Children Book Reviews

Name: Amanda Shipton
01 October 2023;

Genre: Adventure

Ivy Newt has a new mystery to solve; every Halloween at sunrise, a spooky haunted house appears near Newt Castle, only to disappear again at the stroke of midnight. In a race against time, Ivy and Tom set out to solve the mystery, stumbling upon an imprisoned witch, a powerful sorcerer and a p...

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Name: Linda Canning
01 October 2023;

Genre: Horror

What a brilliant book this is! Read, Scream, Repeat is an anthology of 13 (!) short stories, from some of my favourite children's authors: Jennifer Killick, Phil Hickes, Rachel Delahaye and Sharna Jackson, to name but a few. It contains a delightful mix of styles of stories, a...

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Name: Amanda Shipton
28 September 2023;

Genre: Poetry

If you are looking for a current, up-to-date book of poems to share with Primary pupils, look no further. The Star Whale is one of the best collections of poems that I have read in a long time that focuses on the issues that are important to our pupils. Nicola Davies ha...

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Name: Amanda Shipton
26 September 2023;

Genre: Adventure

When ordinary boy Marvin wears his super-suit, he becomes MARV, a superhero with infinite powers . . . In this story, Marvin and his friends are ice skating at the Blizzard Zone when supervillain Master Blaster takes control of the rink, determined that everyone stops their fun to watch him sk...

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Name: Jacqueline Harris
25 September 2023;

Genre: Magical Realism

Rose is unhappy at her new secondary school. She is bullied by Emer and her friends and is utterly miserable. Her only friends are the elderly couple who live and work on the road on her way home. Then one night Rose is faced with an Ice Giant who gives her a stone and tells her to guard it. R...

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Name: Jane Rew
23 September 2023;

Genre: Representation & Inclusion

There is so much to this book, Stand Up and Speak Out Against Racism: personal experience (the author knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of racism, so it is not just an academic text on the subject); comprehensive discussion of all aspects of racism, including hel...

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Name: Ethan Age 9
23 September 2023;

Genre: Animals

I really liked Digger and Me. It was a book about James's overwhelming life and he feels like nothing's ever the same again. First, his parents get divorced and both find their new loves. Then, Digger (his dog) gets cancer. James then tries to do anything to protect Digger alt...

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Name: Sue Wilsher
22 September 2023;

Genre: Magical Realism

Rosaleen Darke-Rose is struggling at her new school. Tormented by Emer McGuire and her 'fan club' for being a scholarship pupil, Rose is also still grieving the loss of her Mamó, who she misses desperately. Taking the long way home from school, however, has the benefit of taking her past the s...

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Name: Sue Wilsher
22 September 2023;

Genre: Poetry

Combing two of my favourite things-poetry and mythology, Gods and Monsters was always going to be a personal reading paradise, but this fabulous collection exceeded even my high expectations! It is a veritable dragon's horde of joy in poem form. Loosely grouped into ten...

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Name: Louisa Farrow
22 September 2023;

Genre: Personal Growth

This new anthology, Our Rights, explores the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child through poems and short stories by a diverse and impressive array of contemporary children's authors, thoughtfully illustrated in black and white by Ru...

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