Anna Branford, with artwork by Sam Wilson(Walker Books) Violet is a little girl with her own take on life; her theory is that when you are having a brilliant idea, you find something small and special on the floor. If you keep that little something special, it will help you hold on to that brilliant …
fiction
The Dragonsitter & books for early readers
A few weeks ago I was asked to review a gorgeous little book, The Dragonsitter written by Josh Lacey and illustrated by Garry Parsons for Armadillo Magazine. You can find my review here. The Dragonsitter is the perfect kind of little book for newly independent readers and it made me think a bit more about what books …
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates
Liz Pichon(Scholastic) Tom Gates is quite a regular boy, but also a master homework escapologist and excels at tormenting his older sister Delia. He also spends a lot of time thinking about his band Dog Zombies and eating caramel wafers. But Tom still manages to spend a lot of time writing and doodling in his homework book and it is …
August
Bernard Beckett(Quercus) Stuck in a car wreck, upside down, gravely injured, Tristan and Grace are staring at death, hanging on to the faint hope that when the sun rises, someone will notice them. Fate has brought them together one final time, after doing so time and time again throughout their lives. As they fight for …
Magic Under Glass
Jaclyn Dolamore(Bloomsbury Children’s Books) Nimira left her native Tiansher after her mother, a dancer in the Royal Court, died and travelled to make her fortune as a dancer herself. But at the beginning of the book, we find her performing as a music-hall dancer, a “trouser girl”, forced to dance for drunken audiences in a …
Morris the Mankiest Monster
Giles Andreae (text) & Sarah McIntyre (illustrations)(David Fickling Books) Meet Morris: He feeds off the snotty green bogiesThat lurk up his big hairy noseAnd sometimes he nibbles the poisonous mouldWhich he scrapes off the ends of his toes Revolting isn’t it? This book claims to be the most revolting book of the year, and it’s …
Boom!
Mark Haddon(David Fickling Books) First, what a fantastic cover! Bright orange, very touchy-feely, and no blurb to give anything away. This book definitely shouts out “Read Me” to potential readers. Like most people I had read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and loved it. I was aware that Mark Haddon …