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10-year-old flame-haired Ember Spark, living in a village called Yawn, supposedly in Scotland, loves the stories in her comics about her heroine Gutsy Wonder, and longs for an adventure of her own. Since her dad had walked out, she’s withdrawn from her friends and is even more bored than ever. Then one morning, on the […]
Rosa lives in Austria, but what will happen when the family leaves their home in the face of persecution? What will they be able to take with them? When in the half-title page and dedication, and in the first openings with the narrative, Rosa looks out over sunny, yellow-saturated Vienna, all seems right with the […]
Rory is having a very weird week. His mum brought home some special pies from the local supermarket and now he is a dinosaur… a small, feathered dinosaur with claws and a large tail and all he wants to eat is sausages! At first his friends think the situation is hilarious, but he finally makes […]
A stray dog attracts the attention of a child and their playmates, and eventually the whole community. The story is based on a memory of the illustrator, Tonka Uzu, about how a little kindness can change a lot. Uzu has the gift (often noted as part of Shirley Hughes’ art) of depicting children’s lives and […]
This charming story is the first in a new series from award-winning author Gill Lewis, introducing us to Tia, who has travelled to the island of Gull Haven for her vet mum’s new job. She is looking forward to spending more time with her mum, who previously had to work long hours and is also […]
This illustrated chapter book for early readers is a fun and original twist on the crime caper genre. The Pinchers are Nic and Rob, their children Theo and Ellen (CriminEllen!), Sherlock the dog and Grandma Stola. They are a villainous family of career criminals whose complete lack of morality is a source of great distress […]
‘Thank you’ says the little boy as he travels through the pages of this enjoyable picture book. Jarvis here creates a very real child who, in the way of children, has no boundaries. He thanks everything, individually from the sun and moon to colours even an elephant (though he has forgotten why). In some ways […]
Given the RSPB’s highly successful annual Big Garden Birdwatch there is a lot of interest in birds generally, and I’m sure this informative picture book will be well received. Not only does this book tell the story of how these amazing birds migrate each year but it goes into detail about the unique characteristics of […]
Another week, another reading for pleasure report, this time produced by HarperCollins Children’s Books. Their annual review of Children’s Reading for Pleasure, 2024 contains more gloomy reading for those who create, produce or care about children’s books: only 23% of 0-17s read for pleasure ‘daily or nearly every day’ (defined as on 4 or more […]
By Laura Mucha Before becoming a poet, I was an intellectual property lawyer at an international law firm. Most of my old colleagues have now become AI specialists and often tell me what their clients are concerned about. For example, music companies are worried about whether anyone actually cares if music is written by a […]
Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.
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