Adventuremice: Mice on the Moon
Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
David Fickling Books

Strap yourselves in ready to blast off into space for another Adventuremice experience.
It begins one spring night as Pedro et al are sitting on deck watching the moon rise when suddenly a beetle arrives with an important message from Millie’s uncle, Professor Bernard Quartermouse summoning the Adventuremice to his laboratory right away. Off they go to Scrabble Island and almost before you can say, ‘space capsule’ Pedro, Millie and Fledermaus are in a rocket shooting into the sky, destination the moon. Supposedly, but that’s not quite what happens.

Instead they crash land on what they learn from Pontiki, another mouse who crash landed months earlier, is the minimoon, and was helped by those she calls starmice. These mice are welcoming; unlike Earthmice, they have green fur and pointy ears and offer their visitors a delicacy they call moonflower cheese as well as singing to them.

However, this place does not appeal at all to the Adventuremice who soon despair of ever seeing their homeland again. Then a realisation dawns: perhaps there is a way back after all … Time to make contact with Ground Control and inform them of their possible return to Earth. Will they make it safely back to Mousebase?

Another immersive addition to a super-silly series characterised by not too dangerous, pacy adventure told with gentle humour by Philip Reeve and delicious colour illustrations by Sarah McIntyre.

Dream Weavers: Roar of the Hungry Beast
Annabelle Sami, illustrated by Forrest Burdett
Little Tiger

Tito and Neena are now firm friends and Tito loves to spend nights dreamweaving with Neena. He enjoys seeing how his dreams come to life – they seem so real. But now something isn’t right. The teachers at their school are acting strangely and are uncharacteristically cranky. Could this be anything to do with that dastardly Bhoot. Should the friends enter the dreams of a teacher to find out why school is becoming nightmarish? Yes they decide and first it’s to be Ms Branberry’s dream – and it’s not a good one, as they find out; neither is that of headteacher Mr Tulley. In both there’s a very loud growling and the appearance of a huge, wolf-like beast.

After Tito’s encounter with the beast and his head injury, it seems to him that the veil between the dream world and the waking world has started to break down, which is exactly what the Darkweavers want. Nevertheless Tito knows that it’s up to him to face up to the beast and make sure it goes back from whence it came? Can he do so? Possibly, with the help of Neena and her cousin in Pakistan, a portal could be created.

This dramatic tale ends on a cliff-hanger indicating that Tito and Leena will be back to continue the fight against the Bhoot.