Category For new solo readers

Stop! Gangster Koala! / Barking Bake Off!

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Stop! Gangster Koala!
Barking Bake Off!
Jenny Moore, illustrated by Berta Maluenda
New Frontier Publishing

In the first of Jenny Moore’s Pawprint Productions series for younger readers, cuddly koala actor Archie has landed the role of gangster Hoodlum PIE Claw in the popular drama series Squeaky Minders. His big concern is that he won’t be sufficiently scary to give a convincing performance as the town’s meanest menace. However during the filming of the opening scene, Archie trips and knocks himself out. Upon waking, he believes he’s a real gangster and he rampages through the studios hurling squidgy lemon meringue pies at anyone crossing his path. Having stolen all the fresh pies from another series and sending patients leaping from their beds in fear on Emergency Vets, Archie ends up storming into a live recording of Beastly Buzzers. Will he stop at nothing to procure all the prizes?

Who doesn’t enjoy a baking show so Barking Bake Off! is sure to be loved. The contestants facing one another are Poppy Seedcake and Corgi Joe. Whatever the secret ingredient in Corgi Joe’s barkwell tarts is, it’s not what the contestant intended. Indeed it’s an absolute calamity. The same is true in the second round. Seems Joe has lost his touch: maybe not as week three sees a vast improvement and a score of ten barks. But then disaster strikes in the form of the poisoning. Something decidedly unsavoury is surely going on behind the scenes of Pawprint Productions. It’s a bizarre mystery but can Meek and Squeak in police guise discover a culprit and save the whole series? Now that would be telling …

Berta Maluenda’s amusing black and white illustrations are a vital ingredient in the stories, making them even tastier.

Grimogen Darkstar: Bat-Cat-Tastrophe / Marv and the Funfare Fright

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Grimogen Darkstar: Bat-Cat-Tastrophe
Emma Finlayson-Palmer
Tiny Tree Books

Young Grimogen Darkstar or Immi as she prefers to be called, desperately wants a pet, even more so when the team from Howler’s Rescue Centre bring animals into her school for a special day. “Maybe I’ll meet my future first pet,” she says. First though she has to prove to her parents that she is sufficiently responsible to care for one. So, when her class is called to the hall, she’s more than delighted to see all manner of magical creatures and she can hardly wait to feed some of them, declaring herself “ a bit of an expert at feeding animals.”

Pretty soon though things start to go wrong: Immi is certain she’s seen a bat-cat outside the window and refuses to accept the explanation that what she saw was just a bat. Almost immediately after, her classmates are running around as bats swoop in and get stuck in people’s hair. Fortunately for her though, things are quickly sorted out and an open day at Rescue Centre is announced, to be held the next day. Helping out offers another opportunity for Immi to prove she’s ready for her own pet. Can she do so without causing a catastrophe?

Impetuous, curious, brave and kind-hearted, Immi is a delight and young readers/listeners, especially animal-lovers, will enjoy meeting her. in this first story with its sprinkling of whimsical black and white illustrations.

Marv and the Funfare Fright
Alex Falase-Koya, illustrated by Paula Bowles
Oxford Children’s Books

Marv is excited when he hears that from the funfair has arrived at the local park for its annual visit and super-excited when he finds that he’s now tall enough to go on the Head Spinner roller coaster (rather him than me). Off he goes with his super-suit and sidekick, Pixel, in his backpack and Grandad at his side. It’s extremely crowded and noisy but it’s not long before while riding on the Spinning Teacups, Marv detects a supervillain – The Conjuror – with whom he’d had an unpleasant encounter before.

Time for Marv to don his super-suit and track down that Conjuror: assuredly she’ll be up to no good. And so she is. First a zombie is on the loose and then shortly after, there are seven cuddly toy pandas running riot in the Hall of Mirrors. Marv gives chase but his rocket boosters fail and the pandas escape causing chaos all around the funfair.

Can Marv put a stop to the panic and panda-monium and not only save his friends but all the other fair visitors. He’ll most certainly need to use every means at his disposal. Maybe he can change that Conjuror into an superhero instead of a supervillain too, or is that asking too much …

Dramatically illustrated by Paula Bowles, Marv’s ninth adventure – ideal for the upcoming spooky season – is every bit as exciting as his previous ones: established fans will love it and I’m sure he’ll gain plenty of new followers too.

Bad United Fast As Lightning / Guardians of the New Moon: The Year of the Ox

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These are both additions to popular series from Little Tiger – thanks to the publisher for sending then for review.

Bad United Fast As Lightning
Louise Forshaw

Having achieved two wins, Bad United are starting to attract a fair bit of attention, so much so that Hoof the unicorn declares ‘We’re famous’.
When manager, Serena Winter announces a visit to the spa, it’s no surprise that one team member is far from enthusiastic: Bolt (cheetah) considers yogic breathing a complete waste of time; he’s the best striker so why bother, he thinks. But whether the experience has had the desired effect of bringing the whole team back together ready for anything as Hoof hopes, we’ve yet to find out when they begin training for the next match, which is against Storm. Pretty soon though, it appears that it’s not the case with Bolt.

On match day Serena reminds them all to focus on their happy places but with all the other players waiting on the pitch, team Storm hasn’t shown up. What happens thereafter is I suspect, the strangest ever match that commentators, Waffle and Cyclops have ever witnessed, so much so that Serena immediately asks for a rematch. Will Bad United emerge victorious, this time? And has Bolt finally learned about team play? If so, fans will be cheering extra loud.

Guardians of the New Moon: The Year of the Ox
Eric Huang, illustrated by Phùng Nguyén Quang

Shocked that his son Xiao Nioh has been wasting his time working on a dance he was going to perform to usher in the Year of the Ox, Lord Chiyou is finding it very difficult to understand his son’s creative performance involving a sword and a long coloured ribbon. Frivolities is what he calls it and in an effort to make his son brave, at the suggestion of the Jade Emperor sends Xiao Nioh off on a quest accompanied by the Guardians of the New Moon, Ming and Miaow. They must deliver a message about farming techniques and one more matter – the crops and the whole valley must be protected from the nian, a fierce magical one-horned beast with a massive appetite. With the help of the Guardians, can Xiao Nioh prove himself without having to abandon his dancing dreams, or will the Year of the Ox be a huge let down?

With plenty of action and humour too, this third book in the series is as exciting as the previous Guardians stories.

Reggie Rabbit: Robbery at the Masqued Ball

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Reggie Rabbit: Robbery at the Masqued Ball
Swapna Reddy and Becka Moor
Oxford Children’s Books

A warm welcome back to a young detective duo intent on keeping their city safe. Young detectives Reggie Rabbit and partner Pipsqueak are in attendance at a very special event and that’s because Auntie Hibiscus has been asked to do the catering. The event is the Masque family’s Masqued Ball – the grandest event in all of Bearburgh – and Reggie and Pipsqueak are to be waiters despite Reggie’s parents not being keen on the idea. However with famous pop star KITTY QITA set to perform, it’s too good an opportunity to miss.

Suddenly though, in the middle of Kitty Qita’s act, the lights go out and a jewel heist takes place.
Despite Kitty telling Reggie and Pipsqueak that the case is a lost cause, they’re ready for action right away. Kitty directs them towards Dog Lane (the meanest, most dangerous place on earth) and leaves them to it.

However it’s easy to jump to conclusions and the solution to this puzzling mystery may well come as a surprise.

With its madcap adventures and warm friendships, this charming series is a delightful blend of graphic novel and fiction and Reggie’s third case will surely be a winner with younger solo readers.

Marv and the Duck of Doom / Kitty and the Clifftop Peril

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These are both additions to popular series for new solo readers: thank you to Oxford Children’s Books for sending them for review.

Marv and the Duck of Doom
Alex Falase-Koya, illustrated by Paula Bowles

Marvin and his Grandad (plus Marvin’s high-tech side-kick Pixel) are visiting Adventure Zone. They’re going to meet Grandad’s best friend Steve (once Professor Feather, a powerful supervillain, but now a reformed character as Grandad explains before Steve arrives). With Steve is a girl around Marvin’s age so he thinks; her name is Izzy. After some rounds at the bowling alley Pixel picks up a supervillain signal and warns Marvin and later after spending more time with Izzy, during which she shows him her grandfather’s Duck of Doom, Marvin feels very uneasy about her.

The following week as Marvin and his Grandad are enjoying a picnic in the park, there comes a loud scream and the boy sees people running from something: it’s a gigantic robotic duck – the Duck of Doom. Time for Marvin to don his super-suit and morph into Marv. That way he can use the suit’s special facilities; he makes himself invisible and gets closer to the monstrous duck. Sure enough, who should be sitting on its back controlling the thing but Izzy, calling herself Professor Feather and issuing a challenge – superhero versus supervillain. Then suddenly it’s not just one gigantic robot duck but a whole army of robotic ducklings too. Can Marv and Pixel discover their weakness? Maybe the answer is in the elements … but even if they can see off the ducklings what about that Duck of Doom? And the Professor?

With themes of determination, friendship and forgiveness, some interesting new characters and gentle humour, this latest story leaves the door open for a new direction. Add to that Paula Bowles’ lively illustrations and we have another cracker for readers in years 1-3 and for home collections.

Another series featuring a superhero (in training) is

Kitty and the Clifftop Peril
Paula Harrison, illustrated by Jenny Lovlie

This is Kitty’s sixteenth adventure and she and her family are holidaying in the sleepy seaside town of Pebblecove, so Kitty’s not anticipating using her feline superpowers. As the book begins they’re visiting a seal rescue centre. Just before they have lunch Kitty encounters young Lee who tells her he’s helping his father by feeding the seals. It’s when she rejoins her parents that the trouble starts.

First crates of fish intended for the rescue centre seals are scattered everywhere, then stands of things from the shop fall over and the cafe menus are ripped. It must all be due to a mysterious creature rather than Kitty’s friend Cutlass the pirate cat. Now Kitty must put on her superhero cape, go in search of the culprit.and find out why they are causing such chaos. Could they be looking for something and if so, what?

A gentle story but one where Kitty has to be especially brave as she’s not in familiar territory. Jenny Lovlie’s black and orange illustrations throughout, heighten the drama.

Agent Harrier Mission Impossib-Hole/ Adventuremice: Mice, Camera, Action!

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These are both additions to popular series: thanks to Little Tiger and David Fickling Books for sending them for review.

Agent Harrier Mission Impossib-Hole
Ben Sanders
Little Tiger

Agent Harrier is back for his third mission of the secret spy kind. However before he can even get going, the bottom falls out of his world – literally – and having plunged downwards, he finds himself face to face with his trusty friend, Mr Mole. Mole informs him of a new case : the case of the Mysterious Holes and our agent is not happy. Holes in his precious book, holes that transport him to different dimensions starting with a strange fairy tale where a princess dances till the clock strikes twelve. Then comes a kind of detective story where he meets a dragon and lastly, a scary sc-fi adventure in outer space.

Time is running out for Agent Harrier: if he can’t uncover the offending hole-maker very soon, not a single one of his books will make any sense and it’s curtains for the entire series. With Mole looking decidedly untrustworthy, – the villain maybe – to whom can Harri look for assistance?
With punny daftness and word play in abundance, this is a hilarious dose of meta-fictive madness that Agent Harrier’s fans will love. If you’ve not met this particular detective before, I suggest starting with This Book Will Self Destruct.

Adventuremice: Mice, Camera, Action!
Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
David Fickling Books

The Adventuremice series gets progressively crazier and this one definitely takes the biscuit – enough said about biscuits.

The Adventuremice are super excited to receive an invitation to Hollybush, reputed to be the most glamorous place in all of the Mice Islands, the place where all the big mouse movies are made. Needless to say, Pedro isn’t too thrilled about this but that’s Pedro for you. Skipper too is unenthusiastic about going, but in the end they all board the Daring Dormouse, Hollybush bound. Apparently however, despite it being called the Adventuremice movie, the team won’t actually be acting; rather they’ve been invited to visit the studio and watch the making of the movie .

On arrival they’re greeted by Scoot McHairy, Mr Cheezeburger’s assistant. The film set is certainly a glitzy place but Pedro is confused by all the fakery including an exceedingly large mechanical otter

and it’s not long before he ruins a scene making Mr Cheezeburger furious that his precious film will never be finished in time to be shown at the film festival. Can the Adventuremice team come to the rescue and save not only the movie but a real live baby creature too?

Established Adventuremice fans will certainly be cheering them on and the team will likely gain lots more followers too.

Cat and Dumpling: Home Sweet Home

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Cat and Dumpling: Home Sweet Home
Nicola Kent
Oxford Children’s Books

Meet Cat, knitting fanatic and enthusiastic guitar player, who badly needs a new place to live that has plenty of cupboards. Then there’s dog, Dumpling, an ace gardener whose vegetables make delicious feasts. He too needs somewhere new to live, but it must have a garden sufficiently large to accommodate all his plants. They both set out house hunting, visiting several places that are quickly crossed off their respective lists. Feeling downcast they each decide to take a walk and almost simultaneously come upon a sign advertising a flat to rent. Both think this ground floor abode is ideal for their needs, even more so as Delores from upstairs shows them around. Delories thinks they’re both too noisy but is persuaded by their offers of gifts and Cat and Dumpling end up becoming flatmates. All goes well when they move in,

at least initially, but it takes a bit of compromising and kind deeds before come bedtime, it’s truly a case of home sweet home.

Nicola Kent’s sweet story with amusing, full colour illustrations at every turn of the page and short chapters is just right for new solo readers who will assuredly enjoy meeting these new characters and be pleased to know further adventures are in the pipeline.

Bad United: Foul Play

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Bad United: Foul Play
Louise Forshaw
Little Tiger

Bad United, the team that includes a skeleton captain, a dinosaur, a unicorn, a fairy and a spider goalkeeper return with some more splendid soccer silliness. In this instalment team members are celebrating their first win, albeit in a rather dis-united manner, when news comes of their next match. They’re up against Tinkerball’s old squad, The Fairy Dusters – the one from which she was given the boot – and she’s very worried about the prospect of having to perform against them. Nevertheless Hoof suggests the fairy teaches them some special moves, so Tinkerball starts on the magical moves training. A successful session is followed by some enjoyable team bonding.
Come match day, the commentators remark, “Tensions will be running high”. Meanwhile Bad United are given special new magic repellant kit and onto the pitch they go. With Tinkerball’s twin sister heading up the opposition and Tinks out for revenge the sparks begin to fly. Come half time the siblings are both booked and Tinkerball is forced to relate the whole story of why the Fairy Dusters threw her out.

Bad United’s captain gives the siblings a good talking to and the second half begins.
What will be the result? Is it possible that Bad United can win their second match?

Further football foolishness delivered cartoon strip style that new solo readers will revel in.

Bertha & Blink Take To The Skies

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Bertha & Blink Take To The Skies
Nicola Colton
Little Tiger

When Bertha discovers that her erstwhile friend, now her inventor nemesis, Finnius Fink, has allowed filthy smoke to belch from the chimneys of his new factory in the jungle, she and her roommate, robo-bird Blink, are horrified. With thick smog everywhere, they need to step up their mission to save the jungle from complete destruction and that means asking some of their fellow animals to join them.


The creatures gather at Bertha’s treehouse where she shows them down to her secret workshop to see her latest invention: a plane with lots of additional features – even more once her new friends start to help. Said friends are shocked to learn that Bertha intends Finnius i to steal the invention and enter it into the Invention Competition as his own. During his absence at the competition the plan is that Bertha et al will destroy Finnius’s factory. It’s certainly a daring plan but can they possibly pull it off, get rid of the factory and set about replenishing the jungle trees and plants? Let’s just say that teamwork is dreamwork and sometimes dreams come true.

A fun, early chapter book with lots of speech bubbles and highly engaging illustrations. What will Bertha and Blink’s new mission entail, readers will be eager to discover.

Unicorns in Uniforms: Dragon Inferno

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Unicorns in Uniforms: Dragon Inferno
Tracy Curran, illustrated by Steve Wood
UCLAN Publishing

Dragon Inferno is the first instalment in the Unicorns in Uniforms series, the uniforms team being Blaze, the firefighter, Locke, a Police Sergeant, paramedic Dash, Sunny, an air and mountain rescuer and Aquarius, responsible for sea rescue. This story is told from the viewpoint of Blaze.

There’s action aplenty, which starts when two playful young dragon friends, Flare and Glimmer accidentally set fire to Witchy Wood. Abandoning her breathing exercises, Blaze immediately leaps into operation mode. With Sunny already engaged, the firefighter boards Quench, her Flamequencher emergency vehicle and races off towards the scene of the fire.
Enter young witch, Jinx pushing a strange wheeled contraption – seemingly her conjuring has gone a bit wrong. It contains Flare with a broken wing; but almost at once, Jinx’s magic mishaps get far worse and disaster ensues with the inferno heading towards the treehouse of Hex, her grandmother, which is full of powerful magical potions.

Fortunately it’s soon after that Blaze utters the words, “Nothing is impossible for Unicorns in Uniforms’.

Will they, or will they not prove to be right: can Blaze and Quench get everyone to safety before the whole of Witchy Wood is destroyed.

At just over a hundred pages, with Steve Wood’s exuberant illustrations, this is ideal for those in KS1 just starting to read chapter books. I’m sure readers will be eager to read stories told from the viewpoints of the other uniformed unicorns too.

After the story comes some information about real live fire-fighters and their equipment, and a quiz. In addition, Tracy Curran’s narrative offers opportunities for discussion about ways in which to control one’s temper and to stay calm in an emergency.

Dino Dad Ice Age

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Dino Dad Ice Age
Andy Day, illustrated by Steven Lenton
Puffin Books

In this sequel to Dino Dad, CBeebies host Andy Day transports readers to the magical island of Dinotropolis. There, protectors of their prehistoric allies young Ruby Thumb and her Dad, both of whom are able to transform into dinosaurs, embark on a cool quest. They need to rescue a baby woolly mammoth and try to reunite it with its mum, as well as unfreeze Dinotropolis.

Their adventure is filled with witty banter, there are heartwarming moments and the narrative is sprinkled with dinosaur facts that young dino- enthusiasts will love. (This reviewer learned something from Ruby’s dino facts after the tale ).

Steven Lenton’s terrific, captivating black and white illustrations help bring the story to life on the page

for young listeners or readers just flying solo, as they join the Thumb duo in their undertaking. Then once they emerge from the tale, there are some empty drawing frames at the back of the book and an invitation to fill them.

Doubtless young audiences will be eagerly awaiting Big Dino Talent Show coming next March.

Lola and Larch Make a Winter Wish / Mirabelle and the Baby Dragons

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Lola and Larch Make a Winter Wish
Sinéad O’Hart, illustrated by Rachel Seago
Nosy Crow

It’s approaching the end of term for Lola with both characters in team Lola and Larch preparing for a special date on their respective calendars. As the two walk through the snowy forest to celebrate Turningtide with the other fairies, Lola endeavours to explain to fairy Larch (who has no experience whatsoever of the Christmas celebrations of humans) what Santa does. Lola then talks of how excited she is about her class’s Christmas concert to which Larch has been invited. However Larch doesn’t approve of the way fairies are portrayed in the performance and so turns down the invitation, causing disappointment to Lola.

So angry is Larch that she wishes for Lola to know what being a fairy is really like. An unwise thing for sure, especially as Euphorbia was watching and heard her words.

The following morning both Lola and Larch wake up feeling peculiar; they’ve swapped bodies which means that Larch has to participate in the performance she’d refused to attend. This gives Euphorbia an opportunity to gain more power – a risky one for sure – and she seizes the fairy form of Lola from the concert.

Can Larch get back in time to stop Euphorbia doing something awful with her magic? What will happen about Lola’s role? Can Larch and Lola find a way to unscramble things and return them to normality?
Magical, albeit sometimes shocking, seasonal happenings, with lots of dramatic drawings by Rachel Seago.

There’s magic aplenty too in

Mirabelle and the Baby Dragons
Harriet Muncaster
Oxford Children’s Books

Mirabelle and her family are invited by Mum’s witch friend Gladys to stay at her dragon sanctuary during half term week. A dream come true for Mirabelle, so she thinks, but her notion that she’s a dragon expert is about to be put to the test.
Mirabelle’s countless fans will delight in her latest adventure with its lesson about guidance from someone who knows better when it comes to undertaking a tricky task.

Gordon Starts a Band / Marv and the Alien Invasion

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Both these are additions to series ideal for newly independent readers – thanks to the publishers Oxford Children’s Books for sending them for review.

Gordon Starts a Band
Alex Latimer

Gordon the goose is back and despite being dubbed the meanest goose on earth, he’s still trying to be good: that’s thanks to his now best friend, piglet Anthony. However to say Gordon is a totally reformed character is perhaps over-stating things, despite his best intentions. After a day of kind deeds Gordon cannot sleep, so when he meets up with Anthony the following morning he’s in a honkingly bad mood thanks in no small part to the terrible noise that kept him awake all night. A noise so bad Gordon feels that unless he discovers what’s making the sound and can put a stop to it, he’ll revert to his former mean self.

So he and Anthony start to follow the noise until they reach the darkest part of the forest and in a nearby clearing there is the perpetrator. It’s Edgar the Moose and what he reveals to Gordon and Anthony shocks both the friends. However the former thinks he should try to put things right but this proves much more challenging than Gordon could ever have imagined. It even involves a rendezvous with members of the Meanest Goose Society so Gordon can enlist their help in a scheme he has. With a considerable amount of thumping and banging, la-la-ing strumming and singing, all ends on a high with Gordon slightly further along the road to redemption.

Alex Latimer serves up another slice of delightful wry silliness that will have young solo readers backing Gordon all the way to the final page whereon we see a blissfully sleeping goose – err?

Marv and the Alien Invasion
Alex Falase-Koya, illustrated by Paula Bowles

Marvin’s seventh adventure is set in a Space Centre that his class visits; it’s a trip involving an overnight stay. On arrival their tour guide Jessie greets the group and shows them where to leave their bags. This means that Pixel, Marvin’s tiny robot, will have to remain stashed in his backpack until all his classmates are asleep. First they go to the planet room where a display of the solar system’s planets hangs from the ceiling. Suddenly Jupiter falls from its fixing almost crashing onto Marvin’s friend Joe: was it mere accident or something else?

Next comes the rocket room wherein there stands a gigantic replica of a space rocket, alongside which is a life-sized replica of a control room. Unexpectedly the control panel lights up and starts beeping loudly -a loose connection? The final surprise before bedtime is when their guide dims the lights and projected onto the ceiling are the constellations. As they gaze upwards a potato hits Joe on the head and shortly after there appears the figure of supervillain Cosmic, and his little alien friends. Chaos ensues in the form of a food fight.

Time for Marvin to don his super-suit and morph into Marv the superhero. Out of Marvin’s bag too comes Pixel. But then Cosmic snatches up Pixel saying he’s going to take her to robot planet where she belongs and hauls her into the centre’s rocket. Can Marv do something before the rocket blasts off into space?

Another episode of MARVellous fun for those just taking off as solo readers from team Alex and Paula.

Huxley and Flapjack: Trouble At Sea / Wigglesbottom Primary: The Pirate Cat

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Huxley and Flapjack: Trouble At Sea
Alan MacDonald and Francesca Gambatesa
Little Tiger

This is the second story of best friends, Huxley, an outgoing koala and Flapjack, of a somewhat nervous disposition who prefers staying at home whereas his bestie likes to seize every opportunity for a new adventure.

It’s a hot summer’s day and the two are spending the day on the beach, Flapjack hoping to be able to finish reading his book. It seems unlikely this will happen as the rescue of a wildly thrown ball (you can guess by whom) results in a meeting with underwater explorer, Winston, or Wizz for short.

Wizz invites the two to join him aboard his submarine to search for the shipwreck of the Isabella on board which he suggests they might find some treasure. Needless to say Huxley immediately starts imagining the possibilities whereas Flapjack is rather worried, especially when his friend takes over steering the craft. This almost inevitably leads to a troublesome situation but also a discovery; make that several, not to mention a shark encounter

when the two friends try to untangle the submarine’s propellor from the seaweed. Do they find treasure though? That rather depends on what you call treasure.

Full of drama and with one of Francesca Gambatesa’s illustrations on every spread reflecting the humour of each situation, this is ideal summer reading for new solo readers.

As is:

Wigglesbottom Primary: The Pirate Cat
Pamela Butchart, illustrated by Becky Moor
Nosy Crow

This latest in the Wigglesbottom Primary series is, like its predecessors, pitch perfect for newly independent readers. Like the others too, it contains three zany episodes, the first being the titular The Pirate Cat which starts when Miss Riley announces a Y2 class trip to the beach. However it’s not for the purposes of paddling, sand castle building and picnics. Rather the children are to spent their time participating in a beach clean up project. The possibility of a prize makes things rather better but then what should appear on the sand but a black and white cat; a cat Jayden King immediately suggests could be of the piratical kind.

It isn’t, but it certainly ensures that the litter grabbers are put to good, if unexpected, use; moreover the moggy – Carlos – is actually a regular passenger on the bus used for the class trip.
Episode two, The Tallest Pupil in the World is so called because Miles suddenly has a growth spurt that gets rather out of control. Can this really be so or is there another reason that his trousers are way, way too short when he puts them back on after PE?
The Halloween Disco concludes the book and inevitably its announcement causes MEGA excitement but ends up with one of Class 2 in a decidedly sticky mess thanks to ‘ghost slime’ no less.

Brilliantly funny, laugh out loud silliness conjured up by an author with a wonderful imagination, abetted by an illustrator who accentuates the drama in every situation.

Lola and Larch Save the Sunshine Spell / Mirabelle and the Picnic Pranks

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Lola and Larch Save the Sunshine Spell
Sinéad O’Hart
Nosy Crow

Despite her grandma’s excitement about the size her marrows have grown to overnight, Lola suspects something isn’t right and then Larch is sure she’s seen a plant from the wheelbarrow waving at her. Lola’s convinced something weird is afoot, especially when Grandma’s polytunnel smells decidedly odd, tomatoes grow so much they explode and the veggies start leaping about.

Lola and Larch decide to make a foray into the forest to investigate. Shock horror: the fairy kingdom is almost completely overgrown; Their encounter with King Ash (the fairy king) leads to a suggestion that the dastardly Euphorbia Spurge is behind what’s happened; furthermore he insists that Larch remains rather than return to the human world with Lola.
It’s a tearful Lola who sets off back to her Grandma’s but on the way a tiny fairy, Con, gives her a special leaf that will enable her to talk to Larch without being able to see her so long as Larch too is holding a similar leaf.

That night Lola is awoken by Larch’s voice coming from the special linden leaf and before you can say ‘Sunshine Spell’ she’s up and out to a forest rendezvous with Larch.

Then with Euphorbia’s purple magic swirling around them, the two friends head for her house. A difficult journey for Lola, but they must get there and retrieve the distilled sunlight that’s a vital ingredient for the all important Sunshine Spell that will break Euphorbia’s magic. Can they save the day once more?

Another mix of enchantment and friendship that will delight fans of the first story in the series, again with Rachel Seago’s black and white illustrations that bring out the humour throughout this second adventure.

Mirabelle and the Picnic Pranks
Harriet Muncaster
Oxford Children’s Books

Mirabelle has promised her Mum that she’ll be on her best behaviour when their new neighbours, Fredrick, Felice and their son Oswald come for a barbecue. So how come her brother Wilbur discovers frogspawn in his drink when they all sit down for the feast? Not only that but the kitchen floor is awash after Mirabelle’s mopping.

When Mum comes in with a pile of dirty crockery she goes flying, dropping what she’s carrying and smashing it to smithereens. The result is that Mirabelle is sent up to her bedroom. From there she watches as her brother and Oswald head for the sprinkler. Longing to join them but realising she’d be spotted, Mirabelle finds a sneaky plan has come into her mind; one she just can’t ignore. Out comes her potion bottle necklace, her swimming costume and her special fairy wings, off comes the lid of her shrinking potion bottle and …

Having eventually succeeded in descending to the garden, Mirabelle starts to wish she’d stayed in her bedroom. Indeed before long she realises that the whole escapade is a big mistake. Then she hears her distressed-sounding mum shouting that her daughter isn’t in her bedroom. Can Mirabelle restore herself to her normal size and if so, what will her parents and the visitors have to say? Let’s just say that one of the latter surprises everyone at her reaction.

This sixth story starring the mischievous Mirabelle will delight her countless young fans who will be rooting for her throughout. Anyone for trifle?

Unicornia: Learning to Fly

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Unicornia: Learning to Fly
Ana Punset, illustrated by Diana Vicedo
Walker Books

Young Claudia, the narrator of this story, has recently moved to the city of Unicornia. Her first day at the Unicornia Academy of Magic proves much more challenging than she’d anticipated: her potion mixing goes wrong to the amusement of her classmates and then she’s too upset to participate in the Unicorn Flying class which displeases teacher, Mr Trot, especially with an assessment imminent.

Meanwhile, her parents have opened a shop selling magical food and it’s here that she encounters two familiar-looking girls who introduce themselves as her classmates, Pippa and Sara, Before long the three girls are laughing together and Claudia has two new friends. The next day’s spell mixing lesson goes much better thanks to Pippa and Sara and in Magical History Claudia makes another friend, a crow named Nibbles. However the Unicorn Flying class does not go well.

Pippa and Sara take Claudia around the city to get to know it better and one place they visit is a shelter for unicorns, another is the school stables after the staff have left, their intention being for Claudia and Chai (the unicorn Mr Trot had introduced to her) to get to know one another better. Can Pippa and Sara help Claudia form a bond with the unicorn and make sufficient progress to succeed in tomorrow’s flying exam?

Bursting with excitement, and with whimsical illustrations by Diana Vicedo at every turn of the page, this enchanting chapter book is perfect for new solo readers especially lovers of fantasy and magic stories.

Bird Boy

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Bird Boy
Catherine Bruton
Nosy Crow

Following the death of his mother, Will is sent to live with his Uncle Ian in a wild part of the Lake District. Will blames himself for the tragic accident that resulted in his mother’s death, but staying with her estranged brother is his only option while he waits for documents to be processed, after which he will move to Australia and live with his paternal grandparents. This new life couldn’t be more different from his enclosed, homeschooled life in a city tower-block where his mother had kept him cut off to ‘keep him safe’ so she said. Together they would spend time watching the birds and his mother had passed on her love of birds to her son, frequently telling him, “We will all come back as birds “.

Will feels overwhelmed as he battles with his grief and then two things happen: he meets Omar at a nature camp he attends during the day when his uncle is at work; and the boys discover an osprey nest with two tiny chicks in the mountains. It’s an amazing find as ospreys are one of the most endangered species in the country and haven’t been seen in this area.

The boys form a strong bond; Omar (a refugee from Afghanistan) shares Will’s passion for birds, while battling his own issues. Then Will rescues the chick that’s injured, unknowingly breaking the law and the friends devote themselves to caring for the little bird they name Whitecap, ‘the little one with the snow-tipped wings and forget-me-not blue eyes’, that reminds Will of his mum. However before long the boys realise that they have embarked upon way more than they can cope with; but dare they risk seeking help from someone else?

Little by little as the bird heals, so too does Will. Gradually he finds solace and even joy in his new life and his love for his well-meaning uncle grows. It’s hugely moving to see Will now able to support Omar in his grief, as Omar supported him, and with the help of the community both boys gradually face up to their loss.

This magnificent, profoundly moving story explores big themes including death, mental health, grief, depression and the lives of asylum seekers with huge sensitivity and optimism. showing how nature’s healing power, friendship, a sense of belonging and finding a family can provide the strength to rise above tragedy. Have a box of tissues to hand as you read.

Gordon the Meanest Goose on Earth

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Gordon the Meanest Goose on Earth
Alex Latimer
Oxford Children’s Books

Gordon the goose is thoroughly mean, way more mean than any of the other geese on the entire planet biting and snapping, shouting and imposing impossible tasks on his fellow geese and any other creature unlucky enough to encounter him. He even goes so far as to make lists of mean things to do before setting out each day to make life miserable for anyone and everyone in the seaside town of Grover Gardens.

On this particular day he heads first to the zoo where, having donned a zoo-keeper’s hat and shirt, sets about his mean activities. These he continues throughout the day until having departed the zoo, he makes for the promenade, there to scare the wits out of a baby. As he rehearses his nasty words he finds his path blocked by Anthony the Piglet, the very same piglet that he’d directed towards an open tiger’s cage earlier. In his trotter Anthony holds a flower; this he hands to a surprised Gordon.

With his chance at shouting at the baby gone, Gordon heads for home and having placed the flower in water, lies awake all night pondering upon having been given a kind gift.

Next morning he sallies forth determined to forget the flower and resume his mean acts, in particular punching a shark in the belly from within. The result is utter failure: could Anthony and that flower be the cause? Maybe a consultation with fellow members of the Meanest Goose Society will help. A plan is made and Gordon confronts Anthony demanding to know why he gave him the flower. How the piglet responds causes Gordon to set out for the beach again the following day, where a startling understanding suddenly dawns as he chats with Anthony.

Another day goes by with the writing of an invitation, another meeting with Anthony and the utterance of some words that the goose finds very difficult to say. Could saying ‘I’m sorry’ be the bravest thing Gordon has ever done in his entire life.? And could it mean a very different way of being for a certain goose?

This is picture book creator Alex Latimer’s first foray into books for new solo readers and with its numerous laugh-out-loud moments and comical, cartoon-style illustrations made with a few deft strokes of his pen, he’s got a winner here.

The Pinchers and the Dog Chase

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The Pinchers and the Dog Chase
Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson (translated from the original Swedish by Julia Marshall)
Gecko Press

This is the second adventure of the Pinchers, a family of thieves, all except for young Theo, the son of Rob and Nic Pincher and sister of Ellen. Theo is the honest one . the star of this book, who unbeknown to the others, aspires to become a police officer like neighbour Paul Eessman.
There’s a new guy on the block, a second police officer and an extremely dictatorial one at that. On his first encounter with Theo he calls the lad a thief and demands to see the receipt for the Pincher family’s dog, Sherlock. Unless Theo can produce said receipt it’s likely that Sherlock will join the other pooches that this newbie officer Clive has already impounded at the police station. The thing is Stola Pincher, retired robber, currently serving time in jail was the person who acquired Sherlock, so it’s unlikely she’ll have an ownership receipt.

Things get even worse when Clive takes Ellen and Theo to the police station accusing them of stealing from a candy store. Another receipt is demanded, which of course Ellen doesn’t have.

Pretty soon the siblings learn the impounded pooches are destined to be sent to the North Pole. Pretty quickly coffee cups start flying, splashing hot coffee in Clive’s face and the children make a dash for it.
A decision is made to hide Sherlock with Gran aka Stola Pincher at the jail, so being Saturday Nic and the children pay her a visit and almost unbelievably, Gran produces a valid receipt for Pincher from none other than Ollie Bowser, dog thief. But where is this fellow now? In a new job perhaps? Hmm. Could he now be wearing a uniform and demanding receipts? Can Theo pull off a rescue plan and save not only their own dog but others too?

With the occasional chapter narrated by Sherlock himself, this zany chapter book for new solo readers will leave them hoping for another madcap Pinchers’ instalment. Those who didn’t read the first book may well want to go back and do so now.

Bertha & Blink: Rumble in the Jungle

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Bertha & Blink: Rumble in the Jungle
Nicola Colton
Little Tiger

As a result of her BESTest friend, a fellow inventor, stealing the design for her latest invention when he was supposedly giving her feedback, Bertha has packed up and moved far away from her city home.
She now lives in a workshop hidden high up among the trees. It’s there she happily works away at new inventions especially the Garb-o-Guise, her current project, which is near to completion. As she is adding the finishing touches there comes loud THWACKing, BOOMing, THUDDING sounds. So distracting are the sounds that she goes outside to investigate but she can’t find anything out of the ordinary. Back she goes but almost immediately there comes a RUMBLE in the jungle that scatters the contents of her workshop every which way. Determined to put a stop to the hullabaloo once and for all, she gets out an invention she’d previously been working on. Then out on her terrace its beam picks out strange but unidentifiable shapes.

Suddenly in front of her there lands a bird who introduces herself as Mona the post bird before whizzing off on her rounds. This give Bertha a brainwave. She sets to work and creates a mechanical bird that she names Blink. Blink is highly excitable but also very biddable. Away whizzes Blink, thrilled to be out in the jungle. When she returns, more rattling sounds start and that prompts Bertha to summon up all her courage and sally forth with Blink.

Can Agents Bertha and Blink finally find out where that noise is coming from? If so, what then…
The final spreads neatly set the scene for their next adventure.

With speech bubbles aplenty and lots of noises off as the story unfolds, readers just starting to fly solo, will delight in the amalgam of words and pictures Nicola Colton (author/illustrator of the Jasper and Fluff books) has created in this series opener.

Croaky: Search for the Sasquatch

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Croaky: Search for the Sasquatch
Matty Long
Oxford Children’s Books

Young frog Croaky Hopper longs for adventure, wanting to be like his hero, TV adventurer Tennessee Toad. However, his Aunt Lilly dismisses his desire for riding rickety mine carts along rusty rails and hopping across crocodile-infested rivers and instead sends him off to join the Woggle Scouts. The sort of friends Croaky wants to make though aren’t the kind that tie knots and bake biscuits; rather he wants adventure-loving pals. All he finds when he arrives are clever-clogs mouse Sheena, intent only on acquiring badges, and Winston a rather old-looking puffin. Croaky is not impressed, nor does he believe that the other members of the group are out selling biscuits to old people.

However things change dramatically as a result of the newcomer deciding to ignore the ‘Ultimate Danger’ notice on the door beside the store cupboard. Down he tumbles into a secret adventuring museum full of bits and pieces from only Winston knows where. While down below Croaky also comes upon a map and come the weekend the three scouts embark on a camping expedition to Crystal Creek National Park. The hope is that they will track down the long lost Sasquatch.

Things don’t get off to a very good start though for the wind whisks the map right out of Winston’s wing. Lost in a huge forest sans map is not in the plan, a plan that quickly turns into a survival mission, especially when the compass is broken. Deciding sleep is their only option, they huddle round a fire and things start looking rather better until Winston disappears and operation search begins.

Endlessly enthusiastic, Croaky leads the two towards a mountain, one he climbs using his tongue while Sheena takes the longer route. What do they discover next? … And will they all make it safely back to base camp?

Madcap humour abounds and Matty Long’s new characters are a terrific trio. Long live the Woggle Scouts: this account of their adventuring is smashing fun for new solo readers.

Dino Dad

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Dino Dad
Andy Day, illustrated by Steven Lenton
Puffin Books

Dinosaur daftness to delight comes in the form of a Dino-Dad-Day spent with six year old narrator, Ruby Thumb, her little sister Indiana (Little Indie for short) and their dad, who is a dinosaur expert. Mum, a rare animal photographer, is at work. The adventure takes place on a Saturday and is precipitated by Indie consuming some of Dad’s ‘prehistoric’ porridge then going into his study during a game of hide-and-seek and roaring while they waited for him to clear up a gooey porridgy mess.

When Ruby gives chase, she discovers that her little sibling has vanished. As a result Dad then reveals something he’s always kept quiet about : Ruby is a POOPA – A Protector Of Our Prehistoric Allies – so too are Dad, Mum and Indie. Dad suspects Indie touched his magical ammonite shell when in his study and has accidentally been transported to Dinnotropolis.

Time for Dad and Ruby to use their special POOPA powers and go to her rescue. So begins a madcap chase to discover Indie’s whereabouts before she creates too much havoc on that secret island

and get her safely home before Mum returns in the evening.

Penned by CBeebies host Andy Day, with terrific black and white illustrations by Steven Lenton at almost every turn of the page, this is ideal for younger newly confident readers as well as a fast moving read aloud for those around Ruby’s age.

Adventuring with Ivy Newt

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Ivy Newt and the Storm Witch
Ivy Newt and the Time Thief
Derek Keilty, illustrated by Magda Brol
Scallywag Press

These enchanting stories are set in the world of Miracula and in the Storm Witch, the first, Ivy Newt, daughter of the King and Queen of the Sand Witches is celebrating her birthday. However, due to inclement weather her friends are unable to come to her party and share the culinary treats such as scream cheese, lemon and slime cake with marsh maggots. No matter, her parents have prepared an extra special surprise for Ivy – a disappearing act; the trouble is that they really do vanish for good: a mistake or a sinister happening? It’s up to Ivy and her familiar, a shape-shifting wolf/boy Tom to discover what is behind this harrowing situation and bring back her parents. This means Ivy must fly way outside her comfort zone, but she and Tom are a great team and with the help of Felix, son of the Carpet Wizard King, determination and magic, they might just defeat the evil Queen Clawdelia.

New solo readers will delight in this charmer of a tale with its mix of frights and gentle humour, and Magda Brol’s fantastic black and white illustrations at every turn of the page; if you read this aloud to children make sure they see those.

The Time Thief takes place at Halloween when every year come sunrise, a spooky haunted house, appears near Newt Castle, only to disappear again at the stroke of midnight. Queen Fenella tells her daughter, the place is cursed and she’s to stay away and instead help with the preparations for the party in the castle.
However, Ivy’s disobedient streak wins out and off she goes with Tom to investigate and they hope, solve the disappearing house mystery. When they tumble in, the two discover an imprisoned witch in a sorry state, thanks to her own doing and that of sorcerer Thaddeus Creep from whom she stole a clock, a clock that is broken and needs to be fixed urgently, which means before the last stroke of midnight. With occasional tummy churning moments and some wonderful new characters all ends satisfactorily, and will leave readers eagerly anticipating further adventures.
Her latest being

Ivy Newt and the Swamp Dragons

Ivy has some unlikely adversaries in this story, they’re not the titular Swamp Dragons; rather a thoroughly nasty bullying character, Trouble Ivy who appears as the result of Ivy tipping a whole bottle of her Gran’s Double Trouble Bubble Bath into the tub before she takes a dip. Little does she know however that it’s so old the magic ingredients are well out of date and hence both she and Tom now have doubles – exceedingly troublesome ones as she’s soon to discover.

The purpose of Ivy’s stay at Gran’s is so she can see for the first time, the Swamp Dragons Gran is so excited about when they stop for a few days to rest on their way to their winter home in the Dragon Isles. Now with Trouble Ivy and some allies causing chaos, Ivy will have to use all her ingenuity and summon up her bravery to defeat her enemies, save The Book Wizard’s Library and prevent the kingdom of Miracula being incinerated. Can she do it? Possibly, with assistance from friends, be they established or new ones.

Readers will be rooting for eight year old Ivy as they’re whooshed along to the end, eager to discover how things turn out. It matters not whether they have met Ivy before or are new to this series thanks in no small part, to Magda Bro’s map of Miracula and potrait gallery of the characters. They are a great counterpart for Derek Keilty’s text with its satisfying mix of magic, mischief, drama and gentle humour.

The Pinchers and the Diamond Heist / Magic Keepers: Mysterious Mishaps

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The Pinchers and the Diamond Heist
Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson
Gecko Press

The opening chapter in this story for new solo readers reveals that only one of the Pincher family is honest; that’s Theo. His mum, dad and sister are thieves and lie all the time: the first names of the entire family are puns based on thieving: Theo’s parents are Nic and Rob, his sister is Criminellen (Ellen for short), Gran is Stola (she’s in prison) Before the story proper begins we learn a bit about each person – what they like to steal, tools they use and their personal motto. Next door to the Pinchers lives Paul Essman, a police officer, something Theo aspires to be.

When a diamond exhibition at the Royal Palace is announced in the newspaper Theo’s parents start planning their next crime. Then with bag duly packed, they leave the children and head off. Come bedtime Theo’s story reading prowess isn’t up to scratch so accompanied by his sister, he goes next door to ask Paul to read Ellen her bedtime story. He also divulges where their parents have gone and that’s where officer Paul immediately heads, leaving the children sans adult once again.

To satisfy Ellen’s need for adult company they head next to prison to visit Grandma. Once inside, all manner of crazy shenanigans ensue: there’s a break out, an encounter with policeman Paul, and the escapees plus Theo and Ellen head to the exhibition where more high drama takes place. Theo then devises a plan to get everyone home, there’s a surprise reveal, romance in the offing and through all this, apart from one time on purpose, Theo has remained a truth teller.

Zany illustrations of the crazy antics of members of the cast appear on almost every spread and are sure to illicit lots of giggles from young readers. If you want to discover your inner Pincher, the tongue-in-cheek back matter that follows the light-hearted story might prove useful.

Magic Keepers: Mysterious Mishaps
Linda Chapman, illustrated by Hoang Giang
Little Tiger

Strange things start to happen following a visit from Jo, one of Ava’s mum’s book club friends who has come to take photos for a poster she’s designing. It transpires that she’s photographed one of the magical curios – a golden chalice left by Ava’s great aunt. Since then their home town has been struck by a stream of accidents including a tree crashing into Jo’s front garden wall blocking the road and Jo jumping to avoid a lorry and ending up with a sprained wrist.

This object is a the Cup of Savnoch, a ’curse cup’ and best friends Ava, Sarah and Lily set about translating the writing they find on the front to find out what kind of curse it contains. This they do over the weekend and having cracked the code and read the writing, work out that there are only a couple of days of the five mentioned remaining in which to break the curse. Can they do what’s needed?

With plenty of black and white illustrations by Hoang Giang, this is another exciting story in the magical series, and one wherein Ava learns that her difficulty with spelling, written grammar and punctuation indicate she’s most likely to have dyslexia, which makes her feel so much better about herself.

Dirty Bertie Wild! / Puppy Club: Minnie Home Alone

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These are both additions to series popular with new solo readers: thanks to the publisher Little Tiger for sending them for review.

Dirty Bertie Wild!
Alan Macdonald illustrated by David Roberts

The small boy with some disgusting habits returns for three more crazy escapades. The first, from which the book takes its name is an account of a class visit to Go Wild, a trip Bertie anticipates will be the best school outing ever, especially as the children are allowed to get muddy. However his spirits fall considerably when he learns that he’s been assigned to timid Mr Weakly’s group, the worst possible person to have as leader. There’s absolutely no chance that his group will win the prize for the best group – or is there?
Vroom! sees Bertie’s Gran deciding to start driving lessons so she can take her test in her brand new sporty red Mini. A recipe for disaster surely especially with Bertie and dog Whiffler in the car while she’s being instructed and can you believe when she takes her test. Never mind if she fails – there are always alternative ways of travelling.
Finally in Grounded, Bertie goes to great lengths to join his friends Darren and Eugene when they go skateboarding in the park.

Puppy Club: Minnie Home Alone
Catherine Jacob, illustrated by Rachael Saunders

Harper is really looking forward to her first school residential trip – four days away from home. However she’s very concerned about how her puppy Minnie will cope with being left alone when her parents are both at work and with his business taking off, Dad too is quite likely to be out of the house. The last time he’d left Minnie by herself she chewed through the cable of his laptop. She begins to think that perhaps she should pull out of the trip.
Harper and her friends do some research and learn that separation anxiety is a common problem with puppies. So begins ‘Operation Home Alone’ as they call it, with just two weeks to go until that school trip. As Harper tells Dad when they’re out for an early morning walk with Minnie, the business of ‘having a puppy is a learning experience for all of us.’ How true that is: it seems to be one step forward and then several back whenever Minnie is left alone.Then Dad drops a bombshell: he’s going to be on a business trip that coincides with Harper’s time away.
Her fellow Puppy Clubbers rally round doing everything they can, but will it be enough to ensure Minne is okay in Harper’s absence?
Another wonderfully warm story of camaraderie for young KS2 readers especially those who love dogs.

Bear and Bird : The Adventure and Other Stories

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Bear and Bird : The Adventure and Other Stories
Jarvis
Walker Books

The first of the four short episodes about best friends Bird and Bear – The Nothing – takes place on a Tuesday, the pals’ usual day for spotting clouds but on this particular Tuesday Bird is poorly, so instead Bear endeavours to make his friend feel better. However she declines his offers of chewy things and other foodie favourites; it’s also a no to a story, a new wonky stick and dancing. ‘Nothing” is all Bird wants. Bear is on his way out when Bird calls him back with a request. Can you guess what it is?

With Bird feeling somewhat better, the two set off for some cloud searching when they come upon a sign, DO NOT GO IN THE HOLE, Bear reads. Off they go again, Bear with his mind on clouds, Bird preoccupied with wondering what his friend is thinking about. Suddenly Bear realises he’s lost Bird and vice-versa. Bird thinks of The Hole. Could Bear be stuck down there? Bird goes to look and finds a stick that’s just right for a rescue.

But who rescues whom?

Episode three sees Bear and Bird at Leaky Lake where they come upon The Mole, a creature whose jokes Bear finds funny. Soon Bird starts to feel left out and so she decides on a get rid of Mole plan. However, things don’t quite go as she hopes as it’s Bear who feels upset. Can they remain bestest
friends or will Mole come between them?


In the final episode Mole is still waiting when the two return to the lake and he has a surprise in store: a little boat – just the thing for The Adventure under Mole’s captaincy. No matter if they encounter such things as pirates and sea monsters, they’ll surely keep each other safe.

As with previous titles in the series, this delightful duo will amuse both emergent readers and young listeners with their ups and downs and silliness that are beautifully captured in words and pictures by the inimitable Jarvis.

Isadora Moon Helps Out / Emerald and the Lost Treasure

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These are new titles in hugely popular Oxford Children’s Books series for new solo readers. Thanks to the publishers for sending them for review.

Isadora Moon Helps Out
Harriet Muncaster

When Isadora’s Mum is in bed with fairy flu, the little half fairy half vampire excitedly takes on the role of nurse. It’s not long though before her enthusiastic helping starts going wrong – very wrong. The special breakfast of strawberries is over creamy, the bathroom is awash with pink bubbly water and Dad finds himself sitting in the middle of a mess on the bathroom floor. Feeling rather guilty, Isadora offers to make amends by doing something ‘really helpful’ for her mum. However Dad’s instruction to tidy her bedroom isn’t quite what Isadora meant by ‘anything’. Instead she heads outside to Mum’s greenhouse where she accidentally spills some special soil that makes things grow extra big, extra fast. It turns out that it’s not just plants it has that effect on though.

Is there anything Isadora can get right? Happily yes and all ends perfectly.
It hardly seems possible that this is book nineteen in the highly illustrated series that has worked its special magic to help countless young children make the transition to early chapter books.

Emerald and the Lost Treasure
Harriet Muncaster

This is the first story in which Isadora Moon, Mirabelle and Emerald appear together. As it begins Emerald is preparing for a school trip. As part of an environmental project, Finders Keepers, she and her class are to spend the day sea combing – picking up rubbish dropped by humans that ends up on the ocean floor. Each pupil must keep one of the objects they find and write about it in a story later on. Emerald’s classmates soon find exciting jewellery type treasures for their stories; Emerald finds a teddy bear in the seaweed. She thinks it’s cute and is tempted to keep it but it has a tag saying it belongs to Jack who lives in Scallop Bay lighthouse: ‘finders-keepers’ is the rule under the sea, her friend Marina reminds her so Emerald takes it, promising Bertie bear that she’ll look after him. However, that evening Marina is having dinner at Emerald’s home and Emerald tells her friend that she doesn’t feel right about keeping the teddy and asks if her friend, land dweller Isadora Moon might assist them in returning Bertie to Jack.

Off goes a letter to Isadora requesting her help and on the Sunday morning they both set off to the suggested meeting place in the hope that Isadora will turn up. She does and together the three plus Mirabelle’s aunt embark on operation find Jack.


Happily Jack is sitting on the rocks by the lighthouse and he’s overjoyed to see his bear again. He shows the visitors around the lighthouse and a friendship develops which leads to Jack demonstrating his drawing prowess. Can you guess what Emerald decides is the best treasure of all?

With themes of caring for our planet and doing the right thing, this magical story will delight young readers and give them plenty to think about. Harriet’s illustrations are gorgeous and she also provides some ‘fintastic’ activities at the back of the book.,

Adventuremice: Mice on the Moon / Dream Weavers: Roar of the Hungry Beast

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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.

Rudy and the Ghastly Gathering / Press Start: Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off!

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Rudy and the Ghastly Gathering
Paul Westmoreland, illustrated by George Ermos
Oxford Children’s Books

When Rudy and Femi are invited to Edie’s birthday party they are warned that ghost parties are ‘a little different’. It’s in a haunted house after all, but why has Edie been keeping the event under wraps? Nevertheless the two are determined to make it her best birthday so far. Come Saturday the friends skate their way to Edie’s home taking with them her special present, a present they decide won’t compete with the super bike her dad conjures up. As expected Edie wants to try it out at the Skateway immediately, so off they go, with Edie’s little spirit-sister Holly tagging along.

Once there Holly straightway starts drawing attention to herself pretending to vanish and it becomes difficult to tell which disappearances are pretence and which real. It’s down to the friends to work out what’s what and find Holly before she’s washed away by raging river water. Can they do so and what about Edie’s birthday party? Will a spookily special celebration be shared by all?

This latest exciting adventure wherein friendship and teamwork are vital will be eagerly seized by fans of the series. Those who have yet to discover the joys of Paul Westmoreland’s gothic-inspired early readers, powerfully illustrated by George Ermos, would be better to read the first story Rudy and the Wolf Cub beforehand.

Press Start: Super Rabbit Boy Blasts Off!
Thomas Flintham
Nosy Crow

I know many Super Rabbit enthusiasts who will want to join Sunny and Super Rabbit Boy on another adventure. As the book opens a party is under way in Animal Town in celebration of the dastardly King Viking having gone away for ever, destination outer space. But suddenly in the middle of town a rocket lands from which disembarks a green alien calling itself Glob Glorp. The message is that King Viking and his army of robots is causing a lot of trouble in outer space. The alien lends Super Rabbit Boy his Level 1 rocket and off zooms the rabbit to deal with things.

Tasks entail overcoming mega Rocket Robots and their bosses and saving lots of aliens including Flobs and Roo-Roos, in order to upgrade his rocket to higher levels, till he has a Level 10 rocket, but he still hasn’t found the evil King Viking. Eventually with a Level 11 rocket, Super Rabbit Boy lands and comes face to face with the being he thinks is the one he seeks. But could it be somebody else? If so, then what?

This fifth episode moves at a rapid pace that will please young video game enthusiasts as well as fans of the series. It’s also a good one to offer older reluctant readers.

Diary of an Accidental Witch: Magic Ever After / The Story Shop: Detective Dash / Nikhil and Jay Flying High

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Diary of an Accidental Witch: Magic Ever After
Perdita & Honor Cargill, illustrated by Katie Saunders
Little Tiger


The Easter holidays are fast approaching for Bea Black. First though she needs to discover what is wrong with her Dad. In addition there’s the upcoming annual Eggastraordinary Eggy Day and Bea is still working on improving her spelling. To keep her sweet, Bea is helping at Taffy’s teashop and being paid in cakes. You may be surprised to learn that Bea’s Dad is also working obsessively on his spells, which makes his daughter suspect that something is up.


When Taffy takes Bea into her confidence things become clearer but she’s charged with keeping Taffy’s proposal plan a secret, which is far from easy. Why, Dad wants to know, can’t he wear his favourite scruffy jumper to the venue; after all it is supposed to be a newt-watching trip..


Despite near disaster, the couple agree to get married and then there’s just the matter of a wedding and all that entails, to focus on. Bea is definitely going to need lots of help from friends and family.
Without giving too much away, let’s just say that Bea’s final diary entry in this book starts ‘BEST.NIGHT.OF.MY.LIFE’.


You can’t ask for more and readers will certainly be more than satisfied. Team Cargill and Saunders have again created a winner.

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The Story Shop: Detective Dash
Tracey Corderoy and Tony Neal
Little Tiger

When shopkeeper Wilbur and his assistant, Fred Ferret arrive in their shop early one morning they’re puzzled to hear a strange sound. It turns out that a ferret has fallen asleep and is snoring. Once awake she introduces herself as Snoozy Suzy saying she’s eager for an adventure.

Suzy elects to be a detective, Fred adds some ingredients to the Story Pot, stirs the mix, and POP! the two of them find themselves in The Museum of Wonder where they learn, a robbery has taken place. Suzy informs the strange man, Ivar Plan busy with a display of lamps, that they’re there to solve the case of the cursed teeth. It turns out that Ivar is actually a robber and the lamps are part of his clever plan to steal priceless articles from the museum. Can Suzy and Fred save the day?


In episode two I S-Pie Trouble!, the pair are at the seaside where one of the posh hotels is in uproar due to the disappearance of Chef Humble who is supposed to be presenting his delicious new creation, the ‘Whatever You Wish For Pie’ at a banquet that coming Friday. After a night’s sleep Fred and Suzy peruse the clues they’d found the previous day and are about to have breakfast when they learn that a new chef has turned up offering to step in and save the banquet – at a price. Things seem decidedly fishy to the detective duo. Will they find the real chef in time for the Friday night banquet?


The riverside village of Watery Bottom is where the third episode is set. Here Suzy and Fred are tasked with discovering the truth about the Demon Duck of Doom. To do so they need to participate in a Doomseeker Expedition led by young April Button. But what is she up to and why?


Full of surprises, this fourth Story Shop book with its wealth of fun illustrations is again just right for younger readers.

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Nikhil and Jay Flying High
Chitra Soundar, illustrated by Soofia
Otter-Barry Books


The fourth book in the charming series for new solo readers starts one rainy day when Appa goes out to the shed to retrieve to board so the boys can play Dayan but the cat distracts him, he takes a tumble and injures his ankle. Can several rounds of the game, together with a cup of tea and a packed of frozen peas on his foot make him feel better?


Three further stories about the everyday life of Nikil, Jay and their parents follow. They participate, somewhat reluctantly at first, in the local Clean and Green Club at the neighbourhood park and then decide it’s a more enjoyable way to spend a Saturday than they’d anticipated.
Next comes a day of kite flying though they unexpectedly have to make the kites themselves as those that had been ordered aren’t delivered in time and finally, Jay gets himself in a stew about tidying up and soon discovers that doing things without his brother is far less enjoyable than doing them together.


As always bold, cheerful black and white illustrations by Soofiya complement Chitra’s telling of these tales, which are based on her own upbringing.

Princess Minna: The Wicked Wood / Mermaid Academy: Maya and Rainbow

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These are additions to popular Nosy Crow series for younger readers: thanks to the publisher for sending them for review

Princess Minna: The Wicked Wood
Kirsty Applebaum, illustrated by Sahar Haghgoo

There’s nothing multi-talented young Princess Minna likes better that sorting out problems in her kingdom but she wakes one morning to discover that not only are her parents, the King and Queen missing but so too is her best friend, Lorenzo the dragon. This requires help, she decides. She dashes into town where she learns from some woodcutters that the missing characters were heading for the Wicked Wood where resides the Wicked Witch and all manner of wicked creatures. Somebody needs to rescue them but those woods are so terribly creepy that Princess Minna hopes one of the townsfolk will offer to go instead of her. Up steps Little Betty Button and with a bag of breadcrumbs, she sets forth leaving a trail, through the Enchanted Forest towards Wicked Woods; but she doesn’t return. A similar thing happens with two more volunteers.

Eventually Minna realises there’s no option but to go herself. After a time she reaches a clearing and what she discovers there is a real surprise. A very unusual house. Yes all the missing characters are there but almost immediately, so too is the ‘Wicked Witch’. But is she really the wicked character she’s rumoured to be? And why are the Big, Queen and Lorenzo in the Wicked Woods? To reveal the reason would be to spoil the story so I’ll just say all ends happily with Minna et al safely back at Castle Tall-Towers.

Borrowing the occasional traditional fairy tale trope, team Applebaum and Hagoo has created another magical story for readers just starting to fly solo.

Mermaid Academy: Maya and Rainbow
Julie Sykes and Linda Chapman, illustrated by Lucy Truman

As the story opens lesson-loving, organised Maya wonders whether she and her fun loving dolphin, Rainbow will ever bond; could it be that they’re just too different to become real partners?
Then comes an announcement from Dr Oceania: to help them become good ocean guardians, all the first year students and their dolphins are to go on a team-building camping trip to the Northern Fjords to study the flora and fauna. Each dorm must complete a co-operative project. They’ll leave the very next day by Magical Globe, so the students must make sure they have the necessary equipment ready and Maya and her dorm friends are determined to come up with a very special, winning project.

Before leaving they decide on the focus of their project. Before leaving too, Maya realises that she’s not as good at making bubble tunnels as she is at everything else she’s tried and not being perfect is something that bothers her a lot. However she doesn’t ask her friends for help for fear of losing her star pupil image. But she’ll come to regret this decision during the three days camping expedition.

Will she change her mind and have the courage to seek assistance? Possibly, after some timely conversation with Rainbow …

Containing an important life lesson, this latest Mermaid Academy adventure has all the magical ingredients series followers enjoy including Lucy Truman’s black and white illustrations.

Adventuremice: Mice on the Ice

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

This is my first encounter with the Adventuremice and it mattered not that I wasn’t familiar with their back story. Mice on the Ice is an immediately engaging tale of camaraderie and problem solving, and this book has a decidedly chilly feel to it as overnight snow has transformed Mouse Islands into a sparkling white world. Not only is it white but the sea has already frozen over. Relative newcomer to the group, Pedro, is somewhat confused and finds it difficult to negotiate the icy world. However he is looking forward eagerly to the upcoming Frost Fair for which preparations are underway..

Then comes bad news from the Frost Fair organising committee; the group of mice that had gone to the mainland to collect all the treats for the fair have been stranded on account of the frozen sea and cannot return.


Should they cancel the event or is there perhaps a way that a rescue operation might be staged, after all problem solving is the Adventuremice’s forte. Pedro has an idea … could it possibly save the Frost Fair and bring seasonal joy to the entire town?

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They’ll certainly have to outwit the cat, Fluffykins with her viciously sharp claws and teeth.


Both author and illustrator know just what works with children just starting to fly solo as readers: exciting, sometimes quirky plots with innovative outcomes, main characters that are brave and kind, and illustrations full of fanciful details. This story has all that and more.

Bear and Bird: The Stars and other stories

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Bear and Bird: The Stars and other stories
Jarvis
Walker Books


Four more tales starring two best friends who have a tendency to misunderstand one another.
The first, The Spoon, tells what happens when the pair fall out over a spoon and as a result, each of them decides a new best friend is needed. Bear writes a letter advertising his need, folds it into a paper boat and sends it out onto the lake. Bird finds it and responds and so it goes on each saying something about themself. Thirteen boat letters later, a breakfast meeting is arranged at Badger’s cafe.

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Both arrive at the venue, seat themselves at separate tables and wait … and wait … What will be the outcome? Could a spoon (or two) lead to a reconciliation?


The Cake refers to one made by Bear after he’s scoffed the one he finds on the way to Bird’s abode. Unsure who the original cake was intended for, Bear tosses ingredients into the mix that could please more than one recipient and the result is, let’s say, revolting. Nevertheless he hides it and when Bird comes along, Bear draws her attention to the ‘surprise’. A surprise it surely is, but not a pleasant one. Will either of the two dare to sample said cake?


The Rock also involves a cake, or rather the desire for one. It begins at the market. where Bear tells Bird to wait while he goes and buys the cake.

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Bird decides to sit on a ‘rock’ so her friend will know where she is. However, the rock isn’t what it seems.


Finally, The Stars is all about dreaming and wishing and the friends decide so doing is pretty close to perfection.


Jarvis has the kind of wry, gentle humour that appeals both to young children and adults. These stories are as seductive as the first four, full of charm, warmth and genuine affection. Perfect for new solo readers or for sharing.



Kitty and the Snowball Bandit / Rudy and the Forbidden Lake

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Additions to two popular series from Oxford Children’s Books – thank you to the publisher for sending them for review.

Kitty and the Snowball Bandit
Paula Harrison, illustrated by Jenny Lovlie

There’s a decidedly chilly feel to Kitty’s thirteenth adventure when she wakes one morning to find that snow has fallen overnight. That evening she, her Mum, Dad and her little brother, Max, head to the Winter Fair and while Kitty and her Mum are enjoying themselves on the ice rink, a snowball suddenly hits Kitty and another woman. Soon an announcement is made warning everyone to take care as a Snow Bandit is in the fairground so as it’s late they decide to return home.

At bedtime Kitty is pondering upon the evening’s events when Pixie the cat appears looking very soggy and sad. She too has been hit, seemingly by the Snow Bandit. Kitty gets dressed again, then donning her superhero cape and mask off she goes onto the roof and heads to the park. Before long she’s hit by another snowball and then spies a figure in an orange cloak – the Snow Bandit.

Eventually Kitty finds herself facing her adversary, also wearing superhero gear and learns that she’s Sienna, the fox girl.

Suddenly there’s a squeaking sound; it’s three baby rabbits adrift in the middle of the river, caught by the current and heading towards some jagged rocks. Kitty is determined to save them, but can she do so? Maybe if the two combine their super powers and collaborate in a rescue effort. Who knows it might even be the beginning of a new friendship …

Pacey, full of action, cat characters and snowballs, with plenty of Jenny Lovlie’s dramatic, beautifully detailed illustrations, Paula Harrison once again has penned an exciting nocturnal adventure for young readers

Rudy and the Forbidden Lake
Paul Westmoreland, illustrated by George Ermos

It’s the middle of winter and excitement is high in Cobble Cross on the eve of celebrations for the Winter Solstice. Then as the final preparations are being made a terrible storm hits the town. The following morning Rudi’s Dad notices his silver candlestick is missing, then when he goes out to meet his friends, he learns that other things have gone missing. Is it the the result of the strong winds or is there a thief at large.

When Femi’s skateboard disappears too, Rudy and his friends start searching in Gnarlybark Forest and suddenly they hear a POP! followed by several other strange sounds. Bubbles start bursting through the surface of the forbidden lake followed by a strange domed entity. Their instinct is to run away but that won’t solve the problem of the missing things. Instead they creep back together to confront whatever it is in the lake. Tentacles start emerging from the water, one of which wraps around Femi. Eventually the tentacled creature drags itself ashore and little by little, this Squibby thing offers an explanation for its behaviour.

What will happen when Squiggly attempts to apologise to all the townsfolk? Will the ensuing chaos subside in time for the celebrations to go ahead after all?

It’s not easy to find books that appeal to both boy and girl newly independent readers but this series featuring young werewolf, Rudy and his skateboarding pals does just that. So, it’s good to see the gang back in this their fifth book. It’s full of dramatic incidents and as always George Ermos’ stylish energetic illustrations capture the changing mood of the telling, adding additional humour where appropriate.

Isadora Moon and the Frost Festival / MIrabelle and the Haunted House

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These are both new titles in Oxford Children’s Books series for young readers – thanks to the publisher for sending them for review.

Isadora Moon and the Frost Festival
Harriet Muncaster

Isadora Moon stars in – can you believe it – her 18th adventure and it starts on the morning of Midwinter’s Eve, a very special time for the entire Fairy Realm. With an invitation from her Aunt Crystal and Uncle Wren to stay in the Winter Fairy Realm, Isadora is super-excited. Having dressed in her warmest clothes (and dressed her beloved Pink Rabbit) she’s ready to depart just in time for Uncle and Aunt to pick them up in their sleigh. Once at Aunt Crystal’s and Uncle Wren’s home, there’s just time to build a snowman before they fly off to the Frost Festival.

What a lot is going on when they arrive. Isadora meets a silver fairy who introduces herself as Estrella and tells Isadora that she’s lost the star that’s needed to go atop the ice rink fir tree at midnight.

Isadora offers to help her look but in all the excitement she loses her parents. The two now have another search to undertake. As midnight draws ever closer Pink Rabbit takes it upon himself to climb up the very fir tree that still lacks Estrella’s star. Will this turn out to be the magical night that all those attending the Frost Festival had hoped?

With its gentle humour and theme of kindness, this will enchant Isadora’s followers and likely be responsible for starting a fair few other children on the road to becoming independent readers. Best read with a mug of hot chocolate, perhaps made to the recipe given at the end of the book.

MIrabelle and the Haunted House
Harriet Muncaster

One autumn morning Mirabelle’s Mum urgently needs dragongrass flower petals to make some special eyeshadow and it’s finally agreed that the family should combine going on a picnic with hunting for the dragongrass flowers Mum requires. Off they all fly and having found the perfect picnic spot, Mum and Dad lie back and fall fast asleep. Almost immediately Mirabelle and her brother, Wilbur, fall out and the two part company.

Before long Mirabelle discovers a single dragongrass flower but just as she’s going to pick it, Wilbur reappears and stamps on the plant rendering it useless for potion making, claiming it was an accident. Then Mirabelle’s dragon, Violet, flies off frightened by a sudden thunderstorm and when she follows him, Mirabelle finds herself in a clearing outside a tumbledown house. Shortly after, Wilbur arrives and following another squabble the two enter the house. Further bickering ensues and eventually Mirabelle gets so irate she cries, “I wish you’d just disappear!” And Wilbur does.

Can she discover what’s happened to him and find Violet? Perhaps, with some assistance from a friendly ghost, named Luna.

What about that dragongrass flower: can Luna help with that too?

Young readers, especially Mirabelle’s countless human friends, will delight in this the ninth adventure starring the little half fairy, half witch. They’ll also enjoy trying some of the activities after this story.

Princess Minna: The Best Princess / Dragon Storm: Skye and Soulsinger

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Both these books are additions to Nosy Crow series that are hugely popular with fantasy loving newly independent readers: thanks to the publisher for sending them for review

Princess Minna: The Best Princess
Kirsty Applebaum, illustrated by Sahar Haghgoo

For those not familiar with Princess Minna, she lives in Castle Tall-Towers with the King and Queen, wizard Raymond and Lorenzo, the princess’s best dragon friend. Princess Minna loves to sort things out when something isn’t right in the kingdom and she also loves to hear her magic mirror say that she is the best princess of all.

One day though, when she asks the mirror her usual question, she is first puzzled and then very upset at its response: “Well, at the moment, Princess Sky-Blue is the best princess in all the kingdom.” Said princess is apparently on holiday in Princess Minna’s kingdom. Time for the resident princess to put her sorting out skills to use and get rid of this visitor.

Little does Princess Minna know however, that the rival princess also has a number of special skills for sorting things out and she is able to counter each of the brilliant ideas Princess Minna tries with one of her own. It’s only when a unicorn emergency suddenly hits the town that Princess Minna realises that she must reveal what she’s being trying to keep hidden from Princess Sky-Blue.

Will she be happy with what happens thereafter? Let’s just say that those doves are once more swooping around Castle Two-Towers, which once again has that delightful aroma of tutti-frutti ice cream.

These stories are deservedly popular with young first-chapter book readers and her latest adventure will win Princess Minna many more fans as well as pleasing her established followers.

Dragon Storm: Skye and Soulsinger
Alastair Chisholm, illustrated by Eric Deschamps

When Princess Skye returns to Riven, she discovers changes are afoot in the city. Quickly she learns that the kingdom of Draconis is under attack from two previously friendly kingdoms and the king himself has been hurt by dragons. As a result citizens of Draconis are preparing to go to war with the Dragonseer Guild. Skye though, is against the war and knows there is no threat from the Guild. So, when her brother is at a meeting, she creeps into Prince Harald’s room, locates the Dragon’s Eye and asks a question of it.

However, she is discovered in the act by her returning brother and has to postpone her anti-war plan until later. This she then sets in motion with the help of her friend and maid, Moira, eventually finding herself face to face with Mira.

Before long Skye meets Lady Bernie and is told that she’s a dragonseer whose dragon is Firedreamer, about which the princess has serious doubts, doubts which are later justified. Eventually with the danger of dragons disappearing for ever, thanks largely to her brother’s reckless warmongering deeds, Skye brings about a transformatory action and there before her is Soulsinger, her dragon.

How this story ends, I won’t divulge, but with Alastair Chisholm’s exciting storytelling and Eric Deschamp’s splendid illustrations, it will surely satisfy readers.

Elephants Cannot Dance! / Pigs Make Me Sneeze!

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Elephants Cannot Dance!
Pigs Make Me Sneeze!
Mo Willems
Walker Books

Time after time, Mo Willems does it with these hugely funny episodes in the lives of best friends Gerald and Piggie, delivered entirely in hilarious dialogue and through the priceless drawings.

In Elephants Cannot Dance! Piggie announces that she’s teaching all her friends to dance and that includes Gerald. However despite, so he says, that he’d love to learn to dance, Gerald knows that it’s impossible; moreover he has proof. It says so in ‘What Elephants Can Do’ – on page eleven to be precise, which just happens to be the same page number as that particular bit of dialogue. Piggie isn’t having any of that, responding by telling Piggie that the book does NOT say he cannot try so to do. And try is what Gerald does, but his timing and coordination leave a lot to be desired 

as he appears to be doing the opposite of what Piggie instructs. 

Eventually a frustrated Gerald decides he’s had enough; point proved ‘elephants just cannot dance’. Maybe they can teach though …

Good on Piggie who never gives up trying to teach Gerald to dance.

What they both do effortlessly is put across the crucial ‘reading is fun’ message to children learning to read.

Pigs Make Me Sneeze! thinks pachyderm Gerald who just cannot stop sneezing and does so all over Piggie. That is a nuisance just when the two were about to play together, but much worse is the possibility that, so Gerald thinks, he is allergic to pigs and we all know what that means: he can’t go near his bestie.

Off goes Gerald to consult Dr Cat. However during the examination it becomes evident that the pachyderm isn’t suffering from an allergy. His diagnosis is one that demonstrates how best friends share everything and it makes Gerald feel a whole lot better; let’s hope Piggie soon feels better too. 

The expressions on the faces of Gerald and Piggie in this are just wonderful. With its subtle message about not jumping to hasty conclusions, this will delight learner readers and those who listen to the stories.

We Are in a Book! / Can I Play Too?

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We Are in a Book!
Can I Play Too?
Mo Willems
Walker Books

If you’re looking for a book for new solo readers then these two are spot on. I have to admit to being a big Elephant and Piggie enthusiast already however.

We Are in a Book! plays the metafictive card from the moment Elephant suggests to his best pal, ‘I think someone is looking at us.’ Gerald’s concern that it might be a monster is quickly set aside by Piggie’s. “No. It is… / a reader! / A reader is reading us!” Going on to respond to Elephant’s immediate question, by dangling over a speech bubble to demonstrate. Their exuberant enthusiasm is soon followed by a practical joke as Piggie works out how to manipulate the reader

not just once but twice, which the two find utterly hilarious. However Piggie’s mention of the book’s ending sends Elephant into a tizzy and a little bit more reader manipulation occurs – over to you, reader …

Brilliant, cleverly paced and absolutely bananas.

Also hysterical is Can I Play Too? Herein, no sooner have Gerald and Piggie decided to play catch, when Snake slithers up asking to play too. The two are a tad doubtful wondering how an armless reptile can possibly play this game. Snake however is determined to give it a go and the game becomes let’s say, a bit bonkers. They keep trying, adding a lot more balls

but this idea doesn’t work. Surely there must be a way to make this game work for all three of them. Then comes a lightbulb moment for Piggie …

Perfect pacing as always, wonderfully wry humour – ditto, full of heart – tick! and a gentle lesson on inclusivity thrown in.

Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories / A Rabbit Called Clover / The Railway Kitten

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Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories
Jarvis
Walker Books

Bear and Bird are best friends and like most close pals they have their ups and downs:there are jealousies, misunderstandings and some tetchy words but fundamentally each of them wants to make the other happy. Consequently their friendship is strong enough to withstand the downs and focus on enjoying each other’s company. 

In four short stories with Jarvis’ super-cute digital illustrations, readers learn of a rather unfortunate misunderstanding with a talking flower that results from a toppling Bird; a picnic, the preparations for which Bear isn’t completely honest about, the result being the outing doesn’t quite go as intended; an afternoon of painting when Bird feels his talent isn’t quite up to the standard of Bear when it comes to representing a tree,

and finally, a warm, snuggly, fluffy blanket that is very hard to stir from under.
A lovely book for bedtime (especially curled up under a cosy blanket), for foundation stage classroom sharing and discussion; and it’s ideal for those just starting to gain confidence as independent readers.

With a rather more challenging text::

A Rabbit Called Clover
Helen Peters, illustrated by Ellie Snowdon
Nosy Crow

It’s the start of the Easter holidays and Jasmine, daughter of a vet mother and farmer father is anticipating spending lots of time looking after animals, especially keeping things trouble free. But early one evening Jasmine spies two pet rabbits and so begins ‘operation rabbit, the aim being to catch and return the two creatures, which she and her little brother name Clover and Dandelion, safely back to their owner. Not such an easy task as Jasmine first thought but with a bit of help from her best friend, Tom, it might just be possible at least to get them safely into a cage and home to Oak Tree Farm.

It becomes evident that Clover is ace at escaping and they only manage to catch Dandelion, so the hunt is on for the elusive Clover. Moreover, finding the person who is responsible for looking after the pair is only part of the battle.

Delightful, gentle storytelling once again by Helen Peters whose writing is supported by Ellie Snowdon’s plentiful black and white illustrations.

The Railway Kitten
Holly Webb, illustrated by Sophy Williams
Little Tiger

Cat lovers especially will enjoy this heartfelt tale of Scarlett and her friends. On the way to school they notice a kitten at the railway station and are so enchanted by Whiskers as they name her, that when she gets run over, they decide to do everything in their power to save her. 

They take her to the vets and are told that an expensive operation is needed to mend Whiskers’ shattered leg. Her owners can’t possibly afford the vets’ bill but Scarlett and her friends are not going to give up easily. Is there a chance they can raise the money needed to prevent Whiskers from being put down? If so what will happen to her afterwards.

Determination and friendship are key in this gentle story of a Tortoiseshell kitten for younger primary readers. Occasional black and white illustrations by Sophy Williams show just how those involved with Whiskers are feeling.