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Time Runs Like A River by Emma Carlisle

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 17 Jul 2024

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“Philosophical yet comprehensible, this is a dreamy, meditative examination of both time and nature.” The Bookseller
“Carlisle’s verse has its own enchantments – and the lessons about nature’s fragility are stronger for being gently served.” Telegraph

See also:
What Do You See When You Look At A Tree [ACHUKA Book of the Day 24 Jan 2023]. Both books are published in association with KEW.

Rivers can be fast-flowing or still, raging or calm, just like us. This lyrical picture book from the award-winning artist Emma Carlisle explores the concepts of time and change through the ebb and flow of a river.

From the fleeting flash of a kingfisher to slow grinding of pebbles, this beautiful book encourages readers to notice the big and small things happening in nature, as well as reflecting on things which have come and gone, and those yet to be enjoyed.

In closing, the book also includes non-fiction spreads.

It was Bookshop.org’s Book of the Month for June:

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Movies Showing Nowhere by Yorick Goldewijk tr. Laura Watkinson

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 28 May 2024

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“It’s breathtakingly good.” The Times
“Moving, thought-provoking and wonderfully imaginative…” BookTrust

On the day Cate came into the world, her mum left it. Her dad is often distant and silent, so she keeps herself entertained with kung fu films, her pet rabbit and her photography. Then one afternoon Cate receives a mysterious invitation to an abandoned cinema, and everything changes.

Soon Cate meets the peculiar Mrs Kano and discovers a most unusual kind of movie screen – the kind that lets you step through it into a memory. So begins a wonder-filled adventure through time that will teach Cate the true meaning of love, loss and learning to let go.

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Martha Maps It Out In Time by Leigh Hodgkinson

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 13 May 2024

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See also:
Martha Maps It Out [ACHUKA Book of the Day 16 Aug 2022]

ACHUKA loved the first Martha Maps It Out book so we’re delighted with this follow-up.

Step back in time with Martha’s amazing maps, packed with cool facts and fun details. She meets dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, and ancient sea creatures as she travels all the way back to the beginning of time . . . and forwards to some of the fantastical things the future might bring! Martha learns on her time-travelling adventure that time never stops – and so she resolves to enjoy each tiny little bit of it.

This is an inspiring, informative, and joyful exploration of the concept of time and the incredible history of our universe. Leigh Hodgkinson’s stunning collage-style illustrations bring the STEM concepts to life in a fun and accessible way that will be sure to spark children’s curiosity.

Join curious and creative Martha and her sidekick Space Monkey on their second adventure, following on from the bestselling Martha Maps It Out.

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Countdown To Yesterday by Shirley Marr

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ACHUKA Children’s Novel of the Year 2024
ACHUKA Book of the Day 16 Feb 2024

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See also:
All Four Quarters Of The Moon [ACHUKA Book of the Year 2023]

James and Yan are both loners. At school, James spends his free time in the school office (helping to proofread newsletters and make arrangements for the annual cake competition fundraiser), while Yan retreats to the library. They are both more comfortable doing this than they are playing with their peers. Yan is always carrying a big old reference book and talking about time machines.

These two hardly know one another at first. They are not in the same class but they turn up to school at the same time. Gradually, James begins to hang out in the library with Yan rather than go to the school office. He feels bad that he is letting Mrs Tagliatelle down. But Yan and James are on the same wavelength and are soon talking about making a working Time Machine.

At its core, this is a moving novel about time, memories, and family breakup, told with a skilful lightness of touch. It builds to a marvellously OTT climax in the school hall when, as the winners of the cake competition are announced, the kind of mayhem that used to happen in Round The Twist (the classic Australian children’s TV series based on Paul Jennnings’ stories) breaks out.

Every single character introduced into the story is vividly realised, not least the obnoxious Mrs Stonecutter, parent of Roscoe, the class meanie. (Both redeem themselves somewhat in the end).

This is actually quite a feat. The book is told in the first person and the reader’s interpretation of the other characters is fed solely through James’s thoughts and observations. When I reviewed the author’s previous novel, All Four Quarters of the Moon, I remarked that it reminded me of books from the 1990s by Sharon Creech and Joan Bauer, both of whom write poignantly without the excessive verbiage that mars many a children’s novel. Shirley Marr also has a style that is spare but emotionally charged. Read this book and note how unobtrusively a trundle bed is made a metaphor for the growing misalignment in the parental relationship.

This book is a joy. If you haven’t read anything by Shirley Marr yet, you are in for a treat. I’m still saving her earlier book, A Glasshouse of Stars, so that I too can have a treat when the mood is right.

James is stuck in the present and that’s the last place he wants to be. His parents have separated, and he must get used to living two completely different lives. Now, he has two homes, two bedrooms and two routes to school, with nothing adding up to the one great life he used to have. James wishes he could go back to the past, to his Top Six memories with Mum and Dad.

Then, James meets Yan, a girl who looks at the world differently, and he discovers that travelling back in time might be possible after all. But are his memories as perfect as he remembers?

Green: The Story of Plant Life on Our Planet by Nicola Davies ill. Emily Sutton

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ACHUKA Book of the Day Wed 7 Feb 2024

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A highly experienced author of children’s non-fiction and an accomplished illustrator working at the height of their powers have produced a magnificent look at the science of plants.

Starting with the secret workings of a tree, this book transports readers billions of years into the past; back to the moment when plant life first appeared on our planet. Covering its evolution, the steady emergence of fossil fuels and the extraordinary communities of plants around the world today, Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton combine essential biology with a powerful message – a call to protect the most precious colour on Earth … GREEN.

 

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The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms by Fiona Cook ill. Jessica Roux

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 24 Jan 2024

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“Cook’s obvious wealth of knowledge and care in explaining both the light and dark of the world around us is complemented perfectly by Roux’s charming, delicate illustrations of natural objects, critters both cute and crawly, and racially diverse young people. This book is, in a word, immaculate. A graceful invitation that children will happily accept.” KIRKUS

Created with an American audience in mind, but an exquisitely illustrated and produced book with general appeal.

A beautifully illustrated, interactive guide to ancient, nature-based holidays and customs. Through themed meditations, crafts, and rituals, young readers can learn about old and new ways of honouring the seasons.

Each “spoke” in The Wheel of the Year marks an important turning point: the winter and summer solstices, the spring and fall equinoxes, and the festivals of seeding, growing, and harvesting that arrive in between. Within each section, enjoy:

  • An overview of the holiday and its significance in cultures around the world
  • A sensory scavenger hunt for sights, sounds, and smells the season
  • Ideas for a seasonal altar using objects from nature
  • Themed crafts, rituals, games, and recipes

Blending nature’s connection with art, poetry, and myth, The Wheel of the Year conveys the magic and beauty of ancient traditions and encourages young readers to notice, care for, and celebrate the natural world around them.

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A Stone Is a Story by Leslie Barnard Booth ill. Marc Martin

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 13 Dec 2023

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“Providing signposts about Earth’s change from the beginning of time to the present day, Booth’s study gives energy and intrigue to objects that seem deceptively quiet and ordinary—bringing history home via one stone held in a contemporary child’s hand, then skipped on the water.” Publishers Weekly
See page spreads from the book on The Marginalian in a piece by Maria Popova.

Follow a stone’s journey through time as it faces ice, water, wind, and scorching heat in this beautiful nonfiction picture book. “Where do rocks come from?” The answer may be more incredible than you think. After all, a stone is not just a stone: a stone is a story.

Embark on a journey across time to see how one stone can change and transform, from magma under Earth’s crust to the sand swept up by a rushing river to the very heart of the tallest mountain. Watch what happens when rain, ice, and wind mould this rock into something new, something you might even hold in your hand—something full of endless possibility.

Complete with additional information about geology and the rock cycle, this lyrical and captivating story invites readers to experience the wonder of the natural world around us, and to see—in every cliff, pebble, and stone—a window into Earth’s deep past.

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The Swing by Britta Teckentrup

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 11 Dec 2023

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See also:
When I See Red
The Are Fish Everywhere
The House By The Lake
Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

“This not a picture book for the Kinderbox; this is a picture book to be offered to a wider age range, both young people and adults. It is a thoughtful book that could provide the basis for discussion. It is also a book to enjoy for its production, but most of all for Teckentrup’s paintings so full of heart, each and every one asking the viewer to stop, look, think and engage.” BfK 5-star review
“A beautifully illustrated book about the passing of time, with the swing at the centre on every page, as a place that is special, meaning many things to all the different people and generations that have used it.” JustImagine

Inexplicably overlooked earlier in the year (it was published in February), this is unquestionably one of the highlights of 2023.

A swing on a hill overlooking the water is at the centre of this lovely meditation on childhood, growing older, friendship and loss.

“The swing has always been in this place—ever since I can remember,” declares the narrator. “Here we stood together, looking out to sea, waiting for something to change. . . for something new, something exciting. But every day was the same.”

But as seasons change and years pass, things do change. Friends come and go, lovers meet and kiss, spring turns to autumn, and the swing set grows creaky with age. All of these changes are gorgeously communicated by Teckentrup’s signature collage paintings that employ soft, radiant colors and simple yet powerful compositions.

With its equally compelling text, readers of every age will experience time as a gentle but inescapable force, bringing about new experiences.

Born in Hamburg, Britta Teckentrup studied art and illustration at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art in London. She is an author and illustrator of numerous books and has received many awards. She lives in Berlin with her Scottish husband and her son Vincent. 

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I Loved You In Another Life by David Arnold

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 31 Oct 2023

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“Fully captures the intensity of first love.” KIRKUS
“Arnold’s prose is both lyrical and devastating…” Publishers Weekly

A sweeping romantic novel from New York Times bestselling author David Arnold about the power of soulmates and love.

Evan Taft has plans. Take a gap year in Alaska, make sure his brother and single mother are taken care of, and continue therapy to process his father’s departure. But after his mum’s unexpected cancer diagnosis, and as Evan’s plans begin to fade, he hears something – a song no one else can hear, the voice of a mysterious singer…

Shosh Bell has dreams. A high school theatre legend, she’s headed to performing arts college in LA, a star on the rise. But when a drunk driver takes her sister’s life, that star fades to black. All that remains is a void – and a soft voice singing in her ear…

Over it all, transcending time and space, a celestial bird brings strangers together: from an escaped murderer in 19th century Paris, to a Norwegian cosmonaut in low-earth orbit, something is happening that began long ago, and will long outlast Evan and Shosh. With lyrical prose and breathtaking storytelling, I Loved You in Another Life explores the history of love, and how some souls are meant for each other — yesterday, today, forever.

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Discovery Atlas by Thiago de Moraes

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 15 Sep 2023

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See also:
Old Gods New Tricks [ACHUKA Book of the Day 19 Jul 2023]
History Atlas

This is no ordinary atlas. The ‘maps’ in Discovery Atlas are fabulous, imaginative scenes, packed with incredible inventions and dramatic discoveries.

There are twelve witty, fact-packed chapters to explore, which show how humans discovered everything from medicine and technology to food, space and sport. As you travel through each gorgeously illustrated chapter, you’ll meet amazing inventors, explorers, artists and astronauts from all around the globe. You’ll bump into robots and dinosaurs. You’ll spot tiny space probes, ancient cheese and the wreck of the Titanic.

It’s going to be an extraordinary journey. Are you ready to explore? Packed with fascinating characters and astonishing illustrations and guaranteed to captivate readers.

A stunning, large-format hardback, gorgeously illustrated in full colour, and with gold foil detailing on the cover. A perfect gift book.

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