Spinderella: The perfect illustrated children’s picture book for Halloween, from the author of The Gruffalo and Tales From Acorn Wood!

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Best known for The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson has written over 120 books and plays for children and teenagers, including some of the UK's best-selling picture books. In this vibrant counting book, one mole digging a hole is soon joined by a troupe of gardening friends, including nine doves in gardening gloves and ten bees pruning trees.

Spinderella by Julia Donaldson, Sebastien Braun | Waterstones Spinderella by Julia Donaldson, Sebastien Braun | Waterstones

Sebastien Braun was born in Strasbourg, the hometown of Gustav Doré and Tomi Ungerer (his heroes). As a child he spent countless hours drawing, but at secondary school there were no art classes, so he filled his homework with doodles and portraits of his teachers. At university he initially studied history – fortunately, the building was shared with the art department, and when he saw the students sketching, knew he had to change. After that, he spent a few years teaching applied art to sixth formers, before taking the plunge as a freelance illustrator. His first commissions were for magazines in Paris, and when he moved to London, he developed his portfolio for children's books. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.A little girl makes a string of paper dolls with her mother, and then takes them off to play in an imaginative world of her own - until a pair of scissors threaten.

Spinderella | BookTrust Spinderella | BookTrust

An uneven match of 7 v 3 sees the team with more players comfortable winners and inspires Spinderella to learn to count. A story about numbers, football and family, Spinderella is an enjoyable read for young children just starting to learn maths. Spinderella is a must read, it is engaging throughout and has amazing illustrations that link to the story. This book supports children with their mathematical skills including counting and also discusses teamwork. When reading this story I have noticed that it is similar to Cinderella (the title gives this away) but also how the story is structured. The way the book shows the children counting is well spread out as the group of 20 school kids divided in to two groups of 10 - with half putting on red bibs. This one outlines the adventures of a young spider who lives with her woman-headed family in a school and wishes to learn numeracy. She doesn't get a lot of family support but goes on to prove them all wrong, with the help of her hairy godmother.Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.

Spinderella - Julia Donaldson Spinderella - Julia Donaldson

My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. This is a story about a spider called Spinderella who wants to learn about numbers but her family dismiss her desire as they don't think learning to count is important. Then, a hairy godmother arrives to make Spinderella's dream of learning numbers come true and she is finally able to show her family the benefits of counting through a game of football.Spinderella" by Julia Donaldson is a cute story about a cute little spider, with plenty of maths concepts embedded. Counting 1-20, simple division, multiplication and maps all feature throughout the story. To be honest, this isn't one of my favourite Julia Donaldson books. It doesn't have the same flow and flair that she usually showcases. Julia Donaldson is one of today's most popular writers. Her bestselling titles include The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom. Although she is best-known for her picture books, Julia also writes longer novels, plays and songs. She lives in Glasgow and spends a lot of time on stage performing her brilliant sell-out singalong shows! Spinderella is a spider who lives with her spider mum and her spider brothers and sisters on top of a ceiling light at a school. Every day, Spinderella and her brothers and sisters watch the children in class, and, one day, decide to start playing football themselves. The spiders love football, but they hate numbers. They don't want to count the goals or anything. Fortunately, Spinderella's Hairy Godmother comes along just in time to help.