The first summer of Callie McGee

You could also look for a couple of older books - Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord (2014); and Takers and Returners by Carol Beach York (1974).

Just before I left for the IBBY Congress in Trieste a parcel arrived from UQP (University of Queensland Press).  I simply didn't have time to read the two books which were released 3rd September - Summer of Shipwrecks The Lost History by Melanie La'Brooy. The Lost History is a sequel to The Wintrish Girl but with over 430 pages I won't be ready to talk about this one for a week or two. 

I previously read this book by Shivaun Plozza:

Meet me at the Moon Tree

Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children's Books

Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books is a museum and visitor centre dedicated to children's literature and based in the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne, close to the city's regenerated Quayside. The renovated Victorian mill in which it is housed has seven levels.

Why seven? The theory is that there are seven story topics or themes:

• Quest
• Overcoming the Monster
• Rags to Riches
• Voyage and Return
• Tragedy
• Rebirth
• Comedy

In 2012 I attended the London IBBY Congress and that is when I first heard about Seven Stories which opened in 2005. Actually, while I was at the London event I visited a similar museum in Oxford which was just about to open - The Story Museum. 

After attending the 2024 IBBY Congress in Trieste I travelled to Newcastle-on-Tyne so I could spend a day at Seven Stories. Unfortunately, possibly because it was a Monday, no one was there. I had hoped to meet an administrator or a member of the museum staff. I did email several times prior to my visit and I followed and commented on their social media posts over the previousl weeks. Seven Stories does open on a Monday so I went along to the first story time of the day with Tom (see below). Oddly I was the only one there. Tom reads a picture book three times a day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and once each hour on the weekend. I also met the education staff who were very busy preparing for several school visits the following week. On my visit Tom read Into the Forest by Anthony Browne.

The exhibitions in Seven Stories at the time of my visit were - Judith Kerr and The Tiger who Came to Tea; Judith Kerr and the Mog series; Bob Graham original art from Jethro Byrd Fairy child winner of the 2002 Kate Greenaway Medal; art by Helen Craig for her Angelina Ballerina series; Tony Ross; Nicholas Allen; and Helen Cooper. The bookshop also had some wonderful picture books, middle grade and YA titles for sale. 

I was thrilled by one display. A display case with the author notebook showing the inspiration for this dystopian novel. I adored the book Where the River Runs Gold by Sita Brahmachari. 

If you are in the UK or you live in the UK do go to Seven Stories but take some children - ideally aged 4-8. There are interactive activities, dressing up clothes, small stages, colouring pages, and creative spaces on every level along with tons of books which are scattered around ready to read. 

The other thing I sadly missed out on this visit was an exploration of the archives. These are held in the city library and are available if you make an appointment. I discovered this on the day of my visit, so I was too late to make a booking. If I had been able to prepare for this, I might have asked to see the box with 45 pieces relating to Sunshine by Jan Ormerod, or work by PJ Lynch (9 pieces including Catkin), or Martin Waddell, or Barbara Firth or Angela Barrett (The Snow Queen). They have:

• Over 250 authors and illustrators  
• Book collection of over 36,000 texts  
• 1000 metres of shelving = about 10 football pitches long! 
• Material is stored in over 2500 boxes 
• The oldest item is almost 250 years old! 

Britain has a wonderful heritage of writing and illustration for children – from The Famous Five to We're Going on a Bear Hunt, British children’s books are among the best known and most widely read in the world. Seven Stories are the custodians of a unique and ever-growing national archive of modern and contemporary British children’s literature dating from the 1930s to the present. Our Collection includes artwork, manuscripts, dummy books, correspondence, editors notes, proofs, and anything else that helps us explore how books are created. The collection includes material by over 250 authors and illustrators including Enid Blyton, Philip Pullman, Robert Westall, Judith Kerr, Edward Ardizzone and Kaye Webb.

Here are the addresses:

Seven Stories
The National Centre for Children’s Books
30 Lime Street, Ouseburn
Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 2PQ

City Library

Charles Avison Building

33 New Bridge Street West

Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8AX

If you live in Australia, we do have our own National Centre for Australian Children's Literature in Canberra. They have a wealth of resources and fabulous databases and from time to time they host exhibitions. 

And after your visit Seven Stories you should also head up the road to The Biscuit Factory - it's an art space with painting, sculpture, jewelry and more all for sale plus a bonus wonderful cafe. The Seven Stories cafe is quite basic so I highly recommend heading to The Biscuit Factory instead. I had the most delicious meal there. 

Brian Wildsmith exhibition South Yorkshire

For the first time Brian’s personal collection of over 40 colourful original illustrations, early works, drawings and paintings will be on display in the beautiful setting of the Cooper Gallery. The walls will be filled with colour and vivid characters. It’s a perfect destination for art lovers of all ages and our younger visitors can enjoy our specially created forest activity area ‘Brian’s Wild Wood’, upstairs in the Sadler Room.

Read more about this exhibition here. And also here on the Brian Wildsmith web page. I hope to visit later this month. He illustrated well over 100 books and also did many book covers early early in his career. He illustrated the cover of our Australian book Tangara by Nan Chauncy in 1960. 

Liberty fabrics have made a range of material to celebrate his work and in the video you can hear Brian Wildsmith's voice. 

Brian Lawrence Wildsmith was born on 22 January 1930 in Penistone. In 1946 he enrolled at the Barnsley School of Art. In 1962 he was Awarded the Kate Greenaway medal for his work on the book, ‘ABC’. His vibrant use of colour and depictions of animals became his trademark. In the 1970s Brian and his family moved permanently to France. In 1994 a Brian Wildsmith Art Museum was opened in Izu-kogen, in the south of Tokyo in Japan, closing the year he died in 2016. (source Barnsley Museums Blog) Read more here. 

Here are some Kirkus review comments:

• As usual with Wildsmith's work, the animals and birds are superb ...
• ... no one should forgo Wildsmith's delectable art with its delicately glowing colors and wonderfully imaginative juxtapositions of harmonious images.
• Wildsmith has outdone himself in splendid paintings of a lush tropical isle aglow between a richly luminous sky and a gloriously beautiful sea.

This gorgeous budgie illustration comes from his book Circus:

This sweet little hedgehog is from his book Wild Animals

You can see cover images of all books by Brian Wildsmith here. My own favourites are:

Daisy

I used to own these glorious alphabet cards and animal cards (hope the person who has them now loves them as much as I did).

Animal Gallery the cover at the top of this post is a book about collective nouns - a pride of lions; a corps of giraffes; a wedge of swans; a party of rainbow fish; a stare of owls; and more.

Awards:

1963 Kate Greenaway Medal: The Lion and the Rat.

Kate Greenaway Medal: The Oxford Book of Poetry for Children.

1964 Horn Book Honor List. 

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books.

1965 The Brooklyn Art Books for Children Citation: 1 2 3.

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books.

1966 Hans Christian Andersen Award: runner-up.

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books. 

1967 The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal: Birds.

New York Times: Best illustrated book of the year: Birds.

New York Times Book Review List of Outstanding Books.

1968 Hans Christian Andersen Award: runner up.

1971 Kate Greenaway Medal: The Owl and the Woodpecker.

1982 Kurt Maschler Award short-listed: Pelican.

1991 Ushio Publication Culture Award: In recognition of his distinguished achievements.

1994 Selected as one of The Children’s Books of the Year: The Easter Story.

1995 The CD Rom of: The Christmas Story, won the Grand Prix of European Multi-Media.

1998 National Jewish Book Awards, Finalist: Exodus/Moses.

2000 Parent Council Ltd, Selected as outstanding: The Easter Story.

Children’s Literature, Choice List: Moses.

2001 - 2002 Children’s Crown Award reading Programs, Nominee List: Moses.

2005 Book Sense, Easter/Passover, Top Ten Picks List: Moses.