Colette Hiller is a writer, arts producer and mother of twins. Her
arts projects have reached hundreds of thousands of participants -
she is the woman who put pianos and ping-pong tables in countless
locations across the UK, and is also the mind behind the hit
Talking Statues project. Her children's rhymes have been featured
on BBC Words and Pictures and her children's LP, Applehead, has
been a hit with kids across the world, selling over 50,000 copies.
An advocate of early learning, Colette believes that even very
young children are receptive to the joy of wordplay. She taught her
own twins to read by the time they were three.
Tor Freeman is a London-based illustrator. In 2012 she was awarded
the Sendak Fellowship. In 2017 she won the Guardian Graphic Short
Story Prize. Her books include the Digby Dog and Olive series.
'This collection of 60 poems to help three to seven-year-olds learn
to read and spell is a hoot. [...] Each poem teaches a specific
lesson, whether it's mastering letter sounds or explaining that
words like "write" and "right" sound the same but are spelled
differently.' -- The Independent
'The B on your thumb is clever, engaging, educational and fun. I
wish I had thought of it. I can't wait to read it to my daughter.'
-- Craig Smith * Author/Songwriter of The Wonky Donkey *
'I remember the misery I had as a child trying to pronounce and
spell words. I wish this book had been around back then, it would
have saved me and the teachers a lot of grief. The illustrations
are fun, every page is as colourful as a jar of smarties and every
rhyme is accessible. Also, its usefulness as an educational tool
can't be underestimated.' -- Brian Patten * Poet and author *
'A charming, gentle way to get children thinking about and playing
with spellings, language and words. Proof that spelling can be a
whole lot of fun.' -- Jospeh Coelho * Poet and author *
'What a wonderful book! I can think of no better way to introduce
children to the delights and idiosyncrasies of the English
language, helping them learn to read and spell. I'm sure these
joyful rhymes are destined to become beloved by teachers, parents,
and most importantly, children.' -- James Clements * Education
writer *
'A lovely, loony look at language!' -- Michelle Robinson *
Children's Author *
'With a range of material that spans the entirety of the primary
school age range, this is a book to inspire an interest in, and
love for, the English language but could also simply be a shared,
joyful, bedtime reading experience.' -- BookTrust
'The B on your thumb is an absolute masterpiece. [...] it
introduces children to the fun nature of poems and because of how
amazingly funny they are, it undoubtedly will instill a love of
reading in all children.' -- Reading Zone
'A charming, gentle play with words with delicious illustrations.
This book lets go all the rules with phonetics and order and how
things are and instead focuses on the bliss of rhyme, the inherent
fun of language and that there is always fun to be made of words
and sounds. Hurrah for this book, every child who is learning to
read should have it to hand.' -- Angels & Urchins
'This is a magical combination of spelling, sounds and poetry.' --
Irish Examiner
'A collection of short, jaunting rhymes that cleverly explore how
letters come together.' -- The Daily Telegraph
A clever, useful book. * The School Librarian *
'this book is a must for every young family's bookshelf' -- SLOAN!
Magazine
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