Winning books Non-fiction 7-11 The Ways of the Wolf Smriti Prasadam-Halls, illustrated by Jonathan Woodward (Hachette Children’s Group) Non-fiction 4-7 The Big Book of Beasts Yuval Zommer (Thames and Hudson) Fiction 7-11 On A Magical Do-Nothing Day Beatrice Alemagna (Thames and Hudson) Fiction 4-7 Stardust Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Briony May Smith (Nosy Crow) Shortlisted…
Orion Children’s Books ISBN 9781444010749 £7.99 Not one but two terrific stories in the Spymaster series – in Deadly Storm the action takes place whilst Henry VIII is travelling and is cut off by a flooded river and a destroyed bridge. Taking cover in an isolated castle, with only a few retainers, the King is in deadly…
Winning books Non- Fiction 4-7 The Rhythm of the Rain Grahame Baker-Smith (Templar Publishing) Non-Fiction 7-11 Ocean Hélène Druvert and Emmanuelle Grundmann (Thames & Hudson) Fiction 7-11 Ocean Meets Sky The Fan Brothers (The Quarto Group) Fiction 4-7 I Say Ooh, You say Aah John Kane (Templar Publishing) Margaret Mallet Award for Children’s Non- fiction Rebel Voices: the…
Wayland ISBN 978526300003 £13.99 This book is part of the important ‘And other big questions’ series that offers balanced considerations on big issues and hot topics. Readers are encouraged to think for themselves about the concept of gender and the impact it can have on their life. This book discusses topics including sex, intersex, gender…
Quarry (Quarto books) ISBN 9781631594250 £10.99 This is the first book that I have seen which is dedicated to the world of ‘Slime’ and I had not realized that it is such a world-wide phenomenon. The author is a young, (currently 16 years), social media star with a series of videos on Instagram and in…
Bloomsbury ISBN 9781408 884751 £7.99 The excerpt from a Guardian review on the front cover of this book states it is ‘Extraordinary… as moving, strange and profound as Skellig’. And, I couldn’t have put it better myself! This is a truly haunting and original story; it is exquisitely written. Both the dialogue in the text and the narrative…
Penguin Random House ISBN 9780141357058 £6.99 I found this book rather a trial to engage with initially. Its clipped prose and unconventional presentation of dialogue was, I felt, rather clunky and uninviting. However, for purposes of this review I ‘stuck with it’ and found myself ultimately drawn into the plight of Alex, his Golden Ipod…
Nosy Crow Published in conjunction with the National Trust ISBN 9780857639011 £6.99 John Drawbridge is a very young page in a large Medieval Castle, and is learning to become a knight. As often happened at the time, young boys were sent to rich and influential patrons to be trained for their future role in society.…
