CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Chasing shadows, taking flight and a howling hag

Choose your own adventure and turn into a hero, discover a magical box full of tiny people with wings, meet a secret witch on the trail of a bad witch and follow a young Hindu girl into a mythical fantasy world as a new batch of summer children’s books head for the shelves

Age 9 plus
Shadow Chaser: Choose your own story
Simon Tudhope and Tom Knight

CHOICES, choices… do you dare to enter a strange and magical world and choose your own danger-packed adventure? Author Simon Tudhope grew up with the fantasy gamebooks of the 1980s and his memories of the dark, enthralling gameworlds, and the chance to set off on an adventure not knowing what dangers lie ahead, inspired him to write his own… and the result is the fabulous Shadow Chaser.

This classic ‘choose your own story’ book is packed with exciting challenges, choices and decisions which will delight a new generation of thrill-seeking youngsters who want to put their own skills and imagination into play. Fabulously illustrated by Tom Knight, this atmospheric and engrossing gamebook plunges you into a story with a difference… one where the hero is YOU.

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Woken one night by a bang at the door, you creep to the window and see five hooded strangers below. The leader looks up and beckons you down. What do you do? Open the door, play for time, or escape through the window out back… the choice is yours. From this point onwards you are in control of an epic adventure, and your survival depends upon the decisions you make. Who to fight? Who to trust?

In a book where nothing is as it seems, even the pictures hold secrets that must be unlocked. But as you race across land, sea and sky, one thing becomes clear… it’s not just your fate that hangs in the balance. It’s the fate of the entire kingdom.

Full of puzzles to solve and choices to make, each one leading to different adventures and endings, Shadow Chaser brings together a dark and sweeping story, beautifully illustrated and richly detailed picture puzzles, and a fascinating combat system. A full-on adventure full of chases and choices that is guaranteed to keep youngsters gripped from beginning to end!
(Usborne, paperback, £6.99)

Age 9 plus
Edie and the Box of Flits
Kate Wilkinson and Joe Berger

LOST property offices are well known for their strange assortment of odds and ends… but no one in the world would expect to find a box full of tiny people with wings! Young imaginations are destined to take flight when they tuck into this magical box of tricks from former BBC Radio children’s writer Kate Wilkinson as she unleashes a thrilling story with all the vibes and effervescence of Mary Norton’s classic 1952 fantasy, The Borrowers.

Edie and the Box of Flits – which comes with animator, cartoonist and artist Joe Berger’s brilliantly atmospheric illustrations – stars eleven-year-old Edie Winter and her adventures when she discovers the amazing winged people who can only be seen by children. Edie loves going to London Transport’s Lost Property Office. Her dad works there and it’s always full of unexpected things. But when a mysterious box is left on a seat on the London Underground, Edie is amazed to discover that it’s home to a family of Flits… tiny, thumb-sized winged people.

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And Impy, Speckle and Nid are desperately in need of Edie’s friendship and help. Not only are they short of supplies (rice crispies, sugar sprinkles, digestive biscuits and raisins) and someone to look after them, but their brother Jot has run away and they will need Edie’s help to find him. Set against the backdrop of London and its Underground network, Wilkinson’s action-packed and heartwarming story about friendship and family reminds us all to notice the little things in life and to treasure each other, however big or small we might be.
(Piccadilly Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 8 plus
The Howling Hag Mystery
Nicki Thornton

IF young readers are still mourning the end of Nicki Thornton’s fantastic Last Chance Hotel series, then there’s some good news coming out of the magical village of Twinhills. Nightshade, everyone’s favourite talking cat, is back – alongside a resourceful young witch called Raven – in a new spin-off series which delivers the same cosy but tantalising tangle of Golden Age style magic, mayhem and mystery. Thornton, a former independent bookseller who was nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Award and won the 2016 Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition, is on her best form for a stunning sleuthing adventure filled with thrilling atmospherics, wicked wit and her own special brand of magical mystery.

Raven Charming knows there is only one Golden Rule in life. If anything strange happens – unexpected good luck, objects moving by themselves, the blossoming of inexplicable smells – Mum said just to remember that Golden Rule… deny everything. But when there’s a murder in the village of Twinhills and a hag is heard howling at the local inn, Raven, who knows the rules of magic in the real world, realises she may not be the only secret witch in the village.

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And she is horrified to discover that this witch could be a rival… one who practises the worst kind of trickery and magic. With the help of amateur sleuth, Mortimer Scratch, and Nightshade, a talking cat with a feline sense of detection, Raven sets out to solve just what has been going on…

Thornton excels at building a rich and exciting world full of bizarre and extraordinary characters, but with the authentic atmosphere of a timeless tale, and a trail of intriguing clues that will keep young readers guessing right through to the last pages. So if a slice of fairy tale fantasy, and a big helping of Harry Potter-style magic are top of your reading must-haves, Twinhills could be your ideal destination this summer!
(Chicken House, paperback, 6.99)

Age 8 plus
Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom
Sangu Mandanna 

BANISH fears and anxiety with a young girl who finds her self-belief and discovers that there is more to life when you’re a warrior… and not a worrier. Author Sangu Mandanna – who was four years old when an elephant chased her down a forest road and she decided to write her first story about it – transports us into the mind and exciting adventures of a young Hindu girl in this fabulous middle-grade fantasy novel.

Kiki Kallira has always been a worrier. Did she lock the front door? Is there a terrible reason her mum is late? Recently her anxiety has been getting out of control, but one thing that has always soothed her is drawing. Kiki's sketchbook is full of fantastical doodles of the Hindu myths and legends her mother has told her since she was tiny. One day, her sketchbook’s calming effect is broken when her mythological characters begin springing to life from the page and Kiki is pulled into the mystical world that she drew.

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There, she discovers the band of rebel kids who protect the kingdom, as well as an ancient, monstrous god bent on total destruction. Kiki must overcome her fear and anxiety to save both worlds – the real and the imagined – from his wrath. But how can a girl armed with only a pencil defeat something so powerful?

Young readers will love joining charismatic Kiki as she learns to be a hero in a world full of mythical beasts and a richly imagined fantasy world inspired by Hindu legends and cleverly created to ease anxiety, promote creativity, and help youngsters to discover their own strengths. Brimming with fast-paced action, fun, humour and fascinating Hindu folklore, Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom is the perfect fit for all worriers and thrill-seekers.
(Hodder Children’s Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 7 plus
Anisha, Accidental Detective: Granny Trouble
Serena Patel and Emma McCann

GRANNY steals the show AGAIN in the latest baffling mystery for Anisha Mistry… everyone’s favourite (accidental!) detective. Award-winning author Serena Patel and illustrator Emma McCann are back with a new case in their brilliant detective series starring reluctant sleuth Anisha and her best friend and fellow investigator Milo.

Milo and Anisha have been looking forward to this half-term for what feels like forever… they’re finally going to the National Space Centre to meet a real-life space engineer! Anisha’s whole family, who usually cause mayhem whenever they go anywhere, wanted to tag along and visit a festival first, where a super-famous, mega-expensive diamond is on display. 

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But guess what? The diamond has been stolen. And the police think Anisha’s granny did it so she’s in serious trouble. Someone needs to prove Granny Jas is innocent, so it looks like Milo – the only person Anisha can trust to help her solve the case – and Anisha might need to go undercover. It’s lucky she’s Anisha, Accidental Detective!

Join Anisha and Milo as they go through the suspects one by one, and share all the fun, action and mystery that are never far away when the Mistry family are on the move!
(Usborne, paperback, £5.99)

Age 4 plus
Harriet’s Expanding Heart
Rachel Brace and Angela Perrini

BECOMING part of a stepfamily can be a difficult and emotional time for youngsters so here’s a warm and wise picture book which puts all those feelings and insecurities into a reassuring focus. 

Harriet’s Expanding Heart has been written by registered psychologist Rachel Brace who is also co-creator and founder of www.steppingthrough.com.au, an educational and support resources for stepparents and their partners in Australia. With its gentle, easy-to-understand messages about settling into a new stepfamily and the eye-catching illustrations of Angela Perrini, this beautiful story features one little girl’s emotional experiences of life moving between two homes, two parents, two different bedrooms and managing her mum and dad’s varying rules and routines. 

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Brace makes it clear to children that it is perfectly normal to have a range of feelings about stepfamilies and that they will feel different things at different times.

Ideal as a resource for stepfamilies and with tips about how parents and stepparents can emotionally support young children, Harriet’s Expanding Heart is an important and helpful guide for families, nurseries and schools.
(Little Steps Publishing, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
The Rainbow Connection
Vanessa Parsons and Angela Perrini

STAYING at home – and apart – was the message that became the biggest part of our lives during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Mums and dads worked from home, schools and nurseries closed and families played games, read books, sang and danced, watched television and ate chocolate! And at first it was okay but children, particularly, missed their friends and soon everyone had to find new ways to connect with other people.

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And to celebrate and remember the creative ways we found to connect and spread joy when we all had to stay apart lies at the heart of an inspirational picture book from primary school teacher Vanessa Parsons and artist and drawing teacher Angela Perrini. Filled with Parsons’ heartwarming and reassuring words, which every child will be able to relate to, and Perrini’s gorgeous illustrations, The Rainbow Connection is a reminder of how coming together in a time of crisis was a light in the pandemic darkness. And 20p of author royalties from the sale of the book will go to NHS Charities Together.
(Little Steps Publishing, paperback, £6.99)

Home

Penny Parkes

TEN years as a professional housesitter has sent Anna Wilson to some of the world’s most exotic locations. She readily admits that she’s ‘a person constantly braced for moving on’ but all Anna has ever really wanted is a home to call her own… will she be brave enough to finally put down roots?

Penny Parkes, author of a series of warm and witty rom-coms set around a doctors’ surgery in the Cotswolds, moves up a gear with this moving and deeply compassionate story starring a young woman struggling to overcome the psychological scars of her early years in foster care.

Armed with her trademark wit, insight and wisdom, Parkes (pictured below) explores the insecurities and emotional legacies of a childhood severely disrupted by being placed in the care system at the age of seven, and moving from one foster home to the next. The result is a beautiful, emotive and compelling journey alongside the heartbreakingly fragile but inspirationally courageous Anna as she slowly learns that a sense of belonging comes not necessarily from a place, but from the people you care for.

Thirty-year-old Anna is returning to Oxford – the city where she gained her degree – with her trusty ‘kit bag’ which is ‘never unpacked, just opened out for ease of access.’ She is combining her latest housesitting job at crumbling Gravesend Manor with the wedding of her best friend Kate Porter.

Her work lets her care for other people’s homes, pets and sometimes even neighbours, but it also gives her a place to call home – for a little while at least – and to ‘try on a different life for size’ with, most importantly, no attachment involved.

So Anna lives vicariously when all she has ever really wanted is a home of her own, a proper one, filled with family and love and happy memories. The problem is that she doesn’t know where to start.

Growing up in foster care, Anna always envied her friends their secure and carefree lives, their certainty and confidence. They have been her support along the way, not least Kate, the university pal who has always doled out hugs in times of both happiness and sadness. And, while her friends may have become her family of choice, Anna is still stuck in a nomadic cycle, looking for answers, and afraid to commit to loving someone totally in case she finds herself at risk of losing them. With old and new ‘competing for space’ in her contradictory life, can Anna finally find the courage to overcome the past and find out where she belongs?

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Parkes fills her searingly honest and ultimately uplifting novel with a rich cast of characters… from the achingly vulnerable Anna and her loyal and loving friend Kate to the dedicated foster carer and social worker who went beyond the call of duty to help a child in need. Weaving between past and present, Home, in every sense of the word, really is at the heart of this terrific tale which comes threaded through with truisms about the importance of love, friendship, resilience, determination, and the indomitable power of hope.

As observers of Anna’s life, we watch her mature from confused, troubled child to ambitious but wary adult, achieving highly at her studies but unable to commit to finding a permanent home or placing any meaningful reliance on friends. Her long path to final acceptance and a new self-confidence is littered with angst but there are also sunlit uplands of comedy to enjoy, and some poignant moments which are guaranteed to melt even the hardest of hearts. Written with empathy, and a big helping of love, this dazzling novel will find a home in everyone’s heart.
(Simon & Schuster, hardback, £14.99)

I Know What You’ve Done

Dorothy Koomson 

EVERYONE hates a nosy neighbour… but would you be prepared to kill to keep your secrets hidden? Dorothy Koomson, whose dark and wickedly clever novels have earned her the sobriquet Queen of the Big Reveal, works her special magic on this intriguing and addictive slice of suburban noir which leaves readers guessing right through to the very last page.

Packed with Koomson’s trademark stunning twists and turns, I Know What You’ve Done plunges us into the shadowy lives and loves of the assorted residents of Acacia Villas in a well-heeled corner of Brighton.

It’s a place where people tend to mind their own business, meet up mainly for neighbourhood watch meetings, and say hello politely like ships passing in the night… until the day one of the residents, who was convinced that a neighbour was trying to kill her, is attacked and left for dead. Most of the people with a home in the smart row of Acacia Villas are well-spoken and ‘well-to-do’ but Priscilla Calvert, the fifty-something woman who lives at number 21, is in a different league with her bespoke designer clothes and pristine hair and make-up.

Rae Whickman, a freelance editor, who lives at number 11 and is married to property solicitor Clark, usually only sees Priscilla at neighbourhood meetings or to deliver goods sent to their house by mistake.

So when Priscilla turns up on her doorstep, with her immaculate clothes dishevelled, her make-up smudged and her dewy skin covered in sweat, Rae is immediately alarmed. But then Priscilla gasps, ‘I know what you’ve done… I know what all of you have done,’ and thrusts a battered and bulging notebook at Rae.

Realising that Priscilla has been attacked, Rae calls for an ambulance but by the time paramedics arrive, Priscilla is close to death and the police are called in. When she realises the notebook is a diary detailing all the comings and goings of everyone in the street, Rae knows she should hand it over to the police but instead she keeps it to herself to read because it ‘feels like something that needs to be kept secret for now.’ 

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While some entries are innocuous – arguments about bins and the whereabouts of a missing cat – it soon becomes clear that there is more to the neighbours in Acacia Villas than meets the eye. Everyone has secrets, and as Priscilla battles for her life in hospital, Rae realises that the diary could be the key to finding the attacker.

Koomson (pictured above) delivers a multi-layered mind maze of festering secrets, moral dilemmas and simmering tensions as the truth and lies of Acacia Villas spill over into an explosion of shocking revelations, emotional outpourings and a ticking time-bomb mystery. With a narrative that alternates between each superbly portrayed character, the different households, and events both past and present, readers are given a drip feed of uncomfortable truths which expose the fault lines behind the row of closed doors.

Guilt, fear, deception, jealousy, infidelity and violence all raise their ugly heads in this wealthy but exceedingly secretive suburb where everyone has something to hide, and menace would seem to be ‘fizzing in the air.’ So take a deep breath, prepare for a thrill ride and you’ll be racing to the end for a final reveal that ensures the Queen of the Big Reveal won’t be losing her crown any time soon!
(Headline Review, hardback, £12.99)

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Wild walks, sea ghosts and some red hot comedy

Take a journey into the great outdoors with a young conservationist, discover a family living on the edge, and set your summer alight with a fire boy’s comedy capers in a super collection of new children’s books

Age 7 plus
Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature
Dara McAnulty and Barry Falls

SUMMER'S here, the school holidays have begun so there could be no better time to take a wild, wandering and fascinating journey into the great outdoors. And with award-winning young activist and conservationist Dara McAnulty as your guide, this wonderful gift book – brimming with amazing facts and fabulous illustrations by award-winning artist Barry Falls – is the perfect walking companion.

Wonderfully family-friendly and full of poetic prose, facts, activities and just some of our incredible wildlife, Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature encourages us all to get outside and start exploring. This fully colour illustrated book opens in the author’s own back garden and takes us into the hills, woods and ponds, pointing out his own favourite animals and flora and fauna, all elements that fascinated him when he was a child.

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Divided into five sections, the book becomes a beautiful, multi-sensory journey as we look out of the window, venture out into the garden, walk in the woods, investigate heathland, and wander on the river bank. McAnulty pauses to tell you about each habitat and how to explore it, and provides fantastic facts about the native birds, animals and plants you will find there… including wrens, blackbirds, butterflies, tadpoles, bluebells, bees, hen harriers, otters, dandelions, oak trees and many more.

Each section also contains a discovery section where you will have a closer look at natural phenomenon such as metamorphoses and migration, learn about categorisation in the animal kingdom, or become an expert on the collective nouns for birds. And each section finishes with an activity to do when you get home… plant wild flowers, make a bird feeder, try pond dipping, make a journey stick and build a terrarium.

McAnulty’s love for nature and his passion for conservation shine through on every page, inspiring youngsters to experience for themselves the joy of connecting with the natural world and to do their bit to help save our precious planet.
(Macmillan Children’s Books, hardback, £14.99)

Age 9 plus
The House on the Edge
Alex Cotter 

SOME writers hit the spot perfectly when it comes to middle grade fiction… and debut novelist Alex Cotter scores a bullseye with her captivating and unputdownable debut. On one level a tense and exciting thriller about a house perched precariously on the edge of a cliff, and on another level, a moving and timely exploration of a family teetering on the edge of breakdown, The House on the Edge is a masterclass in clever storytelling.

At its heart are universal, heartfelt themes of home, family and friendship, with the added enthralling extras of shipwrecks, sea ghosts, hidden treasure, and dark mysteries and secrets from the past. Where has Faith’s dad gone and why has he left his family living in The Lookout, an old house built by one of the family’s ancestor but now perched on a crumbling cliff top?

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A crack has appeared in the cliff and Faith watches anxiously as it gets bigger and bigger each day. Meanwhile, her mum spends a lot of time crying in the bathroom and her younger brother Noah is obsessed with the sea ghosts which he claims live in the basement. So Faith is in charge, of both her mum – who hasn’t been the same since dad upped and left months ago – and Noah who lives mainly in his own head. But when Noah disappears as well, Faith starts to believe in the ghosts too. Can she find Noah and bring her father back before everything she cares about falls into the pitiless sea below?

With the charismatic and caring Faith as our narrator, this wonderful, twisting, turning story of folklore, family struggle, heartbreak and intriguing mystery unfolds in the most revealing and delightful way. A brilliant debut from an exciting new voice in children’s fiction…
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus
Mystery of the Night Watchers
A.M. Howell and Saara Soderlund

BURIED secrets and dark lies lie at the heart of a thrilling and atmospheric new middle grade novel from an author who is turning history and mystery into a winning storytelling formula. Hot on the heels of her award-winning adventures, The Garden of Lost Secrets and The House of One Hundred Clocks, A.M. Howell delivers a gripping new historical odyssey set against the evocative backdrop of the Edwardian era.

In May 1910, as the blazing Halley’s comet draws close to Earth, speculation is rife and rumours abound as to what the effects of it will be. Scientists give contrary opinions and newspaper headlines talk of a comet collision.

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Meanwhile, Nancy is uprooted from her home in Leeds and her beloved stepfather to start a new life in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk with a grandfather she has never met and who she had always believed was dead. Her mother says her grandfather is unwell and, as a keen astronomer, he needs assistance viewing Halley’s comet. But life there is far from what Nancy might have expected. With every curtain drawn shut, Nancy is forbidden from leaving her grandfather’s house… no one must know that either Nancy or her mother are there.

Yet, when Nancy discovers the house’s secret observatory, she watches her mother and grandfather creep out every night... where are they going, and why can’t any of them be seen? As the mysteries pile up, Nancy has to bring dark secrets from the past to light… even if doing so will put her own life at risk.

Inspired by real historical events, fired by the power of the author’s imagination, and with illustrations by Saara Soderlund, Mystery of the Night Watchers delivers all those favourite children’s book ingredients… adventure, mystery, drama, friendship, and some spine-tingling danger. History, mystery, science and adventure… the perfect holiday read! 
(Usborne, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus
Pants on Fire
J.M. Joseph

SET your summer reading on fire with the second book in a hilariously hot and flamingly funny series from master of comedy J.M. Joseph. Pants on Fire is the follow-up to the hugely popular Fire Boy which introduced us to 11-year-old Aidan Sweeney who received a mysterious package of sweets from South America and found that they gave him amazing superpowers, including igniting his body! And now Aidan and his pals – Sadie and Hussein – are back with more fire-powered comedy and chaos in a story that features friendship, circus stars, a super villain, and a cat named Lemon.

Aidan Sweeney (aka Fire Boy) has finally started to master his fiery super-power (obtained after accidentally eating a sweet filled with the juice of a magical Incan tree) and is thrilling the crowds at the circus. Aidan can ignite his body at will (though he can’t always control the resulting flames!) and he’s not the only one with magical powers…. Sadie can move objects with her mind and Hussein can control any electronic device.  

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But with a newspaper investigating Fire Boy’s powers, his beloved circus about to leave him behind in London, and pet cat Lemon being able to turn in to a tiger (thanks to eating one of those magical sweets herself), Aidan still has quite a bit to be dealing with. Then the news leaks that a supervillain is on the loose, so Aidan, Sadie and Hussein, and the circus all flee to New York City. But will they be able to protect the priceless remaining sweets, stop Lemon from terrorising the local bird population, and stay alive long enough to finish the school year?

Joseph certainly knows how to set young imaginations on fire as he peppers his story with quirky chapter headings, lists and doodles which are guaranteed to keep youngsters glued to the page… and giggling all the way to the fiery finale.
(Hodder Children’s Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 8 plus
The Battle for Roar
Jenny McLachlan and Ben Mantle

GET ready to roar with laughter as top team – author Jenny McLachlan and illustrator Ben Mantle – return with the third and final book in their bestselling children’s fantasy series, The Land of Roar. This epic, fun-filled trilogy has been billed as the book series that makes you believe in magic and these funny, big-hearted and thrilling stories have certainly captured all the best-loved characteristics of classics like Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon, Michelle Harrison’s A Pinch of Magic, and C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.

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Stars of the show are, of course, the irrepressible twins Rose and Arthur Trout who we find setting out on a voyage that takes them further than they have ever been before… beyond The End. It’s another amazing adventure – full of secrets, surprises and fairies with fangs – until a mysterious storm changes everything. Shipwrecked on a strange island, they make a shocking discovery… could this be the end of Roar?

McLachlan dives into the farthest reaches of her imagination for this final fling in the exhilarating and exciting Land of Roar while Mantle works his own special magic on a gallery of extraordinary illustrations. Adventure and laughter on full throttle!
(Farshore, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
Story Soup
Abie Longstaff and Nila Aye

EVERY child loves an adventure… so why does cooking up your own idea of fun turn out to be a kitchen disaster? Author Abie Longstaff and illustrator Nila Aye blend their creative talents on a hilarious picture book which stars two youngsters learning that working together – instead of going it alone – is actually the recipe for success.

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Ollie and Susie are mixing a story soup in their kitchen. They think it will be easy to brew a story, but every time they throw an item into the soup the story takes an unexpected turn. Ollie wants a skateboarding story but Susie wants one about a princess… so they end up with a twisting turning tale about a skateboarding princess and a pirate who is a reluctant bad guy. But what happens when the story soup bubbles out of control? Will Ollie and Susie be able to work together to save the day?

Every ingredient brings a new twist in this hilarious and imaginative tale which comes with important messages about the value of sharing, and is filled with Aye’s bold and colourful illustrations. Clever, captivating and comical, Story Soup is a tasty treat for your own little adventurers!
(Templar Publishing, paperback, £6.99)

Age 2 plus
The Longer the Wait, the Bigger the Hug
Eoin McLaughlin and Polly Dunbar

EVERYONE needs a hug! Bestselling Irish children’s author Eoin McLaughlin and talented illustrator Polly Dunbar stole everyone’s hearts with McLaughlin’s moving debut picture book, The Hug, which was named a Book of the Year by The Guardian and spoke loudly to youngsters during the worst of the pandemic lockdown last year. The follow-up While We Can’t Hug was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards and nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, and now the same winning formula of simplicity and tenderness reaches out to youngsters again in a beautiful new picture book.

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The Longer the Wait, the Bigger the Hug is a charming and much-needed celebration of friendship and reuniting with loved ones as everyone’s favourite (socially distanced) characters return to help us through another challenging period.

Hedgehog is waiting for his friend Tortoise to wake up from his hibernation. But where is he and when will he wake? Hedgehog’s friends are all very lovely, but they just aren’t as much fun at the beach, or at hide and seek, or at holding hands, or at hugs. But then Tortoise begins to stir… the one boulder that Hedgehog didn’t think he could lift up has a surprise! Tortoise is back… he’s been dreaming of Hedgehog and the hug that follows is their best yet! The perfect book hug for children who have been denied the joy of hugging friends and family.
(Faber & Faber, hardback, £12.99)

The Queen’s Spy

Clare Marchant

APOTHECARY Tom Lutton fears that being both deaf and mute at the volatile court of Queen Elizabeth I might prove to be a dangerous handicap…

But the queen’s ruthless spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, believes Tom’s ability to lip read and observe from ‘the shadows’ gives him a special talent, especially when it comes to collecting important intelligence.

In a follow-on to last year’s gripping debut novel, The Secrets of Saffron Hall, Clare Marchant (pictured below) takes up the thrilling story of the Lutton family and moves the action forward to 1585 when Eleanor Lutton’s adoptive son Tom leaves France for England, the country of his birth. Blending the loves, lives and dramas of this charismatic Norfolk family in both the past and the present, Marchant effortlessly slips between two timelines as we meet Mathilde Lutton, a rootless, globetrotting woman whose unexpected inheritance takes her into the heart of a dark and unforgivable betrayal stretching back over five hundred years.

And what a page-turning, addictive read The Queen’s Spy proves to be as we are thrust into the machinations of Walsingham’s spy ring, which faces the growing challenge to Elizabeth’s throne from her scheming cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, and become immersed in the perilous secrets that await Mathilde at crumbling Lutton Hall.

In 1584, an ageing and increasingly paranoid Elizabeth I rules England from Greenwich Palace in London but a dangerous plot is brewing and an increasingly ambitious Mary Queen of Scots will stop at nothing to take her cousin’s throne.

Meanwhile, Tom Lutton, who has been deaf and mute from birth, is returning to England after decades in France where he and his adoptive mother Eleanor fled after Tom’s father was executed by King Henry VIII.

Able to communicate using only a wax tablet for writing and through lip reading, Tom has always faced suspicion and mistrust but hopes to find a home in his native England where he can feel safe and accepted. After using his herbal skills to help save the life of the ship’s captain on the voyage from Calais, Tom is recommended for a post as assistant to Hugh Morgan, the Queen’s apothecary, and a place in court life. Soon he comes to the attention of Sir Francis Walsingham who thinks trusted apothecary Tom will make an exceptional spy and for the first time in his life, Tom’s lack of hearing and speech is not ‘a hindrance nor weakness, but a talent.’

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In 2021, photojournalist Mathilde travels the globe in her campervan and has never belonged anywhere. Her Lebanese mother, who died when Mathilde was only sixteen, taught her daughter the skills of a herbalist and they both lived a nomadic existence as refugees in France.

Mathilde was told her father, journalist Peter Lutton, died in a bombing raid in Beirut before she was born but when she receives news of an inheritance, Mathilde is shocked to discover her

The Tsarina’s Daughter

Ellen Alpsten

RUSSIA in the 18^th century is a place of the deepest divisions. Extraordinary wealth jostles with abject poverty, freedom is limited to a chosen few, and one man holds power through what he believes is a God-given, ‘insoluble bond’ with his people.

So being born a daughter to the mighty Tsar Peter the Great would seem to be the golden ticket to a lifetime of luxury, but a dark prophecy awaits Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna Romanova which will see her life hang by a thread.

After her enthralling debut novel, Tsarina, which imagined the remarkable story of Catherine I – the peasant girl who became the reformer empress and turned Russia into a modern Western empire – Ellen Alpsten (pictured below) turns her eagle eye on Catherine’s beautiful but headstrong daughter Elizabeth. And this second book featuring the turbulent lives of the mighty Romanovs brings us the same intoxicating mix of history, cruelty, soaring passions, a larger-than-life cast of characters, and a breathtaking journey across the opulent palaces and vast landscapes of imperial Russia.

Born in 1709 into the House of Romanov to the all-powerful Peter the Great and his wife, Catherine, a former serf, beautiful but headstrong Elizabeth is the world’s loveliest Princess and the envy of the Russian empire.

Insulated by luxury and spoiled by her father who plans for her to marry King Louis XV of France and rule in Versailles, Elizabeth is seemingly a woman free from the burden of statecraft and able to pursue her passions.

The only shadows over Elizabeth’s privileged life are her mother’s sorrow as she loses baby after baby in a desperate bid to produce a son and heir, and a Delphic prophecy delivered by a woodland creature who predicts her fate is inexorably entwined with Russia and warns that her ‘lightest load’ will be her ‘greatest burden.’

Soon the girl’s life is turned upside down. Her restless, volatile father suddenly dies, her only brother Alexey was executed by his father some years ago, and her mother Catherine takes the throne of Russia. And when her mother also dies, Russia is torn apart, masks fall, and friends become foes in the dangerous atmosphere of the court where ‘every blessing can be a curse’ because she is the Tsar’s daughter.

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By the time she reaches her twenties, Elizabeth is penniless and powerless, living under constant threat. Even loving her becomes a crime that warrants cruel torture and capital punishment. But

The Smallest Man

Frances Quinn 

A TINY hero with a big heart stands head and shoulders above the rest in a dazzling debut novel set at the court of King Charles I. Inspired by the life of Jeffrey Hudson – the court dwarf of Queen Henrietta Maria who was famously pictured alongside the monarch’s wife in a Van Dyke portrait – Frances Quinn brings us the tumultuous story of the English Civil War as witnessed by a small but courageous young man.

Using Hudson as her springboard, journalist and copy-editor Quinn (pictured below) turns the celebrated dwarf, known as Lord Minimus, into pint-sized Nat Davy, torn from his family and sold into servitude with the newly-crowned queen.

From this unique and fascinating perspective, we follow the trials and tribulations of the new king and queen as England moves inexorably into a land of bitter factions, while learning to love an irrepressible hero whose bravery, loyalty and genuine friendship become the mainstay of a naïve and vulnerable Henrietta Maria.

More than anything in the world, the diminutive, ten-year-old Nat Davy from Oakham in Rutland, the smallest county in England, wants to be normal. His mother says he has wisdom beyond his years but what Nat really wants is to climb trees and run fast like all the other boys.

His small size has its advantages – like watching people unnoticed and listening in on conversations – but his father thinks Nat is no use to the family as he cannot work and has plans to sell him at the local fair so that he can be put on display in a cage as ‘a freak.’

And in the year of 1625, the same year that the new King Charles I takes the throne, a single shilling changes Nat’s life forever. The Duke of Buckingham, the richest man in England who lives at the big house on the hill at Oakham, has spotted him and wants to take him to London. His father sells his son willingly for 11 shillings, a shilling more than he would have got for the boy at the fair, and Nat is plucked from the loving arms of his mother with her words ringing in his ears. ‘I want you to remember something, Nat. You’re small on the outside. But inside you’re as big as everyone else. You show people that and you won’t go far wrong in life.’

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Determined to prove to the world that even if he doesn’t grow, he can still be useful, Nat is hidden in a pie as a gift to ingratiate the Duke of Buckingham with 15-year-old Henrietta Maria of France, the recently crowned Queen of England. But Nat soon discovers that the queen is as lost, lonely

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: A bad panda, a super sleuth and a treasure hunt

Meet a panda who’s fed up with being cute, set sail with a ship full of motley pirates, share adventures with a young detective on the trail of a train thief, and get all fired up with a super-amazing superhero robot in a cool collection of summertime children’s books

Age 7 plus
Bad Panda
Swapna Haddow
and Sheena Dempsey

PANDAS are all cute, aren’t they? Well, maybe not all pandas… Meet a precocious panda fed up with being labelled cute, and prepare to laugh yourself black, white and red in the first book of a hilarious new series from the outrageous queens of comedy Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey.

Not content with the full-feathered success of their Dave Pigeon series, author Haddow and her illustrator team-mate Dempsey have conjured up another laugh-out-loud winner in the shape of Lin the terrible, a panda who so hates being cute that she’s on an unstoppable mission to change that image forever!

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Lin the panda is sick of being utterly adorable, she’s tired of being cuddled and hugged, and fed up with having her head confused for her bottom because she just so happens to be SOOOOPER-DOOOOPER fluffy? Yes, everyone thinks that Lin is the cutest panda in the world. So much so that they ship her off to the local zoo, away from her beloved brother, to be ogled at by the masses. But Lin hates being cute, and now she will do everything in her power to prove that she’s the baddest, meanest, most un-cute animal in the zoo.

If slapstick fun, outrageously bad behaviour and panda poo make you giggle and guffaw, then Bad Panda is going to be your go-to comedy read for this super-funny and super-silly series from one of the most inspired partnerships in children’s comedy fiction. Packed with Haddow’s warmth and wicked, laugh-out-loud wit, and Dempsey’s irresistibly funny black, white and red illustrations, Bad Panda is simply the shining star of the show!
(Faber & Faber, paperback, £6.99)

Age 6 plus
How to Be a Vet and Other Animal Jobs
Dr Jess French and Sol Linero

HAVE you ever wondered what it would be like to work with animals? There are many different animal jobs to choose from so here is the perfect book to help you decide exactly which one takes your fancy… how about a vet, or an animal physiotherapist helping animals in the wild, training guide dogs, or you might even consider becoming a bug wrangler!

Find out about all these jobs, the history of vets and lots more in this easy-to-read and fascinating book written by vet and CBeebies Minibeast Adventures presenter Dr Jess French, and lavishly illustrated throughout by Sol Linero.

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There are facts and discoveries on every page… the first ever veterinary hospital was built by King Ashoka, an Indian emperor over two thousand years ago, meet some of the people who look after seahorses, snakes, lizards and parrots, and learn about the work of farriers, behaviourists, wildlife rehabilitators and zoo vets. Packed with fun, information and animal inspiration, this is the perfect book for animal lovers, budding vets and anyone who wants to inspire youngsters to care for and appreciate our precious wildlife.
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £6.99)

Age 7 plus
Kintana and the Captain’s Curse
Susan Brownrigg and Jennifer Czerwonka

SHIVER me timbers! Climb aboard a ship full of motley pirates and head off on a treasure-hunting voyage full of fun, magic and adventure. Susan Brownrigg, who grew up in Wigan and now lives in Skelmersdale, serves up a boatload of thrills, spills and the strangest creatures you’ll meet this side of Madagascar as she sets sail with a charismatic crew of pirates and pets.

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Kintana has grown up listening to stories of life at sea from her pa, an ex-pirate turned pet shop owner. So when a tall ship – The Nine Sails – berths at Pirate Island she eagerly joins the crew as a cabin boy, even though her main duty will be to look after the pirates’ pets. But someone on board is determined to disrupt the voyage… could the dreaded captain’s curse be to blame, or is it the lure of buried treasure that will draw the ship back? One thing is for sure, Kintana is about to discover that sometimes adventure is found closer to home.

Brownrigg, who loves writing middle-grade historical fiction, and illustrator Jennifer Czerwonka take the helm as they steer youngsters on an exciting race against time to track down the pirate captain’s treasure. With enemies always on the horizon, a plank that was just made for walking, perilous plots at every turn, and a hold full of exotic pets, there’s a treasure trove of reading here for all adventure lovers!
(UCLan Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 7 plus
Kate on the Case
Hannah Peck

MEET a young detective who’s hot on the trail of a thief as she boards a train heading for the decidedly cold North Pole! Illustrator Hannah Peck, who is also making her debut as an author, certainly adds bells and whistles to the first book of an exciting new detective series which brings young readers all the intrigue and colourful characters of an Agatha Christie classic.

Kate on the Case First is the first in a witty and vibrant two-colour chapter book series for emerging independent readers and is brimming with mystery, comedy, an inspirational heroine, some wonderful wordplay and brilliant orange-themed illustrations. Young reporter-in-training Kate and her mouse-accomplice Rupert are on board a train to visit Kate’s mum in the Arctic. But as soon as the train departs, mysterious things start happening.  A packet of ginger nuts goes missing, a collection of gymnastics trophies are stolen and some ancient scrolls disappear.

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Kate and Rupert use all their reporter training to interview everyone on the train and haughty passenger Madame Maude and her cantankerous cat seem the most likely culprits, until a surprising – and delicious – twist turns the whole investigation on its head! Peck moves into creative overdrive for this cleverly plotted, sleuthing adventure which lets readers share the fun of following clues, interrogating suspects and finally solving the case. All aboard for wit, whisks and whiskers!
(Piccadilly Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 7 plus
Freddy and the New Kid
Neill Cameron

BEING different to everybody else at your school isn’t easy when you are the most super-amazing superhero robot ever… And when Freddy discovers that the new girl at school thinks humans are better than robots, the battle lines are drawn! Much-loved comics creator Neill Cameron turns on his own creative boosters in the second book of his fully illustrated Awesome Robot Chronicles series which positively fizzes with fun, firepower and antics, but also cleverly celebrates unity, uniqueness and diversity.

Freddy lives with his Mum, Dad and big brother Alex in London and he goes to school. But main thing is that he is an awesome robot with awesome robotic superpowers! He has lasers and electronic bolts, can fly up in the sky and is so strong he can lift a car over his head.  Only problem is that he is hardly ever allowed to use the super powers, and definitely not at school. 

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But now there’s a new kid at school. She’s called Aoife and she’s super annoying. She claims humans are better than robots so there’s only one way to prove her wrong… a contest! And Freddy is definitely going to win!

Freddy’s mishaps and misadventures are guaranteed to make readers of all ages laugh out loud whilst also providing a heartwarming and perceptive insight into diversity, and acknowledging that not all children are the same. With its quirky, comic-strip style narrative and format, illustrations that zing with humour and energy, and two lovable and empathetic heroes, Freddy and the New Kid is a clever, fun and fast-paced adventure, and ideal for your reluctant readers.
(David Fickling Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 7 plus
Bunny vs Monkey and the League of Doom!
Jamie Smart

HOLD on to your hats and watch out for trouble… Bunny and Monkey are back in an exhilarating remastered series with all the comedy and chaos of the daffy duo’s helter-skelter world! This outrageously funny third book in the series collects together Bunny vs Monkey 5: Destructo and Bunny vs Monkey 6: Apocalypse for the first time and is published in a smaller, easy-to-read, chunky format featuring 251 pages of fast and furry-ous exuberant fun.

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The books are part of the Phoenix Presents series, published by David Fickling Books in partnership with The Phoenix comic. The partnership is going from strength to strength and much of that success is due to the genius of the extraordinarily talented illustrator Jamie Smart whose ingenious comic-strip Bunny vs Monkey causes giant laughter waves across eager young readers.

Since he crash-landed to Earth in a rocket, Monkey has been causing absolute mayhem! Bunny and the gang (Squirrel, Pig, Action Beaver, and Skunky the Inventor) have almost had enough. Monkey’s eternal struggle for world domination is getting more ridiculous every day, and it’s impossible to predict which bizarre plan he is going to put into action next...

In this comic extravaganza, the pint-sized friends must face a giant robot whale, a pig cannon, and a camping trip that goes wrong... Outrageously comical and ingeniously addictive, these manic, high-energy stories were just made for fidgety readers who like their books to come with plenty of comic-strip pictures and loads of laughs. Madcap antics for a new generation of action kids!
(David Fickling Books, paperback, £8.99)

Age 5 plus
The Mighty Lions & the Big Match
Tom Chapman and Chris Dickason 

‘IF you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same,’ wrote Rudyard Kipling in his famous poem If–

Facing up to winning – and losing – has been well and truly in focus during the thrilling Euro 2020 football championships and it’s an important theme taken up by award-winning author, public speaker and international educator, Tom Chapman, in his resonant children’s book debut. Using the concept of a football team of young lions under pressure to beat their tough tiger opponents, Chapman reminds us that children can often feel under too much pressure to succeed in all walks of life, whether that’s in the classroom, in their social relationships or on the sports field.

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Abel, his brother Drake and the rest of the Mighty Lions have made it to the final match against the Tigers. They know they have to win the cup, especially as it is expected of them by both the coach and their watching parents. But with the stakes getting higher as the game progresses, it becomes too much for the young footballers and they crack under the pressure. As a result, they lose the match and are disappointed that they have let everyone down. Worse, they are worried that they have completely failed. But Mum and Dad Lion have some important words for their young cubs… they are loved whether they win or lose, and losing one match doesn’t make them failures.

In this clever, cautionary tale – beautifully illustrated by Chris Dickason – Chapman, founder of The Lions Barber Collective, a charity that promotes suicide prevention and awareness, and focuses on men’s and boys’ mental health, encourages children and parents to discuss how learning from failure can only make you stronger. A perfectly ‘pitched’ and inspirational story…
(Welbeck Publishing, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
Does a Bear Poo in the Woods?
Jonny Leighton and Mike Byrne

GO down to the woods today (if you dare!) for a hilarious rhyming picture book romp from the top team of author Jonny Leighton and illustrator Mike Byrne. In a brilliant story sure to appeal to little mischief-makers, Leighton and Byrne work their magic on the agonising dilemma of a shy bear who needs a poo… but can’t avoid the peering eyes of his fellow forest dwellers.

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When he feels the urge to go, there’s only one thing on Barry the bear’s mind… finding a private place where he can poo in peace. But a whole host of woodland animals – who don’t care where they poo – just won’t leave Barry alone! Does a Bear Poo in the Woods? provides an answer to the age-old question in this funny, laugh-along picture book which is guaranteed to have little ones grinning and giggling from first page to last.

Brought to life by Leighton’s perfectly poo-filled rhyming text and Byrne’s rich, textured and firmly tongue-in-cheek illustrations, Barry’s woodland quest is destined to be a favourite with all the family!
(Buster Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
The Cat and the Rat and the Hat
Em Lynas and Matt Hunt

WITTY wordplay, stylish presentation, an extravaganza of neon colour… and a menagerie of manic fun. If these are the kind of picture book ingredients that whet your little one’s reading appetite, then let them tuck into top team author Em Lynas and illustrator Matt Hunt’s The Cat and the Rat and the Hat, a raucous, rhyming romp that will have children (and adults!) laughing all the way from first page to last.

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Cat is sitting on his favourite mat, when who should come along but Rat with a very nice hat. Cat wants Rat’s hat and will stop at NOTHING to get it. But when Bat arrives wearing a fancy cravat, well, what could be better than that? Chaos ensues as both Cat and Rat decide they MUST have Bat’s fancy cravat for themselves!

Ideal for reading aloud and new readers, and for encouraging children to understand and enjoy the concept of rhyming words and sounds, this hilarious, tongue-twisting, lavishly illustrated tale is bursting with comic capers, slapstick humour and animal antics. And like every Nosy Crow paperback picture book, The Cat and the Rat and the Hat comes with a free Stories Aloud audio recording – just scan the QR code and listen along!
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £6.99)