“Knowing you are probably going to die in a year or two is like waiting for a train with people you really like seeing you off, and you know you aren’t going to see them ever again. You have so much you want to say to them and the train is due in any moment”

Gussie, a 12-year old girl with a heart-condition has moved with her mum to St. Ives in Cornwall. Gussi ...

I’m sure that for all the Horrid Henry fans out there, this is another Horrid Henry book that they’ll read over and over again. For those readers who like me, have only just been introduced to Horrid Henry, this book may have been the first – but will definitely not be the last.

Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman is actually a collection of four short and ...

Synopsis: Sam is an 11-year-old boy with a range of interests and a way with words. He presents his thoughts in scrapbook form and tells his story, that is, what it is like having terminal leukaemia.

Review: Had I not been encouraged to read this book, I would not have chosen it. Thank goodness I did take the plunge - I was bowled over by it. It is impossible to describe h ...

Synopsis:  Within a spoof self-help book, Little Mouse records her own fears in the form of drawings, and collage as she nibbles her way through the pages. Finally she realises that she also has the power to frighten!

Review: This is a must for all fans of Emily Gravett’s wonderfully creative picture books. Some phobias in the book are real such as arachnophobia ...

Synopsis: From the hoarse, heaving seas of the Scottish isles to the dreamy streets of Paris, Jackie Kay takes the reader on a journey through memory and landscape, meeting a menagerie of characters on the way: fierce old Mrs Dungeon Brae, a weather-beaten fisherman, a girl in red running shoes and the exotic, the death-defying Cat Mandu. A wonderfully evocative new collection of poems t ...

  Synopsis:A cheeky little girl and her toy monkey swing irresistibly through the pages of this gorgeous playful book. Young children will love guessing what animal they are pretending to be, before shouting out the answers as the pages are turned to reveal the real creatures. Soon, everyone will be waddling like a penguin, jumping like a kangaroo and hanging upside down like a bat! ...

Synopsis: Christopher is 15 and lives in Swindon with his father. He has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. He is obsessed with maths, science and Sherlock Holmes but finds it hard to understand other people. When he discovers a dead dog on a neighbour's lawn he decides to solve the mystery and write a detective thriller about it. As in all good detective stories, however, t ...

Synopsis: Jess’s Grandpa is dying, but he has one final picture to paint before he is ready to go. Jess’s family all agree there is something unsettling about the River Boy picture, but only Jess knows the truth. River Boy isn’t just a picture; River Boy exists.

Review: Jess loves swimming and Grandpa has been at the poolside encouraging her for as long ...

Synopsis: Lucas Swain is almost 16 when he comes across the ashes of Violet Park at the offices of a local mini-cab company. Doing so sets off a whole chain of events that allows him to discover who he really is and how he fits into a world that has been badly damaged by the disappearance of his father, just before the birth of his little brother.

Review: This is a very in ...