Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks.

Andrea Reece - Editorial Expert

Andrea Reece has spent almost her entire working life in children’s books, first as publisher, latterly as consultant, project manager and critic.

She has reviewed for LoveReading4Kids since 2015, is editor of the leading children’s books review journal Books for Keeps and administrator of the Klaus Flugge Prize and Branford Boase Award.

She was children’s programme director of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival until 2023, spent three years as manager of National Poetry Day and works with CLPE on the CLiPPA (CLPE Children’s Poetry Prize) and with The Full English on the Poetry By Heart national competition. She has judged children’s prizes including the Costa Children’s Book Award and Alligator’s Mouth Award.

Latest Reviews By Andrea Reece

There’s a new hero in town, and she’s quite something! The hero of Wobbly Rock, Betty Steady is only twelve, but she’s already an expert in swordplay and combat, tall, blessed with unmatched strength and speed, not to mention stylish hair. But, as our narrator helpfully points out at the very beginning, being utterly brill means that you can sometimes get a bit big for your boots. That’s exactly what happens. Betty overestimates her ability to take on the Toad Witch and her sidekick ogre, she doesn’t do proper preparations, ... View Full Review

Rabbit and Bear: A Bad King is a Sad Thing

Rabbit and Bear are back with another helping of adventure, humour and wisdom. Rabbit thinks Wolf is the most dangerous animal in the valley and with Bear’s help, sends him away. But something even bigger arrives, and it’s a lot meaner. Within minutes of strolling into their valley, the enormous Icebear has proclaimed himself king and taken Bear’s house for himself, declaring the other animals ‘food that no-one has bothered to eat’. What can they do? Even Bear is stumped when her usual methods of using kindness and friendship don’t ... View Full Review

The kingdoms of Arbor and Pomosa are neighbours. Arbor is leafy and green with forests, while Pomosa is fertile, full of wheatfields and grazing cows. A high thorn hedge divides them but fortunately the children sneak through the hedge at night to help themselves to firewood or grain and milk. This keeps the people of both countries warm, fed and happy, but the kings are determined to protect their property and each one hires a dragon to patrol the hedge. Things escalate, as they tend to, and the kings order the dragons to fight, to the distress of their citizens, ... View Full Review

Meet the Pinchers! A family of thieves, all revelling in their criminality, except that is for young Theo Pincher. No matter how hard his parents try, he just can’t tell lies, let alone steal things. Theo’s heart sinks when he hears his parents are planning a trip to a diamond exhibition. He’s determined to stop them, he’ll just have to break Grandma out of prison first to babysit his little sister. Not since Burglar Bill have criminals been so charming and appealing, and this comic crime caper is very funny, surprisingly real (... View Full Review

Bill the bear is a playwright, and a jolly good one. His play, staged at The Glade, has a fairy queen, a fairy king, a cheeky little sprite called Puck, and a character called Bottom. The audience love it, even the queen bee. It’s all so exciting that that night, poor Bill can’t sleep, and he’s keeping all his friends awake too. When the queen complains, it’s clear that he really needs to zzzzzzzsleep. His friends make more helpful suggestions, and by the end of Act three, Bill has drifted off. Bill ... View Full Review

Loveable little Ivy Newt has lots on her plate in this sparkling new escapade. After a special trip with her gran to watch the swamp dragons, newly arrived on their migration, Ivy accidentally tips some of Gran’s Double Trouble Bubbles into the bath, ‘Double the Bubbles – Double the Fun’ says the label, but it turns out to mean double the mischief. Out of the bath hops an Ivy double – she looks like Ivy, but she’s properly naughty. Before long there’s an evil twin for Ivy’s familiar Tom too ... View Full Review

A movie marathon at their favourite indy cinema turns into a mind-expanding series of adventures for Lucas (named for George?) and his friends in Christoper Edge’s characteristically original, intelligent new book. The minute the lights go down for this special 4Di screening, the action starts and it’s all real life for the five kids as they find themselves heroes in a series of movies, sci-fi films, jungle adventures, monster pics. They recognise the set ups for each one, as will readers, but as the challenges get bigger, we begin to realise the plot ultimately demands they ... View Full Review

An intrepid little ant sets out on an adventure in this charming picture book, which is full of earthwormly delights. Though very happy in the Tomato Bed, where she lives with her aunts, Addie Ant has always longed to cross the garden, to the far side of the shed and its fruit and flowerbeds. With helpful directions from Lewis, a ladybird, including his delightful floral descriptions, Addie makes her way past the Cucumber Bed and reaches her destination. Millions of flowers are abloom, she thinks, and Beatrix Butterfly is gorgeous in the middle, spreading her velvety wings. The descriptions of ... View Full Review

Eight-year-old Potone has a lot to put up with. She lives in Athens with her mum, stepdad and their merged families, the war with Sparta is rumbling on in the background and things just feel very unfair. She’s not wrong – life for girls and women in Ancient Greece was unfair – and on top of everything else, her little brother Plato is really annoying. He picks on the words she uses for example and twists them round, so she has to try to put him right. Their constant arguing develops their debating skills no end, which is ... View Full Review

Set in the Indian city of Bhopal in 1984, the date of the deadly leak at the Union Carbide plant, Tim Walker’s story is about much more than that terrible catastrophe. Equally important to the story are the experiences of the main character, ten-year-old Amil’s great-grandfather, an Indian soldier gassed in the trenches of the First World War. Readers come to understand too something of the caste system, the lives of the poor in India and of its young women. Amil is cruelly separated from his parents on his birthday and, as reparation for perceived family ... View Full Review

Narrated by Pip, a cheerful little monster who has ADHD, and in picture book format, this guide sets out to help young children understand what the diagnosis can mean for them. It’s full of practical ideas and activities to help them and their families manage the condition and emphasises the characteristics that make children with ADHD strong in certain areas, such as creativity, focus and kindness. It explains the benefits of strategies such as self-regulation and mindfulness clearly and calmly, with tips and examples, and does a lot to reframe negative assumptions about children with ADHD. It should ... View Full Review

Deceptively simple and very funny indeed, John Kane’s new picture book is a treat to share with children. Riffing on the popular memory-game, it presents us with a series of questions and answers, each question repeating – in order – those that have come before and adding another, each answer perfectly logical and deliciously absurd, until at last there’s a final surprise. Kane won the English 4 – 11 Picture Book Award with I Say Ooh, You Say Aah, and this is equally clever and original. The bright, bold, digitally created illustrations add to the fun and impact. View Full Review