Imagine the ladybirds (ladybugs) or other beetles that you see scurrying around in trees. Is their whole existence their tree? Do they spend their whole lives in just one part of it? How does their society run? Does it have a Council, a bureaucracy, and university… and sneaky business bugs? Well, Jonathan Gould’s Flidderbugs’ society […]
Category Archives: Book Reviews
Jemima’s reviews of other people’s work
JJ is absolutely ordinary. His friend Linc is pretty normal, especially with his love of food and adventure, probably in that order! So how come a statue in a museum starts talking to them? This is a time travel adventure, where JJ and his friend are invited to go on a Quest and are magically […]
Book Review, YA & MG Time Travel Challenge and Classic Children’s Book Challenge This is one of the Puffin Modern Classics series and unusually I got the paperback, which was marginally cheaper than the Kindle edition. It says on the front cover ‘a masterpiece of science fiction’ and for a long time I wondered, as […]
Review of the first in the Dakotaroo series by Krista Michelle Breen Most of the times I sit down to write a review of a middle-grader book I have to remind myself, yes, but what would a middle-grader think? This time I had no problem with that. This time when I started reading, I was […]
Book Review and Kid Lit Blog Hop There are librarians, and there are ninja books. Sounds like two subjects that are pretty far apart, doesn’t it? So, what’s so special about the Ninja Librarian? It’s not so much Wild West as the Middle of Nowhere. Skunk Corners. A place with a library, but the locals […]
Book Review and Classic Children’s Book Challenge I first heard of this book at a seminar on children’s writing; it was a recommended book. It then waited in among my long and growing set of ‘books to read’ until I realised it fitted – just – into the category of Classic children’s books, having been […]
Book Review and Kid Lit Blog Hop We first meet Marty when he is doing as he is told, sitting still and not moving a muscle, in response to strict instructions from his mother. This has the consequence of putting him in even deeper trouble for not answering the door to the police. Such is […]
Katrina von Cat, The Master of Wisdom and Knowledge, lives comfortably in her house, living by her own rules, and contemplating what to do about the newcomer. After three years she decides she must break silence and ask him his name and breed, and tell him to stop eating her food. She does so by […]
This is a short book of around 10-12,000 words, which I think makes it a novella, that provides background in Sue Ann Bowling’s Homecoming series. A Preamble places it in context, and having read neither of the books it follows, I welcomed this. However I found I slotted straightaway into the world Ms Bowling has […]
“That is a brilliant story. I wonder I never read it before – the start is a bit hard, but the description is wonderful.” That was my reaction as I spoke to a friend immediately I finished reading this book. It’s the sort of novel that one is presented with at school and hates and […]
This is one of the books I selected for the Classic Childrens Book Reading Challenge, as I’d heard of it, but never come across it in my youth. I don’t know why, as it was published in 1933. The kindle edition cost more than the paperback*, so I bought the paperback, which ensures I got […]
When I first read the blurb about this book I thought elves, syrup, um… maybe too sickly for me. But then I realised what a kick-ass (excuse me) heroine Caramel is! The book starts with an accident – which introduces us to Caramel and her mum – a healer in the elf-emergency squad. They heal […]
It is a very long time since I read this book, and like most people, I suppose, I remember Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver with his wooden leg and parrot on his shoulder. I could remember a few minor characters as well, I knew they went to Treasure Island in the Hispaniola and that […]
I hate books where there’s a weedy sort of person being picked on my bullies. I always get so nervous for them when they dream of getting their own back, and I feel so bad for them when the bully gets them yet again. Consequently there were many times when I cringed for poor Lionel […]
This is one of the books I decided to read for the Pre-1960s Classic Children’s Book Reading Challenge. Of course, I’m familiar with Mowgli. Who hasn’t seen the clips from Disney’s film? I’d never read the book. I found old favourites and surprising insertions. I found rich language and old-fashioned ideas. They must be wonderful […]
