Picturing The Beast

Explores how human beings use animals and images of animals to define themselves--and how those depictions interfere with our abilities to understand the true nature of animals.

A fairy tale of big waves and even bigger courage, inspired by the personal story of professional surfer Maya Gabeira, who smashed records and gender stereotypes Young Maya is shy and often feels fragile and scared because of her asthma, except when she's in the water—it's the one place where she feels strong. While everyone else in her town is scared of "the Beast," the giant wave heard all around the world as it crashes into the shoreline, Maya finds the noise comforting, the curves of the wave soothing. If she could only tame it, then everyone could see all the beauty it has to offer. With a pink surfboard and a determined heart, Maya will be the first girl to meet the Beast head-on. Professional surfer Maya Gabeira, known for surfing Guinness World Record–breaking big waves, shares her story of resilience, defying expectations of women in sports, and daring to achieve the impossible. Beautifully illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki, Maya and the Beast is an empowering reminder that every fear can be conquered and every Beast can be tamed.

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

#1 AMAZON BESTSELLER. WARNING: THIS IS NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK. 100 Grumpy Animals by BeastFlaps. It was only the first week of the new year, and I was already fed up and grumpy. I had a pile of paperwork to sort through, a backlog of work to get done and more than a few bills to pay. I was asked to stop everything and urgently draw a cute greeting card for a friend (as a favour... of course) and before I knew it I had drawn an angry duckling saying QUACK F***ING QUACK. It made me laugh out loud and I shared it online. It quickly became apparent that it was making a few other people smile too, and so a promise was made. No matter what else life would bring in 2020, I would set aside enough time each day to draw and post a daily grumpy animal. This book is the unstoppable force of 100 days of grumpy animal drawings.

Alma's beautiful, hairy world is turned upside down by the arrival of a stranger. From the utterly original imagination of the author-illustrator of Ooko comes a story about celebrating differences and making new friends. For fans of Where the Wild Things Are and Wild. Alma lives happily in her hairy world, where she can braid the trees, comb the grass, pet the roof and feed her plumpooshkie butterfly. Until one day . . . a hairless, button-nosed beast appears in the garden! At first Alma is scared but when she realizes the beast is lost and misses her hairless home, Alma offers to help her find her way back. As the two take a fantastical journey through the red-headed woods and the bearded mushroom glen to the beast's bald abode, they discover that they are much more alike than different. This quirky and charming story about friendship, empathy and perspective invites readers into a surreal, fantastical world that evokes Alice in Wonderland, Where the Wild Things Are and The Lorax.

Have you heard of the Beasts? No? Well, I'm not surprised. Not many people have. That's because the Beasts are very rare. This is the tale of one Beast, the rarest of the rare, a Beast who decides he is lonely and sets out to find the other Beasts. Will his daring and dangerous journey lead him to some friends?

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2016 Charles Foster wanted to know what it was like to be a beast: a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, a swift. What it was really like. And through knowing what it was like he wanted to get down and grapple with the beast in us all. So he tried it out; he lived life as a badger for six weeks, sleeping in a dirt hole and eating earthworms, he came face to face with shrimps as he lived like an otter and he spent hours curled up in a back garden in East London and rooting in bins like an urban fox. A passionate naturalist, Foster realises that every creature creates a different world in its brain and lives in that world. As humans, we share sensory outputs, lights, smells and sound, but trying to explore what it is actually like to live in another of these worlds, belonging to another species, is a fascinating and unique neuro-scientific challenge. For Foster it is also a literary challenge. Looking at what science can tell us about what happens in a fox's or badger's brain when it picks up a scent, he then uses this to imagine their world for us, to write it through their eyes or rather through the eyes of Charles the beast. An intimate look at the life of animals, neuroscience, psychology, nature writing, memoir and more, it is a journey of extraordinary thrills and surprises, containing wonderful moments of humour and joy, but also providing important lessons for all of us who share life on this precious planet.

When Belle's father is captured, she takes his place as the fearsome Beast's prisoner. But life in the enchanted castle isn't as terrible as Belle imagines. She makes friends and sees a kinder side of the Beast. In order to break the spell, the Beast must learn to love another and be loved in return. But can this be done before the last rose petal falls? This storybook includes beautiful full-color art in the style of the beloved film, Beauty and the Beast.