It’s a truth universally acknowledged (well, it is in my house, anyway!) that Julia Golding is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. After diving into the mystical world of the Companions series, and travelling back in time with The Tigers in the Tower, I was delighted to be invited to join the blog tour…
Another dive into the reading pile today – this time a junior fiction adventure mystery that feels fresh and original yet has an old-fashioned charm to it. Property Jones was abandoned in a bookshop as a baby and has grown up surrounded by books – there’s just one problem, though, she can’t read, which she’s…
I’ve had this book for such a long time, but for some reason, it kept getting pushed back down my reading list. I decided, therefore, that today was the perfect time to finally crack open the cover. Written in the ‘first K9’, this is a warm and moving story about a 13-year-old golden retriever who…
But imagine if every single person on the planet just did one thing. This debut middle grade book (aged around 9+) has received rave reviews over the past few weeks, and after reading it last night I can absolutely see why. It tells the story of April, who spends 6 months on Bear Island in…
I’ve been doing some more vicarious travelling during lockdown, this time to the Sri Lankan jungle… In her small village ruled by a selfish King, Chaya is a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to help the poor. One day she goes too far, though, stealing jewels from the Queen and unwittingly implicating her…
Goodness me, what a book this is. It tells the story of Olive, who lives with her father and grandfather after the loss of her mum. She seems to be the only person who can see a big grey elephant following her dad around as he struggles with his grief and she sets out to…
This has been such a useful book for us during lockdown 3. My daughter and I have dipped into it regularly to help us manage our ‘raincloud’ thoughts: yesterday neither of us did very well, but today has been better. Don’t let the ‘first mindfulness book’ fool you, it’s not just for traditional picture-book-aged children…
I immersed myself in this gem of a read last night – James Haddell’s debut book, The Lost Child’s Quest (swipe for synopsis). For those of you who follow James’ book reviews on Instagram and Twitter, you’ll know he is an eloquent writer and so it’s no surprise that this crosses over into his storytelling.…
Does anyone else suffer from the phenomenon that is the TBR (To Be Read) black hole? I was so excited to read this sequel to Brightstorm that I had it on pre-order: it arrived on publication day last year, was placed on my TBR trolley (which is now a TBR cupboard ?), and then got…
I take my hat off to picture book authors who have the emotional intelligence and skill to take difficult topics and distil them in such a way that young children can understand them. These superb books are a fantastic example of this, helping children to explore and better understand their emotions, as well as offering…