The Promise: An uplifting picture book about hope, resilience and the magic of connecting with nature, perfect for readers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Love the colourful illustrations in this. Good message in the story too.

My new favourite children's picture book! My year 1 class have loved reading and writing about this book. It does have a rather dark start as picture books go, but the descriptive language used is so beautiful that you find yourself drawn in instantly. I found myself getting goosebumps reading it aloud to my class and they were desperate to hear each new page. The transformation of the city is a poignant reminder of the importance and beauty of nature- an important and very relevant subject matter for today's children.

I love this book, I've used it lots with schools in projects exploring issues of the environment, of kindness and of other people... Its a beautiful story which is deeply thought provoking and leaves loads of wonderful space for discussion.

A girl lives in a city. It is full of mean streets and unsmiling people. One day, the girl attempts to mug an old lady for her bag. So far, this seems a rather depressing and bleak picture book for children. However, there is a twist. For the woman releases her bag on a promise and that promise is that the girl must plant what is inside the bag – which turns out to be full of acorns. Before long, the city is full of budding trees and things, slowly, begin to change… This book for children reminded me a little of, “The Man Who Planted Trees,” by Jean Giono. It is a fable which is full of hope, imagery and descriptive, alliterative, writing. Good to read aloud and ideal for literacy classes, this was the winner of the 2014 English Association Picture Book award for best fiction. I would suggest it is best for children of 7+ as some of the themes, and the illustrations, are a little dark at the beginning. However, it is full of hope and, best of all, shows how individuals can change their world.

Beautiful story - bought for my daughter as part of a school project. Very moving and some lovely illustrations.

For children over 5 probably as the beginning may frighten them a little (but I suppose they see much worse on TV) An old lady is mugged ,but the thief only gets a bag of acorns which change her life and the lives of others the world over. Give it with a bag of acorns for a birthday present!

Fantastic picture book suitable for all primary age children with high level language, evocative illustrations and a lot to talk about. Read this fable with 4-9 year olds and they all had lots to talk abou!

An inspiring story with a great message and lovely illustrations.