‘The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse’ and ‘The Snow Merchant’

For younger children
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ArtistWhoPaintedBlueHorseThe Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse

By Eric Carle

Have you ever seen an orange elephant, a pink rabbit, a red crocodile, a green lion or a blue horse?

Turn the pages of this brilliantly colourful book to see each animal in an entirely different way.
The story opens with a child and the words, ‘I am an artist and I paint…’ and there follows a succession of colourful spreads created by the child with each animal depicted in unusual colours, until we reach the last pages and see an animal who is painted every colour you can imagine.

The book is a celebration of your imagination and you might just want to go and pick up a paintbrush yourself and paint your own colourful animals – perhaps a purple pig, a red penguin or a pink dog?

This story is by Eric Carle, who also made the very well known book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Puffin Books

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For older children
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SnowMerchantThe Snow Merchant

By Samuel Gayton

This is a story of Lettie Peppercorn, whose life never changes and every day is the same. She lives in a house on stilts with no one to talk to but Periwinkle the pigeon. During the days, she sweeps the floors, makes the bed and stirs the soup. At night, she dreams of her mother, who vanished long ago.

All this changes one winter’s night when the Snow Merchant comes to visit. He says he is an alchemist – the greatest that ever lived – and in a mahogany suitcase, he carries his newest invention. It is an invention that will change Lettie’s life – and the world – forever…. So begins Lettie Peppercorn’s journey.

This story has some heroes, some really rotten baddies and adventure by the bucket full. There are wonderful sea journeys, singing plants, a ship called the Bloodbucket and a person who floats like a balloon in the air. Add a touch of magic, a mystery, and some snow, and you have a perfect winter’s story.

Andersen Press Ltd

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Our Books of the Week is in association with the ReadingZone

  • The children’s books website www.ReadingZone.com aims to help families to support their children’s reading by suggesting the best books available.
  • The website provides news about books and authors, competitions, author interviews and recommendations, and there are distinct areas for children themselves to explore new releases.

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