Recently I have received a number of stunning picture books which are accompanied by interactive websites, I will review two of them in this post.
Firstly, Engibear’s Dream by Andrew King, illustrated by Benjamin Johnston.
A fabulous rhyming story designed to get primary school aged children interested in STEM. Engibear needs to make time to pursue his work and his dreams, and is determined to build a robot to take on some of his workload. However, construction does not go entirely to his beautifully-drawn plans and he finds that he has to learn from mistakes and iterate many times to build his robot.
The astonishing technical detail in the illustrations by Benjamin Johnston will have young engineers poring over the blueprints, and the logical presentation of the improvements presents a great model for progression from initial idea to finished product, in any field.
The rewards of persistence are clear at the end of the book, which is a great example to children to persevere with their dreams. The writer and illustrator have engineered a wonderful book with a perfect mix of colourful and technical drawings, humour, a lovable protagonist and a tool-box-full of educational content to excite children about the marvels of STEM.
There is an accompanying website, with construction simulations and other games here: www.engibears.com
My second book for this post is Goodnight Starry written by D’Arcy Lewis and illustrated by Andrew McIntosh.
A glossy, paperback, bedtime story which introduces young readers to the wonder of the planets and stars. The text has rhyme and rhythm and the same soothing quality for bedtime as such classics as Goodnight Moon. In this lovely, gentle storybook, published in the year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, the reader wishes each of the planets in our solar system goodnight. The illustrations by Andrew McIntosh are in a blue and yellow palette, with imaginative and charming representations of the planets accompanied by an interesting fact about each one. An excellent introduction to our closest celestial neighbours for very young children. 
The team who created this book have put together a website which you can find here www.goodnightstarry.com The resources and links here have enough fascinating and educational content to be used throughout primary school as an excellent teaching resource.
I am most grateful to the team at Little Steps Publishing for sending me review copies of these delightful, educational books.
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