Free books to read & review

We're looking for help to review the following books for ReadingZone. Email the title you would like to review during the holidays to [email protected].

In mid December, we will draw two reviewers for each book and have the book(s) sent to the reviewers - and then you can donate the books to your school library. Choose from the following books, including picture books, children's fiction, YA reads and non-fiction resources: The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Christopher Corr Lincoln Children's Books Celebrate Chinese New Year and learn how every animal earned its place in the Chinese zodiac by taking part in the Great Race! Discover who will come first to win the ultimate prize, and find out why Cat will never forgive his friend Rat in this ancient folk tale that has been passed from generation to generation. Mince Spies by Mark Sperring, illus Sophie Corrigan Bloomsbury Children's Books Who or what is destroying all the Christmas treats in the supermarkets? Santa sends his Mince Spies on a secret mission to uncover the culprits. With puff-pastry jetpacks, shortcrust walkie-talkies and squirty whipped cream they foil the villains - with a bit of help from Santa. A hilarious rhyming romp of a story with a festive message for all baddies: it's better when you're nice! Let's Talk About When Someone Dies by Molly Potter Bloomsbury Education When someone dies, we can feel a whole host of different emotions and explaining them to a child isn't so easy. This book uses clear, easy-to-understand language to answer complex questions about death and how a child might feel when someone dies. It covers tricky subjects with sensitivity and honesty, from what death is to why people die, and fills an important but difficult need for starting conversations with children about death and bereavement. If All the World Were... by Joseph Coelho Frances Lincoln Childrens Books A moving picture book about a young girl's love for her granddad and how she copes when he dies, written by poet and playwright Joseph Coelho. This beautifully illustrated, powerful and ultimately uplifting text is the ideal way to introduce children to the concept of death and dying, particularly children who have lost a grandparent. Mini Rabbit Not Lost by John Bond HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks MiniRabbit is making a cake, but he's run out of berries. No berries, no cake. No cake? No way! So off he goes to look for some... He's not cold, not too small. And, no, no, definitely NOT LOST... Or is he? A funny, clever debut picture book. Elvis the Squirrel: A Bloomsbury Young Reader by Tony Bradman Bloomsbury Education Elvis the squirrel is always up for an adventure, especially when a good meal is involved. But when his best friend Chuck is carried off by Ronnie the raven, Elvis might have bitten off more than he can chew. We will send three similar titles to our reviewers to select one to review. Moth by Isabel Thomas Bloomsbury Childrens Books A clever picture book text about the extraordinary way in which animals have evolved, intertwined with the complication of human intervention. Along come people with their magnificent machines which stain the land with soot. In a beautiful landscape changed by humans, how will one little moth survive? National Trust: 2019 Nature Month-By-Month: A Children's Almanac by Anna Wilson Nosy Crow This illustrated guide to the year includes nature spotter guides, indoor and outdoor craft and activity ideas, seasonal recipes and celebrations of religious festivals and special days, such as the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. This gorgeous nature yearbook will encourage young readers to connect with nature and the world around them. I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree - A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year: National Trust by Frann Preston-Gannon Nosy Crow I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree is a lavishly illustrated collection of 366 nature poems - one for every day of the year. Filled with familiar favourites and new discoveries and written by a wide variety of poets, including John Agard, William Blake, Emily Bronte and Carol Ann Duffy. Voices of the Future: Stories from Around the World Irina Bokova Bloomsbury Education A wonderful anthology of eight stories addressing children's rights and sustainable development, written by child authors from all around the world and produced in conjunction with UNESCO's Voices of Future Generations initiative. The stories in this book are written by children aged between 8 and 12 from every corner of the globe including Canada, Mexico, Samoa, South Africa, Taiwan, Uruguay and United Arab Emirates. Let's Perform!: Monologues, duologues and poems for children to perform by Cath Howe Bloomsbury Education From 'They're Digging up my School Today' to 'The Giant African Land Snail's Rap', this book is full of brilliant, photocopiable scripts and poems to get children aged 7 to 11 confidently rhyming, moving and imagining. The Afterwards by A.F. Harrold Bloomsbury Childrens Books There's nothing more to say about it. It is what it is. It is what will always be. Ember and Ness. Then Ness dies. It is sudden and unexpected and leaves Ember completely empty. When Ember finds a way into the Afterworld, she determines to bring Ness back. Because that's what friends do isn't it? They rescue each other. They help. They never give up. The Boy Who Flew by Fleur Hitchcock Nosy Crow Athan Wilde dreams of flight. When his friend, Mr Chen, is murdered, Athan must rescue the flying machine they were building together and stop it falling into the wrong hands. But keeping the machine safe puts his family in terrible danger. What will Athan choose - flight or family? Storm Witch by Ellen Renner Nosy Crow Child of Air, Water, Earth or Fire: now that she is 13, Storm must undertake The Choosing and be claimed by one of the Elementals - but they bestow her with a great and terrible gift. Storm has powers that no one can understand. Will they help her to save her island, or will she betray everything she holds dear? Wellbeing in the Primary Classroom: A practical guide to teaching happiness by Adrian Bethune Bloomsbury Education In this practical and thoughtful book, experienced teacher and advisor on children's wellbeing, Adrian Bethune, takes the latest evidence and research from the science of happiness and positive psychology and brings them to life. Wellbeing in the Primary Classroom is packed full of tried-and-tested activities and techniques. It is an essential guide to supporting emotional and mental wellbeing in the primary classroom. AWOL 3: Last Boy Standing by Andrew Lane Piccadilly Press Young Bond meets Alex Rider and Cherub in this brilliantly written, fast-paced spy action thriller. We will be giving our reviewers all three books in the AWOL series, aimed at readers aged 10+. Special Agent Bex arranges to meet teenage Kieron in a cafe to tell him that she can't risk his life any more. She parks her car and seconds later it blows up. Someone is trying to kill them - but who wants them dead? How to Rob a Bank by Tom Mitchell HarperCollins When 15-year-old Dylan accidentally burns down the house of the girl he's trying to impress, he feels that only a bold gesture can make it up to her. A gesture like robbing a bank to pay for her new home. Only an unwanted Saturday job, a tyrannical bank manager, and his unfinished history homework lie between Dylan and the heist of century... A funny, ill-advised crime caper. A Crystal of Time (The School for Good and Evil, Book 5) by Soman Chainani HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks The fifth instalment in Soman Chainani's bestselling fantasy series, The School for Good and Evil. Sophie, Agatha, and their friends must find a way to overthrow the sinister evil that twists lies into the truth and seeks to rewrite their story, after a false king has claimed the throne of Camelot, sentenced Tedros to death, and forced Sophie to be his queen. Only the Ocean by Natasha Carthew Bloomsbury YA The two girls sat at opposite ends of the boat and Kel dug and stretched the oars into the ocean like her life depended upon it, because it did. 15-year-old Kel Crow lives in a water-logged world, with a family with whom she shares nothing but blood and a heart defect that she knows could kill her any day. She has a plan to escape, and it's a good one: stowaway on the ship, kidnap the girl, swap the girl to buy passage to America and a life-saving operation. But plans never go how they're meant to... The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge Hot Key Books Martha can tell things about a person just by touching their clothes. Determined to understand her strange ability, Martha sets off to visit her grandmother, Mormor - only to discover Mormor is dead, a peculiar boy is in her cabin and a terrifying creature is on the loose.... Set in the remote snows of contemporary Norway, this is a ghost story that twists and turns - and never takes you quite where you'd expect.