A personal review of books, the only link between them is that there is NO LINK!
by Lucy M. Boston ISBN: 978-0-571-300347-2 First published 1954 198 pages (The Children of Green Knowe) Publisher: http://www.faber.co.uk Cover illustration by Peter Bailey Story illustrations by Peter Boston 5 / 5 Stars A wonderful children's story, entertaining and heart-warming. The author describes an old house with a gardener/caretaker and a great-grand mother whom is excited… Continue reading The Children of Green Knowe
by Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad ISBN: 978-1510-100466 First published 2015 48 pages Publisher: http://www.hachettechildrens.co.uk 4 / 5 Stars At first you might think 'an underwhelming title', until you realise that the book references Caesar's great work 'Commentaries on the Conquest of Gaul' Then you realise this 'comic' book addresses the real question, what would… Continue reading Asterix and the Missing Scroll
by B. J. Novak ISBN: 978-0-141-36179-6 First published 2014 45 pages Publisher: puffinbooks.com 6 / 5 Stars Ha ha! A well deserved 6 stars out of 5 for such a great idea. Not just for being a picture book without pictures.... B J Novak realised that when you read a book outload - you read… Continue reading The Book With No Pictures
by Jean-Yves FERRI and Didier CONRAD ISBN: 978-1-5101-0500-3 First published 2017 46 pages Publisher: http://www.hachettechildrens.co.uk Cover by Didier Conrad Translation by Adriana Hunter 5 / 5 Stars A really great Asterix book, with a new country (Italy) to explore, a mission, great escapades, friends and enemies and suspense. The suspense is not who will win… Continue reading Asterix and the Chariot Race
by Shel Silverstein ISBN: 978-0-06-025665-4 First published 1964 52 pages Publisher: http://www.harperchildrens.com Cover illustration : Shel Silverstein 5 / 5 Stars A really simple children's book, with a great premise. What would life be like with a friend to stay with you, all through the ages? That is what the giving tree is. Some pages… Continue reading The Giving Tree
The dark side of childhood rhymes and stories
by Justin D'Ath ISBN: 978-0-14-378907-9 First published 2019 246 pages Publisher: Penguin.com.au Cover design by Branco Herfst 4/5 Stars A semi-autobiographical account of the devastating bushfires of the 2009 Victoria Black Saturday bushfires. Justin even includes photos of his own burnt down home and possessions. The descriptions of the heat of the fire, how it… Continue reading 47 Degrees
by Margaret Mahy ISBN: 0 14 03 0721 4 First published 1974 72 pages Publisher: Puffin Books Cover and illustrations by Margery Gill 5/5 Stars A wonderful children's book about summer holidays. Holidays are spent meeting new people and doing new things. Margaret Mahy captures the mood of tranquil summer in the countryside away from… Continue reading The Bus under the Leaves
by Margaret Mahy ISBN 0-14-036325-4 First published 1982 135 pages Publisher: Puffin Books Cover illustration by Alun Hood 5/5 Stars An Australian ghost story. A boy plagued by dreams, by a ghost, by a particular ghost. The book is set in small town Australia, a boy has lost his mother and his father has… Continue reading The Haunting
by Munroe Leaf ISBN: 0-448-42190-9 First published 1936 30 pages Drawings by Robert Lawson Publisher Grosser & Dunlap 5/5 Stars A wonderful book that is a children's classic, (outselling Gone With The Wind when published in 1936). It is the drawings that elevate the book, based on Ronda in Andalusia, Spain. The book… Continue reading The Story of Ferdinand
by Alan Coren ISBN: 0-80651-027-1 First published: 1977 64 pages Publisher: Robson Books Illustrations by Alan Coren 4/5 Stars The last in the wonderful 'Arthur' series by Alan Coren, written in the mid-seventies. Brief and easy to read, the books contain good characterization, surprises, battles and dressing up - all things kids will love.… Continue reading Arthur’s Last Stand
By Eve Garnett ISBN: 978-0-141-35550-4 303 Pages Publisher: puffinbooks.com Cover illustration by Eve Garnett 5/5 Stars A wonderful book of the Rosie and Josiah Ruggles and their 7 children. A dustman and a laundry woman making a life and a family among the working class of England. Each chapter concentrates on an adventure of one… Continue reading The Family From One End Street
By Joan Aiken ISBN: 978-0-099-57287-9 223 pages Publisher: worldofstories.co.uk (Random House) Cover illustration by Rohan Eason Illustrations by Pat Marriott 5/5 Stars The start of the 'wolves' sequence of novels, that Joan Aiken would write until her death in 2004. Wolves are at loose in Britain. They have come through via the great channel tunnel,… Continue reading The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Texte: R. Goscinny Dessins: A. Uderzo ISBN: 2-86497-121-6 First published 1952 47 pages Publisher: Les Editions Albert René Language: French 3.5 / 5 Stars Before Asterix and Obelix, before Oumpah-Pah, came Jehan Pistolet. One of the first collaborations between René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Jehan Pistolet lives in a small seas-side village and dreams of… Continue reading Jehan Pistolet – Corsaire Prodigieux
by Joan Aiken ISBN: 978-0-099-45664-3 First published 1966 202 pages Cover design: Tracey Hurst Cover illustration: Paul Hess Publisher: Red Fox Books, a division of Random House / randomhousechildrens.co.uk or kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk 5/5 Stars Remarkably, Nantucket is a real place. It really exists off the Eastern seaboard of the United States. A 19th century whaling industry… Continue reading Night Birds on Nantucket
by Jean-Yves Ferri ISBN: 978-1-5101-0401-3 First published 2017 46 pages Illustrated by Didier Conrad Publisher: Orion / hachettechildrens.co.uk Translated by Adriana Hunter 3/5 Stars A new Asterix adventure that is as fun as the old ones. The slapstick comedy, the dry humor, the witticisms and the references to popular culture are all firmly in… Continue reading Asterix and the Chariot Race
by Norton Juster ISBN: 978-0-00-745568-3 First published 1965 153 pages Cover illustration: Mel Grant Publisher: HarperCollins.co.uk 4/5 Stars 3 short stories from Norton Juster the write of The Phantom Tollbooth; Alberic the Wise She Cries No More Two Kings You never know what to expect from these short stories. Clever modern fables, with a style… Continue reading Alberic the Wise
by William Goldman ISBN: 9-780747-590583 First published 1973 317 pages Cover illustration: Gino D'Achille Cover design: John Fordham Publisher: Bloomsbury 4/5 Stars The book of the film, or rather, the book that the film was made from. William Goldman also wrote the screenplay for his own novel. The film follows the book very closely. The… Continue reading The Princess Bride
by Dwight Jon Zimmerman ISBN: 978-0-8090-5358-2 First published 2012 148 pages Illustrated by Wayne Vansant Publisher: Hill and Wang (Farrar, Starus and Giroux) 3/5 Stars A great introduction to the lead up to the American civil war. Abraham Lincoln is well known, but not so much Frederick Douglass. This is an illustrated parallel biography of… Continue reading The Hammer and the Anvil
by Philip Pullman ISBN: 978-1407-153-30-8 First published 2000 522 pages Cover illustration: Unknown Publisher: Scholastic UK 5/5 Stars A book that has no end to its ambition. A children's book that deals with life, death, and the destruction of GOD. Following on from The Subtle Knife and before that the Northern Lights, each book is… Continue reading The Amber Spyglass
by Philip Pullman ISBN: 978-1-407154-18-3 First published 1997 325 pages Cover illustration: Unknown Inside illustrations: Philip Pullman Publisher: Scholastic 5/5 Stars Fantastic, fast-moving fantasy adventure story, set in this world and 2 others - like it but different. The second in a trilogy, it reads easily and the plot flows freely. Balloonists, witches, Oxford gardens… Continue reading The Subtle Knife
by Tove Jansson (translation by Elizabeth Portch) ISBN: 978-0-14-030286-8 First published 1946 158 pages Illustrations: Tove Jansson 5/5 Stars Moomintroll, Snufkin, Sniff and the Muskrat head off to the Observatory to find when the giant comet in the sky will land on Moomin Valley. Love and friendship abound in this wonderful children's book. On the… Continue reading Comet in Moominland
The Eclectic Book Review 