Billy and the Beast

Product Information

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. 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.

Billy and the Beast - Puffin Schools PICTURE BOOK INSPO: Billy and the Beast - Puffin Schools

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. 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. 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 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). 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.

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. Puffin started out as a non-fiction publisher, with its first title appearing in 1940. As the most iconic and well-known children’s book brand in the UK today, we are always on the lookout for innovative ways to tell the world’s favourite stories and for brilliant new debut talent and brands that connect with today’s young readers, from newborn up to twelve years old. 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.

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

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 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.

LoveReading4Kids Says

Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - 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. Puffin is an imprint of Penguin Random House, the world’s number-one publisher representing a vibrant community of publishing houses marked by unparalleled success. Through our world of stories, Puffin aims to open up the world to every child. Our mission is to inspire children to feel they can be and do anything, and to create readers for life.