Children’s Books
My illustrated non-fiction book aims to explain the medical condition diabetes to children aged 11+. It was written for Discovery Books and published by Franklin Watts.
Explaining Diabetes was the third best-selling children’s non-fiction book in the US in 2009.
I have written four series of books published by QED Publishing. The first consists of four books, entitled Shapes Around Me, to help children identify different shapes in the environment around them. With bold bright designs and fantastic illustrations, this series was created to encourage children to recognise circles, rectangles, triangles and squares.
This second series written for QED Publishing was Colours Around Me and contains an assortment of fun interactive activities designed to encourage children to recognise and distinguish different shades of red, green, blue and yellow. It is designed to compliment the Shapes Around Me series.
The third series for QED Publishing, consists of four beautiful picture books about the seasons, which were written by me and illustrated by Daniel Howarth. In the Animal Seasons series you can discover the beginnings of new life with Rabbit, enjoy the summer sunshine with Mouse, search in the leaves for hidden nuts with Squirrel and fly through a frozen wonderland with Owl.
The fourth series for QED Publishing is A Year in Nature and is another adventure series based on the seasons. This series of books have been illustrated by Lucy Barnard.
Rabbits’s Spring Gift has a theme of sibling rivalry set around the concept of spring. Rabbit wants to give her mum a thank you gift, but her brother tries to out-do her at every turn. Take a look and discover if Rabbit can find the ideal gift. The book intertwines family relationships and the changing seasons.
Frog’s Summer Journey was inspired by the ‘grass is greener’ proverb and is set during summer. Frog is looking for somewhere new to live but none of the places he visits on the pond are just right. You can follow Frog on his journey and discover all the signs of summer on your way.
In Squirrels’ Autumn Puzzle little Squirrel thinks autumn is beautiful but when pretty leaves start falling from her oak tree home, Squirrel hatches a plan to stick them back on. Will Squirrel be able to save her tree?
Fox’s Winter Dilemma is about a young fox who follows some strange footprints through the snowy wood. As he travels, a swirling blizzard makes the footprints disappear until there is only one set left… and its following him. Who do they belong to?
At the back of each book I have included seasonal activities, crafts and discussion points to help develop a child’s understanding of the natural world. These books can be used in schools, nurseries and at home to support topics on the seasons and animals. The gorgeous illustrations give the perfect ahhh-factor.
Both the Animal Seasons series and A Year in Nature series are available with all four stories bound in hardback format.
You can see my list of recommended picture books to introduce children to spring here: Shepherd Best Books
For Ransom Publishing, I have written two sets of six Star Struck books under the pseudonym Cathy West. I have also written corresponding photocopiable workbooks for Set Two to support the series in the classroom. The two workbooks for Star Struck Set Two can be seen on my Teacher Resources page.
The Star Struck series is aimed at girls aged 14+ with a reading age of seven. Each book includes a non-fiction section written by co-author Steve Rickard, followed by a fiction story on the same topic, written by me. The stories are written at two levels in prose and again using illustrations and speech bubbles with a comic feel about them.
I have also written these fiction and non-fiction Reading Star reading scheme books for Ransom Publishing under my own name.
My three Aqua Dragon books are hard-back fiction books and come with eggs, food and accessories to hatch and grow your own Aqua Dragons. These books are published by the toy company World Alive and have been beautifully illustrated by Raül Arrué.
I have also written the Adventure Passport series for World Alive.
These fun kits are designed to inspire ages 5+ with a love of our culturally diverse world. Follow Sienna and Preston on their exciting adventures to discover a fantastic variety of animals, natural and man-made wonders, languages, food and local legends they encounter.
Each kit contains:
- Sienna and Preston’s letters from 6 different destinations
- Passport
- Six stickers sheets
- Twelve photos
- Two finger puppets
- A regional map
- Six fun cultural activities.
Get kids engaged in maths with real-life problem-solving. In each fully illustrated title, maths topics are carefully explained in different scenarios. Children are then given problems to solve around the scenario.
Topics covered include measurement (inches and centimetres, to litres and millilitres and units of time and days of the week), problems with numbers (by adding, subtracting, division and multiplication and using roman numerals), how to use fractions, decimal places and percentages, shapes (2-D and 3D) and statistics, such as tables, bar graphs, pie charts, and line graphs.
The level of maths progresses as you go through the book, building a sense of achievement. It includes tips and tricks to make maths problem-solving easy.
Each book is framed around a high interest area, perfect for children aged 7-11.
Support your little superstar’s learning and build skills at home with Gold Stars Big Workbooks for Maths and English Ages 5-7 Key Stage 1.
The Gold Stars Workbook English is designed to help young children learn all about blending letter sounds, making plurals and much more. The Gold Stars Workbook Maths is designed to encourage young children to practise adding and subtracting, counting on and back, shapes and measurements.
These books include tips and advice for parents and have bright and clear illustrated activities to make learning fun and engaging. They also support the National Curriculum. The aim is to bring learning to life with fun illustrated activities with the added bonus of 100 gold star reward stickers.
Discover the world of cutting-edge technology with this comprehensive visual encyclopedia.
Full of surprising facts and stunning photographs, this accessible book takes in the full sweep of modern life-from solar power to microchips, and from cars to light bulbs. Based on the very latest research, this is the definitive children’s guide to understanding the world around us.
Accessible, entertaining, and authoritative, this comprehensive visual encyclopedia is the perfect introduction to the world of technology for children aged 8+.
These books have been ghost written by me and provide an opportunity for children to learn all about amazing inventors throughout history in a graphic novel format.
In Heroes of Discovery they will discover the innovative heroes who changed the world we live in with their inventions: from Johannes Gutenberg and Thomas Edison to Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, Katherine Johnson to name a few. In Heroes of Science they will find out the stories of Eratosthenes, who measured the world accurately without ever leaving Egypt; Vera Rubin, the astronomer who first found evidence of Dark Matter; and more great scientists.
Graphic novels are all the rage, and there are lots of great reasons why. Kids love reading them since the images reinforce the story and make it move at the perfect pace. The Graphic Greats series combines the stories of incredible people with graphic illustrations that amplify the meaning of the story and keep kids riveted to each book. It’s perfect for dyed-in-the-wool readers as well as those who might otherwise never read for enjoyment. Exciting stories and inspiring illustrations of heroic adventurers, innovators, dreamers, and doers make these the kinds of books that kids will return to again and again.