The Hunt for the Golden Scarab by M.G. Leonard

 

2025   

 

Sim and his mum are always on the move. Fortunately Mum is a champion n in martial arts and Sim is also pretty good. They always seem to be on the run and Sim isn’t sure why.

He finds out Mum has the power to unlock doors in time. This is related to her playing the flute Does Sim also have this powers? Unfortunately he plays the piano and you can’t exactly put one of those in your back pack. Yet he finds out that his tuning fork that has as much power.

Sim finds out he has an uncle, Emmett, and a cousin, Jeopardy, who have similar powers. Emmett can be difficult – he often steals artefacts from the past.

Emmett and Sim’s mum Callidora are in trouble with the Council of Keys, which has become corrupt. They have to prevent the Council form stealing the golden scarab that belongs on Nefertiti’s tomb.  Yes, they have gone back to ancient Egypt and met Tutankhamun. On the way Sim has met Howard Carter excavating Tutankhamun’s tomb.  

Callidora loses her power. Sim has to take over.

The novel is 262 pages of blocked text with a serif font and difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s. The end material includes some detailed notes on aspects of the past they have visited, author and illustrator bio and an excerpt form the next book in the series.     

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Are You an Alien? By Sam Banfield-Keller and Rosemary Banfield

 

2025      

Makhosi is curious about aliens.

She looks everywhere for them and she asks everyone she meets if they are aliens. She gets to know many other earthlings.

On her quest Makhosi meets all sorts of animals which may or may not be familiar to the reader.  We learn something interesting about each animal. Here is an opportunity for the adult to discuss what the child sees in the pictures.  

Both Makhosi and her grandfather are curious and optimistic. But in the end Makhosi cannot find the alien she wants to befriend … except just at the last moment she meets a strange little green creature.       

As we would expect there is more story in the pictures.

The text uses a plain font with simple ‘a’s and ‘g’s.

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Coorie Doon by Jackie Kay and Jill Calder

2025      

Like Jackie Kay herself, protagonist Shona is adopted and her skin is a different colour from that of her parents. It is quite uncanny that Kay tells us the father in the book looks just like her father and the garden is similar to the one where she lived as a child in Glasgow.

Shona’s father sings ‘Coorie Doon’ to her as she settles down to sleep.  There are other songs: ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ ‘The Riddle Song’ and ‘Tree Love Song’. As the book progresses we enter Shona’s dreams.

Then in a thought-provoking twist at the end of the book sixty-year old Shona sings ‘Coorie Doon’ to her ageing parents.

Jill Calder’s’ illustrations are quite delicate, particularly in the dream scenes.   As ever more story appears in the illustrations.

At the beginning of the book is a QR code that takes you to an interview with Kay and the songs.

At the end of the book there is a letter from Kay to the young reader and simple biographies of both Calder and Kay.

There are sixteen double spreads in the book. The text uses a serif font with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s’. It is meant to be read aloud by an adult. Some Scottish dialect may be a challenge for some English readers.  

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 Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing. 

    

Spalt! by Vanessa Horn and Georgia Przygocki

2025           

There is a problem at Muddlepuddle: the geese keep dropping poo on the village.

Emma and her mum and dad, Mr and Mrs Chatterbustle try to solve the problem.

Using umbrellas isn’t enough.  Giving the geese mirrors doesn’t put them off.  

Then Emma realises they are very good at fertilising the soil. They all set to and create targets for the geese. The goose poo now lands in the right place and the crops grow well on the allotments of the Muddlepuddle residents.

A little fanciful, yes, but full of fun. 

The book is a typical picture book with additional story in the pictures. There are twelve double spreads. The font is without a serif but has difficult ‘a’s. The last spread gives information about the museum of poo on the Ilse of Wight and some general information about animal poo. 

 

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Der Libellenflüsterer by Monika Feth

  

2015 

This is the seventh book in this crime series.

Monika Feth gives us multiple points  of view in this novel: friends Jette and Merle, both victims of the perpetrator, the perpetrator himself, a young and highly competent forester (and also the dragon fly whisperer of the title), the foresters’ wife, his mute five-year-old daughter, her doll(!) and of one of the police officers involved in the case.

Feth uses a narrative technique that keeps the reader involved throughout. This is achieved through a balance of description, action, dialogue and inner thoughts. Jette, possibly the main character, uses a first person narrative.

It is a long book but the reader’s attention is held by a lot of pace and tension and relatively short scenes though some of the chapters are quite long.   

This is a standard book that resembles an adult novel. The paperback has 528 pages including acknowledgments. It is for the upper end of YA and could also be described as a New Adult book.      

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing. 

Silverwood Rising by Jeanette Greaves,

 

 

The pack continues to grow . Alpha Diana has gone public and parliament has brought in legislation to protect the packs.

New packs are being formed throughout the UK.  But they are still threatened by the White pack. They must bring all of their resources together to fight this threat.  

The younger members of the pack have learnt new tricks: they can change their human appearance and  even, cosmetically, their gender.

They do confront the White pack and they do overcome but they do it in a sympathetic and caring way.  

Usefully the author provides a character list and a summary of child / parent relationships in a glossary at the end of the novel.

This is a standard book that resembles an adult novel. The paperback has 411 pages including glossaries and acknowledgments. It is for the upper end of YA and could also be described as a New Adult book.  

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.  

Hearts' Home by Jeanette Greaves

 

2024 

Werewolf cousins Mark and John are now bringing up their own pack with Andy, whom they have ‘infected’ and two females, Diana and Zoe.   

Relationships within the band and with outsiders are complex and polyamorous. Rock band Ransomed hearts continues to be successful and Mark and Andy have the added tension of having a family outside the pack.  John is also a wolf-dad but doesn’t have a second family. The pack grows and the children are growing up.

The novel ends on a dramatic high note as Diana shares her research into the physiology of werewolves with the world.

The pack has already been attacked by the White wolves and they are now exposed to more danger.  This leaves plenty of scope for novel four.     

Usefully the author provides a character list and a summary of child / parent relationships in glossaries at the end of the novel.

This is a standard book that resembles an adult novel. The paperback has 421 pages including glossaries and acknowledgments. It is for the upper end of YA and could also be described as a New Adult book.   

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to the Lancashire Authros Association