Simon Gregory

Perfectly Peculiar Plants  by Chris Thorogood Illustrated by Catell Ronca

W & P ISBN 9781786032850 £12.99 A fabulous book. We are invited to walk through the earth’s most peculiar plants. Chris Thorogood has an encyclopaedic knowledge and provides interesting information in an accessible way. The artwork is vibrant and colourful. A vast range of plants from across the globe is included from the giant waterlily…

Lavinia and the Magic Ring. by Bianca Pitzorno. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Illustrated by Quentin Blake

Catnip Publishing.  ISBN 9781910611180   £5.99 This massively successfully story of Lavinia and Her Magic Ring has been a hit around the world and kept in print since the 70s, but it is the first time it has been available translated into English. The author has been likened to an Italian Roald Dahl and, when accompanied…

Atlas of Adventures: Wonders of the World by Ben Handicott Illustrated by Lucy Letherland 

Wide Eyed Editions ISBN: 9781786032171  £20.00 This is an awe-inspiring book. We are taken on a trip round the world and visit some of the most amazing places. We witness the swirling Northern Lights of the Aurora Borealis, step into a fairy tale at Neuschwanstein Castle, keep our cool in the hottest place on earth,…

Bloom by Nicola Skinner Illustrated by Flavia Sorrentino Harper Collins

 (www.harpercollins.co.uk) ISBN 9780008297381   £12.99 This is the debut novel by author Nicola Skinner and is an absolute delight. Blossoming with character and humour, this is a story about a girl called Sorrel and her discovery of a packet of ‘surprising seeds’ and the fantastical notion of flora bursting forth from heads. It is packed full…

Toto the Ninja Cat and the Superstar Catastrophe by Dermot O’Leary illustrated by Nick East

Hodder Children’s books  ISBN 9781444952056  £9.99 Toto the ninja crime busting cat is off on a well-earned holiday to a music festival. Far from restful however, she soon finds herself embroiled in a quest to prevent her nemesis Archduke Ferdicat hypnotising the crowd for his own wicked ends.  Luckily Toto’s skills and her trusty helpers…

Mr Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets written and illustrated by Alex T Smith

Hodder ISBN 9781444932102 £6.99 This is the second story about the adventurous Mr Penguin, who together with his sidekick Colin, (a spider and kung fu expert), is always solving mysteries and actually getting into trouble.  In this book he is sent to retrieve a fabulously expensive jewel that needs to be returned to a museum,…

Kites by Simon Mole Illustrated by Oamul Lu

Frances Lincoln Children’s Books ISBN  9781786035561      £11.99 The sky is full of kites in Fivehills, to where David and his parents have just moved. David does not have one and the things he does have – books and toys – just don’t look quite right in the new house. Deciding to build his own kite,…

Neil Armstrong by Alex Woolf Illustrated by Luisa Uribe, George Ermos and Nina Jones

Stripes ISBN 9781788951562 £6.99 This year sees the 50th anniversary of man landing on the Moon.  There has been a plethora of books about this event, but this one looks particularly at the life of Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the lunar surface.  It covers the whole of his young life and…

A Christmas Carol  by Charles Dickens Retold by Tony Mitton Illustrated by Mike Redman

Hachette  ISBN: 9781408351727  £6.99 I cannot help but feel that another rewriting of A Christmas Carol is a rather ambitious project both in terms of committing absolute heresy towards what most would see as an undisputed ‘classic’ but also in that it has been done so many times before. It was hence with some reservations…