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Early Reader Book Reviews
Amelia Cheeseheart Investigates: Mummy Mayhem
Cat Weldon, illus. Nene Lonergan, pub. Mini Guppy
A brand new series from a brand new imprint. Mini Guppy aims to bring small tactile books with short chapter, lots of illustration, which encourage laughter and a love of reading. In this book they have succeeded in those aims. Meet Amelia and her best friend Webster. Amelia is a mouse, Webster a spider and they live in Amelia’s nest, in a hot air balloon which you will find in a museum gift shop!
Amelia loves adventure and solving mysteries which is fortunate for one is about to unfold. All the other museum mice are in uproar, a mummified figure is roaming the halls after closing. It must have come from the Egyptian room but what could it possibly want and are they going to be brave enough to find out? A brilliant adventure, a touch of mystery, a splash of history, this book is certain to engage young children starting out on their own adventure – one of reading independence.
Gordon Wins It All
Alex Latimer, pub. Oxford Children’s Books
Have you met Gordon? He is known as the meanest goose on earth for very good reason, he really is mean! The stories he features in (this is his third) will almost certainly have you laughing, wanting to come back for more. When we first met him he was meaner than mean until a certain piglet showed him kindness. Now he is getting to be so good at, well at being good that he has a thought. Does this goodness mean that now he is good at everything?
Only one way to find out. A Grand Tournament. Okay, a little more truth here, the Grand Tournament may have been encouraged by The Meanest Goose Society but still, he arranges it all. Of course, he plans to win every even too and hear the whole town cheering for him. But when it comes down to the competition does he have what it takes to be a winner or will he slip back into old habits and be tempted to cheat? Absolutely brilliant!
How to Train Your Dragon School
Cressida Cowell, pub. Hodder Children’s Books
Cressida Cowell’s note, the one that came with my proof copy of this book, told me that it has been ten years since she wrote and illustrated her first full-length How To Train Your Dragon novel and twenty since she first created the world. Now she is back and what a joy it is to revisit old friends with new stories, or for some of you, to discover this world for the first time ever!
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is at the Isle of Berk’s Training School for Vikings and Dragons. It is a great school how could it not be – there are Vikings and dragons. But Hiccup isn’t the best pupil, in fact he is bottom in pretty much every subject. He treats us to some insight, his first lesson. It was meant to be The Art of Battle. Quiet. Sensible. No trouble. But it turned into Doom of the Darkwing, one of his biggest adventures. Are you ready to settle down for a lesson in how not to do lessons?
Kitty and the Clifftop Peril
Paul Harrison, illus. Jenny Løvlie, pub. Oxford Children’s Books
Kitty is a brave young girl who lives up to her name. We all know that cats have nine lives, making them quite fearless. We also know how much they love to climb. Luckily Kitty is brave and not afraid of heights, she often has to climb out of her window at night when her superhero powers are needed and despite being on holiday by the seaside it looks like they will be and very soon.
Kitty is surprised to meet her old friend Cutlass the pirate cat in Pebble Cove. Just as she is there on holiday he is there to see his cousin and get his paws back on a boat. The problem is that someone or something has started to cause trouble down by the harbour and Cutlass is getting the blame for it. Kitty needs her superhero cape and mask so that she can save the day, oh and so that she can enjoy a fabulous picnic with her friends – cookie recipe included!
Marv and the Duck of Doom
Alex Falase-Koya, illus. Paula Bowles, pub. Oxford Children’s Books
Marvin, known as Marv to his very closest of friends, yes reader you may consider yourself one, is quite simply, MARVellous. As soon as Marv puts his superhero outfit on he becomes invincible, his powers are infinite. He battles the baddies and after a few heart-stopping pages he seems to usually win the day. But now a blast from his grandad’s past has shown up along with a new generation of super-villain.
Grandad and Marv are going to the ~Adventure Zone to meet friends Steve and Izzy. Steve is a reformed supervillain but Marv is about to discover that there is more to Izzy than he realised and when the Duck of Doom appears at the park, powered by Professor Feather 2.0 he knows he is going to have to work hard to save the day. Who knew that ducks could be so dastardly? What a relief that we have superheroes to keep us all safe and save the day! With its black, blue and white colour palette this is a wonderful story, a brilliant series.
Mirabelle and the Baby Dragons
Harriet Muncaster, pub. Oxford Children’s Books
Mirabelle is a very special character, because she is different. That message and the series of charming stories she features in, made all the more magical with their splashes of purple colour against otherwise monochrome illustrations, makes her important for younger readers. She is part witch, part fairy and loves nothing more than getting up to magical mischief as often as she can! I’m certain you’ll love reading about it!
When Mirabelle, mum and dad, are invited to stay at a dragon sanctuary they say yes immediately. Mirabelle is so excited; this will be an opportunity to get stuck in and help looking after the dragons and show off everything she knows about them. It soon becomes very clear that what Mirabelle thinks she knows and really knows are two different things! Mishaps such as the charcoal crumbling incident are fantastically creative and very funny, showing us all that asking for help and admitting you don’t know as much as you thought are the right things to do.
Reggie Rabbit: Robbery at the Masqued Ball
Swapna Reddy, illus Becka Moor, pub. Oxford Children’s Books
Presenting readers with a mix of graphic novel and traditional prose this series is lively and exciting, offering readers of all abilities the opportunity to begin their independent reading journey. The story finds us in Bearburgh where we are about to discover what the grandest event of the year is like. It is the Masque family’s Masqued Ball. Auntie Hibiscus’ catering company are providing food and drink, Reqggie Rabbit and Pipsqueak are waiters.
This is going to be the most exciting event of the year because the famous pop star Kitty Qita is going to be performing for the guests. But, as you might have guessed, not everything goes to plan and in the middle of Kitty Qita’s performance the lights go out… When they come back on the guests discover all their jewels are missing. Reggie and Pipsqueak are quickly on the case but are the clues leading them in the right direction or do you think there is more to this case than meets the eye?
Watts & Whiskerton: Sabotage at the Fete Cake Bake
Meg McLaren, pub. Piccadilly Press
Watts and Whiskerton are a detective duo. Watts started out, in the first story, as the reluctant detective of the pair. He was certain he didn’t have the skill needed to be a great detective like his dad. But when he met Pearl Whiskerton, a curious cat who loves a mystery he was convinced to give it a try. Now the pair are back for their second adventure. It should be a fun weekend but where these two are there is certain to be a mystery to solve!
Watts is back in Little Gossip, visiting his friends, the Whiskertons, and looking forward to the village fete with its bake off. It should be a great weekend but when the ovens flood with batter and accusations of sabotage fly Watts and Pearl leap into action. This is a curious case, after all who would want to cause a cake catastrophe and ruin the competition? They are looking for proof in the pudding, are you ready to help them find it?