By Oliver Jeffers (author) , Oliver Jeffers (illustrator)
"A beautiful book about friendship - and realising what matters - from this picture book legend."
Paperback Pre-order. 28th January 2027 £8.99 £8.09
Hardback In Stock £14.99 £13.49
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Olivers Jeffers returns with I’m Very Busy , a gently funny and perceptive picture book that captures a feeling many children (and adults) will recognise all too well - the sense of being far too busy. For everything.
At the centre of the story is Bridget and a cast of characters whose days are busy. Filled with plans. Too busy to hang out with Bridget. But as the book unfolds, Jeffers quietly reveals what all that busyness might be hiding, delivering a story that is both humorous and unexpectedly thoughtful.
Jeffers is a picture book legend. Fact. His signature style is instantly recognisable - loose, expressive line work paired with soft washes of colour, and a deceptively simple layout that leaves space for the story to breathe. To combine big ideas with childlike clarity. His books are visually striking, emotionally resonant and quietly philosophical. Every one is a sure-fire winner.
A poignant - and laugh-out-loud funny - story about our busy lives and how we can fix our mistakes to show our friends how much we care.
Read the full description
It's Bridget's birthday, and she thinks it would be fun to spend the day with friends. But Royal has places to go, Rodney has to see a man about a dog, Regis has to wash his hair and Pearl has a list of items she needs to cross off as quickly as she can. Bridget's friends are all too busy to hang out!
Will Bridget have to spend her birthday all alone?
In a story that shows how friends are more important than the busy-ness of a day, Oliver Jeffers's bold and brilliant art pairs with a powerful story that makes readers realise what truly matters.
Oliver Jeffers has won numerous awards and delighted millions of kids and parents alike with his beautifully hand illustrated stories.
Jeffers's picture books are wonderfully accessible. They explore themes of friendship, loneliness, independence and imagination. He has written and illustrated, or "made", as he prefers to put it, five hugely successful picture books. The first three - the "boy books" - feature a small boy who sets off on a series of daunting quests. How to Catch a Star (2004), the first of them, was inspired by a Brer Rabbit story he read as a child. I n Lost and Found (2005) the boy heroically rows to the south pole for the sake of an unhappy penguin, and in The Way Back Home (2007) he rescues a young Martian whose spaceship has crashed on the moon.
The Heart and the Bottle is wholly compelling for the importance of its message and the brilliance of how that is conveyed in words and pictures. This is a book to return to time and time again says Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids’ editorial expert.
Jeffers was born in Australia in 1977 and brought up in Belfast. He studied visual communication at the University of Ulster, and graduated in 2001. Jeffers became passionate about making picture books when he began to understand the subtle relationship between words and pictures – ‘that was what excited me. Until I got really involved, I hadn't realised how just a few words can totally change the meaning of a picture.’ Now living in New York, he works as a painter, designer, printmaker and installation artist, but remains very busy making picture books.
Oliver loves plastic food, suitcase handles and Elvis, and has developed a bizarre habit of endlessly writing lists he never reads. He remains hell bent on travelling all over the world.
You can see Oliver talking about his artwork in this video:
We have a super set of Oliver Jeffers activity pages to download :
Once Upon an Alphabet colouring in.
The Day the Crayons Came Home maze.
Incredible Book-eating Boy wordsearch.
Photo credit Caroline Tompkins
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A poignant - and laugh-out-loud funny - story about our busy lives and how we can fix our mistakes to show our friends how much we care. It's Bridget's birthday, and she thinks it would be fun to spend the day with friends.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed I'm Very Busy and determined it is suitable for children aged 3-4 years old
I'm Very Busy features in the following genres: Featured Books for 3+ readers, Recommendations, Star Books, Stories about Family and Friends, Funny, Romance / Relationship Stories, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Picture storybooks: imagination and play, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Friendship stories, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Humour and jokes, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Emotions, moods, feelings and behaviours, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Picture storybooks, Children’s picture books, Children’s: picture books, activity books, early learning concepts, Children’s / Teenage: General interest
Paperback, Hardback. £13.49, down from the £14.99 cover price. In Stock.
I'm Very Busy was written by Oliver Jeffers and published by HarperCollins Children's Books an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
I'm Very Busy has 32 pages
£13.49, reduced from £14.99. In Stock.
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