CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Wartime drama, exploding grandparents and sky-high fun

Enjoy a thrilling follow-up to a wartime adventure, laugh your socks off with a comedy classic, head to the skies for wit, wonder and magic, and meet a steam-powered rhino with a water tank for its stomach in an eclectic mix of new titles

Age 9 plus
The Swallows’ Flight
Hilary McKay

THREE years after her moving First World War saga, The Skylarks’ War, won the Costa Children’s Book Award, Hilary McKay is back with a stunning and beautiful companion novel which is set to be another middle-grade classic. A generation (and another world war) later, we meet the children of Skylarks stars Rupert and Clarry as their lives on either side of the devastating conflict’s divide are set on a Battle of Britain collision course.

Erik and Hans are German boys. They are growing up in Berlin and dreaming up schemes to make money and feeding flies to fledgling swallows on Erik’s windowsill. Uncle Karl takes them to the aerodrome to make coffee, polish windshields and head up into the sky in gliders. Both become pilots in the Luftwaffe… unwilling participants in the battles in the sky.

Ruby and Kate are English girls. Ruby, with her birth-marked face, is trying to dodge her brother Will’s jibes, avoid evacuation to the country and keep the family shop going with her mum. Kate, who is recording every moment in her diary before it disappears, befriends her grouchy grandfather. The girls’ mothers Violet and Clarry were such good friends and now the young girls themselves are thrown together in loneliness.

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The four youngsters grow up in worlds that would never meet until war tumbles their lives together and they become entwined by a dogfight that takes place in the skies above England one September afternoon. There are choices to be made. How is courage lost, and found? Who is really the enemy? And what does friendship truly mean in the middle of a war?

Family and friendship are once more at centre stage as McKay plays out her inspirational and thought-provoking story against a backdrop of war, suspicion and division. In a strife-riven world where some ignored the signs of war, and others pretended they didn’t know what was going on, McKay seamlessly weaves together characters from different sides, different families, and different classes as Erik and Hans, and Ruby and Kate stand as a symbols of hope and a better future.

Written with McKay’s masterful gift for dialogue and storytelling, featuring a cast of vibrant and beautifully drawn characters, and imbued with a sense of hope, poignancy and rapprochement, The Swallows’ Flight will wing its way into every reader’s heart.
(Macmillan Children’s Books, hardback, £12.99)

Age 9 plus
The Caravan at the Edge of Doom
Jim Beckett and Olia Muza

SURELY the vision of a set of grandparents exploding inside their caravan toilet can’t be funny? Well, it certainly is in the hands of Jim Beckett, one half of acclaimed comedy double act, Bob and Jim, and author of pretty much everything from short stories and poetry to plays and sitcoms… oh, and also an English teacher in a south London secondary school.

This multi-talented educator and entertainer is now turning his creative hand to middle grade comedy novels and the result is The Caravan at the Edge of Doom, a hilarious and heartbreaking debut featuring yes, exploding grandparents, unexpected heroes, and a truly epic adventure.

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When her grandparents explode in their caravan toilet late one night, twelve-year-old Harley discovers a surprising truth… their toilet is a gateway to the Land of the Dead, and they are its Guardians. Well, they were. But there’s no time to mourn their passing because Harley’s baby brother Malcolm has accidentally gone with them to the Land of the Dead. And Harley only has 24 hours to rescue him before he’s trapped there FOREVER!

The perfect summer read for fans of Terry Pratchett, David Walliams and Roald Dahl, this funny, magical, action-packed adventure cleverly combines the mundane with the otherworldly whilst delivering a thrilling high-stakes, high-humour race-against-the clock. With the atmospheric, richly detailed black and white illustrations of Olia Muza to put extra zest into the zany storyline, and serious issues like life, death and family neatly and sensitively wrapped inside, The Caravan at the Edge of Doom is one rollercoaster ride you wouldn’t want to miss!
(Farshore, paperback, £6.99)

Age 8 plus
Arctic Star
Tom Palmer and Tom Clohosy Cole

IT was a little-known wartime mission which Winston Churchill described as ‘the worst journey in the world.’ The daring and bravery of those who took part in the Second World War Arctic convoys spring to vivid life in a thrilling naval adventure from master storyteller Tom Palmer, the multi-award-winning author of D-Day Dog, and After the War: From Auschwitz to Ambleside, a moving tale inspired by the incredible true story of the Windermere Boys.

In the winter of 1943, teenagers Frank, Joseph and Stephen are Royal Navy recruits on board HMS Forgetmenot on their first mission at sea. Their ship is part of an Arctic convoy sailing to Russia to deliver supplies to the Soviets. The convoys have to navigate treacherous waters, sailing through a narrow channel between the Arctic ice pack and German bases on the Norwegian coast. Faced with terrifying enemy attacks from both air and sea, as well as life-threatening cold and storms, will all three boys make it home again?

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Illustrated by Tom Clohosy Cole, Arctic Star is a wild and gripping adventure which captures the harsh realities of warfare at sea with Palmer’s trademark historical accuracy, brilliant storytelling and amazing atmospherics. Through the eyes and accounts of three childhood friends, readers become part of the Arctic Star crew in an action-packed story which explores loyalty and loss, and celebrates the astonishing courage of British servicemen.
(Conkers, paperback, £6.99)

Age 7 plus
Rainbow Grey
Laura Ellen Anderson

GET ready for a rainbow-coloured adventure full of wit, wonder and magic! There’s sky-high fun all the way to Cloud Nine as creative author and illustrator Laura Ellen Anderson takes us on a flight of vivid imagination into the world of The Weatherlands, a place where one little girl discovers her superpower to control the weather.

Ten-year-old Ray Grey lives in the magical kingdom of Celestia in The Weatherlands, high in the sky. She lives on Cloud Nine to be exact and it really does have a silver lining. Her mum, Cloudia Grey, is always having to fix it after Ray and her adorable (but prone to exploding) clould cat, Nim, keep getting entangled in the threads. Ray is surrounded by Weatherlings with astounding weather power at their fingertips, which they use to keep the Earth safe and balanced, but poor Ray doesn’t have any magic!

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Then, after a forbidden trip to Earth on the back of the flying Nim, Ray’s life changes forever. She is transformed from Ray Grey into Rainbow Grey! With the help of her best friends, Nim, Snowden Everfreeze and Droplett Dewbells, now all Ray has to do is master her powers AND save the world from a mysterious, powerful enemy.

Anderson, whose bestselling Amelia Fang books have enchanted young readers, launches her sparkling new series with a rip-roaring, colour-infused tale of bravery, storm-filled action, kindness and warm-hearted friendships. Hilarious black and white illustrations add an extra layer of humour, charm and entertainment as one of the most charismatic cast of characters in middle grade fiction strut their stuff… come rain or shine. So if you fancy a go at puddleporting or want to try a Rumblebun from the Rising Bun Bakery, The Weatherlands is waiting for you at the end of the rainbow!
(Farshore, paperback, £6.99)

Age 6 plus
Will Jakeman’s Marvellous Mechanimals
Nick Ward

JUST imagine it… a hydraulic bison that has a top galloping speed of 50mph and a steam-powered rhinoceros with a water tank for its stomach! Welcome to the weird and wonderful ‘mechanimal’ world of Will Jakeman, an extraordinary inventor who is himself fuelled by the creative imagination of Nick Ward, author and illustrator of over sixty books for children, from picture books to young fiction.

So meet Will, born in a remote galaxy and now probably the best inventor there has ever been! People come from far and wide to buy his Mechanimals… incredible machines that come to life and perform all sorts of amazing tasks. For example, there’s Steel-Skull the gorilla, perfect for dealing with bullies, and The Armoured Armadillo, a magnificent machine that can barge through most obstacles and is even armed with a gunge gun. Learn all about Will’s childhood, the terrible fate of his parents, and discover whether the evil Ida Gripp ever gets her hands on his marvellous mechanimals.

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With stunning two-colour, elaborately detailed illustrations, and the chance to invent your very own Marvellous Mechanimal, this marvellously original and ingenious book is packed full of knockabout fun, amazing illustrations… and the strangest menagerie you will see this year!
(Guppy Books, paperback, £8.99)

Age 6 plus
50 Ways to Score a Goal and Other Football Poems
Brian Bilston 

YOUNG footie fans are guaranteed to get a kick out of a brilliant new book of football poems from word magician Brian Bilston. Described as ‘the Banksy of poetry’ and Twitter’s unofficial Poet Laureate, Bilston is perfectly on goal with this hilarious collection of witty soccer poems that are packed with all the wonder, excitement, glory and heartbreak of the beautiful game.

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Each poem is testament to Bilston’s genuine love for football, whether it’s a kick-about in the back garden, a Sunday match in the park, or simply watching your team winning the cup. There are poems about everything from training to match day and after-match analysis to honest football chants and half-time satsumas. With a veritable title-winning squad of poems, including puns, acrostics and shape poems, 50 Ways to Score a Goal and Other Football Poems ensures everyone has a ball!
(Macmillan Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 4 plus
Be A Tree!
Maria Gianferrari and Felicita Sala

THE beauty and majesty of trees is celebrated in a stunning picture book which inspires youngsters to plant the seeds of a green and pleasant future. Acclaimed author Maria Gianferrari, who has always loved trees, and self-taught illustrator Felicita Sala convey to a new generation of children the ecological importance and sheer wonder of trees through lyrical writing and gloriously colourful and original artwork.

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Stand tall. Stretch your branches to the sun. Be a tree! We are all like trees… our spines, trunks; our skin, bark; our hearts giving us strength and support, like heartwood. We are fuelled by air and sun. And, like humans, trees are social. They ‘talk’ to spread information and they share food and resources. They shelter and take care of one another. They are stronger together.

Using words, pictures and helpful endnotes which provide information and tips on the anatomy of trees and the various ways we can help save trees and help our communities, Be A Tree! subtly reveals what humans can learn from trees and how they can inspire us to be better people. Poetic, creative, and filled with warmth and wisdom, Be A Tree! will encourage every parent and child to take a leaf out of this wonderful book and join the fight against deforestation.
(Abrams Books for Young Readers, hardback, £13.99)

Age 3 plus
Charlie Chooses
Lou Peacock and Nicola Slater

CHOICES, choices… too many choices! Making decisions isn’t always easy and no one knows that better than little Charlie, the indecisive (and very lovable!) star of a funny, heartwarming and gently reassuring picture book from dynamic author and illustrator duo Lou Peacock and Nicola Slater.

Charlie does NOT like to choose. He can’t make up his mind between chocolate or vanilla ice cream, stripy or spotty underpants… or whether he wants the lights on or off at bedtime. It’s much too hard! The trickiest thing of all to choose is a birthday present… how will he ever make up his mind? But when a new friend with a waggy tail chooses HIM, making choices gets a little bit easier.

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Charlie Chooses – with its delightful blend of colour, comedy and creative storytelling – is the perfect inspirational story to introduce young children to the concept of making seemingly impossible decisions. With a cast of cute canine characters, some relatable tricky choices, Peacock’s glorious celebration of the joys of friendship, a hilarious twist in the ‘tail,’ and Slater’s eye-catching gallery of bold, bright and colourful illustrations, this clever picture book will easily be every pre-schooler’s bedtime reading choice!
(Nosy Crow, hardback, £11.99)

Age 3 plus
Mammoth
Anna Kemp and Adam Beer

EMERGING from the ice in a flurry of fur, a woolly mammoth finds the world to be a very different place to the one he knew millions of year ago! Get ready to fall in love with an ancient beast in a funny and yet moving tale about finding your feet (and your herd!) from bestselling and much-loved author Anna Kemp who makes a welcome return alongside exciting new illustrator Adam Beer.

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Big beast. Big city. BIG TROUBLE. When an Ice Age mammoth finds himself in a modern day city, he’s not at all sure what to make of this huge, gleaming forest. Strange ‘birds’ fly about in the sky, strange ‘beetles’ crawl about on the ground and who are these strange, noisy cavemen? Is he the only mammoth in the world and will he ever find someone who understands him?

This woolly wanderer – fresh out of the cold and ice – is guaranteed to melt the hearts of readers young and old as Kemp and Beer work their picture book magic on his hunt for a friendly face in an unrecognisable world. Stunning, clean-lined artwork brings Kemp’s endearing words to glorious life as the lonely, fish-out-of-water mammoth finally finds his herd… and a place to trumpet wildly!
(Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, paperback, £6.99)

The Coldest Case

Martin Walker 

A COLD case starts to burn brightly again in the heat of a French summer after a seasoned detective attends a museum exhibition on the facial reconstruction of ancient skulls. Will the creation of a lifelike head finally lead the police to discover the name – and possibly the killer – of a young man whose body was found in a woodland stream thirty years ago?

The considerable sleuthing talents of Lieutenant Bruno Courrèges are tested to the limit in the fourteenth book of Martin Walker’s enchanting, French-flavoured Dordogne series which stars an astute, epicurean detective with a taste for food, vin rouge… and crime.

Lovers of clever mysteries, social and political history, stunning scenery, excellent cuisine, and the very best of French wines have enjoyed sharing the past twelve years with the smart, likeable Bruno in Walker’s exceptionally entertaining novels. Walker (pictured below) is a prize-winning historian and journalist who spends most of his time in the Périgord region – the lush, gastronomic heartland of France – and has mastered the fine art of harnessing intriguing murder mysteries with paeans to his adopted country’s rich history, landscape and culture to serve up stories with an addictive brand of Gallic charm.

At the heart of these witty, wonderful novels is the laidback Bruno, a bon viveur with a brain as discerning as his palate… a man who can crack crime in the fictional settlement of St Denis whilst cracking open a bottle of the best Château Bélingard.

In his fourteenth mystery, we meet Bruno on a visit to the famous pre-history museum in nearby Les Eyzies where he is much taken with the amazing heads on show which have been expertly reconstructed from ancient skulls. For thirty years, Bruno’s boss, Chief of Detectives Jean-Jacques Jalipeau, known as J-J, has been obsessed with his first case. It was never solved and Bruno knows that this failure continues to haunt the chief.

A young male body was found in the woods near St Denis but never identified and since then J-J, who was then a young detective working on his first case, has kept a photograph of the skull – nicknamed ‘Oscar’ – as a memento mori. Bruno suggests performing a similar reconstruction on Oscar as a first step towards at last identifying him and an expert is duly hired to start the work while the search for Oscar’s killer begins again in earnest.

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But learning the identity of the murder victim is only the start. The investigation soon leads Bruno to a reclusive vintner, Henri Bazaine, whose education at a vocational school in a former Communist region has raised some eyebrows.  

An inquiry into the defunct school turns up shadowy reports of possible connections and funding from the Stasi, the repressive police agency of the former East Germany. The increasingly

Madam

Phoebe Wynne

IT should be a dream job for a young and ambitious Classics teacher… head of department at one of Britain’s oldest and most prestigious girls’ boarding schools.

But all is not what it seems at Caldonbrae Hall, perched high above the cliffs in a remote corner of Scotland, and 26-year-old Rose Christie will soon come face to face with the school’s dark and disturbing secrets.

Think Rebecca meets The Secret History and you’ll quickly catch the vibes from this electrifying gothic debut novel which delivers a sinister, simmering contemporary thriller with traditional horror tropes and an exciting feminist twist. Brimming with chills, thrills, and mystery, Madam is a masterclass in spine-tingling suspense as former Classics teacher Wynne (pictured below) looks to lessons from the women of ancient Greek and Roman history to add an inspirational layer of parallels to her story.

For 150 years, Caldonbrae Hall has loomed high above the west coast cliffs of Scotland as a beacon of excellence in the ancestral castle of Lord William Hope. An illustrious boarding school for girls, its guiding qualities are confidence, courteousness, charm and courage, and promises that its pupils will emerge ‘resilient and ready to serve society.’

Little wonder that Rose Christie, a comprehensive school teacher from the south of England, is overwhelmed and more than a little nervous when she hears that she has been offered the job of Caldonbrae’s head of Classics.

But Rose is constrained by her selfish and demanding mother who needs nursing home care because of her multiple sclerosis, and whose bills Rose is struggling to pay. The move to the historic school and to Scotland will be a huge change from her current life but Rose is up for the challenge.

Rose will have her own flat above one of the boarding houses and the much increased salary will help pay for her mother’s care but Caldonbrae is a forbidding institution with its school buildings like a ‘great monster,’ arcane traditions, including calling teachers ‘Madam,’ unrivalled prestige, and scarily cool, vindictive, accusatory students.

Still unsure how she was given the job, and why her predecessor left so mysteriously and abruptly,  Rose’s classroom becomes her haven, where the stories of fearless women from ancient Greek and Roman history ignite the curiosity of the girls she teaches and, unknowingly, the suspicions of the powers-that-be.

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As Rose uncovers the dark heart of Caldonbrae, the lines between myth and reality grow ever more blurred, and it will be up to her – and the fierce young women she has come to love – to find a way to escape the fate the school has in store for them, before it is too late.

Wynne holds her enthralling and deeply unsettling story on slow burn as we become immersed in the creepy life of the school before she turns up the heat for a final powerful thrust as

Where We Belong

Anstey Harris

STILL reeling from the death of her husband Richard four years ago, and now homeless and jobless, Londoner Cate Morris has been given sanctuary at a house far away from the city she knows and loves.

And what makes it even worse is that the temporary refuge she has been offered for herself and her vulnerable son is an apartment in Richard’s old family home… a place that her husband detested and which she has never even seen.

But there are surprises in store because the 200-year-old quirky Kent mansion – which also houses a bizarre museum of stuffed animals set in startling tableaux – holds family secrets that are just waiting to be unearthed.

If you fell in love with Anstey Harris’ (pictured below) exquisitely wrought first full novel, The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton, then get your hands on this warm, funny and utterly bewitching story of a grieving woman desperately trying to fill the glaring gap in her life.

Packed with the most adorable characters and played out against a backdrop that is as enchanting as it is original, Where We Belong challenges how we view the world and the diverse people in it, and is guaranteed to break your heart and then put it back together.

Cate Morris and her 19-year-old Down’s syndrome son Leo are homeless, adrift and struggling to make ends meet after Cate was made redundant from her London teaching job. It’s a wrench leaving the city but they have packed up their boxes, said goodbye to friends and colleagues, and are on their way to Hatters Museum of the Wide Wide World in Kent to stay just for the summer. Cate doesn’t want to go there without Richard who never even wanted to discuss his old family home, claiming it was draughty and miserable. But since Richard committed suicide, Cate has had ‘a Richard-sized hole’ in her life that she can’t fill. The two of them were soulmates – their first meeting at university was love at first sight… ‘something utterly primal.’ But Richard suffered from chronic depression and often Cate was overwhelmed by the ‘shuddering loneliness’ of living with someone with this condition.

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Richard died with unpaid debts and so now they are taking up Leo’s rightful inheritance at Hatters, the quaint museum whose dusty objects and glass-eyed, long-dead animals have been in the care of the housekeeper, Araminta Buchan, for many years.

Cate soon senses that Araminta has taken against her, but has a soft spot for straight-talking Leo. With nowhere else to go, they will have to make the best of it. But Richard didn’t tell Cate the

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Going for gold, life and death, and an outsize pet

Be inspired to go for gold with a fun-filled and action-packed guide to Olympic sports, enter a thrilling world of supernatural magic and dangerous folklore, have fun on a fizzing, whizz pop adventure, and meet a boy on the hunt for the perfect pet in a sparkling spring selection 

Age 7 plus
On Your Marks, Get Set, Gold! A Funny and
Fact-Filled Guide to Every Olympic Sport
Scott Allen and Antoine Corbineau

BE inspired to go for gold with a fun-filled and action-packed guide to every Olympic and Paralympic sport which is guaranteed to be a runaway success! Written by former sports journalist and author Scott Allen, On Your Marks, Get Set, Gold! is a coruscating cornucopia of weird, wonderful and wildly hilarious facts but also a laugh-a-minute tour of some these sports’ strange foibles.

Learn how the Olympics began, what could happen in the future, and what skills you will need to get a head start. And from boxing to boccia, discover why each of the sports is great, why it’s not so great, what skills and equipment you will need to start practising and even how to sound like a professional!

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Can you tell the difference between a karate chop and a belly flop? Can you throw, row or put on a medal-winning show? If the answer is yes, maybe you too could have what it takes to become an Olympic champion. And if not there’s no need to panic!

Lavishly produced, On Your Marks, Get Set, Gold! is a true sporting treasure and comes packed with the eye-catching illustrations of Antoine Corbineau who specialises in creating colourful, fun and beautifully striking artwork through texture, imagery and typography. So if you want to know how to become a professional sportsman, and you’re speedy, sporty and just a little bit silly, what are you waiting for? On your marks, get set and GO buy the book!
(Nosy Crow, hardback, £14.99)

Age 9 plus
The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke
Kirsty Applebaum 

BIG questions about life, death and ageing come under the observant eye of exciting middle grade author Kirsty Applebaum in an enthralling and heart-rending novel about family, secrets and a terrible power.

The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke – a contemporary and deeply atmospheric fairy tale with a truly original narrator – is an adventure brimming with all the supernatural magic and dangers of folklore, but also a gentle invitation to youngsters to contemplate mortality.

Lonny is a lifeling. He didn’t know he possessed special powers until the day in the woods when a buzzing in his ears leads him to a dying rabbit. When he touches the rabbit, it revives and Lonny realises he has the gift to heal any living creature and bring it back from the dead. But there is a heavy price to be paid for this magic touch… by lengthening the creature’s life, he gets older and older each time and shortens his own life.

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His grandfather, who knows all about the lifeling gift, tells Lonny that he must now be careful and protect himself and the rest of the family. He must stay hidden in the forest because if people knew what he could do, Lonny would soon be left with no life at all... Full of twists and turns, nail-biting tension, and though-provoking dilemmas, The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke is one of the cleverest and most compelling middle grade books you will read this year.

Applebaum’s story encourages children to engage in important philosophical debates as well as giving them a gripping and emotional rollercoaster ride into danger, uncertainty and a high-stakes adventure. Top class reading!
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £7.99)

Age 9 plus
Pop!
Mitch Johnson

EVERYONE will be raising their glasses when they get their hands on this fizzing, whizz pop adventure from award-winning author Mitch Johnson. Featuring the world’s most popular fizzy drink, a trillion dollars, and a rip-roaring adventure that ends with a bang, this is a hilarious, all-action reading experience with timely messages neatly tucked into its heart.

Get ready for good guys and bad guys, an outrageous theft and a huge reward as two friends on the run discover how far you can go through the power of courage, and how standing up for what’s right makes the world a better place.

Queenie de la Cruz stares out at the ocean and dreams of a world beyond her small town, and she’s about to get her wish... When the priceless recipe for the world’s most popular drink Mac-Tonic™  – thought to be lost forever – washes up at her feet near her shabby home on the coast of North California, Queenie’s life instantly changes. Everyone wants it, and with a ten million dollar bounty on her head, Queenie’s soon on the run.

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Pursued by bounty hunters, black-ops helicopters and angry mobs, Queenie’s journey involves a trip to Area 51, a man-eating alligator and an unlikely new friend, Todd. But being on the run also makes Queenie begin to see the world around her more clearly… a world in which a big corporation's excess has left the planet covered in its plastic bottles and waste. Suddenly, the home she always dreamed of escaping, and the ocean she grew up with and took for granted, don’t seem so bad. If Queenie and Todd can bring down the bad guys, maybe she can go back home and make a difference...

Caring for our endangered planet, digging out secrets in high places, and doing your bit to right wrongs are all tackled her with a light touch and an outrageously funny brand of comedy that will keep delighted youngsters turning the pages. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry… and you’ll enjoy every minute of the ride!
(Orion Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus
The Beast of Harwood Forest
Dan Smith and Chris King

SOMETHING spooky is lurking in the forest at night… and three daring children are determined to discover exactly what it is! A school camping trip takes a menacing turn in a thrilling supernatural mystery from the pen of Newcastle-based Dan Smith, the award-winning and imaginative author of books for both children and adults.

What’s hiding in Harwood Forest? When Pete, Nancy and Krish arrive at Heathland Camp for a school trip, they’re in for an adventure – just not the kind they were expecting. Nearby sits the abandoned Harwood Institute. The crumbling buildings are out of bounds but strange screams come from the surrounding forest at night. 

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Mystery shrouds the events that took place at the institute during the war, so Pete and his friends make it their mission to find out the truth. But the forest is hiding a sinister secret, and the trio could be in real danger... are some mysteries best left undisturbed?

Featuring the suitably dramatic black and white illustrations of Chris King, and published in Barrington Stoke’s trademark dyslexia-friendly format, this terrific, fast-paced tale of three youngsters caught up in a secretive plot is packed full of twists and turns, ghost stories and mysterious experiments. Expect thrills, chills and spills… but best not read after nightfall!
(Barrington Stoke, paperback, £6.99)

Age 7 plus
Knight Sir Louis and the Dragon of Doooooom!
The Brothers McLeod

IF it’s crazy fun you’re looking for this spring, mount your steed and join the charge with the second book in a hilarious, illustrated series from BAFTA award-winning sibling duo, The Brothers McLeod. The Knight Sir Louis adventures have been dubbed Monty Python and the Holy Grail for middle grade readers… and it’s easy to see why! Brimming with inventive storytelling, laugh-out-loud jokes, choose-your-own adventures, and madcap comic strip illustrations, this is a masterclass in crackpot comedy.

Knight Sir Louis is the bravest knight at King Burt’s Castle Sideways. He has defeated hungry dragons, evil goblins and horrible wizards (but please nobody mention wasps, Knight Sir Louis is absolutely NOT afraid of them). And now he has been sent on another important mission… he must face the dastardly, double-headed dragon, Borax, whose aim is to be really, really irritating to as many people as possible! And Louis’ mission isn’t made any easier with the tricksy jester Merry-Jingles trying to steal his thunder. Things are about to get hot, then hotter, then boiling.

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Luckily, Louis has great friends who can help… his trusty, flying robot horse, Clunkalot, an adventurous boar (a unique sort of piggywig) called Catalogue, and Pearlin, the brilliant young wizard and inventor (wizentor). That’s bound to help… right?

The Brothers McLeod (otherwise known as Myles and Greg) dish up another raucous romp full of super-silly sword play, bone-crunching action, and hilarious heroes as Louis and his friends save the day again. Sublimely funny and seriously entertaining, this is the ideal way to get your youngsters hooked on reading… and medieval mischief!
(Guppy Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
The Pet: Cautionary Tales for Children and Grown-ups
Catherine Emmett and David Tazzyman

LOOKING for the perfect pet becomes an oversized problem for one very demanding little boy in a super-funny cautionary tale from a dazzling and creative picture book duo. Rising star author Catherine Emmett and David Tazzyman, the internationally acclaimed and award-winning illustrator of the Mr Gum series, work their animal magic on a rhyming romp which might just make little ones think more carefully about what they wish for!

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Digby David slammed the door, and dumped his bag upon the floor. ‘Daddy! I DEMAND a pet, Why have I not got one yet?’ Digby David wants a pet, but not just any pet… it has to be TWICE as big as Reuben’s guinea pig and even better than Lily Jean’s cat. So Digby David’s Daddy does what he’s told, and soon Digby has a guinea pig, which he loves with all his heart... for half a day. Digby demands bigger and better, Daddy’s hair gets greyer and greyer, and when Digby’s dog gets boring too, he insists Daddy buy him... a gorilla!

This brilliantly clever tale – brought to life by Tazzyman’s dynamic and ingeniously detailed illustrations – will strike a chord will all parents as Digby David’s pet demands grow more and more outrageous. But between the madcap antics and the giggles, Emmett also delivers subtle lessons about wanting too much, and the importance of caring properly for your pets… messages that speak loudly and powerfully because of their cross-generational appeal. A bedtime treat for all the family to enjoy!
(Macmillan Children’s Books, hardback, £12.99)

Age 3 plus
My Summer with Grandad
Tom Tinn-Disbury

EVEN the best of friendships have to end in a beautiful picture book from author and illustrator Tom Tinn-Disbury.

Tinn-Disbury, whose debut The Caveman Next Door was shortlisted for the Read It Again! Picture Book Awards, plucks at our heartstrings with this moving and appealing story which celebrates the special bond between children and their grandfathers.

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Eric loves spending summers with his grandad. This summer is even more special because it’s the first time he will be helping his grandad catch lots of fish on his old fishing boat. Eric always imagined he would be a great fisherman but it turns out he isn’t! So grandad gives Eric one very important job … Chief Seagull Shoo-er! But when Eric and grandad rescue Beaky, a baby seagull, who is trapped in one of the fishing nets, Eric isn’t sure that he wants to see his new friend fly away.

My Summer with Grandad is a joyous tale of family love and shared adventures, and a gentle, humour-infused lesson for youngsters about the importance of freeing animals into the wild rather than keeping them as pets. Brimming with Tinn-Disbury's richly detailed, expressive and colourful illustrations, this is a story guaranteed to entertain, inspire and educate.
(New Frontier Publishing, hardback, £11.99)

Age 3 plus
Mr Bat Wants a Hat
Kitty Black and Laura Wood

THE desire for a smart new hat goes to the head of a naughty little bat in a funny and clever cautionary tale from author and illustrator duo Kitty Black and Laura Wood. Mr Bat wants a Hat is a delightfully heart-warming and imaginative story about taking away and giving which encourages young children not to be selfish and to learn to think about others.

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Mr Bat is missing something. Something important.  Yes, of course, that’s it… a hat! He wants a hat! Soon he finds the perfect pink hat with pretty roses and covered in glitter, but this hat belongs to someone else. It’s on the head of a sleeping baby in her pram and that doesn’t bother him at all. Or does it?

Important themes about empathy, kindness and doing the right thing are played out in Black’s story as she helps children to recognise the role of their conscience when it comes to decision-making and to understand how two lines of thought or behaviour can run alongside each other. With Laura Wood’s brilliant expressive and colourful illustrations to add an extra layer of fun, Mr Bat is destined to be a story time favourite with your own mischief-makers!
(New Frontier Publishing, paperback, £6.99)

Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr

Alison Weir

TO the Victorians, she was a staid bluestocking, her religious views were a dangerous heresy to the Catholic Church, and her grave slab lauded her as ‘the flower of her sex, renowned, great, and wise, a wife by every nuptial virtue known.’

So who was Katharine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, and perhaps best known as the only one of his six wives to survive England’s most famous, charismatic and irascible monarch? The story of Katharine – her rise from a noble family through death and tragedy, four marriages, and a perilous passion for the emerging ‘new religion’ – is the enthralling last chapter of author and historian Alison Weir’s groundbreaking sequence of novels featuring Henry’s wives.

Weir’s insightful and ambitious project has plucked these 16^th century royal women from the dusty, male-orientated pages of history books and given them a ‘real’ and extraordinarily authentic persona, allowing readers a more human perspective on the harsh realities of their precarious situations in the turbulent Tudor court.

Each book has been written using the author’s vast historical knowledge, in-depth research, and a tantalising slice of artistic licence, and this brilliantly seductive and deeply moving portrait of the intelligent, compassionate, and all too often underestimated, Katharine sees Weir (pictured left) on her best form yet.

When her father Sir Thomas Parr, an influential man at the court of King Henry, dies from the sweating sickness, five-year-old Katharine’s life changed almost overnight.  Now financially embarrassed, her mother, Maud, and her children are invited to live at Rye House in Hertfordshire with her father’s brother William Parr and his family.

The move is an ‘exciting adventure’ for Katharine and she counts herself lucky that her practical, clever mother is a believer in education for girls and Katharine quickly excels at Latin, Greek and French, and discovers religion’s ‘New Learning’ from the household chaplain. But all too soon, Katharine has turned sixteen and her mother makes plans to find her a suitable husband. She dreads being torn away from her ‘earthly paradise’ at Rye House and would like to choose her own husband, but dutiful Katharine knows she has no other choice and has learned very early that marriage is ‘a hard-headed business, with little account taken of young hearts.’

A match is finalised and she is wedded to Edward Burgh, heir to the wealthy Sir Thomas Burgh of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, a man whose views on religious reform she takes to her heart even though she knows it might see her ‘tipping’ into heresy. Edward is a warm and friendly boy but the marriage remains barren and only lasts until her husband dies suddenly and prematurely, leaving Katharine a widow of means at only twenty-one.

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Unable to live comfortably without marrying again, Katharine becomes the third wife of John Snape, Lord Latimer of Snape Castle, a plain-spoken Yorkshireman twice her age, who pledges

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Usborne's brilliant boredom-busting line-up

As the country gets the go-ahead to travel again, keep your youngsters busy and out of mischief with these super activity and puzzle books from top children’s publisher Usborne

Age 6 plus
Never Get Bored on a Train Puzzles & Games
James Maclaine, Lan Cook and Tom Mumbray

THERE'S fun all the way down the line with this boredom-busting book of train-themed puzzles and games! Don’t leave the station without this entertaining collection of write-in brain challenges, the perfect (and essential) companion for every train journey.

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This colourful, eye-catching book is easy to dip in and out of on short trips and there are plenty of puzzles to distract and entertain youngsters on longer journeys. Simply bursting with mind-bending puzzles, fun activities and exciting games you can play on your own or in a group, Never Get Bored on a Train Puzzles & Games should be on every parent’s packing list!
(Usborne, paperback, £6.99)

Age 6 plus
Travel Wordsearches
Phillip Clarke and The Boy Fitz Hammond

IF you’re looking for a handy travel book to keep the youngsters out of mischief this year, Usborne have the answer! Travel Wordsearches is packed with fun puzzles featuring travel, people and places, and everything from capital cities and famous landmarks to modes of transport.

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Explore amazing destinations from the Eiffel Tower to the Pyramids with this collection of fun wordsearches. The searches will take you from packing your suitcase and finding your flight to a whistle-stop world tour. Can you find the Acropolis in Greece, see the Northern Lights in Norway, or discover the mountain-top ruins of Machu Picchu in South America? Rise to the challenge… and find fun along the way!
(Usborne, paperback, £5.99)

Age 3 plus
Under the Sea Activity Book
Rebecca Gilpin

KEEP little hands out of mischief with an activity book full of underwater discoveries! With lots of fun puzzles to keep children entertained for hours, including spot the difference, colouring activities, and doodling and drawing challenges, youngsters just need to grab a pen and dive into the ocean.

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Draw sharks, colour in the tropical fish, match up the different kinds of turtle, enjoy a rock pool maze, spot the sea creatures living around a shipwreck, and help sea otters to find a way through a seaweed forest. With counting, spotting and drawing fun to enjoy on every page, this is the perfect activity book for home, holidays and any wet day.
(Usborne, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
Book and 3 Jigsaws: On the Farm
Sam Taplin and Federica Iossa

WHAT'S going on down at the farm? All kinds of animals are having fun on the farm in this delightful new book and jigsaw set from Usborne, 2020’s Children’s Publisher of the Year.

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This entertaining and beautifully produced box set contains three simple nine-piece jigsaws – ideal for little hands and as an introduction to puzzles – and a beautifully illustrated board book about life on a farm. Pre-schoolers will love spotting farmyard animals in the book, and then completing the jigsaws to recreate three of the colourful, farm-themed illustrations. Double delights in one box…
(Usborne, box set, £7.99)

Age 1 plus
Poppy and Sam and the Kitten
Sam Taplin and Simon Taylor-Kielty

JOIN Poppy and Sam as they follow their new kitten around Apple Tree Farm! Poppy and Sam of Apple Tree Farm are back for a spring adventure which will take little ones on an exciting kitten hunt. The Poppy and Sam books, written by the late Stephen Cartwright, have been a family favourite for over 30 years and children’s publisher Usborne is giving these evergreen stories a bright and colourful makeover.

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In this adorable finger puppet book, we join Poppy and Sam as they follow their new kitten around Apple Tree Farm. Toddlers will love pushing their finger through the hole to bring the kitten to life as it meets the different farm animals before curling up in its basket at the end. Poppy and Sam and the Kitten is full of that special child-appeal which has made the Poppy and Sam stories so popular, and there is still the added fun of finding the hidden Little Yellow Duck on every page.

This gorgeous heart-winning book includes the original artwork of Stephen Cartwright as well as the gorgeous illustrations of Simon Taylor-Kielty, perfectly created to honour Stephen’s legacy. Fun, laughter and learning in one beautiful book!
(Usborne, board book, £7.99)

The Archers: Ambridge At War

Catherine Miller 

SEVENTY years ago, the BBC broadcasted a radio drama which was billed as ‘an everyday story of country folk.’ Little did they know that The Archers was destined to become the world’s longest-running drama, an icon of British popular culture with millions of listeners tuning in to every episode, and listed by a panel of broadcasting industry experts in 2019 as the second-greatest radio programme of all time.

Partly established with the aim of educating farmers following the Second World War, The Archers quickly captured the hearts and minds of the population at large with its warm and cosy stories about the lives of families in the fictional rural village of Ambridge. 

And now to mark the programme’s landmark anniversary, novelist Catherine Miller (pictured below) brings us an enthralling and revealing new book following the lives, loves and dramas of the families of Ambridge starting in 1940… eleven years before it all began. It’s midnight at the turn of the year 1940, war has broken out, and Walter Gabriel speaks the same line that opened the very first radio episode…  ‘And a Happy New Year to you all!’

For Ambridge, a village in Borsetshire in the heart of the English countryside, this year will bring change in ways no one was expecting. From the Pargetters at Lower Loxley to the loving, hard-working Archer family at Brookfield Farm, the war will be hard for all of them.

And the New Year brings the arrival of evacuees to Ambridge, shaking things up in the close-knit rural community.

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As the villagers embrace the wartime spirit, families that listeners have known and loved for generations face an uphill battle to keep their secrets hidden... especially as someone is intent on revealing those secrets to the whole village.

Archers fans will adore meeting some of the programme’s most familiar and best-loved characters in the years before they became household names. From Walter Gabriel, in mourning for his father, to Jack Archer in his wartime uniform, and Alec Pargetter becoming embroiled in an illicit affair, this is a fascinating portrait of Ambridge at war. With a crime mystery at its heart, intriguing back stories for some of the star players, and lots of rich period detail to bring to life the challenges facing the villagers during the dangers and privations of the war years, Miller remains faithful to the spirit and eternal charm of Ambridge.

Well plotted, sympathetically written, and with plenty of humour and heated drama to keep the home fires burning, this is ideal for both Archers aficionados and lovers of wartime sagas.
(Simon & Schuster, paperback, £8.99)

Secrets of the Jam Factory Girls

Mary Wood 

THE close bond between two young women, born on opposite sides of the tracks, will be tested to the limit in the second book of an emotion-packed saga series from favourite storyteller Mary Wood.

Inspired by her own early years in the East End of London, Wood sweeps us back to the struggles of workers at a jam factory in London’s Bermondsey in the time leading up to the First World War for a another story full of love, loss, hardship and betrayal.

Wood (pictured below), who lives between Blackpool and Spain, worked in the probation service in both Lancaster and Blackpool, and her hard-hitting and emotional historical sagas reflect her own experiences with people from all walks of life, helping her to bring a realism and grittiness to her writing.

In the follow-up to The Jam Factory Girls, we move forward to 1912, and find that working class Elsie Makin has toiled her way up at Swift’s Jam Factory in Bermondsey from the shop floor to the top, and believes it’s now her time to shine. But when she is involved in an incident involving her wealthy half-sister Millie Swift’s new husband, Len, she is forced to keep it secret… the truth could threaten their sisterly bond.

Dot Grimes is dogged by fear, coming to terms with her mother’s rejection of her. She should be enjoying the happiness she craves with her beloved Cecil (Cess)… instead, she’s trapped in an asylum, haunted by the horrifying cries of inmates. 

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All she wants is to get married, but what chance is there for her if she’s locked away? And Millie, meanwhile, is trying to build a life with Len… but the man she loves is not all he seems. Can the factory girls create the future they all desire?

Wood excels at storytelling and this hard-hitting tale is full of heartbreak, drama, rich period detail, and the harsh realities of life in the early 20^th century as Elsie, Dot and Millie rely on their close friendship to see them through the best and the worst of times. 

Written with insight, warmth and the empathy gained from the author’s years working with a cross-section of society, this new visit to Bermondsey is an emotional rollercoaster from first page to last, and will leave readers longing for the next exciting chapter of the women’s lives.
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)

The Canal Boat Girl

Sheila Newberry

WHEN her life falls apart in Wales in 1883, a talented young musician makes the decision to run away from her family and head to London. But falling in love with what turns out to be the wrong man will set Ruth Owen on yet another course… could this be the final path to happiness?

Sheila Newberry (pictured below), the Suffolk-born author who sadly died in January last year, knew a thing or two about the ups and downs of family life. A mother of nine children, and with twenty-two grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, this much-loved writer has left a legacy of nostalgic sagas – including The Winter Baby and The Nursemaid’s Secret – which have enthralled readers across the decades.

In The Canal Boat Girl, a beautiful saga of old sorrows and new beginnings, Newberry transports us back to the last decades of the 19^th century where we meet a young woman who is struggling to leave behind the troubles from her past. In Brynbach, Wales, in 1883, seventeen-year-old Ruth Owen, a talented musician with a scholarship to a prestigious music school, has a sparkling career ahead of her. But after a run-in with her mysterious tutor, Drago, a man of Spanish origin, she flees to London, leaving everything and everyone behind.

London, 1897. Fourteen years later, Ruth, now married with two children, finds herself struggling for money and a place to live. Left with no other option, they decide to return to Wales and live on a canal boat. Life on the canals may seem idyllic, but what troubles await her return? And can the past ever truly be forgotten?

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The Canal Boat Girls is a charming, thoughtful tale exploring life’s unexpected twists and turns, and the sacrifices, separations, loves and friendships that we encounter along the way. 

Full of rich period detail and nostalgia, and written with Newberry’s natural empathy and insight into what it meant to live through times of upheaval and personal challenges, this gently uplifting story is a saga to savour. Published throughout most of her adult life, Newberry’s novels were always inspired by her own family’s experiences and this charming, drama-filled novel certainly packs in all the warmth, wisdom and heartfelt emotions that were the trademarks of her writing. And with the added bonus of a tasty, authentic and foolproof recipe for lamb chops and potatoes to try out, Newberry’s enchanting and heartwarming story is a delicious and wonderfully poignant read for spring and summer evenings.
(Zaffre, paperback, £7.99)