Isla loves hanging out at her best friend Hailey’s house, especially since Hailey has just gotten a beautiful kitten named Silky! But someone isn’t too thrilled with the new arrival — the family’s older cat, Pickle. A heartwarming chapter book from the Pet Rescue Adventures series featuring black and white illustrations throughout. When Hailey’s family goes away for the night, Isla offers to “cat-sit”. But to Isla’s surprise, Hailey’s new kitten, Silky, is clearly terrified of Pickle, Hailey’s older cat. How can Isla break the news to Hailey that her new kitten is so unhappy? Me and Spike were hoping to read this one together but its taking a little…
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The Fox and The Star – Coralie Pickford-Smith
‘Once there was a Fox who lived in a deep, dense forest. For as long as Fox could remember, his only friend had been Star, who lit the forest paths each night. But then one night Star wasn’t there, and Fox had to face the forest all alone…’ *** The Fox and the Star is an absolutely stunning picture book, but don’t think that it’s just for children at all. Everyone, young and old will see the beauty in this book and it should be read by all. I was drawn to The Fox and The Star by its beautiful cover. We have the beautiful paperback with the fox on…
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Here Lie The Secrets – Emma Young
Mia’s best friend Holly died when they were thirteen. But years later, Holly still hasn’t left her.Spending the summer in New York, Mia is hoping to escape the visions of Holly that haunt her life at home. There she meets Rav, a parapsychology student, who convinces her to take part in a study into why some people see ghosts. Soon she is caught up in the investigation of Halcyon House, which is reputed to be haunted by a poltergeist. As Mia confronts her fears, what she learns about the house and herself will change her life forever. *** Here Lie The Secrets is a mystery like no other. It starts…
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Carry On – Rainbow Rowell
Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything. Carry…
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The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy. Forty years…
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Dragon Detective: School’s Out by Gareth P Jones
Holly is desperate to be sleuthing with her partner-in-solving-crime, dragon Dirk Dilly, but instead she’s stuck at her exclusive boarding school for children of the rich and famous. She’s determined to escape, until she meets Callum, the son of the Prime Minister, who claims he was kidnapped by dragons a year ago and hasn’t been the same since. And when Dirk’s own investigation into dragon activity brings him to the school, the two cases collide. What if Callum isn’t as crazy as he seems? *** Having read some of Gareth P Jones’ books before, I was fully expecting lots of adventure and coolness from Dragon Detective: School’s Out. And it…
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The Snow Dragon – Abi Elphinstone and Fiona Woodcock
You can be late for many things in life, but you should never keep an adventure waiting… In Griselda Bone’s gloomy orphanage, daydreaming is banned, skipping is forbidden and Christmas is well and truly cancelled. But for Phoebe and her sausage dog Herb, is it possible that, just when things seem at their bleakest, magic awaits in the swirling, snow-filled air? *** This beautiful story was on my to buy list for Spike from the minute I saw it. Unfortunately she doesn’t share my excitement for amazing authors just yet, so we ended up picking something else every time we were in Waterstones. Despite the amazing dragon on the cover. Spike picked it…
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How To Stop Losing Your Sh*t with Your Kids – Carla Naumburg
So, you’re losing your sh*t with your kids. You scream, you shout, you snap at them. You’re cranky and irritable more often than you’d like to admit. You know how you want to parent; you want to be a calmer, more rational and intentional parent, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t help it. You keep losing your sh*t. Just remember: YOU ARE NOT A BAD PARENT. How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids is as honest and compassionate as it is pragmatic about helping you work through your sht to be a more present and positive parent. Increasingly relevant to today’s parents, who are more…
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The Book of Dust Vol 1: La Belle Sauvage – Philip Pullman
Malcolm Polstead and his daemon, Asta, are used to overhearing news and the occasional scandal at the inn run by his family. But during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm finds a mysterious object—and finds himself in grave danger. Inside the object is a cryptic message about something called Dust; and it’s not long before Malcolm is approached by the spy for whom this message was actually intended. When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he begins to notice suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with…
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Again, Again – E Lockhart
When Adelaide Buchman’s younger brother succumbs to a drug overdose, she saves his life. In the aftermath, looking for distraction, she becomes a stylish, bright charmer who blows off school and falls madly in love – even though her heart is shattered. Adelaide is catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times while finally confronting her brother, their history, and her own strength. A raw and funny story that will surprise you over and over, Adelaide is an indelible heroine grappling with the terrible and wonderful problem of loving other people. *** I wasn’t sure what to expect…
