Energetic, giggle-inducing, and driven by a little girl’s wit, Nadia Shireen’s Billy and the Beast is a blast of picture book brilliance. Billy and the beast written and illustrated by @nadiashireen and published by Penguin Kids is something that my daughter wasn't interested in reading because of not-so-friendly-monster but my boys were so we read it together. Book that teaches young kids to be strong and not afraid of any monster in dark can help them feel strong. Billy is being shown a very strong character who not only escaped from the beast but also helped her friends to escape as well. My kids laughed at her bravery at the end. Hunger can make anyone angry help teach kids about self-realization I would say. To see someone strong and brave, full of creative ways to stand strong against a hungry beast helped my children to feel bold and strong. Nadia was always destined for a career in illustration—as a child, she would doodle on her exercise books, while as a student she would doodle on her law degree notes. Then, when working as a journalist in London for pop music bible Smash Hits, she would doodle all the time on anything. The good people at Smash Hits didn’t fire her for doodling furry animals - instead they let her leave early to go to evening classes in illustration. Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home >

Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen | The British Library Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen | The British Library

This book would be great for a KS1 class. Nice bold and bright colours, I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout this book, plenty opportunities to use reading theatre. Billy and her cat embark on a lovely nature walk, but soon not all seem well in the woods. They get kidnapped by the BEAST and have to find ways to save all of their animal friends from being eaten. Nadia Shireen enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child, and during her time studying law at university and her subsequent career in journalism, she started to sketch again. Her debut book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award, and went on to win the UKLA Book Award. Nadia’s subsequent books have since been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, The Sainsbury’s Book Award and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Great for younger children, Lots of images, colours and adjectives. Lots of use of repetition. Happy ending, although could have given the beast a chance of redemption rather than the bunnies trapping him in the pot. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing -Nadia Shireen enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child. She studied law at university and then worked in magazine journalism; it was during this time that she started to draw again. After a lifetime of doodling in the sidelines, Nadia decided to pay some attention to drawing and in 2007 was accepted onto an MA course in children’s book illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Her debut book, Good Little Wolf, received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award and won the UKLA Book Award. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. She lives in London. Thankfully, Billy is brilliantly inventive when it comes to persuading the Terrible Beast from doing a truly terrible thing, and her thought processes are great prompts to spark discussion when reading this aloud with little ones – what would you do? Indeed, this is a joy to read aloud, with lots of luscious onomatopoeia to revel in. What’s more, as always, Shireen’s illustrations conjure character with energy, and in gloriously stylish tones. When Billy and Fatcat are also kidnapped, it transpires that a hungry Beast is collecting ingredients for a terrible soup, and Fatcat will be on the menu unless Billy can persuade the Beast that his choice of forest creatures aren’t as delicious as he thinks. Using the tools hidden in her hair, Billy manages to save her friends from the Beast’s cruel culinary agenda– and, it turns out, perhaps the bunnies aren’t as gentle as they seem… Billy (whose big curly hair contains a multitude of useful things like doughnuts and crayons) and her monobrowed friend Fatcat are enjoying a delightful walk in the woods when they notice that the bunnies and mice have gone missing. I bought this due to several recommendations and to give my son's book collection more diversity of characters, but having it read it (before giving it to my son) I feel really uncomfortable with the story.

Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen | Goodreads Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen | Goodreads

Kids are usually afraid of dark and some unseen monsters (𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚). This was followed by a MA at the prestigious Anglia Ruskin University. Drawing and writing for a living is very much Nadia’s dream come true and we expect great things from this promising new author and illustrator. I love Billy and Fatcat - this is a fun, bold picture book that will become a firm favourite in any house. (1+)Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen - LoveReading4Kids Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen - LoveReading4Kids

Nadia now writes and draws full time, and dedicates her spare moments to tweeting about pop music and championing diversity and tolerance, values that are powerfully depicted in all her books. In 2017, she collaborated with Book Trust to promote their Time To Read campaign, sending 700,000 copies of The Bumblebear to school children all across the UK. Nadia joined forces with Book Trust once more, as their official Writer and Illustrator In Residence for 2018. In addition, Nadia is an official friend of the Ministry of Stories, and supports the Penguin’s Write Now initiative for discovering under-represented voices. She lives in London with her son. Billy and the Beast was recently shortlisted for the inaugural Booktrust Story Time Prize. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. A fantastic book that I can see working wonderfully with early years. As a trainee Primary Teacher, I find myself noticing how useful books might be in lessons, and this book has excellent examples for use in English lessons (particularly onomatopoeia, with 'crunched, stomped, etc'. Lovely book. Billy and fatcat were passing bushes when suddenly everything went dark. OH! they were caught somewhere and they weren't alone. Their friends hedgehog, fox, mice and adorable bunnies were also caught by monster to fill his yummy soup. I also have issues with the name "fatcat" as I really try and stay away from using the word 'fat' especially when related to body image.

I imagined my son going out into the world and asking people with hair of this type what they are hiding in it... I mean... I'm really not sure that's the kind of image I want to put into his head. I have been trying to look for opinions of this book from people of colour and haven't been able to find any at all, so maybe this says something in itself. The 'Stomped and crunched' parts have worked well when I've been reading with children before as it gives them a chance to act and join in. While the title may nod to a certain fairytale there's not even a whiff of ballgowns or romance in Nadia Shireen's joyous monster-slaying adventure. Refreshingly, the heroine here is a brown girl with a yellow cagoule, skinny jeans and a fabulously frizzy beehive in which she stashes essentials from emergency doughnuts to useful devices. British author Shireen has created her best character yet in the feisty and fun Billy, who rescues her woodland pals from the claws of a goofy green beast. - The Guardian contained a lot of verbs that the children will be able to recognise and use in their writing and gives them a clearer understanding on what the charcters are doing.