Nadia Shireen

hey-presto

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more

source_10558

By signing up, I confirm that I'm over 16. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our <a href="/company/about-us/notices/privacy-policy/">Privacy Policy</a>

Keep an eye out for a confirmation in your inbox

Stories, ideas and giveaways to help you spark young imaginations

source_10972

The latest books, activities and tips to help you grow little readers

source_10975

About us

About Us (Header 4)

john-le-carre-a-legacy-of-spies-960-2.jpg

Margaret Atwood

Richard Osman

Malorie Blackman

George Orwell

marian_keyes_mobile_320x200px.png

Elif Shafak

shonfaye

Authors (Header 3)

Books (Header 2)

Company

Features (Header 1)

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Barbara's Very Useful Guide to Moods: A World Book Day 2025 mini book

Geoffrey Gets the Jitters

Billy and the Pirates

Barbara Throws a Wobbler

Billy and the Dragon

Billy and the Beast

The Cow Who Fell to Earth

The Bumblebear

Yeti and the Bird

Good Little Wolf

Hey, Presto!

It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide

Nadia Shireen's lively picture book is sure to bring a smile to children's faces. With delightful illustrations and something of the same quirky humour that characterised her acclaimed Good Little Wolf, this is a fun and engaging story about friendships and working together. Children will love exploring all the colourful spreads of the carnival, featuring all kinds of unexpected circus animals from Alice the Bearded Duck to Nancy the Amazing Fire-Eating Lizard, not to mention a snoozing ice-cream seller and a bison selling balloons

It’s bright, bold and packed with fun illustrations leading children along with a nice tale – and lesson – about valuing friendship.

It's a great book for toddlers and young children who have just started school or pre-school as they will be able to relate to the characters and talk to you about their friends (and "enemies" !) and how they feel about power struggles in the playground. The illustrations are very cute and are packed with details and little visual jokes that will have you pausing on each page before turning over to continue with the story.

The illustrations are brilliant, the characters warm and the visual jokes delightful. While the children will enjoy the story, parents will love the bag of Cold Hard Cash, the penguin motorbike stunt team and other amusements nestling in the background in a very Aardman way. 
 
For those who have not yet read Nadia’s first book Good Little Wolf, do search it out. It’s probably one of the best children’s books created. 9/10

A beautiful book which is suitable for young children. Filled with beautiful pictures which accompany the story perfectly, this book will appeal to both girls and boys of all ages. 
The book has a great message - friends are there in both the good and bad times and should be kept by your sides through thick and thin.

As well as being a lovely story, it's a great life-lesson about getting too big for your boots, not being able to be good at everything and how friendship works...It's got quite a few funny bits in it so everybody gathered round to listen and it's been pulled out several times at bedtime already. 
 
It's a great book for toddlers and young children who have just started school or pre-school as they will be able to relate to the characters and talk to you about their friends (and "enemies" !) and how they feel about power struggles in the playground. The illustrations are very cute and are packed with details and little visual jokes that will have you pausing on each page before turning over to continue with the story.

Nadia Shireen's lively picture book is sure to bring a smile to children's faces. With delightful illustrations and something of the same quirky humour that characterised her acclaimed Good Little Wolf, this is a fun and engaging story about friendships and working together. 
Children will love exploring all the colourful spreads of the carnival, featuring all kinds of unexpected circus animals from Alice the Bearded Duck to Nancy the Amazing Fire-Eating Lizard, not to mention a snoozing ice-cream seller and a bison selling balloons.

Presto is a very talented magician, so when he and his friend Monty join a funfair and start a magic show things look good for our duo. But fame goes to Monty's head, and soon Presto loses his friend and his show! Will true friendship prevail? And will there be a touch of magic in the air?

Nadia Shireen enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child. She studied law at university and then worked in magazine journalism; it was during this time that she started to draw again. After a lifetime of doodling in the sidelines, Nadia decided to pay some attention to drawing and in 2007 was accepted onto an MA course in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Her debut book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award and won the UKLA Book Award. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. She lives in London.

Hey, Presto!

Select a format:

Retailers:

Summary

Reviews

About the author

Nadia Shireen

More from this Author

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter