Happy New Year from Lovereading4kids! The great J.R.R. Tolkien was born in January in 1892 and in 2012, from Lord of the Rings to the Olympic Rings, we have hoards of epic and exciting journeys for your kids to embark on! With New Year’s Resolutions in full swing, ours is simple: to help you help your kids to read more in 2012! Read on to start now.

Enjoy Yourshelf! – January’s Books of the Month

Christmas may be over but our bumper bag of books continues to bulge with great reads for bookworms of all ages. See our bookshelf below to discover what’s on offer.

Why have One when you can have …. January Series of the Month

The Medusa Project by Sophie McKenzie. The 6th and final story in this amazing 11+ series, Hit Squad, is out this month. It’s so popular with kids that, last summer, one member of our team was compelled to find a wireless connection in Mozambique strong enough to download the latest in the series as an eBook.

Could it be that his son holds the same powers of persuasion as the psychic futuristic kids of the Medusa Project? Catch them all here.

New Year – New Talent! Brilliant Debuts of the Month

Monkey Red, Monkey Blue Nicki Greenberg 3+ Cheeky monkeys making a mess in a massive midnight feast! Pure fun. Download Extract   More info	Opal Moonbaby Maudie Smith 7+ What would an alien make of us if she came to Earth to make friends? Download Extract   More info	Poppy’s Hero Rachel Billington 9+ dark and gripping ‘End of the World’ fantasy thriller … some forbidden love thrown in for good measure! Download Extract   More info
Sky Hawk Gill Lewis 9+ MEGA DEBUT – a tale of friendship and hope. Michael Morpurgo says it “turns the pages for you”. Need we say more? Download Extract   More info	The Weight of Water Sarah Crossan 11+ First love, friendship and quiet courage combine in this story that will leave you sad, happy and wanting more. Download Extract   More info	Tempest Julie Cross 14+ The Time Traveler’s Wife meets The Matrix – mind-blowing and action-packed romance. Download Extract   More info

Be in them to win them! – January Competitions

This month we have 5 signed copies of Stormswept – the latest in the Ingo Chronicles series – to give away. Helen Dunmore’s brilliantly crafted and richly imagined award-winning series for kids aged 11+ charts epic adventures through a mythical and magical land alongside our own. It’s gripping stuff. You’ll want to win one for yourself! Click here to try …

Puffin Books is also running a drawing competition linked to Wereworld : Shadow of the Hawk by Curtis Jobling to win a Kindle eBook reader and Wereworld prizes. They say: “Ability with a pen, pencil or crayon isn’t everything – as they are looking for something that captures the spirit of the books.” Click here to find out more.

Finally To celebrate the release of the third in the teen Demon Trappers series by Jana Oliver, Forgiven, we have 100 copies of the first book, Forsaken, to give away to lucky winners… But you need to be quick.

What the Dickens!! – Charles Dickens Bicentenary

Still as relevant today, the literary giant Charles Dickens was born 200 years ago in 1812. This year will be awash with celebrations and tributes and we are right at the front of the queue with a special selection of titles dedicated to his work. This month, or 7+ readers try Charles Dickens Scenes from an Extraordinary Life by Mick Manning & Brita Granstrom.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading – see more recommended reads by age range below.

Featured Books Age 0 – 5 Years

1		Minty And Tink Emma Chichester Clark The importance of a special toy is perfectly captured in this passionate story about how a toy can be ‘real’.  When searching for a birthday present for her baby brother, Minty finds a tiny toy bear who can talk. Instantly, … Download free opening extract
2		What the Ladybird Heard Julia Donaldson Best-selling author and illustrator Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks have teamed up for another brilliant picture book. Right in the farmyard among all the noisy animals with their MOOs! and QUACKS! and BAAs! and OINKs!  lives a tiny silent ladybird. … Download free opening extract
3		Tin Forest Helen Ward Book and CD. Exquisite and fascinating illustrations beautifully capture the hopeful mood of this story about the power of dreaming. Living in a miserable grey world, an old man repeatedly dreams of colour and growth. Gradually his world begins to full up with … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 5+ readers

1		My Brilliant Book! Michael Broad Short of a good book to read, Sam decides that writing his own is the only way to really enjoy a story. Vibrantly illustrated, Sam’s flights of fancy – aliens, a world full of sweets, a trip to the wildwest … Download free opening extract
2		The BFG Roald Dahl This is a delightful, funny and exciting story about a special friendship between two people from different worlds – a giant and a child. As the story develops it shows how trust and love develops between them. It also … Download free opening extract
3		Winnie The Twit Laura Owen Fun to read and well-matched by their illustrations, these four short stories tell of yet more dramatic and hilarious adventures for Winnie the Witch and her cat Wilbur. Winnie variously tries to find the perfect pet, to fix things with … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 7+ readers

1		Mr Gum And The Dancing Bear Andy Stanton Winner of The Blue Peter book award 2009 ’most funny book with pictures’ category – Mr Gum is off on his fifth best-selling adventure. And it is as zany and ridiculous as any that have gone before. This time, a gigantic … Download free opening extract
2		Wallace And Gromit Grand Adventures And Glorious Inventions Penny Worms Suitable for discerning Wallace and Gromit fans, this all-singing, all-dancing book sets out as Wallace’s secret invention scrapbook, with snippets of information and personal memorabilia about his cracking contraptions and his madcap capers with his dog, Gromit. With lots of … Download free opening extract
3		Genie and the Phoenix Steve Cole, Linda Chapman An exciting fantasy adventure full of twist, turns and some very unexpected moments. Michael, Milly, Jason and Jess are just four ordinary children leading quite ordinary lives until they meet a most unusual genie disguised in the shape of a … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 9+ readers

1		Shadow Forest Matt Haig Winner of the overall Blue Peter Book of the Year 2009 and category winner of ‘the book I couldn’t put down’.   A dramatic adventure story set in an enchanted magical world. Samuel Blink’s life changes forever when a giant log … Download free opening extract
2		The Magic Thief Sarah Prineas This is an absolutely captivating debut fantasy adventure. Full of magic and trickery, this is the story of a wizard and his new apprentice trying to discover why the magic in their city is fading and how they must stop it from disappearing … Download free opening extract
3		Ingo Helen Dunmore This is the first of the Ingo quartet. Helen Dunmore has done what few authors succeed in doing.  She’s created an absolutely believable mythical world alongside our own. One that makes you want to be there more than anything else, … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 11+ readers

1		If You’re Reading This, it’s too Late Pseudonymous Bosch This is the quirky, original and deliciously dark sequel to the hilarious The Name of This Book is Secret.  Bursting with inventive characters and laugh-out-loud moments, readers will be instantly hooked once more by the stylish storytelling of Pseudonymous Bosch.   A … Download free opening extract
2		The Book of a Thousand Days Shannon Hale Recorded as a highly readable diary, this is an original retelling of a fairy tale that gives a taste of the traditional while adding original and unexpected elements to make it anything but an ordinary fairytale and you certainly won’t … Download free opening extract
3		My Sister Jodie Jacqueline Wilson A fantastic book from Jacqueline Wilson. Pearl and Jodie are sisters who are very different. Jodie is noisy, brash, insensitive and bold. Pearl is only ten, little and shy and anxious all the time. When their parents both get jobs … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 14+ readers

1		Gone Michael Grant    Gripping from the first moment on, this is a scary, an unputdownable and a brilliantly plotted fantasy. First the teachers start to disappear from school; soon all the adults are gone. Only the children remain and they are trapped, cut … Download free opening extract
2		The Ant Colony Jenny Valentine An irresistible new novel from Jenny Valentine, winner of the Guardian Children’s Book Prize with Finding Violet Park.  Written with a wonderful lightness of touch, the author manages to weave and interweave the very different lives of a disparate range … Download free opening extract
3		Wildthorn Jane Eagland Set in Victorian England, this is a thought-provoking and shocking debut story for teenagers and adults of how a young woman with an ambition to become a doctor (at a time when it was frowned upon for women to have … Download free opening extract

Featured Books Age 0 – 5 Years

1		My Mum! Beth Shoshan From the same author that brought us the charmingly funny My Dad! – we now have My Mum! – who is rather silly but simply lovely. Guarenteed to put a smile on your child’s face. … Download free opening extract
2		Minty And Tink Emma Chichester Clark The importance of a special toy is perfectly captured in this passionate story about how a toy can be ‘real’.  When searching for a birthday present for her baby brother, Minty finds a tiny toy bear who can talk. Instantly, … Download free opening extract
3		Tin Forest Helen Ward Book and CD. Exquisite and fascinating illustrations beautifully capture the hopeful mood of this story about the power of dreaming. Living in a miserable grey world, an old man repeatedly dreams of colour and growth. Gradually his world begins to full up with … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 5+ readers

1		My Brilliant Book! Michael Broad Short of a good book to read, Sam decides that writing his own is the only way to really enjoy a story. Vibrantly illustrated, Sam’s flights of fancy – aliens, a world full of sweets, a trip to the wildwest … Download free opening extract
2		The BFG Roald Dahl This is a delightful, funny and exciting story about a special friendship between two people from different worlds – a giant and a child. As the story develops it shows how trust and love develops between them. It also … Download free opening extract
3		Winnie The Twit Laura Owen Fun to read and well-matched by their illustrations, these four short stories tell of yet more dramatic and hilarious adventures for Winnie the Witch and her cat Wilbur. Winnie variously tries to find the perfect pet, to fix things with … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 7+ readers

1		Wallace And Gromit Grand Adventures And Glorious Inventions Penny Worms Suitable for discerning Wallace and Gromit fans, this all-singing, all-dancing book sets out as Wallace’s secret invention scrapbook, with snippets of information and personal memorabilia about his cracking contraptions and his madcap capers with his dog, Gromit. With lots of … Download free opening extract
2		Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl A book that requires no introduction as it is probably Dahl’s best-known and most read creation and deservedly so. The secretive and magical world of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory is revealed to five ‘lucky’ children, each of who has won … Download free opening extract
3		Mr Gum And The Dancing Bear Andy Stanton Winner of The Blue Peter book award 2009 ’most funny book with pictures’ category – Mr Gum is off on his fifth best-selling adventure. And it is as zany and ridiculous as any that have gone before. This time, a gigantic … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 9+ readers

1		Shadow Forest Matt Haig Winner of the overall Blue Peter Book of the Year 2009 and category winner of ‘the book I couldn’t put down’.   A dramatic adventure story set in an enchanted magical world. Samuel Blink’s life changes forever when a giant log … Download free opening extract
2		Ingo Helen Dunmore This is the first of the Ingo quartet. Helen Dunmore has done what few authors succeed in doing.  She’s created an absolutely believable mythical world alongside our own. One that makes you want to be there more than anything else, … Download free opening extract
3		The Magic Thief Sarah Prineas This is an absolutely captivating debut fantasy adventure. Full of magic and trickery, this is the story of a wizard and his new apprentice trying to discover why the magic in their city is fading and how they must stop it from disappearing … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 11+ readers

1		If You’re Reading This, it’s too Late Pseudonymous Bosch This is the quirky, original and deliciously dark sequel to the hilarious The Name of This Book is Secret.  Bursting with inventive characters and laugh-out-loud moments, readers will be instantly hooked once more by the stylish storytelling of Pseudonymous Bosch.   A … Download free opening extract
2		The Book of a Thousand Days Shannon Hale Recorded as a highly readable diary, this is an original retelling of a fairy tale that gives a taste of the traditional while adding original and unexpected elements to make it anything but an ordinary fairytale and you certainly won’t … Download free opening extract
3		The Secret Ministry of Frost Nick Lake Hugely dramatic, this is a fast-paced fantasy thriller based on stories from Inuit folklore. After her explorer father disappears in the Arctic, Light finds herself in serious danger as she is drawn into folk stories of her forbears. Supported by … Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 14+ readers

1		My (not so) Simple Life Joanna Nadin The further escapades of the engaging and immensely funny Rachel Riley – an Adrian Mole style character of today’s teenage world.  Written in diary style, this book has all the necessary hallmarks to be a real page-turner.  Not just funny but genuinely … Download free opening extract
2		Wildthorn Jane Eagland Set in Victorian England, this is a thought-provoking and shocking debut story for teenagers and adults of how a young woman with an ambition to become a doctor (at a time when it was frowned upon for women to have … Download free opening extract
3		The Ant Colony Jenny Valentine An irresistible new novel from Jenny Valentine, winner of the Guardian Children’s Book Prize with Finding Violet Park.  Written with a wonderful lightness of touch, the author manages to weave and interweave the very different lives of a disparate range … Download free opening extract

If you’re looking for some brilliant books to give your kids a life-long passion for reading, then look no further than this month’s selection…

Award winning books with Blue Peter

You’ll find the winners of the Blue Peter Book Award categories – ‘the best book with facts’, ‘the best book with pictures’ and the ‘book you cannot put down’. It’s a unique prize in that children get to choose the winners. We’re featuring all the category winners right here together with the shortlist, and you can download a free Opening Extract of each one to let your kids decide whether they agreed with the judges!.

Loose yourself in the world of Ingo

Our Series of the Month is the Ingo Quartet by Helen Dunmore. Set in a tantalisingly beautiful underwater world inhabited by Mer people, Helen’s books send readers on fantastical adventures they won’t want to end. Luckily, there are four books in all, the last in the quartet is published this month – so the fun can last and last and last and last. There’s a prize draw to win her backlist as well.

Special Feature on Illustrator Korky Paul

Korky Paul, is the wonderfully quirky illustrator and writer whose award-winning books are synonymous with wacky humour, in particular his wonderful character Winnie the Witch and her erstwhile partner in crime, Wilbur the cat. And now, we’re delighted to tell you that Winnie is no longer just featured in picture books for toddlers but some terrific titles for children who are just beginning to read alone have been released, so why not find out more today…..

Make the most of the ‘Outdoors’ with your children

The weather looks set to improve before the economy does, and the glass is always half-full here at Lovereading4kids, so we’re having a special promotion of books to help your children make the most of getting out and about during the Easter holidays, It covers outdoorsy things to do from gardening to wildlife watching and much more.

Marvellous March – Books of the Month

Each month, here at Lovereading4kids, we’re always astounded by the quality of new books being published and our Book of the Month selection is no exception in March. There are lots for kids of all ages to get their teeth into. Click on the book in the age range you are interested in.

Magnificent March – Debuts of the Month

There is always something fresh and exciting about an author’s first book – which is why you’ll find some of the most exuberant writing among our Debuts of the Month:

The Princess Plot – Kirsten Boie  Jenna has just won the starring role in a film about a princess – but when she gets whisked off to the shoot, she becomes caught up in a real-life royal mystery!		The Secret Ministry of Frost – Nick Lake   An extraordinary adventure story which follows an heroic, apparently orphaned albino girl called Light, as she travels to the Arctic to get to the root of a whole series of unpleasant goings-on.		Wildthorn –Jane England  This incredible, thought-provoking and sometimes shocking debut read is completely engrossing. It’s set in late Victorian England, about a girl who is put into an asylum, when she is anything but mad, and tries to piece together the mystery of why.

Don’t forget Mother’s Day

Also as 22 Mar is Mother’s Day we wanted to have just a couple of delightful books that could find there way into being gifts for the sometimes under valued and overworked people without whom we wouldn’t be here. Both books are called My Mum (well what else could it be) both are lovely stories to share with the under 5’s while you have your breakfast in bed!

With all these outrageously exciting stories, you can be sure some will really grip your kids’ imaginations. So download our free Opening Extracts and let Lovereading4kids help turn your children into reading machines.

Finally, don’t forget to take a look at this month’s prize draws – lots of free books are being given away as prizes.