Storytime Issue 34 is out now and we’re excited to reveal our very first superhero cover, starring Olivia and the coolest supermarket in the world! But there’s more than one hero in this issue – we’ve also got a gorilla guitar hero, a hippo-swinging shaman, a smart brother who outwits his lazy twin, and a Sioux spirit who saves a whole nation. Yup, our latest Storytime is packed with inspiring, funny and heroic stories from all over the world!

Powering up the issue, we’ve got the super Superhero Supermarket by published author Paul Bristow (win a copy of his book The Superpower Project here and read more about it here).

You can also follow Paul’s brilliant blog and follow him on Twitter too – he’s up to all kinds of creative and inspirational stuff.

Our cover and Paul’s story is illustrated by Josh Cleland, who also created our stunning Budgie cover for last year’s Storytime Issue 25 (pick it up from our back issue shop here). Josh has given us a superhero to be proud of and we’ll be writing more about her in next week’s blog, so do pop back.

Less heroic is the clumsy elephant in our poem Eletelephony by Laura E Richards, which gets itself in quite a tangle. This funny poem features lots of great wordplay and is perfectly illustrated by Vicky Amrullah.

Nana Miriam and the Hippo is a fantastic folk tale from Nigeria, which tells of a smart girl who overcomes a demon hippo to save her village – and when we say ‘overcome’, we mean well and truly gives it the boot! Kids will love the ending. Illustrations are by Bruno Liance, who is well known for his illustrations for a children’s book on Nina Simone.

Another awesome hero, White Buffalo Calf Woman is a Sioux legend about the origin of the peace pipe and the significance of the white buffalo in the culture of indigenous America. Stunning art for this story is provided by Giorgia Broseghini.

The Bees and Jupiter is a great fable with a clear message, and it’s illustrated by Susanna Rumiz. What a fabulous Jupiter she’s given us! This fable works well in short story sessions with environmental themes, so is perfect for Eco Schools and Forest Schools. We’ve also put together a fantastic teaching resource pack with lesson ideas, facts about bees, action plans to support bees at home and school, and loads of bee-themed activities. See our Schools site for how to get hold of it.

Lovers of Brothers Grimm fairy tales will enjoy The Magic Flower, which is based on Jorinde and Joringel. It features a dark castle in the woods, a wicked sorceress with a terrible habit of turning innocent young women into birds, and the determined young man who sets out to save his loved one. It’s a classic brought to life with illustrations by Erika Meza.

We’re racing through the animal alphabet in Alphabet Zoo, and we’ve reached letter G! This time, we’ve got groovy gorillas, girl-fan geckos, blue gnus and gorgeous giraffes! Art is by our regular contributor, Tim Budgen. We think he enjoyed conjuring up the gorilla rock band! Don’t forget to download our Alphabet Zoo Factsheet Pack and keep collecting our posters too – they’re starting to look really good lined up together.

Finally, The Tittletattles is a funny folk tale about two very different brothers. One is the smart hero and the other gets what he deserves – it’s enjoyable seeing how this story unfolds and it has some very silly moments (including fish growing in trees!) Quirky and cool illustrations are by Marco Guadalupi, who previously worked with us on What Katy Did on Storytime Issue 24.

All this, plus the usual puzzles and activities throughout the magazine. We’ve also got a brilliant monthly competition to win copies of our Books of the Month. This time, we have the gorgeous Sun by Sam Usher (Templar Publishing) and the extraordinary Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann (Flying Eye Books). They’re both wonderful books AND you can win a limited edition, hand-foiled, signed print from Sandra Dieckmann – it’s an absolute stunner. You can enter our competition here. Good luck!

Be a hero this month… read lots of stories!

(Storytime Ed.)

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