Families Book Reviews

Name: Wendy Kelly
08 May 2025;

Genre: Friends and family

A nice little book that can be used to start a conversation around lots of different issues related to children's friendships. On the face of it, I'm Going to Make a Friend is a story about a little boy who moves to a new area where he doesn't know anyone and who decides to us...

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Name: Louisa Farrow
08 May 2025;

Genre: Magical Realism

Valley of the Vikings is the tenth book in the Emily Windsnap series but there is no need to read the earlier books to enjoy it. It's full of magical excitement and magnetic charm, with some underlying themes that feel very relevant to now. For those wh...

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Name: Lorraine Ansell
07 May 2025;

Genre: Supernatural

When Morgan and her family are forced to move back to her mother's hometown, she has no idea of the history and trouble that await. Village talk of the Pouka King that dwells in the woods, and a niggling voice in her head, add to Morgan's unease. Meeting a local boy who seems...

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Name: Beverley Somerset
07 May 2025;

Genre: Environment & Nature

Puffin's mum is a research scientist and is often away from home. She and Puffin have a strained relationship; Puffin feels that her mum does not have enough time for her. As her father died when she was five, Puffin and mum live with her best friend Lance and his Grandad Moe. Puffin is fascin...

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Name: Wendy Kelly
07 May 2025;

Genre: Mental Health & Wellbeing

It's OK to Say No is the sort of book that works best on a one to one basis, shared between a child/young person and a trusted adult, rather than as a group read, to start a conversation about consent and what it means. The concept it presents is seemly quite...

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Name: Louisa Farrow
06 May 2025;

Genre: Environment & Nature

Imagine an animal that is around twice the size of a domestic cat with shimmering orange fur, silvery whiskers and iridescent green eyes. Imagine that same animal had magical healing powers and had been trapped for scientific research. Now imagine it was the only one left of its kind and you n...

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Name: Sue Wilsher
05 May 2025;

Genre: Historical Fiction

Sharing the 'best bits of the bard', Michael Rosen's Pocket Shakespeare offers a very accessible introduction to some of Shakespeare’s writing. Divided into chapters such as 'Love and heartbreak', 'Scheming and plotting' and 'Thou art a boil and other insults', the book is per...

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Name: Wendy Kelly
05 May 2025;

Genre: STEM

The Super Questers are back! I absolutely love these books and the children in my infants school firmly agree. In true scientific fashion, though, this is the Super Questers evolution! Whereas the previous series were large format, brightly coloured picture books with masses o...

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Name: Ruth Cornish
05 May 2025;

Genre: Historical Fiction

Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres and Becoming Grace by Hilary McKay does not disappoint. McKay fictionalises the story of Grace Darling and her family who were custodians of the Outer Farne/Longstone lighthouses at Longstone Rock on the Outer Staple Islands nea...

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Name: Ruth Cornish
05 May 2025;

Genre: Science Fiction

What a roller coaster of a book! The Dead Soul Project is an exciting, page-turning, science fiction thriller featuring the main characters, youngsters, Kyle and Lauren Dempsey, battling against the monstrous results of a supposed alien virus in their housing development, Alpi...

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