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Cate and the Garden Bandits is a charming children’s book with cute, expressive illustrations. The book’s layout and font feel friendly, informal, and fun. The colours and drawings feel alive and draw your eye immediately. The flowers in the magic garden keep losing their petals. Cate and her friends, Pete Potato Bug, Davey Dung Beetle, and Walter the Earthworm don’t know why. Cate discovers a bumblebee with the petals. She follows him. Is she in danger? Why has he taken the petals? What will Cate learn? The helpful 32-page book ... View Full Review
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The Great Animal Escape by Linda Harkey has 9 chapters and is 68 pages long. I loved the descriptive text and creative names of the characters. The illustrations are lovely. Mud Pie the Cow and Love-Bull decide to escape during the journey to the cooking school (which they had discovered was not a retirement ranch). They befriend Bernie, the raven chick. Gracie the burro (small donkey) is going to help the 2 escapees. Children will be amused when Bernie lands in some cow dung and the animals have a conversation about this. What will Bernie take as a snack on ... View Full Review
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This 20-page children’s book has a very important message to convey. Marky, the main character, is a flame-haired fairy with freckles and spectacles. She has mismatched wings and because the one is smaller than the other, she can’t fly. I loved the beautiful illustrations and how the author affirms that Marky is a marvellous fairy at every opportunity. This repetition reinforces how valuable Marky is, reminding the readers to take the message further and realize they are marvellous too. We all have special, unique qualities and deserve to be appreciated and treated ... View Full Review
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Mac is struggling with his French homework. He complains to his sister, Meli, as he points to his toy flamingo, saying that it would be easier to learn to speak “Flamingo”. He decides he has had enough studying, and they should rather set off on an adventure! He grabs his magic bag and Meli picks up her journal. They head off to the Serendipity Forest. Mac notices a pink feather. They discover that it belongs to a flamingo who speaks French! Freddie, the flamingo has flown all the way from France. He has lost ... View Full Review
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I have read several of Tony White’s books now and each one delivers an easy to read adventure with joyful characters and a fantasy twist. Madeline lives at the eponymous 5 Hilltop Villas and after purchasing an old suitcase at a car boot sale, she is transported back in time to its previous owner Victoria, who lived at 5 Hilltop Villas as an evacuee during World War II. The girls figure out how to travel between each other's times and learn more about what their lives are like, becoming firm friends in the process. I like how ... View Full Review
I loved the illustrations in this 19-page children’s book. It’s a joy to view the expressions on the people’s faces and the gentle colours used. Each page only has a few sentences, but the words tell the story effectively and impactfully. The delightful drawings span each page. The orphans notice that there are some iced buns in the back of Indvuna Meyego’s truck when he drops off a bag of mealie meal for them. He says they can’t have any of the buns become they are for people who can ... View Full Review
Amusing 'Magic Porridge' story in a traditional-feeling family. Lance has had enough eggs, thank you. After eating his fill at breakfast, he tries to leave, but is told he must finish. So eat more he does. But the egg just never seems to end. Told he'll be served it again at the next meal, and the next, Lance soon works out that the egg won't go away... it can't be finished! Eventually his parents realise this and immediately start to capitalise on the novelty/money-making opportunities. But what might happen if Lance spoils his dad's ambitions...? Quite funny, though at ... View Full Review
Also available from Troubador.co.uk
Family, friendships and football are all needed to help 9-year old Riley in this thoughtful sporting story. Riley loves football and the friends he’s made on his team, Highfield Flyers FC. In training they learn to work together and in their games they find rivalries and learn to focus under pressure as they work to try and win the league. But Riley’s life is turned upside down when he finds out his mum has a terminal illness and his once unwavering love of football is left shaken. It’... View Full Review
An engaging start to an eco-focused fantasy adventure series. A phone call in the middle of the night changes thirteen-year-old Hannah’s life as she knows it. Called to her grandmother’s bedside, Hannah and her mum race through a storm, Hannah still unsure what’s happening and what caused the rift between her mother and grandmother which meant that Hannah hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. Before they reach her bedside things start to get strange, and more supernatural unexplainable occurrences leave Hannah with tons of questions as she is introduced to her grandmother&... View Full Review
11 year old Finn Button is spontaneously handed a fish tank while waiting for the bus, setting into motion the start of an aquatic fantasy adventure. Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole to enter Wonderland and Lucy climbing through the wardrobe to discover Narnia, Finn Button embarks on an adventure when he is dragged into his fish bowl and discovers Adria. Once he finds himself there he is swept into a current affairs (not sorry) crisis between the Aquaplings, miniature humans, and Rotterbogs, a community of water ogres in hiding but wanting to take back control of Adria and the ... View Full Review
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Alphabet Rhymes, written and illustrated by Alison Gibson is a fun children’s book. My first impression of the book was good when I saw the lovely, cheerful yellow book cover. It set the tone. Each page displays the relevant letter of the alphabet as a capital letter and in lowercase. Two short sentences describe the item beginning with the letter of the alphabet. The fact that the author has made some of the text rhyme adds to the enjoyment of reading the book. The simple, brightly coloured illustrations are part of the book’s ... View Full Review
