MARVELLOUSLY MESSY!

| clarehelenwelsh

Today is publication day for the third book in the Dot and Duck series! Illustrated by Olivier Tallec and published by Happy Yak (an imprint of Quarto Kids),

How Messy is the story of best friends, Dot and Duck. Dot hates mess and Duck hates tidy. Duck leaves the bed unmade, the cupboards open and breakfast everywhere. How messy! At the beach, Dot carefully lays out her towel and picnic… and Duck digs a big hole covering everything with sand! SO messy!

Olivier’s characterful watercolour illustrations bring this story to life, and big font makes the story easy for young readers. How Messy! is a simple yet hilarious story with a touching ending and an important message about accepting differences and learning to compromise.

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Scissorella storytime and crafts

| clarehelenwelsh

It’s always a pleasure visiting libraries for storytime and crafts. Recently I paid a visit to Newton Abbot and Torquay Library where we read Scissorella and took part in some themed crafts. Here are some snaps of our silhouette light jars, chalk silhouettes and Lotte Reinger-inspired puppets, which we made into animations using the app Stop Motion.

Can you spot the spider in a tutu and Titanic- themed jar?

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COVER REVEAL: SUNSHINE AT BEDTIME!

| clarehelenwelsh

It’s January and the weather here is grey and cold but… brighter skies are on the horizon!

I’m delighted that Storyhouse Publishing have revealed the cover of our new picture book. ‘Sunshine at Bedtime,’ which will publish on 14th April in the UK. It has been illustrated by new talent, Sally Soweol Han, and was inspired by the publisher’s children, Rachel Lawrence, asking about the science behind lighter bedtimes.

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Return of the library visits!

| clarehelenwelsh

It was wonderful to be back doing in-person library events again after TWO YEARS! I was touched to see lots of familiar faces and it’s always fantastic to meet new families, too. Thanks to Torquay library and Newton Abbot library for hosting these Time To Move South For Winter events. We made butterflies from milk bottles, migration mobiles and recreated some of Jenny’s beautiful artwork with pastels and black card!

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Scissorella schools tour

| clarehelenwelsh

To celebrate the publication of Scissorella; The Paper Princess, I’ve been busy reading, creating and sharing the story with lots of children.

Laura Barrett – the magical illustrator of Scissorella – and I got together via the power of Zoom with Reading Rocks to deliver a virtual story session. The schools, which were all over the country from Liverpool to Cornwall, listened to Laura and I reading the story and were quizzed on their fairy tale knowledge. Then Laura showed the children how to make a Lotte Reiniger-inspired puppet.

If you missed that here’s a clickable link to Laura’s HOW TO guide.

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