As I write this, it’s pouring with rain. All the more reason to celebrate the fact that Storytime Issue 36 is out now, because it’s positively sparkling with sunshine! The perfect antidote to the gloomy British summer we’re enduring.

So save the puddle-jumping for autumn! Join us on armchair adventures far and wide, as our summery issue travels to the beach, Hawaii and even to a dragon’s lair! Here’s what’s inside and find out more about our brilliant contributors.

Inside Storytime Issue 36

First of all, our cover star is Doris the Singing Cow – a funny new story written by Philippa Rae. It’s illustrated by Sebastiaan Van Doninck, and should bring a smile to the faces of talent show fans everywhere. Readers can follow Doris’s rise to stardom from barnyard to the big time. Writer Philippa Rae has written many children’s stories and poems for BBC Radio. Her stories have also been published in anthologies and magazines. Look out for two new illustrated chapter books by Philippa this winter.

For this issue’s fairy tale, The Dragon Queen, we welcome back illustrator Alessandra Fusi. She illustrated Sleeping Beauty (Storytime Issue 20) and a Norse myth (Sif’s Golden Hair in Storytime Issue 23). This time, Alessandra tackles rainbow dragons, a flower princess, a daring prince and fantastic foxes.

We hope The Mare’s Egg makes you chuckle too. It’s a funny folk tale about a family fooled into buying a pumpkin in the belief that it will hatch a foal. The ending is great and should cause a giggle or two. Sara Toretta illustrated this story for our Storyteller’s Corner section.

For more summery fun, pack your bags because we’re off to Hawaii in our latest legend, The Volcano Goddess. The star of the story, Pele, is a fantastic, fiery character. The gorgeous illustrations by Hanh Dung Ho bring to mind Boys Own and Girls Own annuals from years gone by. Plus there’s a touch of Disney’s Moana.

In our fable, The Golden Galleon, we’re off to the seaside and… is that a pirate ship out at sea? We can’t say more than that because we’ll ruin the surprise. Illustrator and comic book artist, Martina Naldi, created the art for this story.

Block City by Robert Louis Stevenson is a perfect poem for a rainy summer’s day. It should also inspire you to get out the Lego or building blocks and create something fantastic of your own. We love Guilia Lombardo‘s imaginative illustrations.

In Tales from the Around the World, we have a stunning story from Estonia, which explains the origins of the Milky Way. It involves birds, gods, a goddess and lots of gorgeous chariots, and it is beautifully illustrated by Elena Iarussi.Mean

Finally, of course, we have the latest instalment of our Alphabet Zoo poetry series. This month, join Bonnie and Boo at Grandad’s zoo as they visit animals beginning with letters J and K. Naturally, these include a fierce jaguar, an even fiercer komodo dragon, a cute koala and a multi-talented kangaroo. As ever, Tim Budgen, who we’ll be interviewing here soon, provides the illustrations.

 

Furthermore, there are loads of ideas for extending the story fun in the issue, including makes, colouring, puzzles, a game and book recommendations. Storytime Issue 36 is a huge slice of summer fun and we hope you love every page!

Maybe there’s something you’d like to see in Storytime? If so, let us know on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. We hope you enjoy this issue and treasure it too.

 

Happy reading!