Description

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A beautiful and moving picture book from the UK's Children's Laureate, Joseph Coelho, tells the story of how a big, hairy argument gets in between two best friends.

"The argument came from nowhere.
It sat huge and bloated
in the middle of the playground
between me and my best friend."

This big hairy monster appears out of the blue one day, splitting up the best friends and growing bigger and bigger, until it starts to ruin all the children in the playground's fun.

Together, they learn how to shrink the monster until it vanishes completely, to the point where they can't even remember what it looks like!

Coelho's gentle and lyrical verse pair perfectly with Allison Colpoys' beautiful illustrations to create a book which will be treasured by young readers.

This is an ode to the power of an apology, and to treasuring a special bond that runs deeper than even the friends realized.

About the Author

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JOSEPH COELHO is the Waterstones Children's Laureate 2022-2024. In 2019 he won the Independent Bookshop Week Picture Book Award for If All the World Were which has been translated into over 10 languages. He has been long-listed for The Carnegie Children's Award with his poetry collection 'Overheard In A Tower Block', which was also shortlisted for the CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award and Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards. He won the 2015 CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award with his debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules. His debut Picture Book, Luna Loves Library Day was voted one of the nations favourite picture books by a survey led by World Book Day. His other poetry books include How To Write Poems and A Year Of Nature Poems .

He has written plays for companies including: Soho Theatre, Polka Theatre, The Unicorn Theatre, Theatre Royal York, Oily Cart and The Spark Children's Festival to name a few. 

Joseph has been a guest poet on Cbeebies Rhyme Rocket, Radio 4's Poetry Playtime and Front Row. He is the presenter of BBC's Teach Poetry (Oct 2018) and features in DiscoveryEDUK's Poetry Curriculum.

Allison Colpoys grew up in the Northern Territory and now lives on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne. As an illustrator, Allison combines digital and traditional media to tell emotive stories with her expressive use of color and pattern. Allison originally studied multimedia before succumbing to the pull of illustration and design for commercial publications and children’s books. Her heartwarming illustrations appear in numerous books for young readers, including If All The World Were… by author Joseph Coelho, published by Frances Lincoln in London. Along with numerous Australian Book Design Association awards for illustration and cover design, Allison has won the CBCA Crichton Award for Best New Talent and two Australian Book Industry Awards.

Praise For…

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“The children’s laureate’s engaging contribution to the picture book trend for blobby creatures that represent feelings. “Sorry” makes anger vanish. With lively illustrations of the playground.”—The Sunday Times - One To Watch

“This relatable tale explains the importance of apologising – and then forgetting.”—The Sun

“A big hairy monster comes between two friends in this rhyming story about friendship and the power of saying sorry by the current UK Children’s Laureate.”—The Bookseller

A touching story about the importance of friendship and the power of saying sorry.” —The Bookseller - Black Issue

“The perfect platform for discussing conflicts in friendships.”

—WRD Magazine