Book Monitor - books from across the world

Engaging reads for children, from Books go Walkabout

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The Pinchers and the Dog Chase by Anders Sparring and Per Gustavsson

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On June 5, 2024

In Gecko Press, The Book Monitor, 7+ years, 9 to 10 years, Featured authors, Featured children's book

The first in a funny chapter book crime series about a well-behaved child who doesn’t fit in to his family of criminals—featuring a prison break, a diamond heist, and a lie that saves the day.

Theo is good at most things. He can almost count to a thousand, knows several French words, and can operate the washing machine. But he can’t lie or steal. “You must try harder,” says his mother sternly.

The Pincher Family love to steal things. It’s what they are born for! When his parents leave to visit the diamond exhibition, Theo’s heart sinks. After breaking Grandma out of prison (his little sister needs someone to read her bedtime story), Theo sees no alternative but to stop his parents stealing the diamond. His shout of “Stop! Police!” brings them only delight—Theo’s lie has shown he is a true Pincher.

A mix of adventure, silliness, and everyday family life, and with bright and funny illustrations, this is a perfect chapter book for beginning and reluctant readers.

Gecko Press are exciting publishers and have a wonderful portfolio of children’s books from all over the world.

Such a brilliant book, engaging and fun story, a real page turner. Perfect for children starting out on chapter books, the illustrations are really good and will help to develop imagination and use of exciting adjectives.

Sue Martin Children’s Literacy Specialist

Kid Christmas of the Claus Brothers Toy Store by David Litchfield

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On October 17, 2023

In Frances Lincoln Children's Books, The Book Monitor, Books go Walkabout, Featured children's book

This fascinating tale tells the story of little Nicky Claus, who wanted to make every child happy, if only just for one day.

Nicky Claus works with his three uncles in the Claus Brothers Toy Emporium. Uncle Hanz makes the toys, Uncle Louis checks them and Uncle Levi adds the… what’s the scientific term for it? Ah, yes. The magic! For each toy made at the Emporium has a special sparkle that means it will find the child it is perfect for. 


One day, Nicky notices a young girl with her face pressed up to the glass. When she disappears, he follows her and finds her living on the streets with lots of other children, none of whom can afford a toy. Nicky vows that for one night only, every child will have the toy of their dreams and—with the help of his uncles and some flying reindeer—the legend of Father Christmas is born.

This magical and heartwarming story from David Litchfield is centred on kindness, generosity and looking after each other. 

DAVID LITCHFIELD is a bestselling author–illustrator living in Bedfordshire,UK. He is the creator of the award-winning, best-selling ‘The Bear and the Piano’ trilogy.

Frances Lincoln Children’s Books have a wonderful collection of picture book titles and Kid Christmas is a beautiful addition.

Sue Martin – Children’s Literacy Specialist

Mike Falls Up by Candy Gourlay & illustrated by Carles Ballesteros

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On November 23, 2022

In Little Tiger Press, The Book Monitor, Featured children's book

Topsy turvy adventures…

Part of the Colour Fiction series from Little Tiger Press, an engaging series of short stories for new readers emerging into chapter books. The books are wonderful, they are beautifully bound with high quality paper and they fit into small hands. Each page has engaging illustrations from well known illustrators with clear and bold text.

I love this new series from Little Tiger Press, they make perfect books for young children at the first stages of independent reading at schools and at home.

This blog is the first of four in this series.

Mike and his dog Bowow are relaxing in the Chocolate Hills when the ground starts to tremble and the next moment a gaping hole appears. Before Mike can stop him, Bowow jumps into the hole. Then a note floats up…

Party.
Come now.
Just fall up.

‘Get some fresh air’, Mum cried…

There’s no time to wonder what it means – Mike jumps in and falls into the most topsy-turvy of adventures. A joyous story celebrating the power of unexpected friendships by award-winning author Candy Gourlay, beautifully brought to life with stunning illustrations by Carles Ballesteros.

Sue Martin – Children’s Literacy Specialist

Stories across the world…

Super Powers of Nature & Super Heroes of Nature by Georges Feterman – QED Publishers

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On September 21, 2022

In The Book Monitor, 7+ years, Books go Walkabout, New titles, Non Fiction, Quarto KNows

Superpowers of Nature is a fascinating, quirky photographic book featuring the amazing superpowers in the animal kingdom.

Wild Wonders of the World


With incredible photos and fascinating text, this book is a celebration of biodiversity and nature. From the platypus to the peregrine falcon, find out all about these amazing animals and the extraordinary abilities that make them the superheroes of our planet. Did you know…

  • An octopus’s brain is distributed all over its body
  • The tropical frog causes potential predators to wretch violently
  • The plumed basilisk can run for its life on water!
Fearsome creatures…

For each animal discover their superpower, super stats and super facts about them, as well as information about how they used their super skills in the wild. With an important message about protecting the rich biodiversity of our planet, Superpowers of Nature is a stunning photographic book for kids fascinated by the animal kingdom and the weird wonders it has to offer.

Super Heroes of Nature has some incredible facts and photographs of creatures with superhero powers from the Leaf Cutter Ants to the Musk Ox.

Incredible Skills to Survive and Thrive…

Borneo ants to the flying dragon, find out all about these amazing animals and the extraordinary abilities that make them the superheroes of our planet. For example:

  • A hammerhead shark can see 180 degrees
  • The webbed gecko can glide across the desert sand
  • The springbok is super fast!
It can view 180 degrees…

These books published on 6th September are from the Animal Powers series, which celebrates the weird, extraordinary, and truly amazing powers of some of nature’s most incredible animals, while celebrating biodiversity and encouraging young readers to value the natural world around them.

Georges Feterman , the author is an associate professor of natural sciences. He is also the president of the association “A.R.B.R.E.S. “(Remarkable Trees, Assessment, Research, Studies and Safeguarding) campaigning for in-depth research on remarkable trees. For twenty years, he has been recording and photographing the most remarkable subjects of the French natural heritage because of their proportions, stories or rarity.

QED publishers are part of Quarto Knows and produce some of the best factual info books with appeal and a huge difference. At £7.99 these books in a Flexi Binding are incredibly good value and will provide hours of interest for children of all ages.

Sue Martin Children’s Literacy Specialist

Stories across the world…

Poems Aloud by Joseph Coelho and illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett

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On January 21, 2022

In The Book Monitor, BookMonitor, Books go Walkabout, Featured children's book, WideEyed Editions

Vibrant, colourful and a wonderful book of poems for reading aloud!

Tackle tongue twisters, confound your classmates with riddles, make your friends laugh and transform into a bowl of slime as you perform these poems. Build your confidence from the award-winning poet Joseph Coelho. This is the perfect book for confident children and shy readers alike. This brings the real fun of poetry to life for everybody.

The illustrations are brilliant, warm stylish and just make the words come alive.

One of my favourite poems in Poems Aloud is This Bear which is set over a double page and the bear is shown gazing into the pink sunset. He is an older bear and wandering quietly along.

This poem sounds best when read slowly take your time pause and breathe to add emphasis

‘This lumbering bear is old.

 This lumbering, bumbling bear has shuffled over rugged imagined mountains.

Urged his bulk slow and strong.

 Slow as geography.

Strong as tree growth

Through the forests of his mind.’

Joseph Coelho is an award-winning poet and performer from London. He has been long listed for the Carnegie children’s award. He won the 2015 CLPE CLiPPA poetry award with his debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules.

Watch this link from Edinburgh International Book Festival

Daniel Grey Barnett is an Australian illustrator and author living in Tasmania. He has illustrated for the New York Times, Sydney Opera House, The New Yorker. He brings a huge dimension of fun and engagement for this collection of poems for children.

The publishers are Wide Eyed, and they have a stunning portfolio of books for children.

Whether this book is for you at home or to use at school or nursery it is definitely one to buy. It will support reading and writing, and you will hear the words being remembered again and again.

Sue Martin Children’s Literacy Specialist

Stories Across the World

Spin to Survive Frozen Mountain by Emily Hawkins and R. Fresson

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On November 12, 2021

In The Book Monitor, Books go Walkabout, Featured children's book, WideEyed Editions

Decide your destiny with a Pop out Fortune Spinner…

Find out your fate as you face peril after peril in a wild, rugged landscape. This game in a book takes you across mountains, through rivers and across snowy landscapes. A brilliant book in this new and unique Spin to Survive series.

You become lost in the mountains after an emergency landing. Among the snowy peaks, you are at risk from dangers including falling victim to hypothermia, being buried by an avalanche, or stumbling into a deep crevasse. In your backpack, you have a sleeping bag, a thermal roll-mat, a bottle of water, a bag of nuts, waterproof matches, a pair of binoculars, a camera, a first aid kit and an old survival journal belonging to your grandfather.

As you confront each life-threatening challenge in this adventure-filled game book, place the Survival Spinner found inside the cover of the book on one of the circles on your current page, and spin. The place where the spinner points when it stops tells you if you have survived, are still living but injured or that you have perished, with a corresponding page number to turn to for each fate.

Throughout, you will learn about real-life survival techniques, including how to:

  • Make a snow shelter
  • Build a fire
  • Survive a bear attack
  • Treat a wound
  • Use the sun and moon to navigate
  • Cross a frozen lake
Real Life Survivors…

Harrowing tales of real-life wilderness survivors provide glimmers of hope as you deal with the consequences of your choices. One bad decision could lead to disaster…

Frozen Mountain is the debut book in the exhilarating Spin to Survive series from Wide Eyed Publishers, part of Quarto Knows. Discover real-life survival tips and stories as you navigate your own perilous journey through the wilderness guided by your decisions and the removable Survival Spinner.

The author is Emily Hawkins and illustrator is R. Fresson. Each page is an experience and looks as if you have drawn the pages yourself in a travel journal. This will make a fantastic and inspiring book for Christmas for children around 9-11 years, whether ardent readers or adventure makers.

Sue Martin Children’s Literacy Specialist

Stories Across the World…

Welcome to the Future by Kathryn Hulick

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On November 1, 2021

In The Book Monitor, Featured children's book, Lincoln Children's Books

Robot Friends, Fusion Energy and more…

Technology has escaped ! In this brand-new look on how we could live our lives in the future. Kathryn has evocatively set the scene for a world where we can stay in control but technology will be the main part in our lives. Drones, robots, smart systems, teleportation and synthetic biology are just the start of a whole new era in world development and moving into other planets in other galaxies.

In this book, you’ll explore 10 ways technology could alter our way of life. The challenge for you is to decide which changes you want for yourself and the world.

In the future, will we teleport from place to place, keep dinosaurs as pets or 3D-print our dinner? Will we live on Mars or upload our brains to computers? Could we solve climate change by making all our energy from mini stars we build here on earth?

This fascinating thought-provoking book from science writer Kathryn Hulick explores the possible futures humanity will face, and how we will live as the world around us changes beyond our recognition.

From genetic engineering and building floating colonies in space to developing telepathic technology and bionic body alterations, this engagingly illustrated book looks into the possible future technologies which will shape how we live and how we adapt to the challenges of the future.

How about moving your location to a different planet?

You’ll meet the scientists working to bring science fiction to life and learn how soon we might have amazing new technology. You’ll also delve deep into questions about right and wrong. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. How can we build the best possible future for everyone on Earth?

Kathryn Hulick is a freelance writer, editor and former Peace Corps volunteer. She writes regularly for Science News for Students and Muse magazine. She has also published numerous nonfiction books on topics such as video games, artificial intelligence, energy technology and dinosaurs. Hulick’s favourite part of writing about science is getting to speak with researchers in many different fields.

Marcin Wolski is a graphic designer and illustrator from Sopot, Poland, whose clients include The Economist, Nature, The Guardian and Finance Asia.

Publishers are Lincoln Children’s Books from Quarto Knows and Welcome to the Future  is a beautiful large hardback book, and has just the sense that you need to read the next part to find out just how amazing the world will or could be in the future.

Definitely recommend for children 9 years and upwards, plus adults of course and a great book for schools and libraries.

Sue Martin – Children’s Literacy Specialist

Stories across the world…

When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle

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On July 2, 2021

In Andersen Press, The Book Monitor, Children's books, Featured children's book

A boy, a silver back gorilla and bombs falling…

1941. War is raging. One angry boy has been sent to the city, where bombers rule the skies. There, Joseph will live with Mrs F, a gruff woman with no fondness for children. Her only loves are the rundown zoo she owns and its mighty silverback gorilla, Adonis. As the weeks pass, bonds deepen and secrets are revealed, but if the bombers set Adonis rampaging free, will either of them be able to end the life of the one thing they truly love?

‘An extraordinary story with historical and family truth at its heart, that tells us as much about the present as the past. Deeply felt, movingly written, a remarkable achievement’ Michael Morpurgo

‘A magnificent story … It deserves every prize going’ Philip Pullman‘

From the start of the story, Joseph shows how determined he can be. His life so far has not given many signs of working out, the war, parents nowhere near. As he was marched along the streets by the indomitable Mrs F he looked up towards the sound of the wailing air raid siren in a London street…

‘He did look skywards but could see nothing. No sun, no bomber and most importantly, no hope.’

Phil Earle, the award winning author has many children’s book titles to his credit. He grew up in Hull and now lives on a hill in West Yorkshire.

Andersen Press have an amazing list of publications and When the Sky Falls is a great addition.

An extraordinary story of love, loss, compassion and kindness amongst a war time setting of cruelty, bombing, destruction and survival.

This book is a story that needs to be told, the story of a Silver back gorilla and a boy called Joseph.

Sue Martin

Stories across the world…

10 Stories to Make a Difference Pop up Projects

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On June 18, 2021

In The Book Monitor, Children's books, Events, Featured children's book

One heart and mind… ten stories…

A very special collection of new illustrated stories and poems by children’s writers and illustrators to support Pop Up’s vital work in schools, and communities.

The British Library is presenting the 10 Stories launch event on Thursday 24th June both in venue and live streamed. Registration is open to all.

A shelf full of stories celebrating difference is a great leap forward towards diversity by UK children’s publishing. Pop Up has collaborated with 20 writers and illustrators ,plus editing and design professionals from 12 publishers to create a wonderful set of 10 books, unique in their style and presentation. They range from books for ages 5 – 11, covering diverse and creative subjects ad themes.

All the books are beautifully  presented  in hardback with information about the project and the stories, they are so much more than just the book itself.

Books we like especially  are…

Mistaken for a Bear ( age 9 and up…)by Philip Ardagh and illustrated by Jamie Beard

In the melting pot of London in 1839, two young dock workers chase a tiger on the loose- a dangerous splash of colour in a world of soot and grime!

That Thing  ( age 10 and up) by Avital Balwit & illustrated by Alexis Deacon

A close encounter with an intelligent octopus provides a lesson in curiosity and kindness to animals.

Forbidden ( age 11 and up)  by Anjala Tiwari & illustrated by Danica Da Silva Pereira

Two girls with very different lives are drawn into a passionate friendship- and bound by a desire to break the taboos that divide them.

Pop Up Projects CIC is a non-profit national children’s literature development agency with a mission to transform lives through literature. For ten years Pop Up has been bringing literature to life for over 120,000 children and young people and families.

They have provided 7,000 hours of author workshop and 58,000 books to schools, and helped 18 young writers and illustrators from under represented backgrounds into print through Pathways into Children’s Publishing.

Join the conversation on June 24th, we will be there too…

Sue Martin

Stories Across the World…

School Librarian of the Year 2020/21

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On June 13, 2021

In The Book Monitor, Featured Librarians, School Library Association, Children's books, Featured children's book

The School Librarian of the Year Award is the SLA’s prestigious honour to recognise the excellent work that is carried out in school libraries every day, and to highlight the current practice of those whose work is outstanding.

The School Librarian of the Year Award was proposed in 2003 by Aidan Chambers, who was the President of the School Library Association at that time. It was intended to be an award for excellent practice and to be given annually ‘in recognition of outstanding and exemplary work by a school librarian… whose work may be within the conventional bounds of library and information resource centres or be in unconventional areas.’ (Aidan Chambers’ initial proposal, October 2003)

In 2021 the awards were announced at a virtual event on Friday 11th June.

And the School Librarian of the Year for 2020/21 is Kristabelle  Williams from Addey and Stanhope School, Lewisham, London.

Congratulations Kristabelle !

Kristabelle is the librarian in Addey & Stanhope state secondary school, and has an unremitting and consistent focus on ensuring the best futures for her students, making reading, researching and library use the norm. There are weekly KS3 library classes and book clubs – focusing on RfP, book talks and information skills, activities including discussions, debates, Book Pen Pals, Kahoot quizzes, Padlet activities and Ms Williams’ popular mash up of Taboo and Heads Up called “Books Up”.

By working with teaching departments and with student groups, booklists related to the curriculum, and empathy, inclusion and social justice are promoted across the school. Kristabelle has been instrumental in celebrating how reading for pleasure and mental health/well-being are intertwined, never stopping adapting and innovating to engage and encourage students.

There was a very strong list of candidates on the Honour List and the SLA CEO Alison Tarrant praised the librarians for their dedication in this most unusual of years 2020/21. Librarians have been key in the renewed focus of importance and power of reading (for pleasure, learning and wellbeing) and information literacy skills, as this generation will rely on these to determine the truth from scare mongering, and educational website from fake news.

Delighted to support School Library Association, they make such a difference!

Sue Martin

Stories Across the World…

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