This is a very quick review as I’m a tad short on time at the moment; however, I wanted to make sure that I recorded my thoughts on this new book by Fleur Hitchcock, an established and accomplished writer whom some of you will know due to her dark thrillers for older children. Clifftoppers: The…
I’ve been quite envious seeing proofs of Louie Stowell’s debut book being reviewed on Twitter, so I was completely thrilled to win a signed copy of The Dragon in the Library in a Nosy Crow competition recently. After a bit of a tussle with my daughter to determine who was going to read it first,…
Some of you will know that I am a huge advocate of reading for pleasure, so even though my daughter has been a ‘free reader’ for nearly a year now, I still love to find her books that she will enjoy, as opposed to her reading primarily for academic purposes. Anna loves stories with lots…
We are HUGE Dave Pigeon fans in our house and so World Book Day came around with much excitement. Not because the children could go to school in fancy dress (albeit my daughter did indeed go as DP himself!), but because it meant that the fourth book in the Dave Pigeon series – Royal Coo!…
My daughter is a ‘free reader’ at school. However, as she is still quite young, she doesn’t have a long attention span and still loves illustrations, so I am always on the lookout for books that are not too lengthy, and that will encourage reading for pleasure. I only came across these books recently: I…
If you haven’t come across Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam before, they are 2 loveable baker dogs who love to solve madcap mysteries on the side! This 2-colour fiction edition has 3 stories in it, the first of which has a festive feel as Shifty and Sam have been commissioned by Santa to bake him…
‘Don’t forget who you are. You are a fighter. As the dark in the sky makes the stars shine brighter, you will find the bad stuff has good bits too. The bad days are the days that make you you.’ This book caught my eye as the author, the phenomenal Matt Haig, described it on…
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…
The Rainbow Magic books by Daisy Meadows (a collective pseudonym for a number of writers) are the literary equivalent of marmite for parents – you either love them or you hate them, 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…
Some of you may have grown up with and loved the picture book adventures of Princess Smartypants, which have been around for over 30 years. Two years ago, Babette Cole decided create a Princess Smartypants full-length adventure book, and I’m so glad she did because it’s a riotious read. Sadly, Babette died earlier this year…