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Express- M.G. Leonard/Sam Sedgman (Macmillan £7.99)

The Rewilders Lindsay Littleson (Cranachan Books, £7.99) Esme’s boring weekend staying with her Gran takes a very unexpected turn. Cora, a poor little kitten Gran had rescued turned out to be a wild lynx cub who was growing fast and causing all kinds of problems. Now Gran wants Esme to rewild the cub by taking her back to the estate where she had been found and where wild lynx and wolves were being kept. Esme has company to help her, but worryingly it is Callum, a badly behaved boy from her school who she heartily dislikes. She knows nothing about him, his sad past or how hurt he is by the way she and her friend treat him at school, but we do, because the chapters alternate between the two showing how both are feeling. They have to travel slowly on foot so Cora can become accustomed to being in the wild. This sounds dangerous, but they don’t realise how much danger they could be in until they hear wolves howling as they are camping on the moors. They aren’t the only ones potentially in danger - farmers sheep are being brutally killed. If they see Cora they could blame her and kill her. It is a scary time, but the pair help each other out as they get to really know each other and not their ‘in school’ versions. Will they be able to stay safe and get Cora back, and will this experience change them? There are plenty of surprises and hair raising moments in this endearing, thought provoking story. The Forest Wolves Alex Milway (Piccadilly, £6.99) A storm brings many animals seeking shelter in Rosa and Grandma’s cabin, including a wolf cub. Wolves are greatly feared, but this cub needs help and when the storm dies down Rosa and Gran set out to find its family, despite their fears. On the way they discover wolves have taken over the now overgrown woods leaving Higgs the hedgehog too S scared to look after the trees. However, he takes them to the wolves who don’t attack them and agree to take in the cub, even though he isn’t from their pack. But he runs away. Whilst trying to help the cub they discover animals can be misjudged and manage to get wolves and buffalos working together. This second book in the Big Sky Mountain series is full of hilarious animals and exploits whilst delivering a serious message. TAILS: The Animal Investigators of London - Martin Penny (Black Spring Press, £14.99) When stray kitten, Yowl, is adopted by a family he soon starts to make friends with the local cats, including S wise old Diamond and Flash. Much to his surprise, they introduce him to other types of animals they call their friends, such as squirrels, dogs, a pigeon and an owl. Yowl’s happiness is blighted by the news that over 70 cats have gone missing from the area. Police had looked into it, but have not been able to find out who was doing it and seem to have given up. If humans aren’t going to help, the animals decide they will have to go into action for themselves. This means they will need to work together and use all their resourcefulness and various strengths if they are going to succeed. It is soon clear they are going to need more help and team up with a family of foxes who track down the cat killer and are able to foil his attacks for a while, but how are they going to stop him for good? It is a very difficult task, fraught with danger. This is a very entertaining story with a variety of interesting, very likeable characters. There is plenty of excitement mixed with humour, some heart stopping and very touching moments. First in a new series.

i’ve included a few extra picture books this time. they can often be overlooked as just being for very young or inexperienced readers, but they can be fun for all ages and abilities -i love a good picture book. they are twice as much fun, with pictures cleverly adding to the story making them good to share. if you reread them you will often find gems you missed the first time. i like good novels as well and there is a variety of them here providing plenty of food for thought. hope you enjoy them as much as i have. Marv and the Mega Robot Alex Falase-Koya (Oxford, £5.99) Marvin and Joe are excited to be entering their home made reading robot into the schools’ Science fair. Both boys love Superheros and Marvin secretly wishes he could be one, even though he isn’t strong or brave. Imagine his surprise to discover a superhero’s outfit among his grandad’s keepsakes. Even more shocking is the fact his grandad was the superhero Marv, and Marvin is going to take his place. The suit can do incredible things, powered by kindness and imagination. Marvin soon discovers how incredible when a new supervillain sets a giant robot to destroy the Science Fair - Marv to the rescue. It was all he had ever wanted - and more. The only down side was having to keep it a secret, particularly from Joe. This is a very entertaining story, first in a new series, with a likeable title character and funny robot sidekick. I bet there are a lot of jealous readers who share Marvin’s dream!

Hal and Uncle Nat have been invited to go on the maiden voyage of the winning design of a train competition run by August Reza. It is supposed to be a nice relaxing holiday, Nat has assured Hal’s mum there will be no danger this time. That is how it starts, despite Reza’s daughter, Marianne’s insistence there is something odd about a gift left for her father by a stranger. They are having an enjoyable time until they discover the train has been sabotaged and can’t be controlled leaving them speeding across the Australian outback towards disaster. Boaz, the train’s designer, is very clever, but will he be able to avert danger, especially when its full extent is revealed? Will Hal and his drawings be able to find out who is behind it all? This is a thrilling adventure full of exciting events so intense you have to remember to breathe! Once again new fully rounded characters back up the likeable main characters adding to the enjoyment. The ‘Adventures in Trains’ series just gets better and better.

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Loki A Bad God’s Guide To Being Good Louie Stowell (Walker, £7.99) Loki might be a god, but he enjoys being a trickster, not caring who he annoys. His behaviour is so bad he is banished from Asgard to live among humans as a normal school boy for a month, unable to use his powers. He is sent with a virtue behaviour score of -3,000 and must behave well enough to raise the score to +3,000 to be allowed back. If he fails he will spend eternity in a pit of angry snakes. Odin gives him a magical diary he has to write in truthfully which keeps his score (and corrects any lies). To make matters worse, his brother Thor is with him along with a giant and guard god to keep an eye on him, and he is faced with the torture called school. His arrogant nature gets him off to a bad start making his score go down instead of up and this trend continues until it is too low to count. Realising time is running out, Loki makes a real effort to be virtuous and raise his score, the trouble is he can’t really tell good from bad or understand how he is going wrong. Is he doomed or could he be developing a conscience? This is an hilarious story full of cartoons and doodles which add to the fun and make it easy to read. Loki’s diary entries revealing his feelings draw you in and, despite his many shortcomings, you can’t help liking him. There are several times you want to shout at him to help him and tell him where he is going wrong (it won’t help!) You can’t guess how he is going to go wrong again, but you’re sure he will, making this an unputdownable book. First in a new series, I can’t wait to see what he gets up to next. A Gathering Storm Tamsin Mori (Uclan, £7.99) Stella is proud to be training to be a weather weaver with her cloud, Nimbus. Knowing her mentor, Tamar, has always been a rule breaker, Stella hopes she will take her to the upcoming Gathering of weather weavers, but Tamar doesn’t think she is ready. It isn’t until a visit from Velda, an unpleasant member of the council, that Stella learns Tamar has broken the law by training Stella before she had been assessed. It means Stella will get her wish to go to the trials, but if she doesn’t pass she will lose everything, including Nimbus. There’s a lot to be done, it is obvious Velda is hoping she will fail, and she’s not the only one. At the trails two of the other trainees seem to have it in for her as well. Usually a loner, Stella is surprised to make two friends who boost her confidence, but will she be able to beat the odds, control her temper, and Nimbus, and achieve her aim? There are lots of dramatic moments in this magical adventure that builds to a breath taking climax.

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Jo Clarke (Firefly, £7.99) Libby is a bit nervous, but also excited, to be staying with her Aunt Agatha, the headmistress of her own school. It is a travelling school that moves between countries and will be in Paris this term. She soon makes friends and is settling down nicely until Agatha is arrested, accused of stealing from a jewellers. Libby’s sure it is a big mistake, but the police say they have evidence. Loving detective books, Libby sets out to find the real culprit. Being observant she keeps noticing a distinctly dressed woman turning up where they are and one of the teachers is acting strangely. Will she be able to prove Agatha’s innocence against seemingly impossible odds? This exciting story, the first in the new Travelling School Mysteries series, is full of intrigue. See if you can pick up on the clues as it goes along.

Beyond Belief

Alex Woolf/ Jasmine Floyd (Little Tiger Hb, £14.99) Modern technology is developing at a startling rate, new breakthroughs happen all the time. Things that would have seemed like science fiction a few decades ago are now fact, but what does the future hold? How many more visions from science fiction could became real? This book takes a look at the science of the future, explaining the facts behind concepts such as space colonies; super-intelligent machines; time travel; invisibility; human cloning; immortality; nanotechnology and teleportation. It then explains why some of these could be possible to achieve and others aren’t and why some would be undesirable. All explained with big, bright illustrations, making it easier to understand. It finishes by looking at how technology has helped humans to improve and wonders how we might change in the future. Will we have real superheroes? Read this to find out!

Dread Wood

Jennifer Killick (Farshore, £7.99) Angela, Hallie, Gustav and Naira think nothing could be worse than having to do a detention on a Saturday, without their phones. But they are wrong - things could be a lot worse - and soon definitely are! They can’t believe their eyes when their teacher is dragged underground, and he isn’t the last. Something is lurking ready to pull in anything that treads on the ground - what could it be? The strange behaviour of the caretakers suggests they have something to do with it - whatever ‘it’ is. Although far from friends, the four soon realise they need to work together if they are to escape the grave danger they are in. They find out more about themselves and each other as they work out the connections that has brought them to this situation. They may even be developing friendships - if they live long enough. This is an intriguing, fast paced story with scary moments that will have you on the edge of your seat. Not for the feint hearted and definitely not for arachnophobes! Full length novel for older juniors. Land of Lots - Christian Carl/ Joyce Fan/ Chuck & Sue Willis (AuthorHouse) First book in a new series sees Lovelot finding a strange and magical place S as she roams through space. She decides to take a closer look and meets the Oomlots who live there. As she gets to know each one she finds they are all very different with their own habits which are mostly fun, although they sometimes have a down side. Nevertheless she loves every one of them. By the end of the day she is exhausted and glad to get back to her space ship for a rest. Are the Oomlots too much for her? The next morning her doubts fade when she sees what they have done for her. This is a gorgeous picture book with adorable characters. The story is simply told with just one or two sentences on each page making it perfect for new readers. The beautiful, bold pictures add lots of details giving much to discuss. You can find out more about two of the Oomlots in the next two books in the series: Plan Gill and Plan Paige which are out now.

The Tiger Who Came

to Dinner - Joelle Dreidemy (Little Tiger Hb, £11.99) They might be a bit unusual, but a wolf called Wolf; lamb called Hotpot and their crocodile, Omelette, were a very happy family. Their favourite game was throwing a stick for Omelette to fetch. He didn’t always manage to bring back the same stick and sometimes what he brought back weren’t sticks at all, but no one minded. One day he brought back a little wet tiger. Hotpot loved her on sight, called her Fluffy and wanted to keep her, but Wolf said they had to take her back to her family. Everyone they passed on their journey said how cute Fluffy was. She seemed to be very taken with Hotpot, sniffing and snuffling behind her ear and chewing on her tail. She liked the mice and fish they passed, as well, but Omelette wasn’t fooled by Fluffy’s cuteness, as the pictures show, and kept an eye on her. She tricked him out of the way just as they reached her home where Fluffy had a big and far from nice surprise waiting for them. Will she succeed? This is a delightful story with appealing pictures showing us what Wolf and Hotpot didn’t notice. It makes you think about not judging people by the way they look and to try noticing what they do rather than thinking they are behaving how you expect them to.

Mayor Bunny’s Chocolate Town

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Elys Dolan (Oxford, £6.99)

No longer in charge of the chocolate factory, Mr Bunny misses giving orders. When the chickens of Coop town decide they need a mayor to get things done and improve the town, Mr Bunny decides he would like the job as everyone has to do what the mayor says. Getting a crack team together he vows to do anything he can to win, despite being against a very nice, sensible opponent called Debbie (with a name like that, she would be!) Mr Bunny’s campaign consisted of making everything out of chocolate, telling lies about why that was a good idea and discrediting Debbie. It wins him the election, but when faced with a really big problem, will he be up to the job? Or will Debbie save the day - again? This hilarious picture book more than lives up to the previous, Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory. Once again it is told in a couple of sentences on each page, but there is so much more going on in the pictures that really round the story out. It makes it enjoyable for beginner readers but fun for all abilities and great to share. I love it!

Snowy White

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Gareth P. Jones/ Loretta Schauer (Farshore, £7.99) The cats of Purry Tale Lane are very vain, spending all day preening themselves so they can show off on the catwalk at night. Kingsley is the finest of them all, he knows so because his ‘crystal ball’ (oh, yes it is) tells him so. That is until a new cat, Snowy White, skates in. Kingsley is horrified when the ‘crystal ball’ declares she is finer and decides to scare her away. He startles her, and as she runs away she bumps into a mouse, picking up litter, part of the Mouse Cleaning Service who clean up every day after the thoughtless cats. Snowy offers to help and gets very messy. The cats on the catwalk see this and mock her, but Kingsley is mystified when his crystal ball still says Snowy is the finest. Will Kingsley learn the error of his ways? This lovely, really funny story is the third in the series that put an engaging new twist on familiar stories. Aided by gorgeous illustrations, full of lively details, it will make you think what being the finest really means.

Esme and the Sabre-Toothed Cub

Simon Philip/ Magda Brol (Oxford, £6.99) When a cub walked into Esme’s village all the children thought he was cute, but the adults knew how dangerous he could be when he got bigger and shooed him away. Every day he came back and Esme was pleased he eat the food she left for him. She caught him and decided to make him her pet. Her friend, Morris wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but Esme was determined, called him Seb and started training him. Things didn’t go well and in the end she had to admit Seb didn’t want to be her pet. Morris knew what was wrong and started playing with Seb, making him a friend. Will Esme see where she went wrong? This is a touching tale aided by funny illustrations, again making you think about first impressions and taking notice of what other people want and not just your own desires.