Schools & Libraries Book Reviews

Name: Nikki Stiles
22 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

A beautiful retelling of the sweetest classic tale. Jeanne Willis has so fantastically retold the tale of a young orphan named Heidi, who is taken to live with her grumpy grandpa in the Swiss Alps. Heidi's grandpa was used to living alone and quite stubborn in his ways, he doesn't much like peopl...

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Name: Emily Marcuccilli
18 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

I needed no encouragement to return to the world of Eva Ibbotson's classic story, The Secret of Platform 13. Nine years have passed and the Island of Mist, home to magical creatures like hags and harpies, finds itself beseiged. Odge Gribble has fled into hiding and decides to journey to Vienna,...

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Name: Catherine Purcell
18 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

It can be overly tempting to keep sharing more and more of yourself on social media, but establishing rules around what you show on your vlog and what you keep for yourself and your family is an important part of being a vlogger. This was the pleasingly sensible conclusion to The Vlogger's Handb...

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Name: Lizi Backhouse
15 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

A fantastic non-fiction book! Gut Garden is a journey into your microbiome, it explains the digestive process and explores the ecosystem that lives within us. Written and illustrated by Katie Brosnan, the book introduces proper terminology in child-friendly ways. It's visually stunning and ex...

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Name: Sue Wilsher
12 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

White Bird opens with Julian, the boy who treated Auggie badly in'Wonder', speaking to his Grandmother via FaceTime. As part of his Humanities work, Julian has to write about someone he knows and he wants to write about her and her time in German-occupied France and a boy affected by polio she kn...

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Name: Joanna Hewish
12 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

A lovely new picture book aimed at really little ones. 'Moon and Me' has already hit CBeebies with its new show reminiscent of 'In the Night Garden'. This is a lovely story to read with babies and toddlers (up to pre-school age) as you tuck them in at night and already this story is becoming p...

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Name: Jenny Caddick
11 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

This is the touchingly moving story of young Ben and his butterfly-loving Grandpa. At the start of the story , we find Grandpa's love of life, nature and his beloved butterflies is dulled by his grief at the loss of his wife. This gentle and emotional story follows Ben's earnest, loving attempts...

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Name: Sue Wilsher
10 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

Christmas arrives at Duncan's house bringing plenty of festive fun - for the crayons. Surprises are to be found in envelope or package style pockets, which make the book an interactive treat. The Peach Crayon (known to his parents as 'Peachy-Pie') receives a selection of outfits which the reader...

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Name: Linda Brown
10 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

Five Dark Fates is the concluding episode to the amazing fantasy series, Three Dark Crowns. Like all the previous books, this final episode does not disappoint as it's full of drama, magic, death, violence, gore (for those that like a little more!), politics, trust and, to wrap it all up, romance...

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Name: Daniel Katz
06 November 2019;

Genre: Adventure

A huge wall divides the land of the Yellow people from the land of the Blue people. The government preaches hatred and fear of the 'other side', and to attempt to cross, climb or damage the wall is treason. A Yellow boy lives a sad life in the shadow of this wall until one day, he discovers a hol...

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