Children Book Reviews

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  • Brand New Boy

    Name: Louisa Farrow
    05 November 2020;

    Genre: School Stories

    In Brand New Boy, Daniel and Maxie are two ordinary boys at an ordinary primary school in the North East. They like crisps, football, playing in the woods and pretending to be zombies. One day, George, a new boy, joins their class and there's something a bit odd about him - di...

  • Windrush Child

    Name: Hayley Summerfield
    05 November 2020;

    Genre: Representation & Inclusion

    Benjamin Zephaniah's Windrush Child depicts the monumental journey that many commonwealth British citizens endeavoured to take in order to help rebuild Britain after World War II. This book portrays a truth that can only be told by a person who has experienced racism in its de...

  • Viper's Daughter

    Name: Sue Wilsher
    05 November 2020;

    Genre: Historical Fiction

    Two summers have passed and Torak and Renn are now living together in the Forest with Wolf, his mate, Darkfur, and the cubs. But their pack is torn apart when Renn, fearing she is a danger to Torak, leaves. Desperate to find her, Torak and Wolf follow, leaving the Forest they love, and heading...

  • Otters' Moon

    Name: Louisa Farrow
    29 October 2020;

    Genre: Mental Health & Wellbeing

    Luke's summer holiday is in tatters. His father has left for a new family and his mother, wrestling with depression, has decided that a summer holiday on a remote Scottish island will be good for them both. Luke is torn between a sense of responsibility for his Mum and his own feelings of loss...

  • Tinsel: The Girls Who Invented Christmas

    Name: Hayley Summerfield
    29 October 2020;

    Genre: Magical Realism

    Tinsel by Sibeal Pounder is a brilliant new Christmas book with a twist. The story is seeped with powerful themes of friendship, feisty girls, gender roles and adventure. This refreshingly original story on the origins of Santa is hilarious and heart-warming and crammed full o...

  • Tinsel: The Girls Who Invented Christmas

    Name: Donna Burkert
    29 October 2020;

    Genre: Magical Realism

    Many moons ago, Christmas wasn't the magical time of year that it is today. There was no one to deliver presents, no one for children to write to, no tinsel, no reindeers, no magic. Until of course, a young girl called Blanche, who lived all alone under a bridge, met a mystical old lady, who g...

  • The Greatest Inventor

    Name: Hayley Summerfield
    29 October 2020;

    Genre: Magical Realism

    The Greatest Inventor by Ben Brooks is a magical new adventure story that takes the reader on a journey through numerous villages to rescue people who have become lost within themselves. The story starts when a writer wanders into an unknown wood and comes across a rather unus...

  • The Acrobats of Agra

    Name: Jacqueline Harris
    26 October 2020;

    Genre: Historical Fiction

    Robin Scott -Elliot's first book The Tzar's Curious Runaways is an historical novel, and this is too, though set at an entirely different time and place. It is India in 1857 and the British rulers are at war with the Indian nationals. The entir...

  • The Midnight Swan

    Name: Sam Phillips
    20 October 2020;

    Genre: Magical Realism

    The Midnight Swan is the third book in Catherine Fisher's Clockwork Crow trilogy and, while this was a great, magical adventure as a 'standalone' read, I am sure that it would have been even better if I had read the first two Seren and Crow stories beforehand. I have no doubt that The Midnight...

  • The History Of African and Caribbean Communities in Britain

    The History of African and Caribbean Communities in Britain

    Name: Clare Wilkins
    20 October 2020;

    Genre: Adventure

    The History of African and Caribbean Communities in Britain by Hakim is an important and timely re-edition. Beginning with the earliest known Africans in Britain and moving onto the triangular trade and eventually World War Two and beyond, this book shows how and why African a...