Elevator Pitch

Linwood Barclay

WHEN an elevator plunges from the top floor of a high-rise New York office building to the bottom of the shaft, killing all four people inside, it appears to be a shocking accident. But then it happens again for the next two consecutive days, and suddenly the city that never sleeps is in total chaos, because in one of the world’s busiest centres of commerce – and home to hundreds of tower blocks – who dares now to step into a lift?

Linwood Barclay, the bestselling US crime and thriller author with over twenty critically acclaimed novels to his name, takes us on a true rollercoaster ride in this chilling new mystery which sees two NYPD detectives, and a straight-talking newspaper reporter, in a heart-stopping race to track down the villains behind some deadly acts of sabotage.

Brimming with Barclay’s rich characterisation, and featuring a pulsating, complex plot which moves at the speed of a falling lift, and delivers killer twists at every turn, Elevator Pitch will have readers heading straight for the stairs.

LIFT-OFF: Linwood Barclay

It all starts on a Monday morning when four people step into an elevator in the Manhattan office tower of a large entertainments business. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, without stopping, to the top. Once there, it doesn’t move for a few seconds, and then plummets… right to the bottom of the shaft.

It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy but then, on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And when Wednesday brings yet another high-rise catastrophe, the nation’s central hub of media, finance and entertainment begins grinding to halt.

Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorise the city, and it’s certainly working. Fearing for their lives, thousands of office workers across the city refuse to leave their homes. Commerce has slowed to a trickle and emergency calls to the top floors of apartment buildings are going unanswered. Who is behind this, is the elevator sabotage connected to a coffee shop bombing in Seattle by a domestic extremist group, and what do these terrorist acts have to do with the mutilated body of a man found on the High Line, the famous elevated park and rail trail on New York’s former Central Railroad?

With or without the help of dodgy Mayor Richard Wilson Headley, two seasoned New York detectives – Jerry Bourque and his partner and friend Lois Delgado – and sharp-shooting journalist Barbara Matheson must race against time to find the answers…

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Barclay keeps us guessing right up to the final showdown as he ratchets up the suspense from the gripping opener and spreads darkness, terror and suspicion with the expert hand of a master storyteller. But he also treats readers to the trademark detailed characterisation and dark brand of humour that have won his thrillers such a large and loyal fan club.

From the emotionally insecure detective Bourque and the tough, doggedly determined journalist Barbara Matheson to the shady, double-talking Mayor Headley, these are people who bring the story to vivid life. Ingeniously executed and tingling with tension, Elevator Pitch is Barclay at his thrilling, chilling best.

(HQ, paperback, £8.99)

Four Minutes to Save a Life

Anna Stuart

SUPERMARKET delivery man Charlie Sparrow is not the only troubled soul on his regular round…

Determined to make amends for a secret in his past, Charlie wants to help his customers, but can you really reach out to strangers when your time slot with each of them is limited to four minutes per visit? At a time when kindness and compassion are increasingly being seen as a benign ‘weapon’ to counter intemperance and intolerance on all sides of the political and social divide, Anna Stuart brings us a moving, feel-good read about love, loneliness, friendship and forgiveness.

After a collection of popular historical novels under the pseudonym Joanna Courtney, Stuart has turned her talents to some acutely observant, real-life tales and after the success of last year’s Bonnie and Stan, a poignant romance set in both the present day and Sixties Liverpool, she is back with another emotional rollercoaster.

Charlie is literally having a bonfire of his past. He can’t change it but he can at least ‘burn it away, scrape it clear, wipe the board’ and rise up, if not phoenix-like, at least like ‘a little sparrow.’ So here he is on his first day in his new ‘safe’ job as a delivery driver for Turner’s Super Supermarkets and checking in under the name Charlie Sparrow, determined to make a success of it even if his family are all set for him to fail.

UPLIFTING NOVEL: Anna Stuart 

What he hadn’t expected was to be told that he has ‘only four minutes per house’ even though he quickly discovers that he is the only person some of his customers see during the whole day, and sometimes a whole week.

Charlie’s boss tells him he’s a driver, not a social worker but there are some very lonely residents on his Hope Row drop-off who deserve far more than four minutes of his time, and he sets out to make amends for painful events in his own past.

Widower Vik Varma regrets not retiring earlier after the sudden death of his beloved wife. He misses her every day so fills the time cooking up delicious curries and chatting to his ancient tortoise, and hoping that his son, who is always very busy, will spare the time to visit him.

Lonely Ruth Madison, who has never recovered from her husband walking out on her, spends her days mending anything electrical, doing jigsaws and drinking vodka. Her life has been reduced to ‘a gaping hole where once her family had been.’ And Greg Sutton, once a promising ecological researcher, is now confined to a wheelchair after a devastating industrial accident and feels trapped in his house. He broods constantly and can’t stop remembering the handsome, successful man he used to be.

Now the Hope Row residents have been taken under Charlie’s wing. By hook or by crook, he will draw them out of their shells and back into the world. But will his helping hand make everything worse?

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Four Minutes to Save a Life tackles serious contemporary issues like depression, mental health, alcoholism and the power of social media with a light touch, a warm heart, and plenty of searing psychological insight. As the insecurities, anxieties and sense of isolation and disconnection of

Time to Say Goodbye

Rosie Goodwin

AFTER the death of her beloved husband Tom, Sunday Branning thought things couldn’t get any worse… but there’s a war on the horizon and life has never seemed so uncertain.

In the final chapter of her much-loved popular Days of the Week family sagas, master storyteller Rosie Goodwin makes a welcome return to the compelling story of Sunday Small, the young girl who stole readers’ hearts in the opening book of the series, Mothering Sunday. A former social worker and foster mother, Goodwin has written over thirty beautiful sagas, and was awarded the rights to follow three of the late, great Tyneside writer Catherine Cookson’s trilogies with her own sequels.

However, the countryside around Nuneaton in Warwickshire has always been the inspiration for Goodwin’s own tales of hardship, love and hope, and here we catch up with Sunday who was abandoned at birth in 1870 at the Nuneaton Union Workhouse. Now aged 60, Sunday has come a long way since those early years of privation and cruelty. As a teenager, she was taken under the wing of a kindly young teacher, but was forced to leave behind the workhouse and everything and everybody she had ever known when she attracted the unwelcome attention of the workhouse master.

PERFECT ENDING: Rosie Goodwin

She went on to marry her childhood sweetheart, Tom Branning, and they own Treetops Manor in the Warwickshire countryside where Tom still manages his successful horse stud business and Sunday once ran a loving foster home for troubled children.

Treetops is also home to Tom and Sunday’s daughter, Livvy, who has grown up surrounded by the horses she adores, and Kathy, the couple’s 16-year-old foster daughter who they have brought up as if she was their own.

But the Branning family is overwhelmed with despair when Tom dies instantly in a riding accident and five years later, the running of the estate, which the still grief-stricken Sunday has left in the hands of Tom’s illegitimate son Ben, is now in chaos.

Sunday is keen to see both her girls married, but Livvy, who is doing a secretarial course, has no intentions of settling down and would much rather spend time with her friends. And when Kathy, who is training to be a nurse, falls for the wrong man, her ambitions are soon forgotten as she embarks on a secret affair. As their financial difficulties begin to mount, the women of Treetops are forced to leave their home… and their world is about to be turned upside down yet again as the drums of war beat ever louder.

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Time to Say Goodbye is the perfect ending to what has been an enchanting reading experience, with each story featuring a cast of superbly drawn characters (some of whom have reappeared in this final curtain call), emotional, action-packed dramas, and fascinating facts about the realities of life for women over the last 150 years.

The joys of friendship, and the strength that comes from close family relationships, have always taken centre stage, all acutely observed with Goodwin’s warmth, wisdom and insight. And the glittering good news is that Goodwin is already working on a new series, The Precious Stones collection, in which each main character will be named after a gemstone. Look out for Opal’s story… coming soon!

(Zaffre, hardback, £12.99)

You’ll Never See Me Again

Lesley Pearse 

One young woman’s battle to escape heartbreak and forge a new destiny takes centre stage in a thrilling and drama-packed novel from one of the nation’s most prolific and best-loved authors.

For over twenty-six years, Lesley Pearse has been delighting her army of fans with gripping and emotionally powerful novels featuring tales of courage and adversity, and giving a voice to women from every walk of life.

Over ten million of Pearse’s books have sold worldwide, earning her a reputation as a master storyteller, and this new page-turner features an enthralling and exhilarating adventure story full of the author’s trademark rich historical detail, wisdom, warmth and heartfelt passion.

Set in the tumultuous years as the First World War drew to a close, and social change spread rapidly throughout the land, You’ll Never See Me Again has an all-star cast of compelling female characters, from a wife on the run and a vengeful mother, to a charming young illustrator and a charismatic psychic. In 1917, young Betty Wellows dreams of settling down to an ordinary life in the Devon coastal village of Hallsands with her fisherman husband Martin. But when he returns wounded, shell-shocked and haunted from the Great War in France, she finds herself persecuted by his cold-hearted and mean-spirited mother Agnes, and yearns to escape.

ALL-STAR CAST: Lesley Pearse

But it is not until a devastating storm sweeps through their small fishing village and endangers her life that she sees her chance to escape and takes it, leaving the village community believing that she was swept away to her death in the sea.  

Fleeing to Bristol, she changes her name to Mabel Brook and takes a position as a maid of all work, posing as a war widow from Plymouth. She feels ‘sick with guilt’ but Mabel knows that her past has gone. ‘Today, tomorrow and the future were what counted now.’

But tragedy strikes again after the sudden death of her mistress and she is cast back on to the streets. Penniless and alone, Mabel suffers a brutal attack before being rescued by a psychic named Nora Nightingale.

When Mabel gets her first taste of those who receive messages from the dead, she is shocked to realise that she may have this gift herself. And it isn’t long before Mabel receives her own message and is forced back to the place she escaped, a place of heartache, persecution and perhaps even murder. To secure her future, she must confront her past one last time…

Pearse is on top form in this exciting, suspense-packed story which follows Mabel’s rollercoaster journey from a small fishing village in Devon, and the menacing back streets of Bristol, to a

Messy, Wonderful Us

Catherine Isaac 

LEAVE the winter cold behind and head off to the ethereal beauty of Lake Garda… but get ready for so much more than sunshine on this unforgettable Italian odyssey.

After a string of witty and wonderful rom-coms under her pseudonym Jane Costello, former journalist and editor of the Liverpool Daily Post, Catherine Isaac, has moved her writing into top gear and driven her ‘new kind of novel’ straight into the bestsellers list.

Messy, Wonderful Us, a stunning tale of family secrets, tangled relationships, love, friendship and self-discovery, is her follow-on to You Me Everything, now optioned for film, and it certainly fulfils all the promise and exceeding talent of that initial change of writing direction.

When she set out on this intriguing path, Isaac declared that her new genre would be ‘exploring some difficult themes but with compassion and humour,’ and this uplifting, emotional rollercoaster ride through some dark corners and sunlit uplands is one of the most affecting reads of 2019.

ITALIAN ODYSSEY: Catherine Isaac

Research scientist Allie Culpepper, 33, from Liverpool has always lived a careful, focused existence, dedicating her career to finding a cure for the genetic disease, cystic fibrosis, while putting her love life on hold and her ticking biological clock ‘on snooze.’

Her beloved father, Joe, has always been the rock in her life since her mother died from cancer when Allie was only six. But when she is rummaging through some drawers at her grandmother’s home, she finds a letter dating back to 1983 which turns upside down everything she had believed about her family.

It’s a discovery that sends her to the town of Sirmione on the shores of Lake Garda with her best friend since schooldays, Ed Holt, a high-flying businessman, travelling alongside her. Ed has just shocked everyone with a sudden separation from his wife, Julia, and Allie hopes that a break will help him open up. Her dad doesn’t know the reason for her trip, and Allie can’t bring herself to tell him that she is flying to Italy to unpick the truth about what her mother did all those years ago. But the secrets that emerge as the sun beats down on Lake Garda, and then on the Mediterranean coastline of Liguria, don’t merely concern her family’s tangled past. And the two friends are forced to confront questions about their own lifelong relationship that seem impossible to resolve.

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Packed with the acute psychological insight, natural warmth, wry comedy and exquisitely drawn characters that we have come to expect from Isaac, this is a story that tackles the realities of life and some of the hardest-hitting topics with unflinching honesty, but without losing its sense of eternal optimism. 

Rich and compelling storylines encompassing three generations of women, and their complex,

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Combat cadets, a super spy and monkey mayhem

Head off to Rio for with a band of fearless young warriors, meet a boy detective with prodigious brain power, laugh out loud with a mischievous monkey, and discover fascinating bugs and minibeasts in a dazzling array of new children’s books

Age 10 plus:

Special Forces Cadets: Ruthless

Chris Ryan 

SPECIAL Forces Cadet Max Johnson is going to need all his combat skills just to stay alive on a dangerous mission in Brazil… is he tough enough, and is he smart enough?

A former SAS corporal and the only man to escape death or capture during the perilous Bravo Two Zero operation in the 1991 Gulf War, Chris Ryan returns with the fourth thrilling book in his exciting, action-packed series.

These military-style adventures – full of derring-do and heart-thumping exploits – have captured the imagination of an army of teen readers who count down to the next book just as soon as the last page has turned.

EXPLOSIVE ACTION: Chris Ryan 

In Rio de Janeiro, the ghettos are crawling with street kids. They have nothing, and are forced into lives of crime in order to get enough to eat. Their life expectancies are short, not least because the Brazilian authorities allow paramilitaries to shoot them like rats.

It’s unfortunate then that Tommy Sinclair, son of the British Ambassador in Brazil, has been kidnapped in the city’s most dangerous slum where heavily armed gangs rule the streets and even the police are corrupt.

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And it’s with these street kids that the cadets must become embedded. Some of the youngsters have been recruited by the cartels which are causing untold misery, both in Brazil and on the streets of the UK. The teenage cadets must befriend the cartel kids in the hope that they will lead them into the heart of the drug lords’ empire, and to Tommy.

But when you head into the lion’s den, you must expect to be bitten. The cartel chiefs are the most ruthless people in the world, and they do not take kindly to the infiltration of their secret, violent world. And what the cadets don’t yet know is that Tommy has a hidden agenda which could put the safety of more than just himself and the cadets at serious risk. Expect explosive action, menace on every street corner, and bravery beyond the call of duty as Ryan rolls out another cracking adventure for his fearless young warriors.

(Hot Key Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 9 plus:

Planet Omar: Unexpected Super Spy

Zanib Mian and Nasaya Mafaridik

OMAR, the boy with an imagination that is constantly in overdrive, is back to solve another baffling case in the second book of Zanib Mian’s brilliant debut series Planet Omar. This new laugh-out-loud story, featuring the amazing cartoon-style illustrations of Nasaya Mafaridik, delivers the same clever mix of adventure, mystery, and comedy with a fascinating British-Pakistani Muslim cultural twist.

Young readers have fallen in love with the super-clever Omar, the brainchild of author Mian who felt that diverse characters from all minorities and backgrounds were not being fully represented in books for children. And so Omar and his madcap family were born, and their lifestyles, culture and traditions are proving to be irresistible for middle grade readers. In Unexpected Super Spy, Omar and his friends have been saving up their pocket money so they can have the world’s most epic Nerf Blaster battle. But when Omar discovers that his mosque is in trouble, they decide to donate their pennies to help save it. Then they try to raise some more money by… doing some chores (boorrring), selling some home-made cookies (deeelicious), holding a talent contest (Yessssss).

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Everything goes perfectly until the money mysteriously goes missing. Can they work out who has taken it in time to stop the mosque closing down? And what exactly is Omar’s older sister Maryam hiding in her room? Funny, clever and filled with mystery and mayhem, Omar’s adventures are perfect for fans of Tom Gates and Wimpy Kid.

Published on March 6.

(Hodder Children’s Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 8 plus:

Trailblazers: Albert Einstein

Paul Virr

Illustrated by Luisa Uribe and Keiron Ward

HOW did Albert Einstein become one of the greatest minds in history?

Get up close to the most famous scientist of all time with the latest enthralling Trailblazers book, part of a fun and factual biography series inspired by the lives of pioneers both past and present. Packed with little-known trivia, fascinating facts and lively illustrations, these books celebrate the lives of forerunners in every sphere, from science and sport and business to activism, politics and the arts.

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Discover how Albert Einstein’s radical theory of relativity formed the basis of physics today and changed the way we think about everything, from atoms to galaxies. And learn about his childhood… how he taught himself calculus at age twelve, was expelled from school and told nothing would ever become of him, but went on to be one of the world’s greatest geniuses. With a gallery of interactive illustrations and a lively text which combine perfectly to bring the man to life 140 years after his birth, this is the perfect way to introduce Einstein and his work to a new generation.

Published on March 5.

(Stripes, paperback, £6.99)

Age 8 plus:

Anatomicum Activity Book

Jennifer Z Paxton and Katy Wiedemann

USING the incredible Anatomicum as inspiration, and published in association with the Wellcome Collection, this big, bold activity book is simply bursting with fascinating facts and puzzles. Anatomicum is the latest, innovative title in the Welcome To The Museum series from the Big Picture Press, an original concept which offers fascinating guided tours in museums that are always open to explore.

The Anatomicum book – follow-on to Animalium, Botanicum and Dinosaurium – delivers an anatomy lesson with a difference, allowing youngsters to turn the pages and watch their heart beating, witness their skin cells growing, look at their vocal cords and discover the muscles we use to show emotion. And now this fascinating activity book allows youngsters to enjoy some hands-on Anatomicum learning. With richly detailed, eye-catching artwork by Katy Wiedemann, activities include amazing mazes, mix-and-match brain-teasers, spot-the-difference, colouring, drawing and much more. And the pull-out pages can be easily removed enabling children to proudly display their creative masterpieces.

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With its careful blend of informative and creative activities adapted from the original Anatomicum book and supported by key information from professor Dr Jennifer Z Paxton, this is deal for budding artists and science enthusiasts.

Published on March 5.

(Big Picture Press, paperback, £9.99)

Age 7 plus:

Thimble Wonga Bonkers

Jon Blake and Martin Chatterton

SOME books come perfectly pitched at children’s humour… and the adventures of Jams and his mischievous monkey certainly hit the spot! There won’t be a dry eye (tears of laughter, not tears of despair) in the house as one boy and his manic monkey steal the show again in Jon Blake’s third riotously funny Thimble the monkey story which comes packed with brilliant one-liners, zany antics and the funniest dad this side of story time. And what makes these stories extra special is that Jams has cerebral palsy and is based on Blake’s own son who has the same condition. But Jams’ disability does not define him in these adventures, instead offering a positive portrayal of a boy with the neurological disorder.

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Life is never boring now that Jams Cogan and his family have pet monkey Thimble to look after (it was supposed to be a hamster but their weird neighbours left the monkey and did a disappearing act). When Mum goes away for the week, Jams, Dad and Thimble are left with just thirty pounds for the groceries. Dad makes a shopping list, but when Thimble gets hold of the supermarket trolley, everything goes bananas. Soon the intrepid trio are so desperate they will do anything for money ... anything! Will Dad end up selling his soul to make ends meet, or can Jams and his monkey pal save the day?

Since the publication of Thimble Monkey Superstar, the first book in this rip-roaring series which shortlisted for the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards, Blake has won the hearts and minds of millions of young readers with these madcap comedy adventures. His prodigious imagination and sense of fun once more swing into overdrive as Jams is called on to rescue Dad and his manic monkey from a sinister organisation. Martin Chatterton supplies the hilarious cartoon-style illustrations and Jams’ disability adds an extra layer of poignancy to the story. Monkey business has never been so much fun!

(Firefly Press, paperback, £5.99)

Age 6 plus:

Toto the Ninja Cat and the Superstar Catastrophe

Dermot O’Leary and Nick East

HEAD off for music and mayhem with a magical moggie who sleeps all day and fights crime at night! Popular TV broadcaster Dermot O’Leary returns with his amazing ninja cat, Toto, for another gigglesome, gob-smacking adventure starring the feline heroine who was inspired by two stray cats rescued from an olive grove in Italy by O’Leary and his wife.

‘One of them, Toto,’ he reveals, ‘has been blind from birth, but we quickly realised she had ninja-like reactions. Like a lot of cat owners (or cat servants), we like to imagine our pets having secret lives when we’re out or asleep. So before I knew it I was writing about Toto and her brother Silver’s nocturnal adventures around London.’

Following on from Toto’s earlier, hit adventures, The Great Snake Escape and The Incredible Cheese Heist, O’Leary and illustrator Nick East are back with another terrific tale starring the fearless feline and her long-suffering brother Silver. The cats live in a townhouse in London. Toto is almost totally blind, and learned to trust her senses from a ninja cat-master who taught her back in Italy where they were born. By day, Toto and Silver seem to be ordinary cats, but by night, they love to have adventures.

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After months of keeping London safe from notorious animal bad guys, Toto is going on a well-earned holiday to the world’s most famous music festival… Catstonbury! But a villain has a dastardly plan to hypnotise the crowd when a world-famous band is on stage, turning them into evil minions. How can Toto possibly prevent a disaster when everyone thinks the band is the cat’s pyjamas? It will take all Toto’s ninja skills – and some help from a friendly otter – to stop a real CATastrophe occurring!

With lots of laugh-out-loud moments, reassuring and gentle themes of friendship, inclusivity and winning in the face of adversity, and East’s gallery of hilarious black and white illustrations, this is ideal for newly confident readers to curl up with or reading aloud with parents. Animal magic for all the family.

Published on March 5.

(Hodder Children’s Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 6 plus:

Curious Kids: Bugs and Minibeasts

Jonny Marx and Christiane Engel

SOME things tweet, some things buzz… and some simply bloom and grow! Get ready to uncover an army of fascinating bugs and minibeasts in an ingenious new book just made for curious young minds. From bumblebees and spiders and butterflies to ants and frogs, learn all about these cute characters as they pop up from each page.

Christiane Engel’s fun and intricately detailed illustrations explore the world of nature in miniature with rich textures and bright, jewelled colours that can’t help but catch a child’s eye while Jonny Marx’s narration is packed full of fascinating facts to engage children with the wonders of the natural world.

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With delightful pop-ups that bring to life the wonderful world of bugs, bees, butterflies, spiders, ants and creepy crawlies, this is an innovative and exciting introduction to what lies under our feet, in the trees, and above us in the sky. Nature, discovery and entertainment in one beautiful pop-up book.

Published on March 5.

(Caterpillar Books, board book, £10.99)

Age 5 plus:

Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Golden Seahorse

Sally Gardner and Nick Maland

WELCOME back to the fantastical world of a circus-owning tiger, amazing acrobats, and an enchanting girl called Betsy K Glory whose mum is a mermaid and dad is an ice-cream maker. If that all sounds like the stuff of fairy tales, then you won’t be disappointed because Costa and Carnegie-winning author Sally Gardner and illustrator Nick Maland are certainly conjuring up magic with this bewitching series for young readers. 

Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Golden Seahorse is the third whimsical and wonderful adventure for Mr Tiger and Betsy, and what makes these books extra special is that the hardback editions are printed in blue ink and a dyslexia-friendly font specially designed to make reading easier – and more fun. Betsy and her parents are not a normal family… her mum Myrtle is a mermaid, her dad is a human and they live on an island in the middle of nowhere. Her dad is known for making the most delicious ice-creams and her mum, who visits them every day (as normally she lives in the ocean), has knitted Betsy a mermaid suit so that she can swim and breathe underwater.

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Here, Mr Tiger and Betsy join Myrtle in her underwater world, and discover that a seapig’s prize seahorse, Pudding Pie, has been stolen by a cantankerous giant octopus, and Betsy and Mr Tiger must go to the rescue in their new submarine. Expect monsters, shipwrecks and stormy seas as Betsy and Mr Tiger go in search of a happy ending for everyone, and Gardner and Maland dive deep into the ocean for another classy and classic story full of all those things that children like best.

Published on March 5.

(Zephyr, hardback, £10.99)

Age 5 plus:

Midge and Mo (Colour Fiction)

Lara Williamson and Becky Cameron

WHEN you’re only small, school can look big and scary… Here’s a gentle, reassuring and heartwarming story from acclaimed children’s author Lara Williamson for all youngsters who are frightened or anxious about new beginnings and that daunting first day at a new school.

With its stunning blend of captivating storytelling and eye-catching illustration by Becky Cameron, Midge and Mo is the latest title in the Little Tiger Group’s Colour Fiction series, beautiful picture books made for in-betweenies who find picture books too babyish and middle grade books too hard. These beautifully produced books, with their sturdy hardbacks, simple but enchanting stories and highly illustrated, glossy pages, are ideal for bridging the gap between picture books and chapter books for newly independent young readers.

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Here we meet Midge who doesn’t want to go to a new school. He wants everything to go back to the way it was… with his old school, his old friends and his parents back together. Mo is Midge’s buddy at his new school. She’s super smiley and can’t wait to be his friend, but the more Mo tries to make friends the more Midge retreats. It’s like there’s an invisible rain cloud hanging above his head… drip-drip-drip. Then Mo remembers how she felt when she was new and it makes her even more determined to help Midge feel happy and to show him that the sun will come out for him again soon.

Cameron’s rich and evocative illustrations bring life and vivid colour to Williamson’s poignant, warm and uplifting story which is brimming with the joys of empathy and friendship, and guaranteed to find a special place in the hearts of readers both young and old.

Published on March 5.

(Stripes, hardback, £7.99)

Age 5 plus:

Little Tiger Rescue

Rachel Delahaye

HEAD off on a magical trip to the spectacular wonders and wildlife of the Indian rainforest with a little girl who dreams of becoming a vet. Little Tiger Rescue is the new book in a series of gentle stories for younger children by former journalist Rachel Delahaye. 

Readers follow Fliss on her action-packed adventures to save wild animals in danger. Each story comes with gorgeous black and white illustrations and contains a subtle educational element, teaching children about the species of animal and the environment featured in the book and important conservation issues. Each adventure in the series is set in a distant location around the world, transporting readers to amazing new places.

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In this new adventure, Fliss volunteers to help at her cousin’s birthday party in a jungle gym, she doesn’t expect to end up in the rainforest in India. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, she soon makes a new friend… a tiny tiger cub, left behind when its family fled from a flood. The little tiger is bursting with energy and Fliss can’t believe that she is playing with an actual tiger cub! But as the floodwater rises, the time for games is running out, and to save her animal friend, Fliss must face monsoons, dangerous creatures and the darker side of nature...

Little Tiger Rescue combines a lively, heartwarming adventure with easily recognisable real-life issues told from a child’s perspective, resulting in a captivating story perfectly pitched for youngsters just starting chapter book reading… and anyone who is wild about animals.

Published on March 5.

(Stripes, paperback, £5.99)

Age 3 plus:

Dear Earth

Isabel Otter and Clara Anganuzzi

LET young imaginations taken flight around the wonders of the world in this inspirational picture book which celebrates our endangered planet. Dear Earth is an exploration of the planet – both its fragility and its wonders – through the breathtaking illustrations of Seychelles-born Clara Anganuzzi and Isabel Otter’s dreamy, lyrical text. 

Through the gentle relationship of a loving grandfather and granddaughter, we learn what it is to explore, enjoy and appreciate our world. ‘Start by writing “Dear Earth” then let your imagination flow,’ said Grandpa who once was an explorer. And when Tessa writes a love letter to the Earth, it’s the beginning of a glorious adventure. She blows bubbles with whales, soars with birds and joins in with the noisy rainforest hullabaloo! Tessa wants everyone to know how special our planet is. She believes that there is a chance to save the Earth if enough of us share the message...

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This beautifully written and illustrated story encourages children to do their own bit to help save the world, and with a useful fact page – giving further insight into environmental issues and practical advice on how to make a difference no matter how young you are – this is the perfect book to inspire eco warriors of the future.

Published on March 5.

(Caterpillar Books, hardback, £11.99)

Age 3 plus:

The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom

Steve Smallman and Nick Schon

A MONKEY'S plan to add a bit of colour to the lives of his jungle friends goes bottom up in this classic picture book from daring double act, Steve Smallman and Nick Schon.

First published in 2007, The Monkey with a Bright Blue Bottom has been causing ripples of laughter down the years and now a new generation of young readers can meet up with the colourful primate in a new paperback edition with a fabulous neon pink cover. Brimming with Smallman’s irresistibly cheeky humour, this rollicking, rhyming romp starring a mischievous monkey is brought to vivid life by a gallery of Schon’s big, bold and brilliantly expressive illustrations.

A long time ago, when the world was quite new, a monkey sat watching the birds as they flew. Like feathery rainbows they flashed through the air. ‘How come they’re so pretty,’ he thought, ‘It’s not fair.’ So when the monkey discovers a paint box, he has a brilliant idea to paint stripes on a zebra, spots on a tiger, and brown squares on a giraffe but things don’t go quite as Monkey planned, and he ends up with a red face… and a blue bottom!

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From hilarious, throwaway lines like ‘as dull as an elephant poo’ to the monkey’s colour schemes which we all know will permanently stick to them, youngsters will love everything about this book… including the amazing discovery that blue-bottomed monkeys (mandrills) actually do exist. Animal magic and mayhem for all the family.

Published on March 5.

(Little Tiger Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus:

Tiny T. Rex and the
Very Dark Dark

Jonathan Stutzman and Jay Fleck

MEET an adorable little dinosaur getting used to living in a world that seems very big… and very scary. This is the third cute and cuddly adventure with the often intimated but still indomitable Tiny T. Rex, brainchild of top team, award-winning writer and filmmaker Jonathan Stutzman and designer and illustrator Jay Fleck.

After the success of last year’s Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug, the creative partnership are back with a warm and reassuring tale about friendship and overcoming your fears… perfect for helping toddlers and children to overcome fears of the dark.  

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Tiny T. Rex and his friend Pointy are camping out in the backyard. It’s what best friends do, but without their nighty-lights, the dark outside suddenly seems VERY dark… and full of very spooky things like the Grumbles and the Nom-bies which come out at night. Good job Tiny has a super-secret plan to keep the dark at bay! Full of reassuring messages and plenty of laughs, this new adventure starring Tiny T. Rex shows that friends will always find a way to face their fears together… even when those fears are not what they seem.

Published on March 3.

(Chronicle Books, hardback, £11.99)

Age 3 plus:

The Grizzly Itch

Victoria Cassanell

THERE are some itches that only a friend can scratch! Enjoy the all the fun of sharing and caring in a terrifically ticklesome story from exciting debut author and illustrator Victoria Cassanell. The Grizzly Itch – starring a bear and beaver who together embark on a journey of discovery – celebrates the warmth and creative rewards of friendship, compromise and the joy that can be found in a mutual love of nature.

When Bear wakes up from his winter sleep, he discovers an itch. And not just any itch… an unBEARable Grizzly Itch. But when he gets to his favourite scratching tree, it suddenly crashes to the ground. It turns out that Beaver likes trees too! Thankfully, Beaver knows lots of other trees, and promises to help Bear find a new one. But Bear’s itch is getting more grizzly by the minute, and none of the trees Beaver shows him are quite right. Maybe it’s not a tree Bear needs after all but a helping paw from his friend?

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This beautifully illustrated and imaginative story demonstrates how helping people can yield some unexpected and wonderful surprises, and is ideal for teaching little ones how to navigate first friendships, and to encourage them to respect and enjoy the natural world.

Published on March 5.

(Macmillan Children’s Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 2 plus:

Put Your Botty on the Potty

Sam Lloyd

GETTING your toddlers out of nappies is enough to drive parents potty! So turn an exhausting ordeal into shared giggles with creative author and illustrator Sam Lloyd’s lift-the-flap, rhyming picture book which offers a fresh, funny and cheeky take on the whole potty-training routine.

Little Moo Monster is growing up and no longer happy to be in a nappy. Moo wants to be more grown-up so the lovable monster discards his nappy and suddenly there’s poop everywhere. Mum gets a potty, and Moo practises sitting on it… until finally, success! Moo can move on to grown-up pants which means Moo can go to the Monster Pant Party with lots of little potty-trained (and not-quite-so-potty-trained!) friends.

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With large flaps to lift, clever paper engineering, big, bold illustrations and laugh-out-loud humour, Put Your Botty on the Potty is the perfect potty-training tool for all toddlers and their parents. The book covers all elements of potty training – from getting the potty, patience, triumphs and mishaps, using paper, washing your hands, and the joy of getting your first grown-up pants – and all delivered in a fun and supportive way. An ingenious book that should not be poo-pooed!

Published on March 5.

(Pavilion Children’s Books, hardback, £9.99)

Age 2 plus:

One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller

Kate Read

WATCH out for the hungry fox in a stunning counting book that turns learning into a thrilling adventure. One Fox, which stars a crafty fox on a midnight hunt for the farmyard’s unsuspecting hens, comes from the brilliantly talented debut author and illustrator, Kate Read.

The famished fox with two sly eyes is on the prowl… so the three plump hens had better watch out. But what the fox doesn’t know is that those clucking hens know something the fox doesn’t… there’s safety in numbers! With something different to count in every picture and numbers in both text and numerals, learning numbers from one to ten proves to be more fun than little ones could ever have imagined.

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Brimming with atmospheric, close-up illustrations, which capture everything from the scary, moonlit  farmyard to the raucous riot of colour as the hens chase away the cunning fox, this is a clever picture that marries comedy, thrills and learning in a glorious melee. From one famished fox and two sly eyes through three plump hens and four padding paws to seven knocks at the door, ten sharp teeth, one hundred angry hens and one frightened fox, this is a story that will have everyone ‘s feathers flying… with a final flourish of laughter!

(Two Hoots, paperback, £7.99)

Tidelands

Philippa Gregory

AFTER a raft of thrilling novels exploring the kings, queens, and politics of the medieval Wars of the Roses, Philippa Gregory turns her historian’s keen eye and novelist’s vivid imagination to another turbulent period of British history… the English Civil War.

Skipping forward two centuries, Gregory sweeps us away to the remote coastal marshes of Sussex in 1648 and into the life of a young midwife whose healing arts set her on a perilous path in a country increasingly suspicious of priests, Popery and witchcraft.

Tidelands is the first book of Gregory’s new Fairmile series and, in her trademark style, it’s a seething, smouldering, stunning story steeped in the atmosphere, passion, and dark corners of women’s history that have made her one of the world’s most popular novelists.

In a febrile England, held in the grip of a bitter civil war and a naïve, renegade king fighting a losing battle against the power of a rebellious, Puritan-led Parliament, Gregory sets her sights on the plight of an ordinary woman caught up in a destructive political and social maelstrom.

Brimming with danger, dark secrets, forbidden love and set in a haunting, moody, desolate landscape of stinking mud, sinking sand, hidden ditches and grinding poverty, this gritty, coruscating portrait of 17^th century rural life is a far cry from the power play of the Plantagenet court.

STUNNING STORY: Philippa Gregory

On Midsummer’s Eve in 1648, England is in the grip of civil war and the struggle is reaching every corner of the kingdom, even to the remote Tidelands, the marshy landscape of the south coast near the ancient city of Chichester.

Alinor Reekie, the 27-year-old descendant of wise women, crushed by poverty and superstition, waits in the graveyard under the full moon for a ghost whose presence she believes will declare her free from her abusive fisherman husband, Zachary, who has been missing for many months.

Midwife and herbalist Alinor has been left to care for her two teenage children, Alys and Rob, but a woman determined to succeed on her own, and possessing skills that can so easily be interpreted as witchcraft, is always under suspicion. Instead of discovering Zachary’s ghost in the graveyard, Alinor meets 22-year-old James Summer, a young Catholic priest on the run from the Puritans and an integral player in an audacious Royalist plot to free King Charles from imprisonment on the Isle of Wight.

Alinor, whose brother Ned is a fierce Parliamentarian, shows James the secret ways across the treacherous marsh to the safe haven of the local Catholic landowner Sir William Peachey’s home, not knowing that she is leading disaster into the heart of her life.

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Rewarded for her help, and increasingly involved with the handsome priest whose interest in her has

Firewatching

Russ Thomas

DS Adam Tyler is a man forged in the steel of Sheffield, his sexuality makes him an outsider in the CID, and when the heat is on he’s more than ready to step into the fire…

Russ Thomas is that rare thing… a debut author whose first book is already causing a giant splash and this red-hot series, starring a unique, enigmatic and exciting lead player, is set to continue causing ripples amongst crime and thriller fans.

Set against the backdrop of the vibrant multicultural city of Sheffield, and the moorland and rocky ridges of the neighbouring Peak District national park, Firewatching is a terrific opener to what promises to be one of this year’s most impressive new detective series.

The star of the show is the intriguing Adam Tyler, the 29-year-old cool-hand sergeant whose father was a good guy cop, but who has a chequered history, a secret in his past, and who always has to try that little bit harder at work because he’s gay. Fortunately, Adam has some powerful weapons to defend his vulnerabilities… a sharp, well-honed mind that often keeps him one step ahead of the game, and a natural ability to seek out the truth wherever that may lie.

RED HOT DEBUT: Russ Thomas

And he certainly needs all the ‘fire power’ he can muster as our first case alongside the dogged detective features the hunt for a devious and dangerous pyromaniac whose devilish schemes threaten to ignite the city.

When a body is found bricked into the walls of a dilapidated Victorian vicarage in the countryside outside Sheffield, it soon becomes chillingly clear that, from the state of the man’s hands, he was buried alive and tried to claw his way out using his fingernails. The victim is Gerald Cartwright, a dodgy financier who disappeared six years ago, and was assumed to have gone on the run from his creditors.

As the sole representative of South Yorkshire’s Cold Case Review Unit, DS Adam Tyler has always recognised his role for what it is… a means of keeping him out of the way following an ‘incident.’ So when this high profile murder falls in his lap, Adam grabs the golden opportunity to fix his stagnating career and persuades his boss, DI Jim Doggett, a wiry Yorkshireman ‘held together with nervous energy,’ to let him investigate.

But then Tyler discovers that the chief suspect is Cartwright’s son, Oscar, the man Tyler slept with the night before, and makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors, certain that he – and only he – can solve the crime.

Tyler knows he must now move very carefully to find out the truth, and digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. What he doesn’t realise is that someone in the city knows exactly what happened to the body… someone who is watching Adam closely and has an unhealthy affinity with fire.

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It’s hard to believe that Firewatching is Thomas’ debut book… his descriptive prose, his grasp of police procedural, his ability to field a diverse cast of characters with the assurance of a seasoned author, and a dark, fast-paced plot brimming with suspense, red herrings, and ingenious twists is evidence of someone already at home in crime writing.

And there are some clever uses of techniques like flashbacks, blog posts which reveal the chilling mind of the firewatcher, a multi-stranded narration, and fascinating information and details of real historical fires which add plenty of ballast to this all-action story.

The beating heart of this series is set to be not just the likeable Adam, fighting both prejudice and his past, but the vibrant team around him… wily, witty, straight-talking DI Doggett, the resourceful rookie Amina, alpha male sergeant Guy Daley, and chain-smoking boss DCI Diane Jordan. Fast-paced, addictive, and delivering all-round entertainment, Thomas’s new series is off to a fire-raising start!

(Simon & Schuster, hardback, £12.99)