It was chatting to Karim and the team from Tiny Owl at the CLiPPA awards which gave me the inspiration for this blog post. There they were, a small award-winning independent publisher with a fantastic and diverse catalogue of titles, yet they still found it very difficult to get their books into the larger retailers. … Continue reading Support Our Small Independent and BAME Publishers – how you can help!
Making friends is a skill that takes time and practise. I find that picture books make it easy to explore new ways to initiate (and maintain) friendships, as well as allowing children to spot ineffective approaches. Bearing this in mind, I was very excited to receive a copy of ‘Oscar Seeks a Friend.’ Don’t be … Continue reading ‘Oscar Seeks a Friend,’ by Pawel Pawlak.
#BookBoy loves gaming. Luckily, he also loves reading. But titles which allow him combine these two interests are few and far between. I’ve been racking my brain for children’s books which feature computer games as a key component, and here’s what I’ve managed to come up with! ‘Glitch’ by Sarah Graley (Scholastic) has just dropped … Continue reading Game On! Level up with these books about gaming!
Today is my stop on the ‘My Family and Other Ghosts’ blog tour. I am very excited to be on board as I’ve loved all the previous books of Lou’s that I’ve read and I have a special piece from her about how the story reflected her relationship with her brother growing up. But first … Continue reading ‘My Family and Other Ghosts,’ by Lou Kuenzler, illustrated by Steve Brown.
As they head back to nursery and school, children might be thinking about making new friends. ‘Hello, Friend!’ is a charming picture book about just that. Inspired by her own daughter who is always keen to make new friends, Cobb has created a wittily-observed story about a little girl who is determined to make friends … Continue reading ‘Hello, Friend!’ By Rebecca Cobb.
Bugs of all shapes and sizes are always a source of fascination for children so I have a new fictional adventure and two beautiful information books for you to enjoy. ‘Winnie and Wilbur: The Bug Safari,’ by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul (OUP) A new adventure for fans of magical duo Winnie and Wilbur. After … Continue reading Bug Out Over Books!
In honour of International Dogs Day, here’s a round up of some of the fab books I’ve received featuring some of the most brilliant dogs around! ‘This is a Dog’ by Ross Collins (Nosy Crow) Uh oh! A very loveable but slightly excitable young pup has broken into a First Book of Animals and taken … Continue reading Puppy Love
Having recently heard a lot of good things about ‘Lori and Max,’ I decided to make it my next read. I am pleased to report back that I wasn’t disappointed. Lori Mason wants to be a detective, but she keeps this very quiet at school because it’s not a good idea to be different. She’d … Continue reading ‘Lori and Max,’ by Catherine O’Flynn, cover by Jennifer Hall.
This is a book for anyone who used to while away the hours as a childhood immersed in an imaginary world or playing made up games with rules nobody outside your circle of friends would understand. I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenny about these very things for my Library Girl and Book Boy podcast, … Continue reading ‘The Land of Roar,’ by Jenny McLachlan, illustrated by Ben Mantle.
This blog post has a sea-faring theme with a selection of books for readers of all ages about pirates, the sea, and the creatures who live in it. ‘Lula and the Sea Monster’ by Alex Latimer (OUP) Lula lives by the beach in her beautiful family home and she loves it. She loves looking for … Continue reading Books Ahoy!
In my experience, engaging and digestible books about mathematics aren’t far and few between. Enter ‘The Language of the Universe: A Visual Exploration of Mathematics.’ This large-scale hardback tome is packed with information about how maths permeates everything in our universe. From atoms to Fibonacci, planets to cryptology. Maths underpins every one! Organised into four … Continue reading ‘The Language of the Universe,’ by Colin Stuart, illustrated by Ximo Abadía.
Environmental activism is high on the agenda at the moment, with young people in particular campaigning to take care of our planet before it’s too late. There’s a rich seam of books being published at the moment which contain useful tips to help you make a difference and plenty of fiction books around environmental themes … Continue reading Planet in Peril
I’ve a whole new selection of vibrant and enticing board books to share with you all. Get ready for llamacorns, unicorns, flamingos and tigers, counting and colours and fun! I always think the summer holidays are the perfect excuse to indulge in a stack of new books, whether from a bookshop or your local library. … Continue reading Don’t be ‘board’ books!
So today’s blog post is a little different as it’s not part of a blog tour, but of my very first Instagram (Bookstagram) tour which has been organised by the lovely peeps at Lantana Publishing. You can find me there as @BookSuperhero2 and enjoy all the other bookstagram posts using #OldManOfTheSea. This is a story … Continue reading Bookstagram Tour: ‘The Old Man of the Sea,’ by Stella Elia, illustrated by Weberson Santiago.
Today I’m bringing you the lowdown on Scoop McLaren: Detective Editor with an exclusive Q&A with Scoop herself! Scoop is a 13-year-old reporter and investigator who runs online newspaper, Click!, so she is not pleased when Sonny Fink, evil reporter extraordinaire, starts uploading the most terrible news reports on his online newspaper at one minute … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Scoop McLaren: Detective Editor,’ by Helen Castles, illustrations by Beatriz Castro.
Today’s my turn to tip, shake and turn on the Save the Day for Ada May! blog tour. Not only am I sharing my and Book Boy Junior’s review of the book, I also have an exclusive Q&A with the story’s illustrator, Patrick Corrigan. I’m very pleased to be highlighting the book’s illustrator as so … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘Save the Day for Ada May!’ by Elizabeth Dale, illustrated by Patrick Corrigan.
I am huge fan of all things witchy and wizard (mainly thanks to a very popular series of children’s books which shall not be named!) and am always very excited when a magical new series arrives on the scene. Cue ‘Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day’.... and LOOK AT THAT COVER! The wonderfully named … Continue reading ‘Starfell: Willow Moss and the Lost Day,’ by Dominique Valente, illustrated by Sarah Warburton.
Today I am bringing to you a gorgeous tale about a dog and his struggle to keep his family together. I also have an exclusive piece from Carlie about how adopting a rescue dog helped her write this book. Something doesn’t smell right about Cosmo’s boy, Max. What is that scent? Sadness, anxiety, worry? With … Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘I, Cosmo’ by Carlie Sorosiak, cover by Ben Mantle.
Today is my stop on the ‘Girl. Boy. Sea’ blog tour. In addition to telling you all about this shipwreck adventure, I also have an exclusive piece from the author himself about the sea-faring adventures that inspired him whilst growing up. This is a story of storm, shipwreck, survival and the formation of an unlikely … Continue reading Blog tour: ‘Girl. Boy. Sea.’ by Chris Vick.
After the success of her debut novel, ‘Mold and the Poison Plot, Lorraine is back with her second title: ‘The Maker Of Monsters.’ Fans of her first book will not be disappointed; there’s still the warmth and wit of Mold, interlaced with a layer of lurking menace and fear! The story begins with Brat, isolated … Continue reading ‘The Maker Of Monsters,’ by Lorraine Gregory, illustrations by Meg Hunt.
Library Girl and Book Boy 