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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
Meet Eddie. Eddie is a scooter dog and scooter dogs love to go superfast. Watch him flying across the fields, whizzing through the woods and bombing along the beach, the backgrounds just a blur of colours. Until Eddie hurtles down the hill without using his brakes and crashes into his friend, Thelma, a tortoise.
Forced to walk, with his scooter in pieces, Eddie suddenly realises the amazing things you can see when you go a little slower. The blur of the field disentangles itself into all sorts of details – a sheep with a crow standing on its back, ... View Full Review
As Jamie Oliver says in a note to grown ups at the end of the board books in his new Little Food Library, getting kids excited about food and cooking from an early age will help them develop a crucial life skill. These board books are a delicious way to do just that, as well as giving mums/dads/grandparents a lovely way to enjoy something tasty together, either snuggled up on a chair or even in the kitchen.
There are four Let’s Make books, Pizza, Pasta, Pancakes and Cookies, and each opens ‘Are you ready? Let&... View Full Review
As Jamie Oliver says in a note to grown ups at the end of the board books in his new Little Food Library, getting kids excited about food and cooking from an early age will help them develop a crucial life skill. These board books are a delicious way to do just that, as well as giving mums/dads/grandparents a lovely way to enjoy something tasty together, either snuggled up on a chair or even in the kitchen.
There are four Let’s Make books, Pizza, Pasta, Pancakes and Cookies, and each opens ‘... View Full Review
As Jamie Oliver says in a note to grown ups at the end of the board books in his new Little Food Library, getting kids excited about food and cooking from an early age will help them develop a crucial life skill. These board books are a delicious way to do just that, as well as giving mums/dads/grandparents a lovely way to enjoy something tasty together, either snuggled up on a chair or even in the kitchen.
There are four Let’s Make books, Pizza, Pasta, Pancakes and Cookies, and each opens ‘... View Full Review
As Jamie Oliver says in a note to grown ups at the end of the board books in his new Little Food Library, getting kids excited about food and cooking from an early age will help them develop a crucial life skill. These board books are a delicious way to do just that, as well as giving mums/dads/grandparents a lovely way to enjoy something tasty together, either snuggled up on a chair or even in the kitchen.
There are four Let’s Make books, Pizza, Pasta, Pancakes and Cookies, and each opens ‘... View Full Review
There’s a wall in the middle of this book, and we lucky readers get to see what’s on both sides.
It’s not there right from the beginning; initially next-door neighbours Kitty and Pup get along perfectly well, indeed, they play catch across their wall-free front garden. But after a big falling out, these two friends become such enemies that they really need a wall to keep them apart.
Via the clever device of flaps, which get progressively bigger as more bricks are added, we can watch the construction of the wall and see the ... View Full Review
Tally Smuck is that latest in a long line of Sting Winklers and on the island of Stormcliff, there’s no more important profession.
The islanders are fed, lit and kept well by the jellyfish that flock to their waters, stings gently harvested by Sting Winklers, and the annual Firebloom Festival when the jellyfish bloom in their thousands, lighting up the bay with phosphorescence, is the highlight of their year, bringing visitors to Stormcliff for the celebrations.
But this year, the jellyfish don’t come and, with her grandfather poorly, everyone turns to Tally. She knows there must ... View Full Review
A quiet time at the beach with her little brother turns into a day of truly unexpected adventures for Sadie, from the moment she discovers something surprising in the rockpool to the minute she’s swallowed by a whale.
En route, she encounters all sorts of strange creatures, from dancing lobsters to sea snakes, mermaids and manatees, and the really great thing is, it’s up to you, the reader, to decide - with the help of word and picture stickers - exactly what happens.
With lively, attractive illustrations and page after page of fantastical scenes, this interactive ... View Full Review
After the success of her Circus Maximus series, Annelise Gray returns to the Ancient World for another thrilling adventure. Via the portal of an oil painting in her grandmother’s art studio, Phoebe finds herself in the same world as Odysseus. Her challenge there is to defeat the terrifying Morpheia who, served by equally threatening and frightening Klepts, feeds off human memories.
With her grandmother rapidly losing her own memory, this is particularly meaningful to Phoebe, and it seems that only by defeating Morpheia will she find her way home. At her side is a boy, Meander, whose shipbuilder ... View Full Review
Little Willa is off to a fancy dress party and she finds a wicked witch costume that is just right. Her mum is dressed as a witch too and they head off together, accidentally bumping into another mummy daughter witch pair on the way. Oh no! Sharp eyed readers will notice that the two little witches walk off holding the hand of the wrong mummy witch! Willa’s party turns out to be even more exciting than she was expecting with so many amazing costumes to admire and lots of fun, spooky games. It’s only when the ... View Full Review
Otters Elsie, Clive and Harry are doing their daily stretches on the riverbank. They’re all having fun, though Harry, who finds it very hard not to move, struggles with the stationary exercises.
His attention is caught by a heron, standing very still and stiff. What Harry doesn’t know is that Ray, the heron, is wondering why the otters never ask him to join in with them, and wishing they would.
When Harry pops up to tell Ray how much he admires his stillness, Ray responds by telling Harry he loves how much he moves. Soon they&... View Full Review
Anyone who’s ever wondered what makes us tick, or who wants to understand the workings of the human body, will be fascinated by this stylish, information-packed book. It starts literally at the head, looking at faces, brains, hair, eyes etc and goes right down to the toes, via everything in between!
The information is conveyed via eye-catching graphics, clearly labelled and accompanied by short but clear and informative panels of text. Readers will pick up a good appreciation of how various organs and body parts work and learn the meanings of words such as enzymes, phalanges, synapses, ... View Full Review
