to the norm, and he shows that everyone is a unique individual. Aaah.* He's following in the (giant) footsteps of other Elephantine heroes, like Babar and Dumbo.Elmer by David McKee is published by Red Fox. 

Children take longer to establish basic reading and writing skills in English than in any other European language, because of the complex syllable structure nad inconsistent spelling systems. A study of 700 children in 15 European countries showed

to clothes and toys, it is the dreamy illustrations that are the real stars of the show here.What other award have Belle & Boo won in the Junior Design Awards 2012?Belle & Boo And The Birthday Surprise by Mandy Sutcliffe (Orchard, £10.99)

of the greatest children's books of the 20th Century.* The cartoony monsters are a tad more Sesame Street than super-scary - especially for today's young readers. And do we sense echoes of the Wild Things in The Gruffalo, with its "terrible" repetition? Let's call

! It was possible, after all, to do something special that would show a child the joy to be found in books. This opportunity changed my life.I found that illustrating alone was not entirely satisfying and wanted to try writing as well. I began to make rough books

– and became firm friends, mutual admirers, and are now collaborating on a quirky book, Maude The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton (Puffin, £15).The central protagonist is a young girl, Maude, a shy, retiring misfit in a family of attention-seeking show-offs who

mother an ‘über-maker’, because whatever she turns her hand to, she can do splendidly. We all live together with my husband, our two children, Jack and Ariadne, and three dogs.” Archie is a delightful picture book but – be warned – it has no words, apart

before. I do love children’s books with human heros, but I think you can have a bit more fun with animals. Especially if they have human characteristics like Claude. You’re not so restricted with the adventures you can send your character on if he’s a

 Orla’s first foray into the world of children’s picture books. And as you can imagine, it makes for a very stylish affair indeed. The first two books, Numbers and Colours, were published by Egmont last year; two more, Shapes and Creatures, will follow

. Hopefully this little book shows my debt to these great masters. How can we encourage children to appreciate art? I think there is nothing better than visiting art galleries as often as you can, or if this isn’t possible, then getting books out