The Smell of Other People’s Houses

Sometimes a title just calls at you. The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Faber and Faber) is an evocative title that immediately had me reminiscing and stitching together memories of childhood. And that is how this beautiful YA debut felt to read; like stitching together stories and dreams. It tells four intertwining coming-of-age...

D is for Duck by David Melling

'Duck is a magician. Abracadabra! He can conjure up a bunny, a chicken and even the King of the jungle. But can he make a dragon disappear?' David Melling is the well-loved author of the Hugless Douglas series and, our firm favourite, The Ghost Library. D is for Duck is packed with Melling's trademark humour...

Hiding Heidi by Fiona Woodcock

Heidi and her friends love to play hide and seek. The trouble is, Heidi always wins. She can't help it - she's just too good! But Heidi soon learns that being hard to find can be hard to take, so she needs to come up with a plan... Hiding Heidi is a beautifully designed and deceptively...

How to read Paper Butterflies

There are some books that you can just drop into your bag and pick up whenever you can steal a minute's peace. And then there are some that need military planning to ensure your survival as you read it. Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield (Electric Monkey, Egmont) sits squarely in the latter category. But don't...

Devil and the Bluebird

'"Do you feel it?" The woman released her chin. Blue nodded. Like September, when the sunlight began to shift and in the middle of wildflowers she could feel the winter coming. A certainty lodged inside her, down in her feet within the cradle of her boots. Her feet knew where to go.' 'Riley has wrestled...

Books for Brexit fallout

Two books to help you talk to your kids about this crazy world we live in at the moment. The Journey by Francesca Sanna(Flying Eye Books) is a stunning picture book that tells the story of migration in a beautifully child-friendly way.  For older children, Girl with a White Dog by Anne Booth (Catnip) is...

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

'Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father - who has run away with a dental hygienist - will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win,...

An Intergalactic Activity Book

Professor Astro Cat's Intergalactic Activity Book by Zelda Turner and Ben Newman is an activity book with a difference. Filled with facts, activities and science experiments, this will keep kids busy for the summer holidays.  This is a brilliant companion book to Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space, with Flying Eye Books' incredible eye for design...