Five Impressionist paintings come to life when Katie jumps through the frame and into the picture! It’s Grandma’s birthday – wouldn’t it be lovely if Katie could give her some flowers like those in the painting by Mr Monet …or Mr Renoir …or Mr Degas! Learn all about three Impressionist painters with Katie as she explores five fabulous masterpieces: The Luncheon and The Field With Poppies by Claude Monet, A Girl With a Watering Can and Her First Evening Out by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Blue Dancers by Edgar.
Being a teenager is hard enough, but it’s even harder in a world you’ve never known …
Eighteen months ago, 17-year-old Rose and 13-year-old Rudder escaped a strict religious sect with their mum. They are still trying to make sense of the world outside – no more rules about clothes and books, films and music, no more technology bans. But also no more friendship with the people they’ve known all their lives, no community and no certainty. It doesn’t help that their mum has to work all hours to pay rent on their cramped, smelly, one-bed flat above a kebab shop in Hackney.
While Rudder gorges on once-taboo Harry Potters and dances to Simon and Garfunkel and show tunes, Rose swaps the ankle skirts and uncut hair of the Woodford Pilgrims for Japanese-cute fairy dress and her new boyfriend, Kye. Kye, who she wants with all her being. But there’s loads of scary stuff about their new life that Rose and Rudder have no idea how to handle – it’s normal for girls to let their boyfriends take naked pictures of them, right?
When Rudder accidently sets a devastating chain of events into action, Rose must decide whether to sacrifice everything and go back to the life she hates, in order to save the people she loves.
A story about coming of age, slap-bang in the middle of a strange new world.
Seventeen-year-old Indigo has had a tough start in life, having grown up in the care system after her dad killed her mum. Bailey, also seventeen, lives with his parents in Hackney and spends all his time playing guitar or tending to his luscious ginger afro.
When Indigo and Bailey meet at sixth form, serious sparks fly. But when Bailey becomes the target of a homeless man who seems to know more about Indigo than is normal, Bailey is forced to make a choice he should never have to make.
A life-affirming story about falling in love and everyone’s need to belong.
When Soraya’s younger brother Farhad runs off into the freezing night, Soraya and her friend, Austin, are in a race against time to find him. High above the streets, Farhad’s guilt closes in. He doesn’t want to be found.
A story of two friends, one missing boy and a secret as precious as gold.
Eve Cartright is a young black girl growing up with her mum in London in the late 16th century. Life is tough, Eve is almost always hungry, and they always seem to be just one step away from gruesome poverty, despite her hard-working mum’s best efforts.
When Eve nearly drowns and her mum’s expert diving to save her is noted by George Symons, a man with links to the sunken ship the Mary Rose, could they be on a pathway to riches? George sends them on a mission to persuade African diver Jacque Francis to guide them to the treasure. But the road is full of danger and betrayal.
This is a thrilling tale, with the expertly described Tudor world brought to hideous, harsh life with the same verve as Patrice Lawrence’s award winning teen books Indigo Donut and Orangeboy. Although the story of Eve and her mother is fictional, there really was an African diver Jacque Francis in Tudor times, along with very many other people of colour living in Elizabethan times, despite the “white-washing” of history.
Illustrated by Steve May
The Pet Defenders Code: 1. The safety of Planet Earth depends on you. 2. Humans MUST NOT know the truth. GOOD LUCK – you’ll need it…
Animals are disappearing from Nothington-on-Sea and the Pet Defenders suspect alien activity. Secret agents Biskit and Mitzy find themselves caught up in the Planet Bogey Games. Biskit suspects the contest might hold the key to finding his missing partner, Champ. Can our heroes win the game? And what’s more, can they get back home after?
This fast-paced funny series features action, mystery and animal antics. Perfect for wannabe detectives and kids who love Spy Dog and The Adventures of Captain Underpants!
From Nicola Davies, one of the UK’s finest non-fiction writers, and from Jane Ray, one of the UK’s finest illustrators, comes and exquisite Nature Storybook about … hummingbirds! A hummingbird is smaller than your thumb and weighs less than a 20 pence piece – however you measure it, it’s tiny. But every spring, hummingbirds that have spent the winter in Mexico fly north to make the most of the warmer weather. They nest as far north as Canada and Alaska; a 2,000 mile trip! This is the story of one spring migration: of a tiny bird, its amazing journey and the people it meets along the way.
Illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy
Here is a bunch of dung-dropping, sweet-stealing, luck-jinxing villains!
Four stories about young Prince Veera, who, along with his friend Suku, helps his father, the king, solve some of the problems he is having with his subjects. Trickster tales with lots of humour and colour, based on traditional Indian folktales.
Lettie Peppercorn hasn’t left her house-on-stilts for over ten years. She dare not. Her mother left a very specific warning on the day she left – stepping outside could kill her.
But when a mysterious, frozen man, who claims to be an alchemist, arrives at the door with a miraculous invention, Lettie’s life is changed forever and she has no choice but to risk the perils lurking in the world outside if she wants to see her mother again.
A pair of feisty and resourceful children have their work cut out trying to get the better of a cast of comical, but deadly, adversaries in this wildly imaginative fantasy adventure. The text is interspersed with expressive pen and ink illustrations.
Pia lives on the last zoo: a floating armada that houses the strangest collection of creatures the world’s ever seen, from genies to mirror-orangutans to hummingdragons. Collectively called ‘voilas’, they each have a special ability, and everyone hopes these will help save the world from environmental catastrophe.
Pia looks after the angels, their greatest hope. Then one morning they vanish. Panicked, she desperately searches the zoo for any sign of them – but finds something else altogether. An invisible creature is stalking the zoo, sinister forces are at work, and Pia and her friends must find a way to stop it before everything falls apart.
The Last Zoo is a first-class novel with exceptional world-building. An adventure-quest with lightly fantastical elements, it’s fast-paced, has lots of humour and a wonderful range of characters. A brilliant book for anyone looking for a new world to get lost in, it has an environmental message and hints of dystopia whilst also being incredibly hopeful.
