Shelby Todd

Bess has left the city of London for the workhouse following the death of her mother. Orphaned and alone, Bess is forced to leave all she knows behind for a life as an indentured worker with other children in a cotton mill. Her life at the workhouse is cruel and demanding with very little joy, the hours and work are physically demanding, and the adults in charge are awful. Rumors start to spread about a vicious creature that lurks in the millpond. Bess is sure it is all tall tales, until she sees a strange silhouette in the water.

Deeply rooted in the genre of historical fiction, Murphy’s newest novel Leo’s War follows a twelve-year-old boy named Leo. This multi-cultural and multi-generational novel revolves around Leo and his disabled sister Ruby as Hitler’s Nazis invade Italy.

Meet the Artist: The Pre-Raphaelites is full to the brim with inspiring activities for young art historians and artists alike. In this art activity book author Helena Perez Garcia provides a brief introduction to Pre-Raphaelite art by exploring stand out themes and ideas used by the artists. She highlights leaders of the Pre-Raphaelite movement such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Julia Margaret Cameron and Ford Maddox Brown.

This is the best art and artist book ever! It starts in alphabetical order examining amazing female artists individually and in depth. Each entry has a small blurb about the artist in bold, a quick way to get introduced to our dynamic female artists. As the book continues there are fun and quirky pages sprinkled throughout.

The newest addition to Usborne’s ‘All About…’ series is a compelling and upbeat examination of differences between people and how everyone learns, looks and acts differently. This book is illustrated with bright, simple pictures, which depict a variety of ages, skin tones, different abilities and cultures.

Boy, Everywhere is written from the point of view of 13-year-old Sami. We meet him and his family in their home place of Syria where his parents are professionals and overall they live quite a privileged life. As political tension in Syria grows, Sami’s parents make the decision to take their two children and leave their home for the promise of a safer life.

A companion to the highly successful and beautifully illustrated picturebook The Girls, The Boys follows the lives and friendship of four boys – Rey, Nattie, Bobby and Tam – through the years of babyhood to adulthood. We first meet the boys on a beach with their mothers and follow them through their adolescence and into adulthood. Throughout the book the beach plays an important role for the boys; as they learn and grow, the beach at times seems to be its own character.

The Long Way Home is a simple story of intergenerational relationships, adventure and taking note of the little things. Otto and his grandma have decided to trek across the savannah to Lion Mountain for a bit of exploring. Otto, our young elephant hero, is a natural explorer; he takes after his grandma, Nanu, who is fearless and always up for taking Otto with her on expeditions. They start their journey very early in the day, armed with a backpack full of supplies, and as they travel they pass different landmarks and friends along the way.