Aye-Aye has just joined Miss Deer's Academy for Aspiring Picture-Book Animals. His classmates all look rather more conventionally cute and fluffy than he does. They are the sorts of animals you'd expect to find in a picture book. But Aye-Aye would love to be in a picture book-it's his absolute dream. His naturally kind and cheerful disposition endears him to the other animals, except the rather mean Rabbit Twins. When Miss Deer announces a class competition to find the most helpful animal with the promise of a special prize, Aye-Aye wonders if it might even be the fulfilment of his dream. But skulduggery is afoot. The Rabbit Twins want the prize for themselves and they're prepared to use all sorts of dastardly means to improve their chances of winning. As the plot unfolds, their deceitful ways in fact do the opposite as, each time, they act as the stimulus for Aye-Aye's kindness to shine through. So will Aye-Aye be the winner? And will the prize turn out to be just what he's always dreamed of? All will be revealed in this story about being hopeful, being helpful, and, above all, being yourself.

 

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2012 by Oxford University Press .

Richard Byrne was born and grew up in Brighton. He studied at Eastbourne College of Art & Design. New to the picture book world Richard is an up and coming picture book creator with his first two books being nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2012. In 2013 he won the Oxfordshire Book Award for The Really, Really, Really Big Dinosaur. He lives in Chichester with his wife and two children.