Make your own seagull with Marc Martin!

Marc Martin's wonderful picture book Max is out on the first of July, and to celebrate we've got a special seagull mobile to cut out and play with.

Max is the story of a cheeky but charming seagull who loves two things - fish, and chips! So it's no surprise that his best friend is Bob, the owner of the local fish and chip shop. But one summer, everything changes...

Marc Martin's art is a joy to behold, and we especially love Max the Seagull. So we're very excited to be able to make our own mobile with these easy-to-follow instructions.

Here's us hard at work making our Max mobile:

And here's the finished seagull:

So get creative and show us what your seagulls look like and what they get up to!

Be careful whilst using scissors to make Max. Here are pdfs of the instruction sheets for easy printing:

Instructions

Mobile Cut Out

Pictura Competitions

To celebrate the release of some fantastic new titles in our Pictura range, we've two great new competitions with some wonderful prizes to give away.

The benefits of colouring in as a relaxation aid are now well-documented, and it's fun too! The Pictura titles have something for everyone, both in terms of subject and format. Following on from the hugely popular concertina titles, we've just released everything from Pictura Postcard books to Pictura Puzzle books. For art you can send to loved ones or keep for yourself, we've three new postcard books featuring landmarks from London, Paris and New York.

If you want to make your own art that looks as good on your wall as any poster, check out one of our two print books, featuring stunning designs just waiting for you to make them your own.

Finally, discover the fun of colouring with the Pictura Puzzle books - five awesome colouring books packed with stickers to colour and activities to undertake!

For your chance to win some of these entertaining titles, we've two competitions for you to enter so that whatever age you are you've a chance to win.

For over sixteens, colour in this William Morris print in whatever style you like and send it back to us:

For under sixteens, we want to see what you can do with this ancient Greek vase:

Dinosaur Week - Top ten dino-books and competition!

Twenty two years since the first Jurassic Park film, the third sequel opens in cinemas this week. Entitled Jurassic World, it has rekindled our love of dinosaurs and so we've decided to make this week dinosaur week here at Templar!

To celebrate, we've got our top ten dinosaur books you need to read, plus two competitions for you to enter to win a dino-book bundle.

1. Gigantosaurus  Jonny Duddle's fantastic story of Bonehead, the 'dinosaur who cries Gigantosaurus' is a must-have for all young dino-fans, for its awesome artwork and cast of characters.
2. Pictura Puzzle: A Walk With The Dinosaurs  The dinosaurs are all there, but only in black and white lines - it's up to you to colour them in! With puzzles and bits to fill in yourself, this will provide hours of fun as you create your own dinosaurs and more...
3. Fact Finders: Dinosaurs  Did you know the Brontosaurus never existed - the wrong neck and body were put together! Do you know why dinosaurs grew to such huge sizes or why they became extinct? If not, this Fact Finders book is the one for you - all the answers are there along with some great illustrations.
4. Insiders: Children's Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs  With over a thousand illustrations, plus maps and diagrams detailing everything you ever wanted to know about dinosaurs, this book is your comprehensive guide to all things dinosaur-related!
5. Build the T-Rex  Bring dinosaurs to life with this amazing book and model set. Read about the mighty tyrannosaurus and other dinosaurs of its era, then pretend you're a palaeontologist by putting the model together.
6. Pop Up Facts: Dinosaurs Find out about dinosaur record breakers, with information about the tallest and the smallest, the heaviest and the brainiest in this feast of dinosaur facts featuring astounding pop-ups!
7. Dinosaurology  Enter the Lost World of dinosaurs as discovered by the intrepid explorers of the 1900s. Follow in the footsteps of Percy Fawcett and explore his journals and sketches of living, breathing dinosaurs.
8. Sounds of the Wild: Dinosaurs  Step back in time with the Dinosaurs to experience the sights and sounds of these amazing creatures. Each pop-up scene is accompanied by an information page so readers can find out about the different species in each picture.
9. Adam Stower's Dinosaurs (Pictura)  This scene of dinosaurs playing and making mischief is begging to be coloured in! Why not create a purple T-rex, a pink Stegosaurus and an orange Diplodocus?
10. George and the Dinosaur  George likes digging. He finds some gems, a sword, a pirate's leg and, to top off the hoard, a dinosaur egg! When he cleans his treasure he finds that the gems are just stones, dirt and dust. The sword is a spoon all covered in rust. The leg is a root, cracked and dried, but the egg is an egg, with something inside...

Enter our second dinosaur giveaway using the widget below, and get on Twitter to tell us what you love about dinosaurs!

Dinosaur Giveaway 2