In his haste, he doesn’t notice all the berries he passes along the way and is oblivious to the dangers lurking in the shadows. Finally admitting he is lost, the little rabbit wonders how he will ever find his way home.

For me it’s a rollercoaster of emotions that I’m trying to manipulate the reader into’ - Alex Wheatle on fictional world building, creating new language and seeing yourself in a book I sure hope NOT LOST isn’t the only Mini Rabbit book that John Bond is going to do. I really enjoy this character John has created and how well he captured the enthusiasm a child can have when given the chance to help. For me, that’s the “thing” I want to really take away from this for my writing. I hope you’ll be able to find and capture that bit of life that we can all relate to and enjoy as well His debut picture book, Mini Rabbit Not Lost was published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in September 2018 and was nominated for best picture book in the 2019 Waterstones Book Prize. I have a tiny criticism which arises out of my personal preference as I would rather not have upper case words in the middle of sentences in children’s books. That said, in Mini Rabbit Come Home, they are used for emphasis, so I can see the opportunities for discussing writing technique with emergent writers was well as encouraging young readers, and the upper case words certainly add drama to the story when it is read aloud. The story actually starts off with Mini Rabbit and Mother Rabbit making a cake. Many of us can relate to our children or seeing children helping out an adult with baking (or building) something that normally adults do. You see their independence and confidence grow incredibly fast no matter how well they are actually doing.Mini Rabbit is extremely excited as he is helping Mother Rabbit bake a cake. Realising they have run out of berries, Mini Rabbit leaps into action, embarking on an enthusiastic search for the missing ingredient. But wait… rewind. Where does this story begin? In the cosy kitchen of the Rabbit family treehouse, Mini Rabbit is baking with her mother. On discovering an empty berry jar and faced with the prospect of no cake, Mini Rabbit sets out to find some berries, heedless of Mother Rabbit’s advice. What follows is an epic journey during which the single-minded, cake-loving Rabbit traverses land and sea, mountains and ravines until reaching the mouth of a very dark cave. Young children will enjoy spying the eyes along the way. Older children will notice the signposts that Mini Rabbit misses in her determination to keep moving forward. Hello everyone! This month I’m looking forward to sharing MINI RABBIT NOT LOST, by John Bond, and the wonderful journey that we’re taken on. Today I want to talk about how John Bond is able to take capture childlike enthusiasm and the amazing adventures it can take us on.

As he charges off, he doesn’t hear Mother Rabbit say there are plenty of juicy berries on the bush underneath their tree house. Instead, he hurtles through fields and woods, rows across the sea to a lighthouse and even scales a snowy mountain in his fervent search for fruit. John Bond is an illustrator, author and artist who lives and works in Worthing on the south coast, UK. I really like the art work in this book. It is colourful, humorous and uses a really pleasing range of pastel colours. I like the occasional use of alternative colours too; a variety of purples for trees in a wood and blues for trees in the snow. I also like the variety of layouts. Home Learning Reader in Residence Reader in Residence Digital Years 1 & 2 Not Lost Not Lost By John Bond Published by Harper Collins Children's Books

Books are absolutely crucial in getting us to think about new worlds': we speak to the award-winning author, Onjali Q Rauf Mini Rabbit’s blind enthusiasm for completing the cake takes him right past obvious solutions. I love that the berries are right below, but he’s off and the quest to find berries is on. John also uses a wonderful narrator voice to help guide us readers along the way, gently confirming what we are seeing. The way the artwork transitions on each spread and change in scenery to the next is as interesting to study as it is to search for the hidden berries.

Mini Rabbit’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious and his tenacious approach to the task in hand will resonate with any parent of an exuberant young child. This delightfully funny picture book teems with distinctive, vibrant illustrations, which are full of humour and complement the text perfectly. With your eyes closed or a blind fold on, have someone put different foods or items in front of you and see if you can guess what they are just by smelling them. It could have exciting ingredients like your favourite food or dragon scales. How would it be decorated? You might want to draw your cake then write your recipe, or the other way around. But your picture should be mouth-watering!He now works independently as an illustrator and artist from his studio at Colonnade House, balancing commercial jobs with self initiated projects and running his online shop. John’s work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide and he has spoken at industry events such as Pictoplasma, Glug and Pecha Kucha. You could look for berries just like Mini Rabbit. Maybe when you bring them home and wash them, you could add them to a cake too. You could find things that look like berries, draw and cut out some berry shapes, or scrunch up some bits of paper. Then ask someone to hide them for you to find. You could copy the illustrator’s style, repeat the words exactly, or you could make it your own by changing the pictures and words.