A Review By Frances 

 Sadly, Diana Wynne Jones died recently, so there will be no more adventures about Earwig and her friend, Custard.

  Earwig and Custard live in an orphanage, and manage not to be adopted by looking as unattractive as possible.  This means they remain at St Morwald’s  Home for Children where they are very happy.  Earwig is therefore extremely surprised when she is picked by  a very strange couple to go home with them.  Bela Yaga turns out to be a witch and the Mandrake gentleman is nine feet tall with horns.  Most children would probably be terrified, but not Earwig – she merely sees being a witch’s assistant and living with a being who is served by demons as a new challenge.  This entertaining book for children is suitable for 7 –10 year-olds…..

Our Book of The Year

VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family’s violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII.

The Tudors have always captured the popular imagination, but in VIII, Henry is presented fresh for a new generation. H M Castor does for Henry what Hilary Mantel did for Thomas Cromwell – VIII is Wolf Hall for the teen and crossover market. The contemporary, original writing style will have broad appeal and VIII brings the tension of a psychological thriller and the eeriness of a ghost story to historical fiction.

” Great stuff…exciting, fascinating and surprisingly scary” Charlie Higson

H. M. Castor has been obsessed with the Tudors since primary school. She studied Tudor History at Cambridge University, and despite spending time after that doing a variety of jobs – including teaching English in Prague. The Tudors have never lost their hold on her. In particular she has been fascinated by the story of Henry VIII. “I’ve read a great deal about his life,” she says, “but still a huge question has remained: just how does this extraordinary boy become one of the most villainous kings in British history? He is hugely talented, has astonishing warrior skills, and is said to be a model of virtue. So what turns him into a monster? In writing VIII I’ve set out to answer that question.” H. M. Castor has written many younger fiction and non fiction titles for HarperCollins, A&C Black, Carlton, Puffin and Usborne. VIII is her first novel for teenagers. She lives in Bristol with her husband and two daughters.

A fun and funny volume full of hilarious scenes featuring Asterix and his friends in a range of different escapades! Younger readers are sure to have fun searching for Asterix amidst the chaos.

Charlie Bucket loves CHOCOLATE. And Mr Willy Wonka, the most wondrous inventor in the world, is opening the gates of his amazing chocolate factory to five lucky children. It’s the prize of a lifetime! Gobstoppers, wriggle sweets and a river of melted chocolate delight await – Charlie needs just one Golden Ticket and these delicious treats could be all his.

 Now YOU can step inside and see for yourself! This is your Golden Ticket to explore Willy Wonka’s AMAZING world with this unique pop-up edition of Roald Dahl’s much-loved story.

A Review by Charlotte Bush

 This is another adventure for Charlie and Lola with Sizzles the dog. In this case Sizzles is a finger puppet, which makes for great hands-on entertainment and attention capturing reading. Lauren Child has created great entertaining visuals within this book, as well as generated a repetitive pattern throughout, making the book easy to familiarize with for the younger generation of readers. As well as this it is easy to digest for the slightly more confident reader. Overall it is hugely imaginative and particularly engaging for adult and child.