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Find out moreInformative, candid and trusted; book reviews by our own book experts are unique to LoveReading4Kids. But we also want to know what the kids think too! The LoveReading4Kids Reader Review Panel is made up of passionate and prolific readers keen to share thier views and recommendations. All the titles in this category have not only been selected and reviewed by our editorial experts but they have also been reviewed by our kids reader review panel, a panel of book lovers across the UK.
May 2022 Book of the Month | This attractively illustrated and cleverly designed book is targeted at children from ages 4-8 and successfully employs key strategies to absolutely ensure their engagement. A pleasingly diverse and relatable cast of characters, Lilli, Bea and Leo, are inquisitive friends who love adventure and solving problems. They discover that when they need help with a difficult problem, if they just hold hands and think hard, they are transported to the magical kingdom of Questland where they are transformed into, ever popular, Superheroes. There it is up to them to complete a series of challenges using key STEM skills, cooperation, and teamwork. I am sure parents will find the explanatory glossary outlining the STEM skills involved in each book very useful! For the reader these books develop key essential learning skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. One can easily imagine a group of children, or a child and parent or carer, talking together to solve the entertaining puzzles. The very sturdily produced book comes complete with reusable stickers and rewards to collect and the questfriendz.com website provides free activity sheets and supporting classroom materials, lesson plan guides and extra downloadable stickers. By ensuring that children are attracted by the imaginative story and characters, engaged in fun activities and rewarded for their success, this will be a sure fire hit at home or at school and a brilliant example of learning through play!
May 2022 Debut of the Month | Cassie Morgan has three wishes — to have more books, to go on an adventure, and to see her mother again. So begins the intriguing opening of Skye McKenna’s magical five-book series that’s pitch-perfect for readers who loved The Worst Witch and are ready for something a dash edgier. Seven years have passed since Cassie’s mother left. At her austere boarding school, she tries to make herself invisible while wondering about the key her mother left. It was “a treasure chest, a secret vault, the door to the home she and her mother would someday return to”. On the verge of being sent to an orphanage, Cassie seizes an opportunity to escape, determined to find her mother. Soon after her flight, readers are drawn into the realm of the fantastical when a talking cat by the name of Montague saves Cassie from the clutches of “goblin nabbers” who are “in the business of stealing babies to sell to the gentry of Faerie”. Montague takes her to the village of Hedgely, where she meets the family she never knew existed and learns she’s from an old line of important witches - her aunt is the current Hedgewitch and protects England from the dangers of the Faerie realm. Hedgely is conjured with chocolate-box English quaintness - think cooked breakfasts, sweet treats, village shops, opulent orchards, fragrant honeysuckle and roses. It’s a place lovers of timeless fairy tale worlds will be utterly entranced by, not least when Cassie is confronted by shapeshifters and the threat of the Erl King who wants her mother’s key. With a thrillingly twisting climax, this first book in a quest quintet will leave readers hungry for lashings more magic.
May 2022 Debut of the Month | Rejoice, lovers of frank and funny diary stories, you have a treat awaiting! Fifteen-and-a-half-year-old Ellery Brown, an American mostly living in Ireland, is starting a diary, addressed to the reader, her non-judgemental friend. Ellery’s mum, a successful writer of popular fiction, has recently died and the diary is supposed to help Ellery write about her feelings. However, it soon becomes a record of her efforts to identify her father. Her mother never revealed his name, but Ellery and best friend Meg decide there are clues on her mother’s bookshelves. As Ellery tracks down three successful male authors, any of whom could be the one, the story gets wilder and funnier by the page. Add to this the joy of her relationship with the equally wonderful Meg, her eccentric family, and other players, including romantic interest and lamb-whisperer Silent Johnny, and the book brims over with reasons to love it. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will make you wish you had a friend like Ellery. Definitely one to recommend to fans of Geek Girl or Georgia Nicolson.
May 2022 Book of the Month | Here’s a book parents are going to want to share with their daughters, as it celebrates confidence, difference and everything that makes us feel happy in ourselves. Shelina Janmohamed was inspired to write it by a conversation with her own young daughter and the approach she takes is clear, fun and full of information that young people will find stimulating and useful. She’s open that how you feel about the way you look matters but shows that, as ideas of beauty are always changing, across cultures and time, beauty can be what you want it to be. She introduces us to lots of women, all regarded as beautiful, who challenged conventional ideas of beauty, confident in themselves and their bodies and encourages readers to be the same. She explores the role of social media, enabling readers to look critically at images they are shown and form their own opinions. The text is always engaging and supportive, and the photos and accompanying illustrations by Chanté Timothy amplify the message being delivered. Inclusive, intelligent and inspiring, this is an empowering examination of a topic that has been preoccupying girls for centuries. Shelve it alongside Open: A Toolkit for How Magic and Messed Up Life Can Be by Gemma Cairney, another invaluable illustrated guide to navigating growing up.
Shortlisted for The Branford Boase Award 2022 | A prize-winning picture book author and illustrator, Nadia Shireen is just as skilful at writing junior fiction, as this inventive, hilarious story shows. Fox siblings Nancy (the tough one) and Ted (the sensitive one) are forced to flee the big city for the countryside after Ted accidentally bites off pussycat boss Princess Buttons’ tail. Grimwood, where they find themselves, is a kind of paradise it seems, full of friendly if eccentric animal residents who love nothing better than a good game of treebonk. Ted feels right at home, Nancy needs convincing, but when Princess Buttons arrives, bent on revenge and armed with a Brain Zapper 3000, and their new friends step up to help, she changes her mind. It’s gloriously silly but still totally credible and a proper page turner, while Nancy and Ted are real characters. Watch out for the wonderful asides from woodlouse Eric Dynamite, and Princess Buttons’ comeuppance is an absolute treat!
It’s an ordinary day at school for friends Arun and Sam, until class rebel Donna informs them that there are plain clothes police at Arun’s house. Bunking off, the three check it out and a day of revelations for Arun follows: his dad is not the mild-mannered banker he seems, but the genius inventor behind MANDROID, a machine designed to be undetectable and run search and rescue operations, but which, in the wrong hands, could become an undetectable means of delivering weapons of mass destruction to an enemy’s capital. When his dad is kidnapped, the three kids set out to rescue him and prevent his kidnappers from getting away with MANDROID too. They turn out to be a much more effective team than ‘the feds’ as Donna calls the forces of law and order, staying one step ahead of goodies and baddies alike through a combination of intelligence, quick-thinking, and simply being kids (who’s going to suspect three year 7s?) Set over the course of just 13 hours, the action is inventive and non-stop, full of car chases, shoot outs, explosions and a final death-defying escape that will have everyone hanging on to the edge of their seats. It’s great fun and just the first in a series that promises more explosive action. One to recommend to fans of Alex Rider and the new Swift and Hawk Cyberspies.
April 2022 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month April 2022 | Full of hope and joy, this is an inspiring picture book with beautiful illustrations that will encourage all children to believe that their biggest and boldest dreams can come true. Small is a small child living in a small house, sleeping on a small bed. But being small has never stopped her from having BIG dreams…Small knows that the world is huge and exciting and full of opportunities. In her dreams she believes that she can be part of that world but she also knows that everyone will try to stop her so she sits on them, stamps on them and swallows them. But one day the dreams get too big…They escape and soon Small is the amazing explorer she has always hoped to be.
April 2022 Book of the Month | Bea, her big sister Riley and their mum have moved from London to stay with their gran in a small country town. All three are looking for escape after the sudden death of the girls’ father. Just before he died, the family attended London Pride – Riley had just come out as gay – and memories of a colourful, joyful day have taken on a special significance. As she starts to make friends, Bea is ever more conscious of her sister’s sadness, until she suddenly realises there is a way to bring Riley out of herself. Now the only obstacle is the town’s resident busy-body and general ‘do-badder’. It’s surprising what you can achieve though when everyone accepts one another and works as a team. As sunny and cheering as the rainbow design on its sprayed edges, this is a story that recognises the importance of standing up for what you know is right, and for others. In its depiction of grief and depression, it strikes just the right note and delivers a message of inclusivity and tolerance with the lightest touch.
April 2022 Book of the Month | Four young people, who know but don’t like one another; a Saturday detention in their creepy old school; and the sudden, terrifying disappearance of their teacher… The stage is set for a fabulously scary horror story in which Jennifer Killick gleefully plays the genre for everything it’s got: shocks, surprises, black humour, and a growing understanding between our bunch of unlikely heroes that if they’re going to get out alive, they’ll need to work together. Killick knows just the right amount of gory detail to include and has a great line in teenage banter too. Readers, especially those new to this kind of story are in for a treat!
April 2022 Debut of the Month | If, like me, you think that teashop is one of the most delightful compound nouns in the English language, then Andy Sagar’s story is going to be very much to your taste. It tells the story of Yesterday Crumb, orphan and strangeling, brought up miserably in a circus as an exhibit because of her beautiful fox ears, until she is rescued by a talking crow and taken into another world as apprentice to the extraordinary teawitch Miss Dumpling. Miss Dumpling is the proprietor of Dwimmerly End Teashop, motto ‘magic is priceless’. So far not quite so good for Yesterday though, because in the gap between running away from the circus and arriving at Miss Dumpling’s door, she encounters sinister Mr Weep who puts a splinter of ice into her heart, leaving her with just one month to break the contract he tricked her into signing, before she freezes entirely. With Miss Dumpling at her side, buoyed up by magical tea and cake and discovering her own magical powers, there’s hope for Yesterday yet. The story is utterly delicious, the sweetness of the warmth and comfort of the teashop more than balanced by the presence of Mr Weep and his goblin henchmen. This sparkling magical adventure is one to recommend to fans of Starfell or The Hatmakers.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month March 2022 | Heading back to her boarding school, Esther, the middle of three sisters and the one without any special talents, is looking forward to meeting up with her friends and enjoying the everyday adventures of school. But this term, there is much about school that is different. Where are Esther’s best friends, for example? And why does Esther have a very strong feeling that their new teacher is an ogre? Nothing is quite as it should be and it seems as if Esther is the one who is going to have to find out what is going on. A frothily inventive school adventure full of likable characters and an endless supply of the unexpected.
March 2022 Debut of the Month | A cute fox cub, a thrilling sense of adventure, a tender message about bravery and overcoming bullies, and a gorgeous sense of friendship and families — what a winning, heart-warming combo. Lee Newbery’s The Last Firefox is also impeccably paced, plotted and pitched for its readership, with a few fart-tastic funnies to enjoy, too. While Charlie has a pair of fabulous friends in Lippy and Roo, he’s having a troubling time of it. First there’s the bullies at school and his worries about moving to secondary school after the summer holiday. Then his dads announce they want to adopt a little sibling for Charlie, and he fears he’s not brave enough to be a big brother. If that wasn’t enough, Charlie encounters a boy from the kingdom of Fargone. A boy with a fox called Firetail that has shimmering, flaming fur. The boy tells Charlie that the shapeshifting Grendilock is hot on his trail, desperate to catch this last firefox, and he entrusts Charlie with keeping Firetail safe for a few days: “What have I got myself into?” Charlie laments. After renaming Firetail Cadno, the Welsh word for fox, Charlie has to look after the magical cutie for longer than anticipated. And, with the Grendilock creeping ever closer, he must also find his inner fire to protect Cadno, and those he loves most in the world. This is sweet as a nut, and exciting with it.
March 2022 Book of the Month | At its core, Darren Simpson’s Furthermoor is a heartfelt, pacey quest that tells of a boy’s struggle to find a way through grief and bullying. Poignantly underpinned by a comforting belief that loved ones we’ve lost never truly leave us, this highly readable fantasy-meets-real-world novel sees a broken family coming together. Ever since Bren’s sister Evie was killed in a car crash, he’s isolated himself from everyone. He spends his days at school trying to avoid truly atrocious bullies, and in place of playing football with his mates in his free time, he’s retreated into Furthermoor, a weird world of mechanical animals, where Evie is still alive. Bren feels safe in Furthermoor, until Featherley flits onto the scene, a strange creature who speaks uncomfortable truths and compels Bren to confront his fears: “You’re letting yourself down, young fleshling. A master in this realm, a runt in the other.” In a Coraline-esque turn of events, Furthermoor infiltrates the real world (“This wasn’t home. This was Furthermoor”) and a gripping race against time unfolds. The plotting is sharp, with clear cliff-hanger chapter endings signposting the dangers that lie ahead, and an empowering message about bravery ringing clear. In Evie’s words, “Bravery isn’t always big and loud, Bren. It can be quiet too.”
March 2022 Debut of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month March 2022 | The magic that inspires the headlong action of this cracking adventure is old and powerful. And its source is in a book which Cameron's grandmother keeps hidden in the attic. Despite Cameron having been told not to touch it he just cannot keep away. The Book is his last connection to his parents who have mysteriously vanished. Surely it holds the secret to where they have gone? When Cameron and his friends touch the book they are whisked away into a vivid adventure filled with a cast of thrillingly scary creatures. They are heading to the kingdom of Chidani, a place that was once fabled for its beauty but is now is in terrible danger. Can Cameron find the courage to be the super hero who can fulfil his destiny by protecting Chidani and saving the Igbo people who live there. Drawing on West African and Igbo history and mythology, Jamar J Perry has created a gripping and many layered fantasy adventure.
March 2022 Book of the Month | In case you haven’t come across them in the Phoenix Comic (in which case you’re seriously missing out) Alex and Freddy are robot brothers – super strong and sentient – being brought up by their inventor ‘mum’ and dad as close to ordinary kids as possible. They go to school, they argue (a lot) but they’re also agents for secret agency R.A.I.D. which, in Freddy’s words, means they have to ‘fight evil robots and stuff’. This new adventure once brings them up against the evillest robot of them all, Wolfram, who has a personal vendetta against our heroes. There’s as much explosive, kapow action as you could hope for, but also lots of ordinary home life/school stuff which is just as enjoyable and just as gripping. Neill Cameron is a brilliant illustrator and a first-rate writer too, don’t miss this series.
Cordelia Hatmaker’s father is missing at sea but, unlike the rest of her family, she is still convinced he is alive and in this sparkling new adventure she is following cryptic clues to his whereabouts, clues discovered on a map hidden in his telescope, together with his handwritten note ‘Look to the stars’. Unravelling the riddle leads her to make new friends as well as exciting new discoveries about who she is, and what she’s capable of. There’s real magic and charm to Cordelia’s adventures and author Tamzin Merchant fills them with irresistible characters and memorable scenes. There are lots of great stories set in other worlds, but Cordelia’s feels particularly real and inviting and the magic has its own distinctive crackle. This is the sort of read that will make your nose tingle, as Cordelia herself might have said.
February 2022 Debut of the Month | Charley and George are twelve years old and facing a challenge: someone it seems is trying to fit them up for a series of high-profile international art thefts. The only way to clear their names is by catching the real thief. If you think it’s unlikely that two kids would be in the frame for something like this, there’s a reason they’re spending their weekends in Europe’s top cities, and a reason for someone to be madly jealous – Charley is a viral singing sensation selling out concert venues, and George, also a budding comedian, is not just her best mate but her very able social media manager. The combination of the rock star life and crime detection works perfectly here, and Charley and George are up there with Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong for sleuthing skills. Adam Hills, himself a comedian, also gets the relationship between our two junior detectives just right and for all the glamour of their lives, they feel like proper kids. Fast-moving, lively, full of jokes and humour and with a satisfying puzzle to be solved, this makes for perfect escapist reading. One to recommend to fans of Robin Stevens and Sharna Jackson.
"Ed loves reviewing the books and it definitely encourages his reading, both solo and with me (which I love)." Tracey Parker (parent)
"Daniel has seen his review on the website for The Dark – he is so excited!" Cat Bisland (parent)
Since its inception, LoveReading4Kids and its sister site LoveReading have taken a different approach to book reviews, relying uniquely on the selection and review of books by editorial experts. On LoveReading4Kids one of our expert reviewers is Julia Eccleshare (who is also the Children's Books Editor at The Guardian) and she knows what makes a good read whatever the genre and actually reads the books before telling you what she thinks - radical we know, but sometimes old-fashioned ways are the best.
In 2012 however, to complement our expert reviews we decided to invite children of LoveReading4Kids members to join the newly created Kids Reader Review Panel.
We've now attracted over 500 children aged from 4 right up to late teen and 100's of books have now been read and reviewed by them. Many of them even have their own book blogs and help us to spread the word of mouth still further on a book they've enjoyed.
Panel members reviews are loaded onto the site and complement those of our own Lovereading editorial experts. We're even now receiving feedback from visitors to LoveReading4Kids that the 'Kids Reader Review Panel' reviews are as valued as those of our own LoveReading book experts! With that in mind, we thought it would be very helpful to everyone if we created a category and put all the books that have also been reviewed by some of our Kids Reader Review Panel members, in one easy to find place.
Here are a few testimonials from parents, teachers and importantly direct from some of our 'Kids Reader Review Panel'
The whole class are desperate to get copies of your books and are disappointed if their name doesn't come out of the hat. The more books the better! I've gone from having a class of boys who won't read to a class who get upset if they don't get chosen to read. It's brilliant! Jane Edwards, Little Sutton Primary School, Ellesmere Port (Teacher)
I just wanted to say thanks for the opportunity to do this for your site. Ed loves reviewing the books and it definitely encourages his reading, both solo and with me (which I love). Tracey Parker (parent)
Daniel has seen his review on the website for The Dark – he is bringing it into school for Show and Tell on Friday – he is so excited! Cat Bisland (parent)
Just wanted to say thanks so much for uploading Cara's book review - she had the biggest smile ever when I showed it to her! It will have given her and her family a real boost. Great site too! Jill Rooney (parent)
Thanks for giving up the opportunity to review books for your website, this is proving really popular with our pupils and books are literally flying off my desk at the moment! It’s also great to see the reviews that the kids have written online Amy Bennett, Thomas Cowley School, Lincs (teacher)
The book reviewing has been a real treat for us, thank you for a wonderful experience. Tracey Upchurch (parent)
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