Storytime Issue 34 is out now and we’re excited to reveal our very first superhero cover, starring Olivia and the coolest supermarket in the world! But there’s more than one hero in this issue – we’ve also got a gorilla guitar hero, a hippo-swinging shaman, a smart brother who outwits his lazy twin, and a Sioux spirit who saves a whole nation. Yup, our latest Storytime is packed with inspiring, funny and heroic stories from all over the world! Find out more about it here.
Inside Storytime Issue 34
Paul Bristow’s new tale, art by Josh Cleland.
Superhero Supermarket powers up the latest issue. It’s a new story by published children’s author Paul Bristow. Win a copy of Paul’s fab book The Superpower Project here and read more about it here.
You can also follow Paul’s brilliant blog and follow him on Twitter – he’s up to all kinds of creative and inspirational stuff .
Josh Cleland illustrated our cover and Paul’s story. He also created our stunning Budgie cover for last year’s Storytime Issue 25. You can pick it up from our back issue shop here. Josh has given us a superhero to be proud of and we’ll be writing more about her in next week’s blog, so do pop back.
In contrast, the clumsy elephant in our poem Eletelephony by Laura E Richards is a little less heroic. It gets itself in quite a tangle. This funny poem features great wordplay and Vicky Amrullah’s lively illustrations.
Nana Miriam and the Hippo is a fantastic folk tale from Nigeria. It tells of a smart girl who overcomes a demon hippo to save her village. When we say ‘overcome’, we mean she well and truly gives it the boot! And in the most magical way. Kids will love the ending. Bruno Liance created the illustrations. Bruno is well known for his illustrations for a beautiful children’s book on Nina Simone.
White Buffalo Calf Woman, a Sioux story, illustrated by Giorgia Broseghini.
Another awesome hero – White Buffalo Calf Woman – stars in our Sioux legend about the origin of the peace pipe and the significance of the white buffalo in the culture of indigenous America. Giorgia Broseghini created the stunning art for this story.
The Bees and Jupiter is a great fable with a clear message, and it’s illustrated by Susanna Rumiz. What a fabulous Jupiter she’s given us! This fable works well in short story sessions with environmental themes, so is perfect for Eco Schools and Forest Schools.
We’ve also put together a fantastic teaching resource pack. It features lesson ideas, facts about bees, action plans to support bees at home and school, and bee-themed activities. See our Schools site for how to get hold of it.
Brothers Grimm fans will enjoy The Magic Flower, which is based on Jorinde and Joringel. It features a dark castle in the woods owned by a wicked sorceress who turns innocent young women into birds. A determined young man sets out to save his own love, who falls victim to the sorceress. Erika Meza brought the classic tale to life with her illustrations.
We’re racing through the animal alphabet in Alphabet Zoo, and we’ve reached letter G! This time, we’ve got groovy gorillas, girl-fan geckos, blue gnus and gorgeous giraffes! Art is by our regular contributor, Tim Budgen. We think he enjoyed conjuring up the gorilla rock band! Don’t forget to download our Alphabet Zoo Factsheet Pack and keep collecting our posters too – they’re starting to look really good lined up together.
Win a beautiful print by Sandra Dieckmann from her new book, Leaf.
Finally, The Tittletattles is a funny folk tale about two very different brothers. One is the smart hero and the other gets what he deserves. It’s enjoyable seeing this story unfold and it has some silly moments (including fish growing in trees). The quirky, cool illustrations are by Marco Guadalupi. He previously worked with us on What Katy Did in Storytime Issue 24.
All this, plus the usual puzzles and activities throughout the magazine. We’ve also got a brilliant monthly competition to win copies of our Books of the Month. This time, we have Sun by Sam Usher (Templar Publishing) and Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann (Flying Eye Books). They’re both wonderful books. Plus, you can win a limited edition, hand-foiled, signed print from Sandra Dieckmann – it’s an absolute stunner. You can enter our competition here. Good luck!
Be a hero this month… read lots of stories!
