If you liked Bad Nanna then you’ll love Pizazz: the first in a fab new series (for readers aged around 7+), written and illustrated by Sophy Henn. It has bold illustrations and creative, mixed typefaces, coupled with comic-strip layouts interspersed throughout, which make it a real feast for the eyes – brilliant for those readers…
I really like these Barrington Stoke middle grade (UK Key Stage 2+) novellas: written by an array of superb children’s authors, they have a dyslexia-friendly paper stock and typeface, a length of circa 100 pages and are edited to a reading age of 8 with an interest age of up to 12, so they can…
It’s been another slow reading week. I have no idea where the time goes at this time of year – I seem to rush from one thing to the next without actually achieving anything. I have, though, finally managed to read A Chase In Time, which was originally published in 2018, but has been re-released…
It’s been a slow reading week as, like many people in England, I’ve been rushing around trying to get lots of stuff done before Lockdown 2 came into force. I hope you are all keeping well. I read this story by Tom Palmer a few weeks ago, and it’s one of those books that I…
Very pleased to be back with one of our favourite heroines this Halloween: Molly Thompson, the tenacious, curious and brave historian. I loved last year’s The Ghouls of Howlfair and this latest story is even better. Just the right amount of spooky to give you all the chills without inciting nightmares, this is a cracking,…
A year ago, my son came home from school complaining that he was having to base his creative writing stories on Cinderella: “Why do I have to write about a girl who’s rescued by a prince? Why can’t she rescue herself?”. I thought this was quite interesting, because here was my (then) 6-year-old son making…
Books can change minds and change worlds… I’ve been doing a bit of blog housekeeping over the last couple of days, and I suddenly realised that for some very strange reason, I hadn’t blogged about this outstanding book series by Anna James. I thus decided to rectify the matter immediately, because who doesn’t want to…
Regular visitors to the blog will know that I love Lisa Thompson’s stories – no one quite does magical realism the way she does. And this new book is no exception. Tabby is not having the best of times. Everything is changing around her: her ailing grandad has come to stay and the house has…
Today’s my stop on the blog tour for The Tigers in the Tower, a brilliant, historical adventure for readers aged 8+, which is written by Julia Golding. Before I talk about this superb story, though, can I just take a minute to appreciate the amazing cover art created by Keith Robinson? It really is stunning…
I’ve just got time for a quick post to tell you about Kate Poels’ latest story, which I enjoyed reading last night. It’s a madcap mystery adventure, aimed at children aged 8+, that will have readers intrigued from the first page. There are strange things happening to the children in Mima’s neighbourhood. Blue mouths, webbed…