“The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die describes an extraordinary journey, made by Peter, a boy of five, through war-torn Europe in 1944 and 1945. Peter and his parents set out from a small Hungarian town, travelling through Austria and then Germany together. Along the way, unforgettable images of adventure flash one after another: sleeping in a…

So, for so many reasons 2022 has been a wild rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, which has meant I have not stayed on top of my blog as much as I’ve wanted to. However, I am making a (nearly) new year resolution to put it back near the top of my priority list; blogging…

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sid lives in a town called Fathom, a town near the sea which celebrates Pirate Day and has a mysterious ‘Pirate’s Corner’ in the graveyard. Steeped in stories both real and mythical, which inspire Sid and her closest friend Zen in their imaginary games. The one thing they imagine the most is getting…

Friday 12th August 2022. It will be no surprise to anyone that one of my favourite places to be is in a bookshop. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved reading and visiting bookshops has been part of that. During my last visit to Cornwall, I went to the The Padstow Bookseller and…

I’ve been writing my blog for a while now, but I’ve never really gone into what prompted me to begin finally writing one. Anyone who knows me or follows my Twitter or Instagram, will know I have always been a lover of books; I’m a lifelong reader. It will be of no surprise to anyone…

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leon John Crothers is 4779 days old. He has been to six different schools, who have all moved him on as they think he has an ‘attitude problem’. It is only when he meets Dr Snot (yes, really!) that Leon is diagnosed as autistic. Leon doesn’t care for the label. He doesn’t believe…

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Phyll is having a difficult summer, and it doesn’t seem as though it will be getting easier anytime soon. She’s had to move her whole life as her family have moved to the seaside, where life is still far from perfect. Her mum is sick, she’s made an enemy at summer camp and…

Stars: ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love providing children with new ways to enhance their vocabulary in the classroom. Of course, reading often tops the list when considering how this can happen as books provide opportunities to discover new words in context, allowing experimentation within writing and oracy once they have been read. However, it is also…

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When Vinnie’s mum takes her to Brighton to stay with her aunt, Vinnie thinks they are finally going on an adventure together. But when they arrive, she discovers they won’t be staying there together like she first thought. Instead, her mum has shut their milliner’s and is leaving for Paris, and can’t tell…

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘I might be trapped here, never living in a house with solid walls again, never going back to school, a refugee for the rest of my life.’ Safiya and her family have had to leave their home in Syria, driven out by civil war. But, despite this, Safiya knows how lucky she is…