Picture Book Special

Picture books can have a reputation as being very simple and undemanding but there can be so much to them and the illustrations themselves can say so much. They can take you from highs to lows and everything in between! Make yourself a lovely cocktail and then browse the pretty selection, who needs kids to enjoy an adorable illustrated book?

I've adapted a traditional cocktail to make my own version, a Cookie Gin Fizz! Usually served in a tall highball, I've made mine in a flute with a candy cane garnish. In a shaker, mix 30ml gin, 20ml lemon juice and 15ml gingerbread syrup with ice. Strain into your glass, top with tonic and add some pomegranate seeds. Yum!

Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol

Grandma just wants a bit of peace to do her knitting so she goes on a wonderful adventure, but nearly everywhere she goes, her kitting still gets interrupted. She has to go quite far in order to really get away but then does she really want all that solitude?

Vera is one of my favourite graphic novelists and her picture book was just as wonderful as her other books.

Do Not Say These Words by Frances Tosdevin

Your mission is to read this book without laughing, chuckling, sniggering and most certainly without giggling, ok??? Your only dispensation is to say the words just this once, while reading aloud. But never again!

Hmmmm, somehow I was not convinced that anyone would succeed, I definitely didn't...

Gathering the Glimmers by Ffion Jones

Wren is lost in the woods and her worry about making it out safely is taking over, until she starts to notice the glimmers! This book starts off quite dark and creepy, you can feel the stress and danger. Then the feeling of relief as the tone changes along with Wren's emotions.

The illustrations were amazing, strangely realistic while somehow otherworldly at the same time.

Fishing for Condiments by Ashley Baxendale, Anna Kukleva (illustrator)

Little Neget is worried he and his grandfather won't catch any fish for their dinner. Home is full of condiments which are no use at all without some tasty fish to put them on! This one was a little too simple for me, and felt like maybe I was missing part of the story. But the illustrations were beautiful and I loved the close relationship between Neget and his grandfather.

Murder At Merry Beggars Hall by Kay Blythe

Book Summary

Jemima Flowerday combines her skills as a dressmaker and sleuth to solve crime in the crumbling stately homes of 1920s Britain.

December 1922, and society dressmaker Jemima Flowerday receives a letter from Lady Hamlash of Merry Beggars Hall, requesting three new gowns for the Christmas season. Lady Hamlash does not travel, so Jemima will need to visit the Hall in deepest Suffolk to work in situ.

The commission appeals to Jemima for more than one reason. It will bring her some much-needed income. More interestingly, the remote manor house was the scene of a grisly murder earlier that year, when Lady Hamlash, inspecting her plants in the walled garden, found a man’s severed head beneath a terracotta asparagus cloche.

The murder was never solved.

Jemima, addicted to mystery novels and with a proud history of solving crimes in her own world, is sure she can crack the case. That ambition becomes a little more complicated when, within hours of her arrival at Merry Beggars Hall, the household cook dies in front of her...

This book was very easy to get into and I immediately warmed to Jemima. She is a sympathetic and down to Earth character, never taking advantage of her elevated status. She's also pretty smart and it seemed that she figured some things out quite quickly, so I wasn't sure why she didn't tell the police her suspicions earlier on! The descriptions of the places and the other characters were great too, I could picture their expressions, sitting around the dinner table.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the growing respect between Jemima and the inspector and I think there could be another story there in future. It would be very cool if she continued helping the police, or even became a civilian assistant.

I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the Jemima Flowerday Mystery series!

Author Bio

Kay Blythe, who also writes as Natalie Meg Evans, is an award-winning historical author on both sides of the Atlantic, having reached the New York Times top 100 list with her debut novel, The Dress Thief.

Writing crime as Kay Blythe fulfils a long-held ambition.

It's cocktail hour at Merry Beggars Hall. Take your pick from a Strawberry Cosmopolitan or a Passion Fruit Daiquiri! For the Cosmo, blend 50ml vodka, 30ml strawberry puree, 30ml cranberry juice and 15ml lime juice with ice. For the Daiquiri, blend 50ml rum, 30ml passion fruit and 15ml lime juice with ice.