I is for Insects.

Samson the flea is sad. Feeling that he’s outgrown Fleabag’s Circus, Samson flees from everything he knows and sets off for better things, keen to show his considerable strength and skill to a bigger audience. At first no one witnesses his acts of mighty daring-do but, not to be deterred, Samson continues training, ignoring the…

Can you spot the hairy spider who’s playing hide and seek in this book? Eric, the spider, has a hard life. He tells us how granny and Fluffy the cat don’t like him and what he has to go through because of that. Eric is shouted at, run away from, sprayed and poked. And that’s…

Poor little slug is in need of a hug but his mum won’t give him one. So he goes in search of help from his friends in an effort to become more huggable. Following the advice of each, slug adopts a multitude of disguises. His appearance becomes increasingly more comical and outlandish until his own…

The colours used in this storybook capture the night time setting perfectly, providing an atmospheric backdrop to Florence the firefly’s adventure. Florence follows a series of lights to find her way home but are they illuminating the way or making her more lost than ever? There are lots of picture books exploring the concept of…

A little boy’s passion for bees is played out in this timely tale. He loves the stripy insects which fly into his garden, affectionately giving them names and recording details of each one. Then one day the seasons change and the bees suddenly disappear, which makes the little boy sad. Gradually, as the snowy winters…

Who knew that head lice could be funny?! Those naughty nits get up to all manner of misdemeanours on poor Nat’s head that will have children laughing out loud. It’s a great book for tackling an all too common infant condition, packed full of comical illustrations to make you smile.

The sequel to What the Ladybird Heard reunites fans with the familiar farmyard friends and the hapless criminals Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len. In their latest hare-brained scheme the thieves are planning to make haste with the farmer’s fat red hen. But the clever ladybird has a few tricks up her black-spotted sleeve that’ll stop…

Unscrupulous thieves Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh plan to steal a farm’s prize cow but the pesky duo hadn’t factored into their plans the talents of a tiny ladybird. The silent ladybird overhears the thieves plotting their crime and finds her voice when she relays their intentions to her farmyard friends. Together, the creatures foil…

A charming story about an inquisitive snail who hitches a lift with a humpback whale in order to see the world. This unlikely little-and-large pairing sees the tiny snail achieve a huge feat by using his brain rather than his brawn (reminiscent of the little brown mouse in The Gruffalo). The rhyming genius of Donaldson…

The familiar format of this picture book will appeal to pre-schoolers, while the simple illustrations with oodles of white space (characteristic of Inpken’s drawings) will delight and engage toddlers too. At the heart of the story is a little boy called Billy whose pet beetle has escaped. Cue a cast of colourful characters lining up…