Tag Scholastic

Refuge: The Graphic Novel

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Refuge: The Graphic Novel
Alan Gratz and Sid Fini
Scholastic

This graphic novel version of the excellent Refuge book that was published in 2017 will bring the stories to a whole new audience particularly those who prefer to read predominantly visual tellings.

Set in 1938, 1994 and 2015 respectively, we follow three characters, Josef, a Jewish boy who is escaping Nazi Germany aboard a passenger ship full of German Jews in 1938-9, Isabel, a Cuban girl who in 1994 is fleeing from Havana together with a group of other Cubans on a leaky boat and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy escaping from Aleppo in 2015 hoping to reach the EU.

Although my reading preference is for textual stories, I can see how Syd Fini’s illustrations showing the expressions and body language of the characters really help bring the stories to life and the sounds such as the ‘SCREECH! RUSTLE RUSTLE of the forest trees and a boat signalling ‘BWEEP-BWEEP! add additional atmosphere to the settings of various parts of the stories.

The author cleverly weaves together the three story endings and then goes on to talk about and ponder upon their themes, inviting readers to do the same, for the themes are equally or even more pertinent today.

The Last Resort

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The Last Resort
Erin Estrada Kelly
Scholastic

It’s the start of the summer break. Lila Clement goes into one of her panics when she’s told she and her brother, Caleb, have to accompany her parents on a long drive to Ohio for a fortnight’s stay for her paternal grandfather’s funeral. She’s never even met this grandfather, so why bother. They’ll stay for a while in the creepy old Victorian Castle Hill Inn that Grandpa Clement owned. Moreover her two best friends seem to have become rather distant and she’d far rather remain in her home town and try to work things out. Instead it’s her grandfather’s affairs that have to be sorted out. He was an eccentric by all accounts.

Her grandfather’s neighbour is Teddy who was close to him and when she’s sure she’s seen Grandpa Clement’s ghost who said he was murdered and in need of her help. Lila tells the boy. He in turn reveals that on the fourth floor of Castle Hill Inn is a portal through which spirits of the dead pass to the afterlife. Lila, Teddy and Caleb are determined to solve the mystery of Grandpa’s murder; in so doing they find themselves involved with victims of a tragedy from over a century and a half ago.

A book with some really creepy scenes with ghosts after revenge as well as malevolent forces that prey on the children’s fear. Older readers will be gripped by this pacy spectral story.

I Definitely Don’t Like the Dark

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I Definitely Don’t Like the Dark
Fiona Barker and Christine Pym
Scholastic

The two delightful squirrel best friends, Hank and Hoog, return in another of the I Definitely Don’t Like stories.

After an enjoyable day together, as the sun sets the friends start to head for home when Hoog remarks on the long length of his shadow. Hank speeds up eager to get home before dark. “I d… don’t like the d… dark,” he whispers to his pal. An understanding Hoog offers to accompany him all the way back but as the sun disappears completely, Hank is alarmed by noises, noises made by other creatures

and the creaking of a tree. Once all is quiet, Hank starts worrying again, this time about what could be hiding, waiting in the dark.

After some reassurance from Hoog, they continue their way, Hank still not fully sure about the surrounding darkness. However Hoog still has something tucked in his fur to share with him. Together they sit on a branch gazing at the stars shining bright all around them and a realisation comes to Hank: ‘… despite having fear, with a good friend … there will always be light in the darkness.’

Fiona’s reassuring story is perfect to share with young children who, like Hank , are scared of the dark. Christine Pym uses a variety of viewpoints from which to present the events and this further adds to the power of the telling.

The Skeleton Puzzle / A Stocking Full of Spies

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The Skeleton Puzzle
Lisa Thompson
Scholastic

The young detectives of Chestnut Close – Matthew, Melody and Jake – return to try and solve another mystery. A skeleton is discovered buried in the garden of their neighbour, Old Nina and the three are determined to find out who it is, how it got there and who was responsible. Jake has also found what looks like a wedding ring.

Then Nina’s long-lost son turns up, with a young son of his own. The boy is obsessed with a shape-shifting puzzle that he manipulates all the time. Are the two really who they claim to be? The three friends are suspicious and think they could well be imposters. The deeper they dig, the more they suspect the father, who calls himself Michael, almost certainly is.

Meanwhile Jake is struggling at home with his sick mother and is trying to keep this to himself; and Matthew is acting somewhat mysteriously.

With priceless jewels possibly hidden somewhere on the Close, this twisting-turning mystery will keep you on tenterhooks, right through to the final page, which sets things up for the next in the series.

A Stocking Full of Spies
Robin Stevens
Puffin Books

It’s almost Christmas in 1941 and a bomb has fallen on Deepen School for Girls : May and Nuala have been removed from the chaos there and sent to join May’s and Eric’s elder sister, Hazel Wong, who is working at Bletchley Park. Almost immediately they find themselves working on their most dangerous case thus far. One of the codebreakers has been shot and in his pocket is discovered a top-secret message.

Was he in fact a spy, was the message planted on him; was this just a tragic accident or murder?: Whatever it was Daisy’s brother, Bertie has been blamed; even Bertie himself is unsure whether he was actually responsible for the death. Hazel and Daisy set Nuala, May and Eric the task of finding out what actually did happen and thus proving Bertie’s innocence. The three of them are acting as messengers between the huts but Bletchley Park is a secretive place wherein a number of Britain’s most brilliant minds are at work, they will have to listen, watch and they hope, unearth the truth. They are very different characters: May is impulsive and Nuala and Eric more considered in their actions, so they’re an interesting team.

Then a second murder takes place – are they linked? Was it the same murderer again? What a challenge the three face.

A clever cracker of a story for confident readers from Y4 onwards: it works was a standalone but it would be better to read the previous two books first.
(In her author’s note, Robin Stevens suggests that many of the Bletchley Park staff were neurodivergent though in the story we’re never told if this applies to any of the characters featured.)

Sharing & Caring – Stop That Squirrel! / A Dinosaur Lives In Our Shed

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Stop That Squirrel!
Smriti Halls and Lucy Fleming
Scholastic

Scout the squirrel is an obsessive nut hunter and with autumn in the air she decides it’s time to prepare for winter. Off she goes, sack on her back, to collect as many nuts as possible.

Having filled her larder with her first haul, she sets out again, beating all the other creatures to each and every nut.

They decide to try and halt her greed so they put up a sign ‘STOP THAT SQUIRREL!’
When snow starts to fall, badger and the rest of the animals search desperately for nuts but to no avail.
Meanwhile Scout is busy baking and being delighted with her delicious-looking cake, she calls out, offering some to her friends. Suddenly she sees the sign and a horrible realisation dawns. Time to show the others what being a friend really means …

Lucy’s illustrations and Smriti’s rhyming tale show and the final line says, ‘… nuts taste the best when you share them around.’ That applies to so many other things too, something one hopes that young listeners will take from the book.

A Dinosaur Lives In Our Shed
Kaye Umansky and Pippa Curnick
Alison Green Books

Supposing a little dinosaur unexpectedly followed you home from the park, what would you do? The children in this story fed him and put him in the shed overnight. Thereafter they gave him cuddles, read him stories

and took him on excursions to the seaside and into the woods.

Then one day the dinosaur gave an almighty ROOOOAAAAR!!! and became so sad he didn’t want to go out with the children. What could be wrong. they wondered and then light bulb moment: he was missing his mum. But where was she? The concerned humans put up posters around the locality – not lost ones but found. After waiting a day and a night the children heard noises outside, so they thought. Could it possibly be …
The following morning when they look in the shed, what do they discover …

Kaye Umansky’s rhyming text in combination with Pippa Curnick’s uproarious illustrations full of fun details make this a book that will amuse young children and adult sharers alike.

Nora Nightsky

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Nora Nightsky
Rebecca Lewis-Oakes, illustrated by Becka Moor
Scholastic

When I say Nora Nightsky is a star, I don’t mean a celebrity but an actual star in the sky. All her family members are part of the constellation Ursa Minor and they love to grant humans, wishes from afar. Not so Nora; all she wants to do is stay in the shadows: after all humans ought to solve their own problems.
However having received several letters from a girl named Olivia wishing for a pet, she decides to take action and sets out to Earth accompanied by Leap her best friend, a hare-shaped constellation, eventually crash-landing in a muddy field.

Her intention is to give Olivia a ‘piece of her mind’ but that’s not what happens. She does though have a plan to obtain a pet for the girl, destination the zoo where a surprise awaits and it’s not a good surprise. Nora’s time on Earth is limited though and she must return from whence she came before her stardust is all used up and her magic fades. Can she obtain the pet for Olivia or will she be stuck forever as a mortal on Earth?

Nora’s character is a delightful mix of rebelliousness and determination that results in her getting into some hugely funny situations with the cheery Olivia, making this a really fun story. It’s made even more so thanks to Becka Moor’s black-and-white illustrations that portray the protagonist brilliantly. Readers will assuredly have their fingers crossed that Nora achieves her goals and can appear in a new adventure soon.

The Floofs Brave the Wild / The Terrible Trio: The (Not-So) Superheroes

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The Floofs Brave the Wild
Penelope O’Neill
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

The Floofs return in three new stories wherein they venture into the wild. Challenges await.

In the first, Floof and the Avalanche, Dill persuades Teazle to step out of his comfort zone by leaving his volcano abode for a skiing holiday in the mountains. En route they meet Bean and Wizard who join them. and then on arrival at the cabin where they’ll be staying, they see a light on. Inside is Clementine sitting on a sofa drinking hot chocolate. (There’s a lot of hot chocolate in this story.) Some of the friends do go skiing, even having a race, when they encounter a monster and an avalanche starts. All ends happily though.

It’s ice-skates rather than skis that the Floofs try out in A Different Kind of Floof. Almost inevitably though, one of their number, Leaf, bumps down hard on the ice, falling through

and becoming frozen solid. Fortunately, Dill has something useful with her that she uses to melt the ice and release her friend. Leaf then spends some of the day in the Giant Forest comparing himself with the other Floofs and again all ends happily.

Floof and the Giant begins with Dill longing for a new adventure somewhere she’s never been before. Maybe a wave of Wizard’s wand will help them find a secret location. Secret it might be, but then a duck warns them of a giant … a hungry giant it turns out …

Just right for readers gaining confidence, especially those who like their stories presented comic style and sprinkled with humour and magic.

The Terrible Trio: The (Not-So) Superheroes
Swapna Haddow and Minky Stapleton
Scholastic

The terrible trio comprises Margarine the Penguin, Zeb the Zebra and Barry the Lemur. We meet them as they stand in line eagerly waiting to reach the front as it’s the day when a superpower will be bestowed on each and every animal. The line is a very, very long one and is moving very slowly so there’s plenty of time for them to ponder upon the power they’ll be given. Zeb wonders about speed, strength or the ability to see the future. When the buffalo bum in front of them eventually moves off, he’s let’s say, disappointed to hear from the Ministry Superpower Manager that he’s “all out of powers”. However they manage to persuade the power giver-outer squirrel that they must take priority over his favourite tv show and finally Penguin receives ‘the power to make mac, n’cheese’, Barry receives the power of nice handwriting, but what about Zeb. To him, his superpower feels pointless.

Barry and Marge soon come up with a plan – gain employment at the new cafe in town with the former writing menus and the latter making the mac’n’cheese meals.

Having thrown a tantrum, Zeb goes along too and all three start that very day; Zeb though is still determined to prove he’s a superhero. Will he have to go it alone or will his best mates help?

The laugh-out-loud silliness from Swapna Haddow combined with Minky Stapleton’s wacky portrayal of the cast of characters is great fun and has at its heart a vital message about being there for friends when things go wrong.

Beastie Bros: Dungeons and Dragonflies

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Beastie Bros: Dungeons and Dragonflies
David O’Connell
Scholastic

Set in Bugtown, this second adventure of best friends Dribble the snail and Dash the firefly sees the two attempt to recover a priceless treasure.

It’s festival time in Bugtown and after an embarrassing moment, or several, with Dribble’s Tummy Tickler invention, they come upon their friend Tilda the earthworm. She suggests they join her on a tour to see the display of the queen ant’s crown jewels. Dribble and Dash are somewhat suspicious of the bus driver and tour guide but they climb aboard nonetheless and the bad feeling Dash has worsens at the sight of the dung beetle passengers already seated.

Having arrived at the displays the friends are taken o a huge room wherein they are shown a fabulous addition to the queen’s collection of gemstones, the Gumdrop of Light.

As they gaze at it some fireworks are thrown, the Gumdrop of Light disappears and so it’s announced, some visitors have been kidnapped.

Realising that his bad feeling about some of those dung beetles was justified, Dash tells Dribble that they are actually master criminals, the Dung Heap Gang. Almost immediately Dash and Dribble are hot on the trail. They pursue the thieves into the maze of dark tunnels. where they soon find themselves confronting gigantic dragonflies; moreover the two friends get separated.

Can the heroic pair find a way to get past the menacing beasties, and can they locate the criminals, retrieve the precious gemstone and restore it to the rightful owner?

Full of zany drawings, a choose your own adventure chapter, a poem about custard and much more including a smashing supporting cast, the entire story is absolutely bonkers and enormous fun. On the serious side, the author aka Professor Crispin T. Earthworm has provided some fascinating bug facts and there are ideas for readers to create their own fantasy stories and a game.

Newly confident solo readers and those sharing the book will relish this.

Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day

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Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day
Bethany Walker, illustrated by Katie Abey
Scholastic

Meet Medusa Gorgon age twelve. She works as a guardian in the temple of the goddess Athena. Medusa is rather hot-tempered and her best friend, Arachne has suggested that writing a diary to release and channel her feelings would help her. A good idea indeed but then Medusa upsets Athena who banishes her to the twenty-first century to retrieve the goddesses’ shield, the very shield and prized possession that Medusa might have disposed of into Hades’ well in a fit of anger over her friend, Arachne, being turned into a spider.

The outcome is that Medusa’s life becomes a series of very bad days. For starters, thanks to Athena, she’s had her hair changed into snakes, ‘vile, ugly, angry, slithering snakes’ that constantly hiss atop her head. There’s an awful lot to learn in this place of banishment including things relating to human homes in England. She certainly can’t let her ‘carers’ do such things as drink from the toilet

and as for life at Shadwell Academy secondary school, bewilderment doesn’t come into it. Then comes the language issue: yes she is able to understand and speak the language of the twenty-first century but ‘actually knowing what they’re talking about’ is a very different matter (so true). And who should Medusa try to make friends with – another tricky thing to try and get right.

With friendship at the heart of the whole story, this is a great read – funny, pacy and splendidly illustrated by Katie Abey. The book draws quite heavily on the Greek myths but it matters not if readers are familiar with Medusa, Arachne, Athena, Hades et al. (I should mention that there’s an on-going correspondence between Athena and Hades via Hermes Express Air Tortoise aka H.E.A.T.) And as for the shield – is it ever returned to Athena? Then what about the fate of Arachne? To find out, you must get a copy of this hilarious book for yourself.

The Great Nut Hunt

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The Great Nut Hunt
Karl Newson and Nia Havilliard
Scholastic

Squirrel has spent a lot of time and energy collecting nuts, so much so that his home is full and he has to stash lots of them around in the woods. But then he realises that he’s completely forgotten where they are. Off he goes to Bear’s cave; maybe he’s left them there. Bear is fast asleep but is disturbed by Squirrel’s intrusion as he grabs a case in his paws and beats a hasty retreat. Anticipating a breakfast of nuts, Squirrel opens the case only to discover a sock.

Off he goes again on his nut search, next stop Owl’s. Owl seems to be out so up the tree goes Squirrel, ‘Sneakily, Sneakily, Snoopily …’ Squirrel makes off with a sack of … nuts, he expects. But …

Beaver’s dam is his third possibility but there are no nuts there either. Squirrel is by now looking so down in the dumps, his friends ask if he’s OK. Squirrel apologies for being a bad friend but the other animals respond by offering to join the nut hunt. They look in lots of possible places but of a nut there’s no sign. Suddenly Owl realises what has happened to all the nuts Squirrel buried. Can you guess what is revealed?

Karl’s rhyming text bounces along in dialogue form and in combination with Nia Havilliard’s dramatic scenes of the search and animal interactions, makes for a fun read aloud, one I’d suggest saving for the autumn to share with young children.

Funnily enough my partner pointed out three saplings growing in the front garden our home yesterday. “Those are black walnuts buried by squirrels and unfortunately are totally unsuitable to grow where they’ve been planted, less than a metre from the front wall of the house,” he said.

The Snappy Shark

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The Snappy Shark
Michelle Robinson and Tim Budgen
Scholastic

It’s not a good day for Mark the shark.When he plays with his friends nothing goes right be it during the hide-and-seek game,

the painting session or the shell hunting. Eventually he swims off in a big huff and goes into a cave, overwhelmed by his feelings.

Alone now, Mark has time to think and he recalls how his inability to keep his temper in check has upset his pals. Several slow, deep breaths later, Mark feels a lot better and ready to apologise to his playmates for his snappiness. “I’ll NEVER snap again,” he promises but suddenly a large fishing net entraps them all. Now Mark has a dilemma: to snap or not to snap …

Fortunately for all, he makes the right decision and henceforward he’s a ‘brand-new fish’ safe in the knowledge that he has a strategy to use whenever he starts feeling stressed and tempted to snap. Moreover his friends know the perfect game they can all enjoy together.

All children feel overwhelmed by their feelings from time to time and the calming strategy Mark used in Michelle’s fun rhyming narrative is one that any youngster should learn to do.

To Catch A Ghost

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To Catch A Ghost
Rachel Michelle Wilson
Scholastic

Young Sam has recently started at a new school and now must contend with her first Friday show-and-tell. Anxious to make a good impression, she decides to bring a ghost. Gumption is what’s needed for the task, Sam tells readers and plans the entire operation out in three easy steps: find the ghost, observe and get to know it and finally, catch it.

Having donned a hat with attached camera, Sam hunts everywhere in the playground until whoppee! A ghost. Time to get to know the presence. This Sam does by playing hide-and-seek, watering plants and sharing a pizza.

Then comes cage building (done while the ghost is having forty winks) and when complete Sam baits the trap.

By now though Sam has come to think of the spectre as a friend and so trapping it feels all wrong. Off comes the padlock and the ghost is free. Sam sits and weeps briefly but what will happen at show-and-tell? A disaster or a rewarding experience? That you must find out by getting your own copy of this deliciously quirky book. It’s penned in the second person and the interplay between the words and the wonderfully expressive chalky illustrations exudes a gentle humour that will delight both young readers and adult sharers.

How To Train Your Teacher

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How To Train Your Teacher
Bethany Walker and Sophie Kent
Scholastic

From its title you anticipate this will be a fun story and so it is. Having taught both nursery children and reception classes for a considerable time I found it particularly amusing.

Our narrator is a member of a class of lively reception pupils and she is very welcoming and reassuring from the outset, for the teacher, Miss Piper, is in need of a lot of help. First she’ll struggle to remember names so needs to use a special list – the register and that’s before activities begin – activities such as ‘washing up’

and ‘make and build’. Alternatively you can opt to work outdoors and perhaps serve Miss Piper with her favourite snack.

As the day progresses she’ll definitely need help with her maths (numerical sequencing) as well as her favourite thing – really! – ‘making funny sounds’ aka phonics. No wonder she needs a ‘play’ at lunchtime while the children get their well-deserved rest from their jobs, especially as she’s likely to have to contend with some ‘difficult situations’

Come the end of the day, the children help an exhausted Miss Piper relax by listening intently to her as she reads a story.

This is vital as she’ll need lots more assistance the following day by which time, more than likely, she’ll have forgotten what she’s learned.

Bethany Walker’s carefully chosen words in combination with Sophie Kent’s scenes of young children clearly having a great time make this a highly reassuring book to share with young children, especially those transitioning from a nursery setting to a reception class.

Millie Fleur Saves The Night

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Millie Fleur Saves The Night
Christy Mandin
Scholastic

Those living in Garden Glen fear the dark and come nightfall, everybody switches on their lights and keeps them on until daybreak. Everybody that is except Millie Fleur La Fae; she loves the dark and since moving to the locality has missed all the nocturnal creatures that stay away from all the lights. To try and bring them closer, she plants a moon garden. Her mum removes the bulb from the streetlamp outside their home and this displeases the local committee whose members claim that’s dangerous and scary. Millie assures them that dark isn’t scary, “You just need to get to know her.” she says.

The girl embarks on a new plan: she makes moon pies and takes them out to the edge of the woods where she meets the Dark

and then the two of them lead the night creatures to her garden. There plants spring to life, their delicious aromas wafting towards the homes of her neighbours who decide to follow their noses and are drawn to Millie’s garden eager to see what lies therein.

Millie Fleur tells them all to be brave, extinguish their lanterns and leave them behind, which they do; their path being lit by glowworms, fireflies and plants with delightful names such as ‘snoozing sugarplum’ and ‘forty-winks fern’. In the sparkling light the visiting children soon discover that the Dark offers amazing new experiences not found in the light.
Consequently, the lights around Garden Glen are switched off, magical moon gardens spring up and start to flourish as the nocturnal creatures settle in.

Finally, thanks to Millie Fleur the townsfolk have embraced the dark.

A magical bedtime tale that should help reassure children who are frightened of the dark. Christy Mandin’s illustrations of flora and fauna of the darkness evoke a sense of wonder that will enchant both young listeners and adult readers aloud.

UNICO Hunted

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UNICO Hunted
Osamu Tezuka, Samuel Sattin and Gurihiru
Scholastic

In the second episode based on the work of Japanese cartoonist and animator Tezuka, the little unicorn finds himself in a grim abandoned city with no memory of how he got there. He’s rescued by a kindly mouse, Garapachi that takes him home to meet his wife and family. There he learns of Chiko, a blue-eyed little girl living in the house who is desperately ill; she and her grandfather, Yoji, are the last two remaining humans in the city and Garapachi takes the unicorn to see them. He also shows him the massive factory that is dominating and polluting the entire town while armed drones patrol the streets. In the factory lives Mother, a controlling robot and when Unico is summoned to meet her, he learns of her origins and real albeit, now warped, purpose: what a sad story it is.

Underground, where Unico finds himself after a tumble. he finds Garapachi again and they discover the beautiful home of the fey and soon after, the prince of the underground fey. He with the other fey have been driven underground by Mother but can Unico persuade Prince Halian to help them despite his misgivings?

In the meantime, Venus, the evil goddess, coveter of Unico’s horn summons from the ‘deathly garden’ Iver, an interstellar hunter of the reptilian kind, with instructions to find Unicorn and cause suffering to him and those around him.

Ending once again on a cliff-hanger, this exciting story, with lots of weird settings is another winner that will delight fans.

The Sun Thief

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The Sun Thief
Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater
Scholastic

Team Hemming and Slater’s Squirrel is back and as the season is changing he’s once again confused about what is happening. When his friend Bird declares that it’s bedtime Squirrel disagrees, professing that he could never fall asleep when it’s still light. What he says and what he does though are two different things.

Then come bedtime a few weeks later there’s further confusion when he brushes his teeth as it’s dark when he expected it to be light. Squirrel insists to Bird that the dark is due to there being a sun thief, especially as he heard a peculiar “Hoo’ sound. This he’s told was merely an owl and the following morning just as Bird explained to him, joy of joys, the sun is back shining.

A similar thing happens as Squirrel is languishing in his bath the next evening but he tells himself it cannot be the sun thief. Venturing outside onto a branch with a torch he gives Bat a bit of a fright. “The sun thief just crashed into my tree” he shouts to Bird who explains about Bat being nocturnal.
Still unconvinced that a sun thief isn’t lurking somewhere Squirrel sets an early alarm that only serves to further convince the rodent that there IS a thief,. he wakes his friend before sunrise

and the ever patient Bird explains yet again. At last, Squirrel understands.

The final spread takes elements of the story – why the hours of darkness change throughout the year and the difference between diurnal animals including Squirrel and Bird, and nocturnal ones such as Bat.

Funny and gently educative,. Young children will thoroughly enjoy Squirrel’s over-reacting to a seasonal happening and delight in Nicola Slater’s close-ups that serve to enhance his verbal histrionics.

Welcome

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Welcome
Axel Scheffler and Alison Green
Alison Green Books, Scholastic

Try to imagine what it would be like if you’d had to flee your home and look for another country to live in.

The animal characters in this book do their utmost make the three new arrivals feel welcome and wanted. Their intention is to make sure that nobody is left out because everyone helps to make a happy world. Axel’s illustrations show very different characters playing together, painting together, strolling together hand in hand, having tea together and much more. They communicate visually with the newcomers who speak a different language and allow them to choose games to play.

Equally, allowing the newcomers to be the helpers makes them feel part of the community,

as are shared games and stories. Of course there will be occasions when somebody gets upset and cross but if everybody apologises, these friendships become stronger.

‘Now, imagine if the whole world was like this book – if everyone was kind and helpful and welcomed everyone else. Doesn’t that sound good? “

It most certainly does but sadly it isn’t the case for all humans yet: would that they could all feel like that animal community – kind, open-hearted and ready to make a difference.

An uplifting celebration of empathy, kindness and togetherness. Anyone who buys a copy of this book is helping to make a difference because a donation is made to Three Peas charity (www.threepeas.org.uk) for every copy sold. Teachers and parents, get a copy for your class or family, enjoy sharing it and then talk about possible ways to be as open-hearted as Axel and Alison’s characters.

Dragon Dave The Not So Brave

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Dragon Dave The Not So Brave
Alex Latimer and Phillip Cullen
Scholastic

Stuck in a storybook with an ending he really dislikes, dragon Dave the Brave desperately wants to get out.

One day as he sits beneath a bridge tinkering with some of the letters from the title page, along comes Prince George. The prince notices that Dave looks sad and on learning the reason, he shows Dave that his story words can be rewritten. Starting from the first page, they identity the unsatisfactory parts

and proceed to make substitutes till they reach the end.

Then back to the start they hurry

and the dragon in particular is thrilled with “the Best ending Dave had ever had.’ As you might expect, Dragon Dave is hugely thankful to the prince. He offers him a turn with the writing stick but it’s already in use …

An empowering story that shows we can all rewrite our own stories and that it’s fine to ask for and accept help – Dave and Prince George are both endearing characters and the witty final twist is great fun.
Captivating too are Philip Cullen’s bold, bright scenes and the expressions on Dave’s face especially show so much about his changing feelings.

Daring to be different is the way to go: let these two protagonists show young children the way.

The Unicorn Who Came to School

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The Unicorn Who Came to School
Lucy Rowland and Mike Byrne
Scholastic

Like many young children, the little girl narrator of this story has first day nerves when she starts school. On arriving at the gate though, what should she see but a unicorn who introduces himself as Sparkle and asks politely if he can come to school. The girl agrees and they go in together, talking of things they might do and they sit beside one another when the teacher tells everyone to “Find a friend.” The register is called and all goes well until the class has to line up for assembly. Guess who takes the lead.

During the art session paint flies every which way, music is very noisy and story an opportunity for Sparkle to do some chomping.

When it’s time for outside play Sparkle assists the narrator in making some new friends, but at lunch time his manners really let him down.

At hometime Sparkle waves goodbye to everyone but as he nears the gate, the teacher has a suggestion that might just make him change his mind …

Assuredly Sparkle has given the children their best possible first day at school and I’m sure young listeners, especially those moving from playgroup to a school setting, having heard Lucy Rowland’s rhyming narrative and giggled at Sparkle’s antics shown in Mike Byrne’s bright, zany scenes, will agree.

The Wish Switch

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The Wish Switch
Lynn Painter
Scholastic

Emma Rockford’s beloved Nana Marie had instilled in her granddaughter a belief in a magical faerie portal that supposedly grants wishes. Now Emma and her classmates are on a class field trip on the very day the magic portal is giving out wishes, its location being less than a mile from the portal. The plan is to steal away with her best friends Allie and Kennedy, find the magic spot in the forest and each make four secret wishes, wishes that would start coming true in four months time. While they’re so doing, Emma’s brother Noah and new boy, Jackson appear on the scene, seemingly for the very same reason.

Exactly four months later wishes have come true, one each for both Allie and Kennedy but not for Emma. Instead it appears that Jackson has received her first wish. And so it continues, leaving Emma endeavouring to cope with intense disappointment.

Could it be that in order to make her wishes come true she’ll need to team up with Jackson …

For older readers, this is an amusing tale of friendship, family and self-discovery laced with magic.

Mighty Myths

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Mighty Myths
Thiago de Moraes
Scholastic

Readers are under the wing of two ravens that act as guides and safe keepers introducing us to a richness of detail relating to the stories, their characters and settings presented in an engaging and entertaining manner.

First off is a spread about places to avoid for fear of scary beasties and this is followed by a Mythological Height Chart with a line up of ‘legendary creatures great and small’ including our two ravens. Here you will find details of where you might encounter such creatures and what they look like.

There are also spreads about dragons, creatures with a predilection for dining on humans and a ‘god food guide’. You’ll get an opportunity to spend a day in Kur – the underworld of ancient Mesopotamia and another in Xibalab – the ancient Mayan underworld.

Inevitably there will be giants – both horrible and fairly friendly and some pretty alarming. The tiny folk aren’t overlooked and get a spread too – watch out for the mischief makers though. There’s a spread about objects of power including Odin’s spear and Ganesha’s tusk (not so alarming that one).

My favourite part though is the retellings of myths from various cultures and I especially enjoyed finding some that were new to me. One such is Don’t Mess with the Spider Goddess, a story from the Aiu people of Japan telling how Yushkep Kamui got the better of a large grumpy demon intent on marrying her.

Should you wish to know why bats sleep during the day then there’s a story from Sierra Leone told as an explanation.

With fantastical, mock scary, occasionally disturbing illustrations, this is a thoroughly engaging, fun book for school collections and family bookshelves. (A publisher’s note at the beginning of the book states that although this book presents myths in a fun way, many are of great significance to some societies and religions, something to remember when sharing them.)

This Letter Says I Love You

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This Letter Says I Love You
Lucy Rowland and Sharon Rentta
Scholastic

This book was inspired by the true story of ten year old Matilda Handy who, when thinking of ways to connect with her grandma and grandpa, had the idea to set up a memorial post box to send letters to loved ones who have died.

In the story, a little girl misses her grandmother and wants to be able to talk to her so she decides to write her a letter. Somewhat stuck for a beginning, Mum suggests she should, “Try to fill it with what’s in your heart.” And so she does, drawing things that she herself has done as well as those she and her gran shared, things such as baking cakes together, den building and games they played together.

Included too are some of the sad and angry occasions and how her Mum helped her cope with them.

When the letter’s done, the girl narrator and her Mum set off to post it, the former wondering how Gran will know what’s been said and how she’ll reply.

When they reach the white post box, the narrator feels a little better so she tells us, and her mum reminds her that “We’re always connected to those people we love.” and suggests the girl continues to share things. By the time they walk back home the stars are shining above and they seem to have a special message for the letter writer.

Lyrically told in Lucy Rowland’s rhyming narrative and beautifully illustrated by Sharon Rentta whose scenes of everyday events and fond memories exude warmth, tenderness and love.
(The postboxes like the one in the story are to be set up at 36 other sites across the country after Matilda’s moving tribute to her grandparents proved so popular.)

Afia in the Land of Wonders

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Afia in the Land of Wonders
Mia Araujo
Scholastic

In the remote desert village of Dafra, sixteen year old twins Afia and Aya are about to become crystal merchants like their parents. On the eve of their ewende ceremony (coming of age) Afia encounters a mysterious young carver at the monthly market and he makes her an offer. Unlike her dutiful sister, Afia does not want to follow in her parents’ footsteps; instead she wants to see the world. Consequently she flees from the initiation ceremony and heads to the forest. where she joins Bakame, the carver on a journey that takes her far from her familiar homeland community. She’s intrigued by what he tells her of Queen Ukiwa and her palace in Ijábù. What he doesn’t tell her however, is that the Queen’s palace and her entire kingdom are built on the cruel, cunning ensnarment of the lives and dreams of her courtiers.

Eventually though, Afia witnesses her awful cruelty, which changes her initial impression of the Queen and she realises that she’s made a terrible mistake. Determined to leave Ijábù. she agrees to a bargain proposed by Ojike, a spirit of a boy who’s wearing a carved cat mask: He’ll help her find her way back home if she helps him overthrow the evil Queen. But is she sufficiently brave and resilient to free not only herself but those trapped by the queen’s controlling power? She’ll certainly face terrific danger, but she will discover allies willing to assist in her mission to return and make amends to her precious twin.

Celebrating curiosity, family bonds, independent thinking, friendship and compassion, this fantasy with its stunningly beautiful colour illustrations, draws both on African folklore and on elements of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Older readers who have read the Lewis Carroll classic and have an interest in folklore from around the world will get the most from this fascinating story.

Hercules Hero to Zero

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Hercules Hero to Zero
Tom Vaughan, illustrated by David O’Connell
Scholastic

Hercules Braver returns for a third set of adventures presented in the usual diary form and taking place during the school summer holidays. With his stepdad Ken having set off on an expedition to Canada, and his pals all going for holidays abroad, Hercules is sure he and his mum are going to have a great time, but then he hears his mum say that her job as a translator is now precarious, though he’s not really sure what this means. Could it be something exciting maybe? Not so, when Mum says she’s selling the family car.: Hercules decides he must make some money to help the situation, after all it can’t be that difficult to become mega-rich.

First, aided and abetted by Hatty, Pav and Natthew, he tries a genius invention he calls VegFund, a safe for valuables but he ends up making a loss and owing money. He then ‘borrows’ the money from the sale of Mum’s car, the intention being to buy raffle tickets and win a super-duper car.

Then comes a phone call from Zooey aka Zeus; he’s furious about people writing bad things about him on the internet, Natthew in particular who is unaware of the true identity of Herc’s Dad. There follow surprise news about the raffle winner; the next money-making project (Toybay website), Mum’s announcement about the Young Explorers Camp where she’s to be a camp leader and Herc. a participant, a discovery that others besides Natthew are writing about Zeus on the internet and shock horror! Mum has been busy writing a book, one that Hercules wants to get rid of pronto.

Once at the camp Herc decides it seems ‘kind of all right’ but that’s before he and Pav cascade over a waterfall and find themselves face to face with a a prankster saying he’s been sent by Zeus. It’s Hermes and he’s looking for the self-same hard-drive that has on it both a special book and the toybay website.
All this and we’re less than halfway through August. There’s still the camp play – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, more donkey dramas than the one in the play

and lots more.
Will Mum find out that Hercules.took her £400 and what of her book? 


Loosely based on the next three labours of Hercules, this is exceedingly funny, made even more so by David O’Connell’s liberal sprinklings of illustrations.


The Worry Bee

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The Worry Bee
Nicola Kinnear
Alison Green Books

Little Izzy the bee longs to fly to the flowers with the other bees in her hive but she’s beset by ‘what if?’ worries: What if her wings aren’t strong enough ? What if she fell?’ So rather than trying to get airborne, she stays behind for a while and then starts walking, This gives her the opportunity to see interesting things on her journey. But there are disadvantages too including getting tangled in spider webs and even worse, a huge river to cross. She definitely can’t walk over that. Time to try flying, thinks Izzy but soon meets with an accident that sends her crashing to the ground.

She’s on the point of walking back to her hive but there comes a strange noise nearby. A baby bird lies flat on its back at the base of a tree. When it asks Izzy to demonstrate her flying prowess, she doesn’t know what to say, but suddenly the baby bird mentions a big fluffy thing coming towards them. Izzy realises what it is and that they need to take to the air to escape it’s clutches .After a lot of flapping … they’re flying, first stop the baby bird’s nest and then Izzy flies to join the other bees in the field of flowers..

There’s gentle humour buzzing right through Nicola’s latest story both in the words and illustrations. Young listeners will love the dramatic scenes of Izzy and how she finally overcomes her fear of flying.

There’s No Such Thing As … Fairies / One Goose Two Moose Three Raccoon Four Baboon

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These are both additions to popular series: thanks to Scholastic for sending them for review.

There’s No Such Thing As … Fairies
Lucy Rowland and Katy Halford

Having explored the possibilities of there being unicorns, elves, mermaids, dragons and ghosts, team Rowland and Halford turn their attention to Fairies in their latest search and find story. The young girl narrator has been told by her daddy that fairies don’t exist and she sets out to check the veracity of his assertion the very next day. First in the meadow where the family have a picnic, then the woodland stream, followed by the park, the beauty salon, the aircraft show

and the hothouse. She even checks out the dentist, the library and the theatre, after which she’s ready to agree with her dad, “There’s no such thing as fairies,” she confidently tells him, “It’s really TRUE.” Realising his little girl is upset dad lifts her up onto his shoulders and they start walking home. Suddenly a rainbow appears and …

Katy Halford’s vibrant, playful, detailed scenes wherein fairies hide in plain sight complement Lucy Rowland’s expressive, patterned rhyming narrative with its repeat refrain, making this a book that young children will find great fun and likely want to hear several times: oh how they love being in the know with the author.

One Goose Two Moose Three Raccoon Four Baboon
Kael Tudor and Nicola Slater

Rule stickler Simon is back and once again he’s having trouble getting the animals into their proper lines. Then there’s Moose who is as eager to help as ever..
In this instance help is definitely required during an animal outing to the park for which there are three vehicles, one for the raccoons, one for the geese and the third bearing the sign Magical Moose Tours. When it’s time to reboard their respective buses is when the problem starts. There are mix-ups of raccoons and baboons, hares and bears, bees and fleas, eels and seals, a cockatoo and kangaroos; even a fox and a box – hmm!

Poor goose is going crazy with frustration and confusion. Forward steps Moose hoping to give some assistance. Can he persuade Goose that there is more than one way to do things and allow the tour to continue?

Another gigglesome delight with a wealth of possibilities for preschoolers and beyond, from author Kael and illustrator Nicola.

Bree Boyd is a Legend!

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Bree Boyd is a Legend!
Leah Johnson, illustrated by Mirelle Ortega
Scholastic

Thirteen year old Bree Boyd spends her life trying to live up to her father’s high expectations and the shining examples set by her older sisters Lex (state debating champion) and Christian (at law school); Boyd Black Excellence is what it’s called. Dad a college professor is currently campaigning to become the next state senator. Her mother has left the family home. Bree, an ace speller and winner of spelling bees, studies with her tutor leaving little time to spend with her closest friends, Sammy, Abby and Ellie.

Having reached the next level in the spelling competition she starts feeling distracted and when a lightening strike knocks out the power to her home, she flips a switch on the breaker and gets an electric shock that gives her telekinetic powers. With this new-found ability Bree is able to help her friends and have some fun but with the approach of the district spelling bee, Dad ups the pressure and she’s completely torn between loyalty to her Dad or her friends with whom she’s agreed to perform. Even worse, the final spelling bee and the talent show are on the same day. It feels like her life is spinning out of control. However she has to decide whether to stick to her father’s plan or follow her own path.

Infused with humour, this is a very credible portrayal of the inner turmoil suffered by youngsters who have huge adult pressure put upon them and it’s wonderful to see the protagonist working out the true meaning of ‘being best’. There are many poignant moments and it’s great the way the Boyd siblings support one another; how each of them continues to grow despite everything and how they eventually work out how to communicate with their dad.

Recommended for readers from around eleven.

Ella Jones vs the Sun Stealer

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Ella Jones vs the Sun Stealer
Lucy Edwards, illustrated by Caroline Garcia
Scholastic

This is the first in a new series written by Lucy Edwards, presenter and disability activist, in collaboration with well-known author, Katy Birchall.

Meet twelve year old Ella Jones, who like the author, is blind. Ella lost her sight two years ago and has worked extremely hard to adjust to the challenges of being differently abled. Vital to her endeavours is her guide dog Maisie; so too are best friend Finn and her elder sister Poppy, though Ella still has to cope with battles, both internal and external, which she tries her best to face patiently and kindly.

One day when visiting central London with her family and Finn,

the world is suddenly plunged into darkness, but the pitch black seems not to affect animals, it’s only humans who panic when near chaos ensues. Both of Ella’s parents head back to their places of work, Mum to the hospital and Dad to Croft Tower belonging to the inventor Everett Croft.

Ella and Finn begin to think the darkness might be connected with the legend of Celtic god of light, Lugh, who Ailynn, owner of the Mythos Library they’d visited the previous day, had spoken about. The two friends plus Poppy manage to visit Ailynn who is in the hospital and she tells Ella that she believes she’s the one meant to defeat Lugh and return light to the world. That though would mean that Ellie faces something of a dilemma because its presence is the very thing that makes her different.

However, fuelled by the knowledge that someone else believes in her, Ella and the others return to the museum and start their quest. With clues to follow and a set of rainbow hued stones to find and position in the handle of the slingshot that belonged to Lugh, this is some enormous challenge.

Empathy is key in this moving, twisting, turning fantasy with its young blind narrator. It’s rare to have a character with a vision impairment represented in a children’s novel and the manner of its telling allows we readers to get some idea of how a sightless person might experience the world, Bring on the next story.

My Big Fat Smelly Poo Diary: Tight Squeeze

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My Big Fat Smelly Poo Diary : Tight Squeeze
Jim Smith
Scholastic

Writer of the titular diary is Pedro. He has two friends named Olga and Ozzy: arranged as a acrostic, this spells – well you work it out. They’re actually known as the Poopies.

Pedro’s first ‘story’ is entitled My Invention and was prompted by a total absence of toilet rolls in the supermarket due to stockpiling. The tale begins on a Monday morning with their teacher announcing that the local supermarket is running a poster competition showing a product invented by the poster’s creator. Said product will then be manufactured and sold at the supermarket. Some interesting things become the subject of posters including Pedro’s pooh shooz. Pedro is convinced he will be announced as the winner. Not so!

As they walk home together after school the friends see a huge billboard advertising the winning invention which sparks an idea; – a LOO roll business venture. There follows a family supermarket visit that includes Granny, which doesn’t quite go to plan as she gets herself involved in a showdown: who’d have thought she had it in her.

Then there’s toilet roll monster trouble (to keep or not to keep), the coming of Storm Pedro when home-made fart masks come in very useful despite being a tad on the tight side, a sleepover of the pals, a final resolution of the toilet roll monster disagreement, and more.

Overflowing with feelings of friendship, aromas of the whiffy kind, and toilet humour, these crazy wipe-size stories are certain to go down well with Pedro’s human followers and other fans of stinkingly funny
graphic style dramas.

The Full Stop That Got Away

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The Full Stop That Got Away
Laura Baker and Nathan Reed
Scholastic

Meet Frank, he’s a full stop who loves to make up stories. One day he decides to make up a ‘nice, short, sensible’ one about a dragon. Here’s how it goes: ‘Once upon a time there was a dragon called Dee.’ End of story, so Frank tells us.

However the dragon thinks otherwise and decides to take over the story telling. Dee’s story is a about a tea party to which he invites his dragon pals. A veritable feast it proves to be with goodies galore, a never ending supply of them and that is because Frank has decided to quit.

When fire breaks out you can guess who the dragons call for to come and help. Having been sidelined, the small round entity steps up and cleverly produces some fire-extinguishing precipitation. Finally Frank has proved his point and Dee cannot help but agree.

Our external narrator makes an important comment concerning fun and sometimes allowing it to carry you away just before the book concludes.

With one larger than life main character and another of the fire-breathing kind that he brings into being, this is a very funny rhyming tale about imagination unbounded and knowing when to rein it in. Nathan Reed’s illustrations make this introduction to punctuation into deliciously dramatic dottiness.

Sniff! Sniff! What’s That Whiff?

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Sniff! Sniff! What’s That Whiff?
:Lucy Rowland and Gareth Conway
Scholastic

This story is told in rhyme by a dinosaur that has feasted on a large portion of berries for lunch and soon detects a terrible whiff in the air around. Determined to discover the perpetrator of the bottom-burp aroma , off it goes inviting young humans to join in the search. The first to be interrogated is Pterodactyl. She proffers proof that her toot is not the horrid one that offended our dino. narrator. Nor are those made by Dippy diplodocus, Ankylosaurus,

Triceratops, the Megalodon Shark (his is exceedingly fishy) and Steggy Stegosaurus. Then comes a very strong, meaty smell: Yikes! It’s T-Rex. T-Rex gives chase but unexpectedly stops, apparently feeling exceedingly poorly on account of the stench. Our narrator empathises but a realisation suddenly dawns. That rear end purple parp cloud eruption is coming from our very own narrator’s bum and has been responsible for saving the others from becoming T-Rex’s supper.

Time for a party when feeling de-stressed, the other dinosaurs dance, stomp and relax their bum muscles releasing …


I suspect that along with unicorns and dinosaurs, poohs and pongs are young children’s favourite topic for picture books so this one of Lucy’s and Gareth’s will be a winner on two counts.

The Book is Full of Poop

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The Book is Full of Poop
Gareth Peter and Mike Byrne
Scholastic

Having given readers a book full of unicorns and a book full of elves, team Gareth and Nathan now offer a much more whiffy one. I suggest a clothes peg on the nose as you accompany the two child narrators on a poo hunt around town; it promises to be a ‘super-duper-poop-athon’ during which you will encounter creatures of all shapes and sizes, some imaginary, some extinct and others feathered, furry, thick and fibrous, or scaly. Of all shapes and sizes too, are the poos they deposit.

Did you know for instance that hippos poo while on the move

and sharks produce poo of a green colour?

Gareth’s rhyming narrative ends with a warning to beware of hidden poop piles and of course, whenever you conclude a walk around outside it’s wise to check the soles of your shoes.

Young humans will love the poo depositing shenanigans of the animals depicted in Mike’s amusing scenes; adult readers aloud might wish to have an air freshener close by as they share this offering with one or several children.

When Fish Finger Froze

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When Fish Finger Froze
Michelle Robinson and Tom Knight
Scholastic

Fish Finger has a happy family life and plenty of friends at school; but then one day there appears on his classroom wall an announcement about a school disco to be held that very night. His classmates are excited but Fish Finger starts to worry straightaway. His worries increase after Miss Bag O’Spinach tells the class that they can spend the rest of the school day working on their dance moves and everything Fish Finger attempts ends in disaster.

At home after school, his siblings, Patty and Fillet, are eagerly getting ready for the evening, rummaging in Grans trunk and doing their hair. Mum notices Fish Finger looks upset and when he tells her about his bad dancing, she encourages him with some wise words about doing his own thing. The twins too are supportive and set to work giving him some tonsorial treatment before they leave.

At school, the hall is full of lights and lively movers but Fish Finger remains frozen to the spot, his feelings all tangled in his tummy as the contest is announced. Then suddenly something amazing happens: Fish Finger thaws as he shimmers and shakes across the floor, full of zest and showing surprising confidence as he follows mum’s advice and does his own thing. He’s clearly delighted and so are his friends.
When the parents arrive, Miss Bag O’Spinach realises she’s yet to present the prizes. There are a fair few including one for ‘Best Attitude’. Can you guess who gets this award?

Hearing his name called, the winner suffers a brief re-freeze but quickly warms up, thanks to his helpful classmates and a celebratory dance concludes the proceedings. Hurrah for camaraderie, empathy and especially for the character who overcame fear and bravely did his own thing.

With Michelle Robinson’s spirited rhyming text and Tom Knight’s funny illustrations that capture so well the feelings of the protagonist, this picture book is full of heart and offers a great way to get young children talking about their own feelings and emotions.

UNICO: Awakening

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UNICO: Awakening
Osamu Tezuka, Samuel Sattin, illustrated by Gurihiru
Scholastic

Created in Osamu Tezuka’s Japanese manga style, this is in part an exploration of good vs evil. Herein a little unicorn, Unico has been banished by the evil goddess Venus whom he has angered. (The prologue tells how Venus, threatened by Unico’s power, which was born of his friendship with the goddess Psyche, dispatches the Zephyrus, the West Wind, to get rid of him. Instead Zephryus decides to save the little unicorn, repeatedly transporting him through space and time.) The disorientated Unico is befriended by a watch-cat, Chloe. Unico cannot recall events from his past or what his real purpose was. Chloe pleads with the little unicorn to enable her to become human and he agrees to turn her into a girl once a day provided she helps their witchy Granny friend.


It’s not long before Byron, an affluent, very sinister trophy hunter has eyes on Chloe in her human form and Venus, sensing that Unico has reappeared on Earth, decides to use Byron to destroy him. When Chloe accepts Byron’s invitation to visit his abode, she soon feels uncomfortable especially with his talk of predator and prey.


The action and excitement ramp up with the book ending on a cliff-hanger as this book is to be followed by a second volume, UNICO Hunted.

Sattin was clearly inspired by Tezuka’s original manga from some fifty years ago and with Gurihiru’s jewel-coloured art, this book will appeal most strongly to those readers who prefer their stories presented mainly through high quality visuals. Backmatter includes information about Tezuka, Sattin and Gurihuri as well as some history of the Unico story.

All the Ways I Love You

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All the Ways I Love You
Helen Docherty and Daniela Sosa
Alison Green Books

Herein are presented a dozen scenarios where mums, dads and small children are imagined having a great time together. Some scenes are of the familiar kind – a garden, exploring in the park during the autumn,

watching through the window a bird sitting on eggs in a nest, for instance. Others – floating through the sky on a little white cloud, swinging on a vine in the jungle – are more fantastical. What they all have in common though, is the love that the adult is showing to the little child in his or her care.

Helen Docherty’s soothing rhyming text with its wealth of ‘what ifs’ and Daniela Sosa’s joyous, richly coloured illustrations, make this both reassuring and an invitation to small children to use and develop their imagination – an essential part of learning.

A book to share, ponder upon and enjoy with a young child or perhaps, to give as a gift to a family with a new baby.

The Snow Thief

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The Snow Thief
Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater
Scholastic

Squirrel receives another practical lesson on the changing seasons with the help of his friend Bird. It begins as the bushy tailed rodent looks out onto – shock horror – no grass. Bird is on hand to explain all about snow and invites Squirrel to participate in a fun exploration beyond the tree, an invitation that receives a firm “No, thank you”. Later however into Squirrel’s home comes a snowball thrown by Bird in an attempt to get Squirrel to enjoy the possibilities snow offers.

Down comes Squirrel enthusiastically, over-reacting as you might expect as Bird explains that every snowflake is different. Squirrel’s next misguided response to the cold concerns “smoke coming out of my mouth”. As for ice-skating – let’s say a showy-offy performance results in

and so the concatenation of dramatic reactions continues with reference to missing hazelnuts, culminating in the disappearance of most of the snow –

surely the work of the titular snow thief, who has left one thing behind.

Farcical fun thanks to one character’s absurd pronouncements, comical facial expressions and body language in Nicola Slater’s boldly hued portrayal of Squirrel’s theatricality, and the clever use of different type faces. (In a final spread after her story, Alice Hemming gives explanations of a more scientific kind relating to snow and some of its effects.)

Revenge of the Killer Worm / Terror Tower

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Revenge of the Killer Worm
Kathryn Foxfield, illustrated by Robin Boyden
Scholastic

Eleven year old Milo is looking forward to the summer holidays: it’s to be our summer of adventure, so he tells his three friends who are also going camping at Stourmouth. His interest isn’t in the upcoming StourFest: the intention is to spend time playing video games in the dilapidated arcade, eat lots of doughnuts on the wasteland of a beach and generally getting up to mischief with Danny, Nora and Grace. It’s especially important as Milo and his mum are moving very soon and life will be very different then.
Currently Milo (a brilliant story teller who has dyslexia) is obsessed with a game called Worm Attack invented in the 1990s and despite being ace at video games he’s never made it past the giant killer worm and always gets eaten up.
From the start of the holiday the children notice weird things: the town’s mayor seems to be stealing huge trays of raw chicken; then Beth the arcade owner falls off the helter skelter roof shouting ‘He’ll come for you too’ and is taken away in an ambulance. Moreover Milo insists something was chasing them in the underground tunnel they’re investigating under the adventure golf course. Surely this story about the killer worm can’t be real – or can it? Convinced that the answer is to be found in the game, Milo persuades his friends to join him on a nightmarish investigation.

This is where I’ll leave them and merely say a life-threatening situation occurs, Milo comes to accept that change is inevitable and that this holiday is one he and his friends will not easily forget. Kathryn Foxfield’s blend of monsters and mayhem, scariness and humour, with occasional pictorial frights from Robin Boyden, will keep readers around Milo’s age on the edge of their seats till the final page.

Terror Tower
Jennifer Killick
Farshore

This is the sixth and final story in the Dread Wood creepy horror series and creepy it most definitely is. We start with Angelo and Gus wandering in the woods reminiscing about how they and three others formed Club Loser, when they come upon Kaya. Following an exchange of the meaty kind, she’s suddenly bitten by hundreds of little caterpillars and ends up in hospital. It turns out these are no ordinary caterpillars; they’re a sub-species of oak processionary caterpillars, so the announcement in assembly informs everyone, going on to remind them all about the meat-free month project the school has taken on.
There’s a strong possibility that the dastardly Latchitts have something to do with this alarming infestation. Then there’s the issue that caterpillars transform into something else which could be even more deadly. It’s time for Club Loser to investigate in the woods even if it means first having a Saturday detention with Mr C. who immediately has suspicions about why they are there.
Once in the woods the friends are suspicious of a masked stranger who watches them from behind a tree. Things go completely downhill when Collette disappears, the other club members are attacked by some sort of poison and end up flat on their backs in hospital; then Mr C is taken away by the police.

At this stage we’re only half way through the book but to learn how this super-scary tale ends, you’ll need to get your hands on a copy and read on, preferably while sipping a cup of Mr C’s favourite ‘hot choccie’.

The Boy in the Suit

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The Boy in the Suit
James Fox
Scholastic

Ten year old Solo and his mum, Morag, frequently gate crash the get togethers held after funerals, the reason being, after losing her job, Solo’s mum doesn’t have sufficient money to buy food for them both and otherwise they’d be hungry all the time. Solo hates having to do this, detests wearing the over-sized suit from a charity shop, and going to school without the correct uniform resulting in him getting into trouble. He also hates the way his mum begs for food from the local shop and lies to get free bus rides. Worst of all though is when his mum spends several days in bed on account of the Big Bad Reds, (BBRs) and spends any money she has on what she calls ‘grown-up’ drinks. As a result, the poor boy stands out for all the wrong reasons. Despite everything though he really loves his mum.

Then one day the two of them go to a funeral of somebody famous, suspicions are aroused and they end up being featured in a newspaper and on the internet. Solo then gets called FB at school, his Mum gets him to make a dash from a school uniform shop, stealing a new uniform and is caught on CCTV.

Eventually everything gets just too much for Morag and she disappears. After several days there’s still no sign of her so Solo and his new friend Chetna sneak off during a school trip to search for her, looking in all the places the boy knows Morag likes, but with no luck. They end up missing the coach home and Chetna feels she must tell the teachers what’s happened. Despite all the awful things that he’s gone through, might this now be where Solo’s life finally starts to improve?

This is a hugely moving, compelling and empathetic story for older readers (and adults) that portrays with stark clarity the cost of living crisis, what it’s like living with a parent who has mental health problems.and having to be a young carer. Full of poignant and compassionate moments, there’s also humour and messages about the importance of friendship, resilience and finding the courage to accept help.

Blue Monster / Not Fair, Bear!

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Blue Monster
Petr Horáček
Otter-Barry Books

Bored with no-one to play with Blue Monster decides to ask Rabbit; but Rabbit is sleeping and doesn’t hear the request. Blue Monster repeats it much louder, waking Rabbit this time. Rabbit though refuses so the monster proceeds to swallow Rabbit. The trouble is he does’t merely swallow Rabbit: oh no! This crazy creature also swallows in turn Rabbit’s leporine friend, Raccoon, Fox and Wolf.

Having done so he realises his actions were not appropriate, let alone kind. Moreover with all his friends inside his tummy, who can Blue Monster play with? Overcome with guilt and sadness he sits beside a tree and yawns. You can guess what happens next but what will the outcome be? Will Blue Monster truly see and error of his ways?
Illustrated with his usual panache, Petr Horáček’s tale is a surprising mix of friendship and silliness; it’s also a tad anarchic and a terrific read aloud that will both shock and amuse young listeners as well as being a great starting point for discussion be that in the classroom or at home.

There’s further undesirable behaviour and friendship tested in

Not Fair, Bear!
Lorna Scobie
Scholastic

Squirrel and Bear are best friends, doing everything together. Being besties though doesn’t mean they enjoy the same things.and the huge difference in their size can sometimes cause issues regarding playing. One day Bear chooses only activities that Squirrel deems unfair. The tree climbing ends with Squirrel cascading into a bush, Squirrel isn’t a swimmer so the river fishing leaves Squirrel feeling left out and so it goes on.

Come the evening Squirrel is feeling pretty dismal and off he goes to sleep. Not so Bear who disturbs Squirrel’s slumbers announcing that it’s playtime. An angry Squirrel tells Bear that the next day will be “DIFFERENT”.
Before long it’s evident that games played Squirrel’s way don’t work for Bear and the two have a tiff resulting in Squirrel telling Bear that he no longer wants to play with him.
Can the two find a way to enjoy each other’s games without falling out? Maybe, but will what they do please all the other creatures too? Lorna Scobie’s lively, funny story about learning to compromise is dramatically presented both in words and pictures. It’s followed by a ‘Big Feelings’ spread for children and adults to talk about together either at home or in a foundation stage setting.

The Boy Who Cried Ghost

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The Boy Who Cried Ghost
Ian Eagleton
Scholastic

This story of Richard Barnes is a very personal one for author Ian Eagleton: Richard has OCD, with which Ian was diagnosed in his late teens.

Richard and his mother move into what was Grandma’s house just before the beginning of Year 6 and the likelihood that this is permanent, taking him away from his friends, troubles the boy greatly. Everything about his new room troubles him too: he lies awake on his first night thinking about starting at a new school and listening out for the strange sounds that seem to be coming from the old wardrobe in the corner. He resolves to keep it locked to prevent anything hiding inside from escaping. He checks it many more times before leaving for school, which makes him late but Richard believes it’s the only way to keep him and his mother safe.

One day his mum’s friend, Tony, who has been doing some painting in their house, collects Richard from school, accompanies him home and reveals that the boy’s mum has already told him about there being something in the wardrobe. Moreover, he’s also found its key and insists on unlocking the door. Richard is horrified at his thoughtless attempt to show the boy that his anxieties are unjustified: he fears that the ghost has now been released into the room with the result that he experiences a massive panic attack.
However when he tries explaining, both Tony and then his mother tell him that his anxieties about the released ghost are down to his over-active mind.

Scared and very angry he decides to enlist the support of his new school friends. They are willing and together settle on calling it ‘The Whisperer’. Meanwhile Mum reveals something about his Grandma and Richard wonders, could she be the Whisperer?

Richard’s friends come to a sleepover with the aim of banishing the spirit once and for all. They reveal lots about themselves during the night but they don’t see the ghost. Then things go disastrously wrong, Mei is hurt and Richard ends up falling out with them, albeit temporarily. Now he feels totally isolated and desperately in need of help. Can Richard finally admit he needs to find somebody to talk to about what is going on and the debilitating voices in his head? Only then might he be able to live comfortably with himself.

Written from the heart, with themes of acceptance, confronting fear, family, friendship and mental health, this powerful story needs to be read widely by older KS2 and KS3 readers as well as adults, many of whom have little or no understanding of OCD. It made me feel I should have been far more empathetic towards a teacher I once worked with who has OCD and frequently turned up late for school. There’s humour and laughter in this book too and in the author’s notes at the end of the book, he pays tribute to his dad who loved jokes, using humour to help him and others deal with their worries.

The Little Worried Caterpillar / Dig Dig Dinosaur

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The Little Worried Caterpillar
Christine Pym
Scholastic

Little Green is on the brink of change. However she’s not aware of this when she wakes early one morning ready to play with her caterpillar pals, but she can’t find them anywhere on the ground. Then a call tells her that they have morphed into butterflies and are way up above her. “You’ll be next, there’s no doubt!” they tell her. However rather than sprouting wings, she sprouts fear, a fear of change that brings with it worries about the unknown. Her friends reassure Little Green that change is what they were born to do and it’s exciting but this makes her feel even worse.

Along comes bee with what is meant to be some helpful advice; she gets momentary relief but that’s all.

Other creatures also offer suggestions but nothing works until Rabbit appears on the scene. Rabbit listens and what her new friend tells Little Green enables her to feel ready to embrace and prepare for that transformational change

and become … Butterfly Green.

Some young children take change in their stride, others needs considerable support from empathetic friends and understanding adults. A book such as this one is particularly valuable for sharing with the second kind. Christine Pym’s illustrations capture so well Little Green’s fearfulness and eventual delight.

Dig Dig Dinosaur
Professor Anjali Goswami and Maggie Li
Nosy Crow

Three intrepid little explorers with their kit at the ready are on an expedition in the hope of finding something, something ‘REALLY big’. Dig! Dig! Dig! they go till one person discovers some remains of a sharp clawed dinosaur. These claws make the finder conclude that they belonged to a Velociraptor.

A second child’s Dig! Dig! Dig! digging unearths three large horns: young readers can perhaps guess from which dinosaur these came..

Still intent on finding something even bigger, they continue hunting till the third explorer tells of a dinosaur with a very long tail. and a tiny head supported by an extra long neck.

Little ones can have fun guessing what this might be before the big reveal fold out … They will also enjoy the peep hole pages showing the skeletal remains the young explorers find during the dig.

Betsy Buglove and the Brave Butterfly / Watch Them Grow!

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Betsy Buglove and the Brave Butterfly
Catherine Jacob and Lucy Fleming
Scholastic

Nature lover Betsy Buglove, she who saved the bees, returns for a new adventure. It begins as she and her best friend Stan are in the garden and a bee buzzes along with an urgent message about a butterfly that needs their help. They follow the bee next door and there discover the juice cups they left on the grass earlier and inside one a butterfly is trapped in the sticky dregs.

Having successfully extricated the butterfly, its wings soon dry and off it flies.

Shortly after a cry comes from Betsy’s dad. The leaves of his vegetables and flowers have been badly nibbled. Off goes Dad to get his bug spray leaving Betsy examining a thistle plant in the grass. Thereon, with the aid of her magnifying glass, she sees lots of caterpillars munching away its leaves. Caterpillars she and Stan soon find out, belong to the butterfly they’d rescued earlier on.

Can they persuade Betsy’s dad to leave a patch of thistle and other weeds for the caterpillars? Fortunately they can; but what happens thereafter?

Will it be another case of mission accomplished for team Betsy and Stan?

With Catherine’s jaunty rhythmic text where the rhyme doesn’t falter and Lucy’s scenes containing an abundance of flora and minibeasts, this is a book that’s just right for sharing with young nature enthusiasts, as well as to encourage those less keen (happily I’ve only ever encountered a few,) to find out what they’re missing. Everyone can do their bit to help insects.
At both ends of the book are fact pages about butterflies.

Watch Them Grow!
James Carter and James Munro
Graffeg

Author James Carter and artist James Munro have joined forces to present the life cycles of nine different animals starting with the Emperor Dragonfly and concluding with a human. Before these is an introductory poem inviting readers to ‘Watch them grow!’. Following the featured animals are a spread about baby animals names – young children will be amused to learn that it’s not only cows whose babies are called calves: so too are those of six other animals. And, the term hatchling can be applied to baby crocodiles, turtles, tadpoles and newts in addition to baby birds.
Then comes some straightforward information about axolotls; (these, unlike other amphibians never become adult; instead they retain their gills and remain in the water); and a paragraph explaining that male seahorses give birth to babies (fries, hundreds of them)

as well as some facts about parenting in emperor penguins, Australian marsupials and others.
All this James Munro has captured in his playful illustrations, each of which is a combination of reality and fun.

Finding Alfie: A D-Day Story

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Finding Alfie: A D-Day Story
Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman
Scholastic

Created by two masters of children’s literature and published in collaboration with the Royal British Legion, to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day on 6th June 2024, this intensely moving story pays tribute to all those who served in the Second World War.

Author Michael Morpurgo’s journey is one he undertakes in search of the answer to what happened to the painter of a picture that he saw on the wall of Aunty Iris’s room in her nursing home every time he visited her and which now hangs on his own bedroom wall.

It was some years after her death that, having discovered a photo he’s sure is of Alfie, he set out to discover why the young soldier never returned despite promising to do so.. Telling his mother he’s going off sketching, he heads first to Bradwell in Essex and there comes upon an old man who gives him one piece of Alfie’s story. As a result of what he learns our narrator then crosses the Channel to Normandy.

There he finds Alfie’s grave and further pieces of the story and in so doing learns a powerful lesson about service to others be they from your own home country or another.

Both the written narrative and the illustrations are beautiful; together they make for a profound, powerful story, just one of so many that could be told of those who stood, determined and dedicated, against the threat of invasion in 1940, and played their part in the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 and in the liberation of Europe from occupation and tyranny.

We owe it to them to keep their story alive and one way to do so is to share this book with children in school. Another is to buy a copy, a contribution of £1 from the sale will be given to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. (The historical background to the story is chronicled by Philippa Rawlinson, Director of Remembrance, Royal British Legion and includes photographs of the landings.)

North and the Only One

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North and the Only One
Vashti Hardy
Scholastic

Having woken fourteen days ago from a seemingly endless sleep, twelve year old Rose, has no memory of any life before, not even her name. What caused the scar on her head? Why does she feel lost in her own home? These are just two of the many questions she has. The only thing that feels familiar is North, her puppy. Yes, the woman she lives with, says she is Rose’s mother but despite the pleasant life the three have together, as the days pass something feels wrong. Fragments of her past come to Rose in dreams. She’s walking among the trees – there’s a forest: home perhaps? Nothing like the place she now finds herself in. Then one night Rose makes an unsettling discovery about this ‘Mother’ of hers and it drives her to leave the house, with North beside her. She runs towards the only thing that feels real to her – the forest: surely there she can find other humans.

What Rose finds is that she’s on a frightening journey through a city with a political set up based on control and fear wherein her very existence is both a threat and threatened; and where she doesn’t know whom to trust: the tour guide mouse or the charming fox and rabbit droids working for a travelling theatre. A journey that makes readers feel they’re part of the girl’s search for the truth.
Probably THE most important thing of all Rose discovers is the power of stories; stories that help us make sense of things, that connect us both to the past and one another. Stories make us human and reveal our truth.

With its STEM and environmental references, this is a compelling story for older readers that is highly thought-provoking, exploring as it does, what being human means and what makes a family.

Marley’s Pride / You Are Brave

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Marley’s Pride
Joëlle Retener and DeAnn Wiley
Barefoot Books

It’s June and for Marley and for Marley’s grandparent Zaza, that means Pride month with its parades and other celebratory activities. Marley really wants to join Zaza at the festivities when they’re to receive an award for transgender advocacy, but with sensory sensitivities noise and crowds making the child tense up at the very thought, it’s a no go for the young narrator.
Come the morning of the parade, the child decides to give it a go after all. Into a bag go noise-cancelling headphones a fidget spinner and favourite lavender bunny and off go Zaza and Marley, the latter feeling very uncertain.
At the venue, just as things threaten to overwhelm Marley, Zaza’s reminder, “Pride isn’t just a big ole party. It’s about celebrating who we are, about community, and love” gives the child a boost of courage to go among the crowds. By the end of the day, Marley feels a part of that community with new friends

and a personal delight at belonging.

Author, Joëlle Retener’s telling is a celebration of Pride’s communal spirit brought wonderfully to life with DeAnn Wiley’s inclusive, splendidly textured, bold digital illustrations.
Backmatter comprises double spreads entitled the History of Pride, that includes paragraphs about sensory sensitivities, the other, with lots of definitions and explanations is called More About Marley’s Pride. An invaluable resource for primary schools especially.

You Are Brave
Margaret O’Hair, Sophia Sanchez and Sofia Cardoso
Scholastic

‘Being brave does not mean you are not afraid. It means you are afraid, but you do the scary thing anyway.’ Inspired by Sofia Sanchez, a young actress and model who happens to have Down syndrome, that is the vital life lesson contained in this book.

‘Every day, says author Margaret O’Hair, we meet people who inspire us – people who are amazing at the things they do.’ Sofia Cardoso illustrates a guitarist, a vet, a pilot, a baker, a gardener and several others. Before they became amazing though, they had to make the ‘tough decision’ to try something new, which likely meant they had to be brave. This is something that needs to be learned like everything else and no matter what ‘being brave means doing something you want to try.’ Of course, success seldom comes at the first try, but that’s no reason to give up;

Inclusive and optimistic in tone, this is surely an encouraging invitation to challenge yourself, have a go and try something new. With its important messages, this is a book to share and discuss in primary classrooms.

Kevin the Vampire: A Wild and Wicked Witch / Goosebumps House of Shivers: Goblin Monday

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Kevin the Vampire: A Wild and Wicked Witch
Matt Brown, illustrated by Flavia Sorrentino
Nosy Crow

In this sequel to A Most Mysterious Monster Kevin (almost eleven) and his family, plus human best friend Susie Cabbage who now lives with them, and the Carnival Monstromo carriages are heading to Monstro City to take part in the Dragon Parade. Reluctantly, Susie is clad in an exceedingly itchy, scratchy dress.

As they are running late, Kevin’s family take a shortcut through the perilous Wild Woods, a place nobody ever goes on account of the dastardly witch who lives there. Everything should be fine as long as no one gets out and no one eats anything … err? Kevin will be at the Festival before you can say incredible (which Susie does) After all, nothing goes wrong for the Carnival Monstromo, never ever …
With the performing of awesome tricks including the Danger Dive of Death, revelations relating to Uncle Drax’s falling out with Lazarus Vandross, the disappearance of Dog, some serious sadness for Susie,

and aided and abetted by The Sphinx, the fizzling out of Grayvon Fury, the most evil witch in Grackelser Odd, this is a real humdinger of an adventure. Those familiar with the first book will recognise some of the magical monstrous creatures from that, but Matt Brown has invented some additional characters, mostly of the humorous, even slightly bonkers variety. All this plus Flavia Sorrentino’s weird and wonderful illustrations: primary age readers could ask for nothing more.

Goosebumps House of Shivers: Goblin Monday
R.L. Shine
Scholastic

This story is narrated by Mario who has recently moved with his family from Florida to Philadelphia. He’s been invited to join his new friends Todd and Jewel on their winter holiday at their grandparents’ home in Vermont and is thrilled at the prospect of seeing snow for the first time.

Pretty soon after they arrive, Mario starts to suspect that something really weird is going on inside this house. Todd and Jewel’s grandparents are more than a little odd: Grandpa Tweety really loves his birds and in the evenings tells tales about goblins, gremlins and imps; he’s also written books about them. MomMom loves to make stews and she knits strange green outfits. However, the real terrors begin when Mario finds that the fairy tales may not be made up stories after all. He’s attacked by a creature in the garden and his friends’ parents disappear.

Full of twists and turns, it’s all a bit creepy and anyone prone to nightmares is advised not to read this just before bedtime.

I’m Not Sleepy

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I’m Not Sleepy
Raahat Kaduji
Alison Green Books

When Flora, the littlest dormouse stirs from the long winter sleep, she’s raring to go with a head full of questions, unlike her friends; they just want to sleep. She though is ready to explore the big wide world to try and find answers to ‘Why are bees so busy?’, ‘What do caterpillars eat?’ and ‘How do birds build nests?’ for instance. Ignoring the call to nap with her companions, Flora storms out and immediately encounters a duck. She tells him of her urge to see the world; he offers her a lift to the pond and off they soar together. At the pond Flora is intrigued by the wiggly things, which she learns are tadpoles and the duck talks of recently hatched ducklings.

Flora spends the spring learning new things and writing postcards home about what she observes. She follows the development of new baby birds and caterpillars

and watches the bees through the seasons as well as seeing the autumnal pursuits of spiders, squirrels and migrating geese, and despite missing her friends, she doesn’t go home.

Snow falls and Flora starts feeling drowsy. Time for a little nap,she decides, snuggling down among the tree roots where she’s happy to find something fluffy to curl up on. ZZZZZ! Little does she know that her comfy bed is a fox’s tail. Along comes a beetle that immediately realises he needs to get help for Flora before the fox wakes.

Will Flora be rescued or will she become a tasty meal for the fox?

The story has a lovely final twist to it that is sure to make young children and adult readers aloud smile and Flora shares some of the entries from her nature diary, after the tale ends.

Raahat Kaduji neatly weaves facts about the natural world into her story and her illustrations are a delightful mix of the real and the whimsical.

Pop!

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Pop!
Matt Carr
Scholastic

If you’re looking for a wacky way to encourage small children to practise counting to ten then get your hands on this rhyming story that begins to explode one rainy afternoon when the contents of a packet of popcorn is sent tumbling into a pan atop the stove. On goes the lid and happy to be out of the bag, the corn pieces are in party mood despite the rising temperature. Suddenly there comes a POP! It’s Dave delighted at his muscly new shape.

There’s no time to brag about being unique though, for almost immediately comes POP! number two; Monique has joined Dave making a ‘pair of superhero corn’. Small explosions continue as Shaun, Clare, Dean, Debbie, Ben, Sue, Wendy and Brian. joined the pair in rapid succession. A hip-hop popping party if ever there was one.

Eventually those pops stop and onto the popcorn pals there comes a shower of sugar.

Then from their new resting place the crew settles down to watch – wait for it, a movie. The kind of movie will perhaps make adult sharers cringe at it’s punny nature.

Ridiculous, irresistible fun: this book is sure to become hugely POP-ular with little humans who will want to hear it over and over as they eagerly join in with all the popping.

One Goose Two Moose / Ten Little Ducklings

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One Goose Two Moose
Kael Tudor and Nicola Slater
Scholastic

Under the direction of a rather bossy goose named Simon, a queue, no make that two queues, are forming outside an ice cream shop. There’s a goose line and a moose line. The trouble is the customers are having trouble getting in the assigned lines. Should I say it’s mainly the Moose that keep getting it wrong to the considerable annoyance of Simon Goose.

Whether it’s intentional or down to the fact that none of the queuers can read the signs, it’s somewhat chaotic. Eventually though after a lot of angst on Simon’s part, there is a line with seven geese, one behind the other. Are those in said line now about to take turns to make a purchase of some delicious frozen confection of their choice?

Look carefully in the bottom right corner of Nicola’s spread showing the seven; there’s something lurking that might just sabotage the entire system. I wonder who gets the last laugh …

Debut author Kael Tudor’s text is huge fun with some cheeky counting opportunities included, and illustrator Nicola has clearly enjoyed herself creating snazzy attire for the moose and geese. Young listeners will delight in the daftness of the whole thing and demand “Read it again” each time you share the story.

Ten Little Ducklings
Lucy Rowland and Aki
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

‘The sun is up, / it’s a brand new day. Ten little ducklings / want to play.’ And play they surely do in this delightful, interactive, rhyming game of hide-and-seek. First they splash around in the pool, swimming, diving, floating and fishing. Thereafter they zoom around on their scooters, take to the sky in hot air balloons, frolic in the farmyard, explore the jungle, have a snowball fight, attend a chaotic birthday tea, spend time on the beach and eventually tire themselves out ready for bed.

Before Lucy Rowland’s rhyming text begins, is a spread whereon each duckling is named and there’s a never mentioned eleventh character, a little mouse that triumphantly calls, ‘I see you, duckling!’ on every spread bar the final one whereon we assume, he reads the weary ducklings a bedtime story. Aki’s bright scenes have just the right amount of detail for little children who will have great fun finding whichever duckling is hiding in plain sight in every playful situation. I wonder if they might, on a second reading, go back and try naming the one they need to find each time.

Secret Agent Mole

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Secret Agent Mole
James Foley
Scholastic

Anarchic nonsense in graphic novel form, this story introduces readers to secret agents in training Max Mole, Helena Hippo and June Bug, an unlikely trio if ever there was one. Under the watchful eyes of the judges, these friends are on a mission – their very first – to go up against the nefarious Dr Nude. However having done so, one of the three doesn’t satisfy the judges, which means that despite the other two passing with flying colours, the whole team fails the test. They still have two chances left though.

Then comes news of another case: the First Bank of New York has just been robbed and Interpol need their assistance. Eric Goldfishfinger and his pufferfish partner in crime have stolen 10 million $ in gold bars. Catching them is the next mission for the three trainees. The chase is on … Can they catch the fishy thieves before they get that priceless solid gold fish finger?

You never know: they might even live up to the new name agent Walrus has put forward for the agency: The Official International League Exterminating Terrorism with its inevitable acronym.
What will the judges back at HQ have decided about granting Max, Helena and Bug’s secret agent licences?

With a fair degree of TOILET humour, flushings of puns and other sizeable servings of silliness, this will get young readers giggling (and groaning) from start to finish.