This lovely junior fiction story, written and illustrated by Jill Murphy (of Worst Witch fame), was recommended to me by a European bookseller earlier in the year. It’s a heartwarming tale of an anxious deerhound pup who goes missing, and his distraught, young owner’s attempts to find him. While lost, the dog is befriended by…
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…
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…
The UK long school break is now in its final stretch, so it won’t be long ’til the blog is back to full power! Just one more reading roundup after this and then normal service will be resumed once the new school year begins (anyone else counting down the days?!). Talking of the new school…
Mixed weather here in the UK at the moment, but I hope that it isn’t spoiling your Summer break. Here’s another quick roundup of books we’ve read and enjoyed over the last couple of weeks. First up is A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, which is a captivating and empathic read that completely blew…
Is anyone else wondering where the first few of weeks of the holidays have gone? If you’re unlucky enough to be already hearing cries of boredom, hopefully some of these reading recommendations might just do the trick… First up today is Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Missing Diamonds. This is a pacey, ‘whodunnit’ mystery, which is…
This is the second in Saviour Pirotta’s historical junior fiction ‘Wolfsong’ series and just like the first, it’s both a corker of a read and illustrated superbly with Davide Ortu’s distinctive, eye-catching art, which really captures and enhances the mood of the story. In this instalment, Wolf has returned to his village after retrieving the…
If I asked what type of illustrated fiction parents love to hate, I suspect most would say anything fairy or unicorn related due to the overload of glitter, magic kingdoms and flying over rainbows… What if, however, I introduced you to a series that does indeed include unicorns and a magic kingdom, but that’s where…
I’ve been waiting for The Monster in the Lake to come out ever since I read Louie Stowell’s first junior fiction story, The Dragon in the Library, and it’s definitely just as good as the first. Both stories are the sorts of reads I would have loved as a kid, where libraries are magical places,…
Wow, Saviour Pirotta has really knocked it out of the park with his new, historical junior fiction series. The Stolen Spear – the first of 4 stories – is set in late Neolithic times in what we now know as the Orkneys in Scotland. At the end of the Stone Age, people are meant to…