From the creator of Barbara Throws a Wobbler - the ultimate story to chase (and laugh) your worries away

A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature. Thankfully Nadia Shireen isn’t giving us a ‘fix’ for wobblers, she is giving children a way to manage them when they appear - poor Barbara looks like she has a few more lurking wobblers to deal with going forward, just like every little Barbara out there. Research some phrases / idioms to describe emotions (e.g. on top of the world, hopping mad, feeling blue). Elle McNicholl is an important writer. Her events are both fun and powerful and she shares her experience of being autistic wisely and inspiringly. Her books are superb and should be in every home and school library. In Show Us Who You Are the main character is Cora, who is autistic. She gets involved in the dubious futuristic Pomegranate Institute, and is confronted by momentous ethical questions: – what is perfection? Are all humans valued equally? The passionate conclusion affirms the right of everyone to Through a laugh-out-loud story and loveable character, Nadia Shireen shows how to understand and dispel anxieties, one jitter at a time.A perfect empathy-building book, with a joyful ending which brings a lump to the throat. A totally silent little boy is nurtured by empathetic teacher Miss Flotsam who builds his confidence to realise his voice is beautiful, until he finally uses it, very movingly. Every child deserves the chance to have an empathetic adult in their lives, and Miss Flotsam shows how powerfully transformative this can be. This picture book shows how events can pile up on top of one another and cause someone to throw a wobbler. I loved that the wobbler talked Barbara through steps to calm down, which eventually led her to being able to play with her friends.

Yet more fun comes in the form of Mammoth, by Anna Kemp and Adam Beer (Simon & Schuster, 27 May), a fish-out-of-water tale about a woolly mammoth who, having overslept somewhat, finds himself in New York mistaking cars for beetles, skyscrapers for trees and some furry boots for his missing herd. Dave the caveman has a great cave... but could he find an even better one? This amusing picture book conveys the simple message that there's no place like home in a witty new way. teachers nominated from the 85 involved in the shortlistingwill now form the final judging panel and have the challenging task of reading all the shortlisted books in all categories. The winner’s announcement will take place at the UKLA International Conference in Birmingham on July 1 st This was followed by a MA at the prestigious Anglia Ruskin University. Drawing and writing for a living is very much Nadia’s dream come true and we expect great things from this promising new author and illustrator. Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.Nadia Shireen enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child, and during her time studying law at university and her subsequent career in journalism, she started to sketch again. Her debut book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award, and went on to win the UKLA Book Award. Nadia’s subsequent books have since been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, The Sainsbury’s Book Award and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Co- sponsor Reading Cloud are “ really delighted to support these worthwhile and unique children’s book awards as co-sponsors again this year. We are always heartened to see so many dedicated teacher judges all over the UK working with the longlisted, shortlisted and winning books to inspire a love of reading in their pupil groups and beyond. Encouraging reading for enjoyment and improving literacy are very much at the heart of Reading Cloud and through our platform, pupils can review and recommend books, sharing their enthusiasm for reading through a variety of accessible and engaging tools and features.” There are two large illustrations of the park in the book. In one of them Barbara is sad and in the other she is happy. Can you create two pictures of the same location showing a character’s different emotions and how it affects what they are doing? A wise and comical look at anxiety and how to banish it ... With funny pictures and a guide to different kinds of worries, this is soothing for all ages. The Sunday Times

You could also retell the story from the point of view of one of Barbara’s friends. How did they feel when they saw that Barbara was upset? A really good book, with lovely illustrations that shows how stress can grow and become overwhelming. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. This change will allow us to provide our members with new features and capabilities. So things may change aroundDesign a game in which a person has to catch a ‘wobbler’ and un-make it, like Barbara does in the story. These are the most brilliant, beautiful and silly picture-books out there at the moment. Little doorways of joy." Caitlin Moran