Reread - Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes

Fun children's book - I love a cupcake hunt!

Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes

by Kimberly and James Dean

What they say: Join Pete the Cat as he counts cupcakes! Help Pete the Cat and his friends find the missing cupcakes! Pete the Cat and his friends are busy as can be baking cupcakes for a party, and Pete can’t wait to perform with his groovy band. But some of the cupcakes have gone missing! Who could have taken them? In this latest Pete the Cat picture book adventure, by New York Times bestselling authors James and Kimberly Dean, Pete and the gang solve the mystery of the missing cupcakes and learn that it’s cool to be kind.

The fun never stops—watch the grovin’ video online.

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All the Fun! Odd Gods

Odd Gods

by David Slavin and Daniel Weitzman 

Illustrations by Adam J.B. Lane 

What they say: Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Percy Jackson in Odd Gods, the first book in a hilarious illustrated series about the most unlikely, unusual Gods ever to grace the halls of Mount Olympus Middle School.

A Summer 2019 Kids' Indie Next Pick!

Oddonis may be the son of Zeus, but he’s a little bit…odd for a God. He’s so odd, in fact, he’s not sure if he has any powers at all. And if that isn’t enough, his twin brother Adonis is the most popular, most athletic, and most otherworldly handsome God of them all.

Oddonis’s future at Mount Olympus Middle isn’t looking bright, especially when he makes the last-minute decision to run against Adonis to be class president.

With the help of his friends Mathena (Goddess of math and poultry), Germes (God of all things sniffling and snotty), Puneous (the smallest God of them all), and Gaseous (enough said?), Oddonis is determined to win the race, prove that his friends are as good as any Greek God, and maybe, just maybe, find out what his true powers really are.

Read the hilarious new adventures of Oddonis and his friends from debut children’s authors David Slavin and Daniel Weitzman, filled with dozens of black-and-white illustrations by award-winning artist Adam Lane. 

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Recent Release - Trace

Trace

by Pat Cummings

What they say: In  a debut novel that's perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Erin Entrada Kelly, award-winning author/illustrator and educator Pat Cummings  tells a poignant story  about  grief, love ,adn the   untold stories that echo across time. 

Trace Carter doesn’t know how to feel at ease in his new life in New York. Even though his artsy Auntie Lea is cool, her brownstone still isn’t his home. Haunted by flashbacks of the accident that killed his parents, the best he can do is try to distract himself from memories of the past.

But the past isn’t done with him. When Trace takes a wrong turn in the New York Public Library, he finds someone else lost in the stacks with him: a crying little boy, wearing old, tattered clothes.

And though at first he can’t quite believe he’s seen a ghost, Trace soon discovers that the boy he saw has ties to Trace’s own history—and that he himself may be the key to setting the dead to rest.

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Am reading - The Portal

The Portal - Tangled in Time #1

by Kathryn Lasky

What they say: Life used to be great for Rose: full of friends, a loving mom, and a growing fashion blog.

But when her mother dies in a car crash, Rose is sent away to live with a strange grandmother she hardly knows and forced to attend a new school where mean girls ridicule her at every turn.

The one place Rose finds refuge is in her grandmother’s Tudor-style greenhouse. But one night, she sees a strange light glowing from within it. She climbs a ladder to investigate . . . and finds herself transported back four hundred years to Hatfield Palace, where she becomes servant and confidante of the banished princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII. Rose soon discovers something else surprising—a locket with two mysterious images inside it, both of them clues to her own past.

Could her grandmother’s greenhouse portal offer answers to the mysteries of her family . . . and their secrets? And how will she ever unravel them all?

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Whatcha Reading Wednesday - The Dog Who Saved the World

Middle-grade story. 

The Dog Who Saved the World

by  Ross Welford

What they say: The astounding new novel from the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of Time Travelling with a Hamster, this is a story for everyone of ten and older who loves adventure, laughs and tears.

When eleven-year-old Georgie befriends an eccentric retired scientist, she becomes the test subject for a thrilling new experiment: a virtual-reality 3D version of the future.

But then a deadly disease threatens the life of every dog in the country and Georgie’s beloved dog, Mr Mash, gets sick. And that’s only the start of her troubles.

Soon, Georgie and Mr Mash must embark on a desperate quest: to save every dog on earth, and maybe even all of humanity …

… without actually leaving the room.

An extraordinary quest with the biggest stakes of all, and a huge idea at its heart, this is time travel – but not as you know it.

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Coming Soon - The Ice Monster

Check out this fab illustrated new story from David Walliams...

The Ice Monster

by David Walliams

What they say: When Elsie, an orphan on the streets of Victorian London, hears about the mysterious Ice Monster – a woolly mammoth found at the North Pole – she’s determined to discover more… A chance encounter brings Elsie face to face with the creature, and sparks the adventure of a lifetime – from London to the heart of the Arctic!

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes in David Walliams’ biggest and most epic adventure yet!

David Walliams' new book The Ice Monster is out 6 November 2018, and available to pre-order now!

The story is beautifully illustrated by the artistic genius Tony Ross, and available in a stunning hardback edition (perfect as a Christmas present!), ebook to download and read on any device, and as an audio CD narrated by David Walliams himself.

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Cute Spooky Fav - What Was I Scared Of?

Aww such a cute story for little and big kids...

What Was I Scared Of?

by Dr. Seuss

What they say: What's a pair of empty green trousers doing standing by itself in the woods? Or riding a bike in Grin-itch? Or fishing on Roover River? The narrator certainly doesn't want to find out but wherever he goes, he's haunted by the spooky empty pants. Finally, when the two find themselves hiding from each other in a Snide bush the terrified narrator realizes, "I was just as strange to him as he was strange to me." This little Seussian gem, plucked from the back of "The Sneetches and Other Stories" shines on it own as it delivers a timeless message about fear and tolerance.

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Order direct from Harper Children here with a special glow in the dark cover!

Picture Book - Hubert Horatio: How to Raise Your Grown-Ups

Hubert Horatio: How to Raise Your Grown-Ups

by Lauren Child

What they say: Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent is back in this hilarious and gloriously illustrated book for ages six and up from the superstar creator of Clarice Bean and Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child.

These stories are about the days when the Bobton-Trents had it cushy, very cushy indeed.

The Bobton-Trent seniors certainly know how to make the most of their extravagant wealth socialising, doing things, buying things and generally being more than a little bit irresponsible

Luckily for them, their son Hubert Horatio is an exceptionally intelligent, talented and sensible child.

Unluckily for Hubert, this tends to mean that a lot of his spare time is spent steering his rather unruly set of grown-ups out of trouble.

Legendary children’s writer and Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2017-2019 Lauren Child revisits one of her most popular characters in these brand-new, laugh-out-loud stories about the rather unconventional Bobton-Trents! The perfect gift for children aged six and up.

From the current Children’s Laureate.

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Unplugged - Waiting on Wednesday

Unplugged - The Wired #1
by Donna Freitas

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What they say: The first book in a provocative new series from acclaimed author Donna Freitas—Feed for a new generation.
Humanity is split into the App World and the Real World—an extravagant virtual world for the wealthy and a dying physical world for the poor. Years ago, Skylar Cruz’s family sent her to the App World for a chance at a better life.

Now Skye is a nobody, a virtual sixteen-year-old girl without any glamorous effects or expensive downloads to make her stand out in the App World. Yet none of that matters to Skye. All she wants is a chance to unplug and see her mother and sister again.

But when the borders between worlds suddenly close, Skye loses that chance. Desperate to reach her family, Skye risks everything to get back to the physical world. Once she arrives, however, she discovers a much larger, darker reality than the one she remembers.

In the tradition of M. T. Anderson’s Feed and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, Unplugged kicks off a thrilling and timely sci-fi series for teens from an award-winning writer.

Pre-order - releasing 21st June by Harper Children's:

Amazon US  * Amazon UK 

Book & Author links:

Goodreads * Blog * Twitter

Why I'm waiting...

1. The concept excites my inner sci-fi geek!
2. Will the idea of a virtual society work?
3. A YA 1984 but more?!