I bought this brilliant picture book after seeing it featured on #bookstagram recently. Beautifully illustrated, it tells the story of Emma Lilian Todd, a self-taught engineer, who became the first female airplane designer. Born in the late 1800s and growing up in a family of innovators, Lilian loved to tinker and invent things. As she…
Released earlier this year, this is the sequel to Karen McCombie’s superb Little Bird Flies and is aimed at readers aged 9+. It picks up the story of Bridie’s travels as she begins a new life in America (after fleeing her homeland during the Highland Clearances), living initially in New York before heading for life…
I think one of the best ways to get children reading, particularly those who are not naturally inclined to pick up a book, is to find books on subjects they are interested in. My son is a great example of this. Ask him to read a chapter of a school reading book and he’ll moan…
With all the madness and disruption that Coronavirus has caused, there hasn’t been much time for books these past couple of weeks. I really enjoyed, therefore, sitting down last night to read Jennifer Killick’s latest release. Lance and his Year 6 classmates embark on a school residential to Crater Lake activity centre, which turns into…
Many children first experience loss and grief through losing a pet. While we have lost 2 dogs since our kids were born, the children were a bit too young to understand what was happening first time around, and so my 6-year-old in particular was hit quite hard when we had to say goodbye to Chester…
Cerrie Burnell’s first middle grade book, The Girl With the Shark’s Teeth, was without doubt my favourite read of 2019 and so I was quite excited when my copy of The Ice Bear Miracle, which was released last month, arrived. Life with bears is dangerous, as Marv Jackson knows – the large crescent moon shaped…
Not a full book review today, rather a short recommendation for International Women’s Day. There are so many amazing girls and women I could highlight and so many fantastic books available which celebrate their hard work, determination, passion and success. However, I’ve decided to do things a little differently this year, and shine the spotlight…
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…
Not a full review, but I wanted to highlight this brilliant picture book on the blog today in memory of the phenomenally talented Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson, whose brilliance and determination in the face of adversity will hopefully continue to inspire generations of girls and boys to reach for the stars. RIP Katherine. Hidden FiguresAuthor:…
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,…