Andersen Press

Byx’s life has gone in an unexpected direction. His family has just been murdered, he is left to wander in a strange land with even stranger company and he is about to be caught up in the nefarious politics of humans.

Lydia is nearly 13 and, as far as she is concerned, her father’s decision to sell the large family home two years after her mother’s death and move his three children into a leaky Thames sailing barge in Essex, will totally ruin her life. Add to the mix three soon-to-be step-siblings, a new step-Mum and the dawning realisation that her gentle father has serious issues from which he is escaping through alcohol, and life will never, ever be the same once they move to the Lady Beatrice.

This is an intense and gripping novel that seems to take its cue from the recent ‘domestic noir trend’ in adult fiction. Like many contemporary novels in that genre, Little Liar features a manipulative and morally ambiguous female protagonist who is by her own admission an unreliable narrator and who spends the novel scheming to disrupt the seemingly stable upper middle-class institutions with which she interacts.

A beautifully illustrated début picturebook, this is a story of family and love, but with a twist! William is not a little boy, but a dad, whose daughter, at least in her eyes, is looking after him. Mummy goes out in the morning, discreetly slipping out in the back of a picture, and it is up to the daughter to act as mummy and help her dad with his day.

Humpty Dumpty is a name known worldwide – in France he is Boule Boule, in Norway Lille Trille and in Germany he goes under the guise of Humpelken-Pumpelken. (I wish I was making this up.) But every country, even if they can’t agree on his name, agrees on one thing – Humpty could not be put back together again.

It’s a popular misconception that lemmings, while migrating, are prone to throwing themselves en masse off cliffs. Even lemmings believe this themselves, but, as this book shows, they can be quite a suggestible bunch of furry, cuddly creatures.

We all know that books are more than words and ink. They have the power to transport young minds to faraway places and help those dealing with stress find a safe place away from it all. But on a more practical level, the talented pairing of Willis and Ross show us in their latest offering that books have endless other weird (and wonderful) uses!

‘Have you any tractor books?’ is a question I’ve often been asked while working in libraries and I’ll certainly be offering this book to the next child who asks! I Love Tractors is a beautifully illustrated book, full of glorious colour and rhyming text – perfect for reading aloud at storytime or bedtime. I particularly like how the illustrator has depicted the library within the story as a vibrant, child-friendly place where children are snuggled up in nooks, reading for pleasure.

Oh no – it’s a swarm of bees and they are so angry! Snicket explores the nature of anger and how it is manifested. We don’t know why the bees are angry, but as they swarm through the story we see where their anger could be channelled. Perhaps the sailor or his mother or the bricklayer – but they are busy hugging, talking and being kind. Maybe they’ll sting folk by the food truck, or the cat, bird or worm, but everyone here is just looking for food, so the bees can’t really sting any of them.

Young Dallas Kelly has a lot to deal with. She is still reeling with grief from her mother’s death when she learns that her local library is closing down. The 11-year-old decides she is not going to take another loss, so she leads a campaign to keep Queen Street Library open. Our reluctant hero does this while contending with a life-changing decision – should she stay with her stepmother, brothers and stepsister in their cramped boathouse or should she move to Texas with her free-spirited aunt?