CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Summer holiday fun and reading with Usborne

As the country moves into top gear for a summer of holidays and travels, keep boredom at bay and your youngsters out of mischief with these super activity and reading books from leading independent children’s books publisher Usborne

Age 6 plus
Things to Spot in Summer
Lara Bryan, Kate Nolan
and Di Brookes

SUMMER is here and the natural world is buzzing with life! So head off into the great outdoors and learn to spot and identify plants, trees and animals with this brilliant new pocket-sized book in the educational Usborne Minis series. Long, sunny summer days are perfect for exploring nature and this beautiful book – illustrated by Di Brookes – will help children find out more about the wildlife they spot when they’re out and about. With 60 animals, insects, birds, flowers and trees to look out for, it’s packed full of fascinating facts, and there is a handy chart with stickers at the back of the book to help you keep track of what you’ve seen.
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £3.99)

Age 5 plus
Sticker Dolly Dressing: Summer Camp
Fiona Watt, Non Taylor and Antonia Miller

SCHOOL'S out, the sun is shining and it’s time to pick a selection of outfits for an exciting trip to summer camp! Hours of hands-on fun are guaranteed with the new Sticker Dolly Dressing book, one of Usborne Publishing’s best and most popular series. And this dazzling new book is bulging with gorgeous sticker clothes and accessories to dress the dolls and decorate the pages as they enjoy all the different activities. Have fun choosing the stickers to create outfits for the dolls as they go paddle boarding, follow a forest trail, cook tasty treats on a campfire, build dens, complete an obstacle course and learn about team-building.  There are over 200 stickers and twelve scenes to choose from, and the fun accessories include rucksacks, water bottles, boots, outdoor equipment and camp kitchen tools. Children won’t be stuck for something to do with this beautiful activity book full of dolls to dress and scenes to decorate. And with so many easy-to-use and reusable stickers to choose from, this is a summertime camp no young fashionista will want to miss!
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 5 plus
Seashore Magic Painting Book
Lizzie Cope and Felicity French

WHAT child can resist the enchantment of a magic painting book! All you need is water and the brush provided, and then abracadabra, marvel as the black and white pages turn into a rainbow of vibrant colours. Enjoy the look of amazement on the faces of your little ones when they use the brush to paint water over the illustrations and reveal an exciting and colourful world full of seashore life, from sandcastles, crabs and shells to sea birds, pebbles and driftwood… all transformed from black and white to colour in seconds. And with tear-out pages and a waterproof laminated flap to tuck behind your work to stop the water seeping through to the rest of the book, youngsters can be sure of a perfect result every time. Magic at a paintbrush stroke... and perfect for summertime getaways or staycations!
(Usborne, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus
First Sticker Book: Summer
Felicity Brooks and Zoe Waring

GET ready for fun with an adorable cast of excited animal characters as they head off into the great outdoors to make the most of the summer sunshine! This enchanting first sticker book was just made for little hands. Join the animals as they spend a day at the beach, cool off with a swim in the lake, whizz down the swirly slide at the playground, play mini-golf, camp beneath the stars and lots more. Little ones will love adding over 140 colourful and easy-to-use stickers to the summery scenes and bring Zoe Waring’s beautifully illustrated scenes to life. Friendship, fun and sun on every page!
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £5.99)

Age 9 plus
Spirit Warriors
Ashley Thorpe

ESCAPE into an adventure full of ancient magic, young heroes, and a battle between the living and the dead in a thrilling story of chaos, myth and danger from Ashley Thorpe, a Black British author who works as an editor for Storymix, helping other writers to create epic stories. And this action-packed, high-stakes, fantasy adventure is certainly epic as we meet Evie who is saved only by the powerful gemstone her parents entrusted to her when her island home is overrun by evil spirits. Her best friend Arthur is not so lucky… caught in the magical crossfire, he finds himself in the body of a cat. On a mission to return him to his body and defeat the ghouls, Evie and Arthur team up with Cai, a trainee shaman, who helps them discover the truth. The terrifying Blackheart Man is plotting to steal the island’s four magical gemstones and use their power to destroy the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead. It will take all of Evie’s magic, Cai’s bravery and Arthur’s talent for thievery to stop him. Youngsters will be willing on this plucky trio as they battle against the odds in a heart-thumping danger mission full of magical world-building, fast and furious adventures and spine-tingling danger. Epic fun from start to finish!
(Usborne, paperback, £7.99, published on August 14)

Age 9 plus
How to Get Magically Popular
Radhika Sanghani

NO schoolgirl wants to be unpopular… can the unexpected discovery of a magic power change everything for Sabina Patel? Fresh from the success of her middle grade novel, The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie, author, screenwriter and award-winning journalist Radhika Sanghani weaves her own special brand of magic over another story with important messages for young readers. Sabina Patel has never been popular and in her new school, in a new town where she doesn’t know anyone, she feels more out of place than ever. When she accidentally unlocks magic powers and starts to see visions of the future, Sabina worries that she will be even more unpopular than before. But she quickly becomes one of the most popular girls in school, with everyone desperate for her to predict their test answers, prom dates and class election results. But then she starts seeing futures she would rather not know about and Sabina is not sure if she has unlocked a gift or a curse. It seems learning to be happy in the present is far more productive than letting the future take over your life. This fresh, fun, relatable and wise story – starring a girl who just wants to fit in but finds her magic powers make her stand out more than she might want – speaks loudly about the value of friendship, honesty and simply enjoying the ‘now’ and not the ‘what’s next.’
(Usborne Publishing, £7.99, published on August 14)