By Jo Simmons Should parents be able to cancel children's birthdays?! https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Parents-Cancelled-Birthday/dp/1526606585 Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books£6.99ISBN: 9781526606587Pages: 218Author contact details:@joanne_simmons Cover illustrated by: Nathan Reed http://www.nathanreedillustration.com/ @NathanReed_Illo Publisher website:https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/childrens/ @KidsBloomsbury Under 100 characters summary: One boys’ dangerous mission to rescue, re-invite and reinvigorate interest in his own birthday!The first line: It all started when... Continue Reading →
How do you get young children interested in reading?
Planet Omar - Incredible Rescue Mission by Zanib Mian Illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik Published by Hachette Children's Books at £6.99 ISBN: 978 1 444 95129 5 Pages: 238 Author Contact Details: Twitter: @Zendibble https://www.muslimchildrensbooks.co.uk/ Illustrator Contact Details: Instagram: @a.nasaya Publisher website:www.hachettechildrens.co.uk @HachetteKids Under 100 characters summary: Omar and his gang have to contend with... Continue Reading →
My interview with… Jenni Spangler
What do you hope for in your future as an author? I can’t wait to get into doing school visits once it’s safe to do so – that’s one part of being an author I have missed out on this year! Long term, a dream project would be to write a book for World Book... Continue Reading →
How much historical fact and description do you need to include in a story to help the reader understand the setting?
Freedom by Catherine Johnson Cover artwork by Two Dots Published by Scholastic £4.99 ISBN: 9781 4071 85484 Published: 2nd August 2018 138 pages Author’s contact details: http://www.catherinejohnson.co.uk @catwrote Illustrator’s contact details: http://www.thetwodots.com Publisher’s website: http://www.scholastic.co.uk @scholasticuk Under 100 characters book review: Beautifully written story about a slave boy in Jamaica and the continuing battles he... Continue Reading →
How many twists and turns can a plot have?
The Vanishing Trick by Jenni Spangler Illustrated by Chris Mould Published by Simon and Schuster £6.99. ISBN: 9781 4711 9037 7 Published: 30th April 2020 295 pages Author’s contact details: http://www.jennispangler.com @JenniSpangler1 Illustrator’s contact details: chrismould.blogspot.com @chrismouldink Publisher’s website: http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk @simonschusterUK Under 100 characters book review: Victorian orphan, captured by a medium, wades through the... Continue Reading →
My Interview With… Jess Butterworth
Thank you so much to Jess for answering my questions, there are some very detailed answers here, and she is clearly a really talented and dedicated author. Plus, if you are a teacher, some wonderful ideas of how to take the book into the classroom! YOU What do you hope for in your future as... Continue Reading →
Cookie… and the Most Annoying Girl in the World
Written and illustrated by Konnie HuqPublished by Piccadilly PressISBN: 9781848128934£10.99 People are hard to understand. They don't say what they want and often they do say what they don't want! Where do you start to learn this? At school, and this story is brilliant at showing you why people do these things and how best... Continue Reading →
Wink by Rob Harrell
ISBN: 9781471409141 Published by Hot Key Books Main Review: This book begins with a very serious note from the author himself explaining how he was diagnosed with cancer and how the book explores a lot of his own experiences. However, the story itself is not difficult to read, even if it is a challenging subject.... Continue Reading →
Beast Quest: New Blood Book 1
This is an excerpt from my full review for the English 4-11 magazine, which is the magazine for members of the UKLA. Please read the full review in their magazine - https://ukla.org/publications/english-4-11/ New BloodBy Adam BladePublished by Hachette Books£5.99ISBN: 9781408357859For those children who are familiar with the juggernaut that is the ‘Beast Quest’ set of... Continue Reading →
Don’t you just HATE star reviews?
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, How I hate you from afar, Up above the review so cheap, Like a drummer without a beat. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, How I hate you from afar. Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that a star review is used to show someone’s opinion, and that everyone is entitled to... Continue Reading →
