I love picture books: art and text combine to tell a story. However, sometimes the busy design can make it difficult for an adult with dyslexia to share the story with a child.

Enter the fantastic Red Squirrel Books imprint from Barrington Stoke. In collaboration with authors and illustrators, Red Squirrel Books has created two great new picture books which have the added bonus of clear text and uncluttered backgrounds.

Itch Scritch Scratch by Eleanor Updale is a fun, rhyming story about that dreaded childhood nuisance – nits! Witness one mother’s war against these fiends as she employs increasingly drastic methods including shampoos, chemicals, the vacuum cleaner, a jar of mayonnaise…Sarah Horne’s bright, cartoonish illustrations add to the fantastic sense of mayhem.

Michael Morpurgo’s All I Said Was is a wonderful tale about a bird and a boy that switch places. At first the boy is delighted to be able to fly but life as a bird is dangerous and he misses the safe freedom of reading in his room. Will the bird swap back or is the boy stuck? A clever story about the power of imagination is nicely accompanied by gorgeous watercolours by Ross Collins.

Red Squirrel Books tick all the boxes – imaginative stories, great artwork and accessibility. There really is nothing better than words and images coming together to help readers soar.

Itch Scritch Scratch by Eleanor Updale and Sarah Horne, and All I Said Was by Michael Morpurgo and Ross Collins, published by Barrington Stoke, are available now.