Tag Nigel Baines

The Memory Key

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The Memory Key
Nigel Baines
Hodder Children’s Books

Lily Slade lives with her mum, Mum’s boyfriend Matt, his son Alex and her Grandad George. Train-loving Grandad has always been her hero but recently he’s been forgetful and confused: he has Alzheimer’s. Mum has started saying that with his deteriorating condition, Grandad will soon need specialist help in a residential home.
When it’s her turn to present her family origin story to her class at school, Lily tells how Grandad originally lived in Hungary and moved to the UK as a child when the political situation in Hungary became repressive. This prompts questions from her classmates but the most important question for Lily remains that concerning the fate of her Grandad.

Mum insists they all go and visit a care home but Lily remains determined to help Grandad get better, especially when his train and railway memories start coming to life magically.

However things start to spiral out of control especially when Lily loses the key to go back home. Will there always, as Grandad says from time to time, be light at the end of the tunnel? And will Lily be able to find it even when it seems impossible?

Enormously powerful and written with such sensitivity, readers cannot fail to be swept along to the end like one of Grandad’s trains. The straightforward explanations about Alzheimer’s are spot on for the target audience who will be hugely moved by the abundance of love between Lily and Grandad. They will also likely discover something about a part of recent European history that is new to them.

The Covers of My Book Are Too Far Apart / Harvey the Hero

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The Covers of My Book Are Too Far Apart
Vivian French and Nigel Baines
Picture Squirrels
“Huh! Reading’s rubbish!” So says the angry-looking boy on the first page of this lively, enormously engaging, cartoon-style book. It tackles the ‘reluctant reader’ issues precisely and wittily; and the anti-reading comments will most likely be familiar to those of us who are teachers, as well as a fair number of parents.
Each ‘grumble’ is allocated a spread with a host of pro-reading people countering the moan with their own positive idea. Thus, the ”I don’t have time to read. I’m too busy!” guy is offered: on the bus, just before sleep, in the bath, instead of tidying a room, as an accompaniment to doing something boring such as shopping, and while the dinner’s cooking as possibilities.
The most important thing that Vivian French and Nigel Baines do is to make this a truly inclusive book with an extremely wide range of characters being featured: there are those who want to read but don’t find it at all easy …

but possibly my favourite spread starts with the opener “Pictures are for little kids” …

It’s great too that reading is interpreted broadly to include comics (love the superhero advocate who puts in an appearance at every possible opportunity); audio books, eBooks, picture books (at any age or stage) but most important of all is – and it’s the reason that every primary classroom should have at least one copy of this –

‘Reading isn’t a competition! It’s FUN!’

that and another fact many teachers tend to forget – that reading, at any stage, is a highly personal process: one size DOES NOT fit all. Inspired and inspiring both.

Harvey the Hero
Hrefna Bragadottir
Nosy Crow
Would-be superhero, Harvey is thrilled to be attending a book signing of Superhero Steve. But after the event, Steve drives off leaving his cape behind: Harvey resolves to follow him to the Big City and return the cape.
The Big City though is a bustling place and Harvey needs help – a map perhaps …
Seemingly he’s inadvertently helped in the apprehending of a thief …

In fact, during his search for Steve’s house, Harvey is responsible, unwittingly, for extinguishing a fire; and rescuing a little bunny.

Then, having returned the cape to his hero, Harvey returns home and gets the surprise of his life: could his dream of superherodom really be coming true?
Young superheroes and would-be superheroes of the human variety will delight in this tale of misadventure and applaud Harvey’s final rise to hero fame. Like Baxter’s Book, Hrefna Bragadottir populates her second story with a host of whimsical animal characters whose activities make both children and adults chuckle.

I’ve signed the charter