‘Often the journeys we take inside ourselves are more difficult than the stormiest seas’ The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle is the #PrimarySchoolBookClub read for August, and was also the Waterstone’s Children’s Book for July 2018. Some people might be aware of Catherine Doyle through her Young Adult trilogy, Blood for Blood, but this… Read More The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle
‘My sister is beautiful… My sister has the kindest heart of anyone I know. My sister is a better person than you will ever be. Having Down’s syndrome doesn’t make her weird or ugly or thick. It makes her extraordinary.’ If you haven’t come across Jo Cotterill’s books before then you are seriously missing out. An… Read More A Storm of Strawberries by Jo Cotterill
Whatever school your young child attends, most teachers plead with parents to keep their child/ren reading over the Summer holidays to prevent ‘reading slide’. While there are plenty of books out there for those who have been reading for at least a couple of years, there are not that many readily available for those children… Read More Summer Holiday Reading for Children at the Beginning of Their Reading Journeys
The Summer holidays are a great time to try out new books and I have been asked for some illustrated fiction recommendations for younger readers. All of the books featured in today’s blog are suitable for children in either Key Stage 1 or lower Key Stage 2 (or even older, depending on the type of… Read More Illustrated Fiction for Younger Readers
The Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows (a collective pseudonym for a number of writers) is the book equivalent of marmite for parents – you either love it or you hate it, but there’s no doubt that this best-selling series has sold millions of copies worldwide and its winning formula of friendship and magic appeals… Read More What to Read After Rainbow Magic……
With 7 historical fiction books under her belt, and another about to be published imminently, Emma Carroll has earned her title of Queen of Historical Fiction and has been on my radar for some time; indeed, for the last 6 months I have had 3 of her books in my To Be Read (TBR) pile,… Read More Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
Where has time gone?! Like a lot of people, when the weather turns warm I always find a whole host of chores that need to be done, and so I seem to have neglected the blog somewhat. Today, however, I am detemined to rectify that… I’ve been wanting to write a blog on the Little… Read More Little Gems Series
‘Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will. You can be comfortable or courageous – never both at once’ Brightstorm is Vashti Hardy’s debut children’s novel, which was released in March this year in a blaze of critical acclaim. It was no surprise, therefore, that the members of #PrimarySchoolBookClub voted to make it April’s read… Read More Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy
After a few weeks away from the blog in order to get my allotment up and running for the growing season, I’ve really enjoyed being able to return to my towering book pile. The most difficult thing has been deciding what to read first, as the pile has grown exponentially over the past month, with… Read More The House With Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson
‘My name is Estelle Mills, and I am not nobody – Mrs Grayson would say that’s a double negative. Well, I’m here to say I’m not no negative. I am me, and that’s a fact’. Stella by Starlight is a powerful, moving story set in the segregated South in the 1930s. The author, Sharon M… Read More Stella by Starlight – Sharon M Draper