Books: children & YA

The Taylor Turbochaser by David Badiel and illustrated by Steven Lenton reviewed by Anne Coates.

Station Jim by Louis de Bernieres  Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark

Bing's Christmas Bauble Books, Paddington's Post and Paint by Sticker – three superb books for children reviewed by Anne Coates. 

The Princess Rules by Philippa Gregory – charming stories for modern girls reviewed by Anne Coates.

HarperCollins Children’s Books has just published  a glorious highly-illustrated non-fiction hardback children’s gift book of Our Planet based on the hugely successful Netflix series written by Matt Wyman, illustrated by Richard Jones, with a foreword by Sir David Attenborough, in partnership with WWF.

Anne Coates reviews the latest two books in the Hannah the Spanner series:Hannah the Spanner and the Diamond Robbery and Hannah the Spanner and the Racing Car written by Stuart Simmonds and illustrated by Bill Greenhead.

We Are Artists by Kari Herbert is, quite simply, a beautiful book to cherish and treasure, writes Anne Coates.

Lottie and Elizabeth Bull's review of Roald Dahl’s Beastly Brutes and Heroic Human Beans, by Stella Caldwell, illustrated by Quentin Blake and published by Carlton Books.

In their first book for children, The Kids' Book of Paper Love, authors Irene Smit and Astrid van der Hulst, the pages overflow with fun and pull-out activities for writing, drawing, folding, crafting, playing and sharing. Reviewed by Anne Coates.

Passing The Torch is a collection of interviews with past and present sportswomen across a variety of disciplines, all sharing with Mary the highs and lows of their careers and the motivation that propels them forward. It is a book to excite and inspire a new generation of girls to take up sport and to experience the many benefits that it can bring including confidence, camaraderie and particularly important to Mary, physical strength. Anne Coates reviews.

Anne Coates reviews Max The Detective Cat – The Catnap Caper by Sarah Todd Taylor and illustrated by Nicola Kinnear.

Help! Why Am I Changing? The Growing-up Guide for Pre-teen Boys and Girls by Susan Akass with input from Dr Frances Butcher, Dr Rosanna Bevan and James Hull, is aimed at children aged nine to 12 who are just entering puberty.

Published by Chicken House, Last Chance Hotel by Nicki Thornton is an engaging  murder mystery with a heavy dose of magic. Anne Coates reviews.

Sharna Jackson's High Rise Mystery has all the ingredients for a great crime novel. Only in this instance the two super-sleuths are teenage sisters  Nik and Norva who not only find the body on their South London estate but realise that the father, the caretaker of the flats, is the prime suspect. Anne Coates reviews.

Now in its third year the Morecambe & Vice Crime Festival has a fabulous range of panels and speakers. Anne Coates will be talking to Sharna Jackson, Nicki Thornton and Sarah Todd Taylor about writing crime for young adult readers on Saturday 28 September, 2019.

What better way to end the school year than with the latest David Walliams book – The World's Worst Teachers, reviewed by Harriet and Anne Coates

Noel Streatfeild's Holiday Stories make perfect bedtime reading for youngsters, writes Anne Coates.

The paperback edition of Tilly and the Bookwanderers, the first in the Pages & Co series by Anna James has just been published and it is a gem of a book, writes Anne Coates.