This Mapmakers novel follows the The Mapmaker’s Race (2018). Sal, Joe, Francie and Humphrey Santander are mapmakers looking for their father, a famous explorer, who has disappeared on an expedition. They go searching in Cruxcia, where the people are fighting to protect their land from Grania Trading Company. The Santander’s map skills may be what…
A superb environmental novel for 8 to 14 year olds about two children fighting for a better world. This is a really moving story about climate change. It is based in a futuristic world where Industry runs the country. There are crowded cities with cars stacked vertically and shopping centres stretching miles into the sky.…
Mary Anning has long been one of my heroes. This book gives a new insight into her life and work. Grulke charts her progress from a poor girl who liked fossils to finding, preparing and selling curiosities to visitors, coping with family hardship after the death of her father. We learn about some of her…
This lavishly illustrated but uncluttered addition to the A Question of History series has the subtitle ‘and other questions about the Romans’, which include How dangerous was a Roman tortoise? and What was so great about Roman toilets? Its wide-ranging and well-designed content will certainly appeal to the intended 9-11 year-old readership. There is a…
In the Introduction to this book, the author describes her views and her perceptions of Antarctica and its future. This is the key that opens the following chapters. The reader will get to know the scientists, meet the wildlife, explore the continent and understand why and how Antarctica is changing and how this continent can…
On the inside front cover of this book it is written ‘In the vastness of space lies a tiny sphere that orbits an ordinary, middle aged star in a quiet backwater of the Milky Way’. This magnificent book is about that sphere – Earth to us – the only place we know supports life. It…
This stunningly illustrated fable tells of a sad little black panther who often finds himself alone in the beautiful rainforest. The other cats shun him as he lacks either magnificent stripes or spots or a luxuriant mane. In vain he tries to emulate them, creating his own mane of feathers, stripes from the golden pollen…
This short but colourful booklet, one of a series of non-fiction titles, is aimed at 3-7 year-olds and is a Purple level 8 book band, focusing on the differing pronunciations of the grapheme /ie/, so Key Stage 1 teachers will be better qualified than I to judge its efficacy. There are ‘Top tips for helping your child to read’ on…
In this non-fiction book the reader will discover a story collection that celebrates nature in a woodland. This will delight young nature lovers and allow them to learn and discover the magic and wonders of nature. Science writer and poet Gabby Dawnay provides nine different stories and at the end of each 5 minute story…