Billy and the Beast

Description

Introducing your new favourite heroine- Billy who doesn't blink an eye when faced with peril, or with beasts, or with hangry cats...A brilliantly funny empowering fable from Nadia Shireen. One of The Observer's Best Children's Books of 2018! 'It's a great story for everyone, especially those not used to seeing themselves centre-stage'- The Guardian From the author of Bumblebear, comes a new heroine for our times. Introducing- Billy! Whilst on a lovely walk in the woods, Billy and her trusty sidekick Fatcat hear a terrible rumble. a terrible rumble coming from a Terrible Beast. He's making a Terrible Soup out of all of Billy and Fatcat's friends! Luckily, our brave heroine Billy has a trick or two up her sleeve (or in her hair). Join Billy on her mission to defeat the Terrible Beast (and save those adorable little bunny rabbits too). 'A refreshing picture book star' - The Observer

Nadia Shireen (Author, Illustrator) 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.

It's still all too unusual to see a brown girl star in such a brilliantly funny and very commercial picture book and Shireen has created Billy in fantastic style. She's a very modern heroine, quick-thinking, courageous and resourceful with a stash of handy props in her truly excellent big hair. Children will adore the repetitive read-aloud text, endearing characters and just the right amount of peril for a bedtime story - with a highly satisfying ending. And visually it's a complete treat too: Shireen's typically lively bold graphics brim with energy and expression, aided by really striking design. This might just be my favourite of her fabulous books to date. * The Bookseller * 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 * Clever Billy outwits a Terrible Beast who wants to eat her woodland friends. The characters are enterprising, the text surprising and the layout engaging, with paths that wind across the page and changes of perspective; and the pictures are humorous, not least the worried face of a fox dangling upside down. * The Sunday Times * Nadia Shireen's Billy and the Beast celebrates the experience of those often left out of picture books, with its brave brown heroine and the outrageous array of props she stores in her huge cloud of hair. Lively, energetic, full of well-timed humour (and a sidekick called Fatcat), it's a great story for everyone, especially those not used to seeing themselves centre stage. * The Guardian * These are the most brilliant, beautiful and silly picture-books out there at the moment. Little doorways of joy. * Caitlin Moran *