Month: March 2025

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School of Doom by Sarah Harrison

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Award has been running since 2008 and has been the launch of many successful careers in the world of children’s literature.  The winner in 2022 was Sarah Harrison, with a book entitled “Eddie’s Demons”.  This has since become the story that is known as “The School of Doom” I must admit that I do prefer this new title and I am delighted that the book has now found its way out into the wide world.

The heroine, Eddie, lives with her two very unusual aunts, but then Eddie is not your usual kind of girl; how many people do you know who enjoy snacking on plates and wheelie bins?  The consequence of this being that Eddie had not found any friends at school and was generally laughed at by the other children.  However things change on her twelfth birthday  when she receives an invitation to join  “The School of Doom”, a weird and wonderful floating school that exists in a parallel world called the Outer Realms.  What follows is a fantastic and funny read about being different and accepting others.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be writing a full review in the near future, but at the moment we have a family emergency to deal with.

 

Sarah Harrison was born and raised in Lancashire where she image.pnglives with her husband and two sons. She likes to hide in her writing shed known as the Witch Hut where she writes creepy and silly middle-grade stories away from four distracting pets – having learned that animals and open laptops should never be left alone together. She enjoys listening to loud rock music, repeatedly watching the extended cuts of The Lord of the Rings, never refuses tea or chocolate, and loves having adventures in her little red camper van.

Follow on @SarahHarrisons and find out more at sarah-harrison.co.uk

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The Greatest Stuff on Earth by Steve Tomacek and John Devolle

I was delighted to be asked to take part in this blog tour and the title of the book definitely attracted my attention.  The question is absolutely “what is STUFF”?  The word is a term that just about every person uses and it is not easily defined by the individual.  However, in this book, the author tries to give us a very broad definition of those areas that can be seen as stuff by many of us.

The author of this book is an American scientist and author, who has written 30+ books and works with those in education to help children understand science; he is therefore well qualified to speak about this subject.  The book is aimed at KS2 children and although it deals with some quite complex themes, it is clearly explained and the text is not overwhelming.

The book is divided into three parts; The basics, nature stuff and stuff humans make and use.  Section one looks at concepts such as Matter and Energy, then we move on to  section two and things such as geology, climate, biology and astronomy.  In section three, which is by far the longest, we find a huge range of stuff that mankind needs and has developed over the millennia.  It includes, food, shelter, clothing, power, paper, health and  communication.  This really is a wide-ranging look at how mankind has become the dominant species in the world, but also how we now need so much stuff we need to maintain our lifestyles and place at the top of the tree.

One of the things I really like about this book is the extras that you would expect from an information book and which really add to the experience for the young reader.  The contents pages are clear, well laid out and well signposted.  We also have an excellent glossary and subject index, as well as a list of photo credits.  The author also explains his research methodology and then provides more than two pages of links to online resources.  Whilst these are all well known and respected, it was a shame that less than 10 appeared to be for British Institutions; the main sources being American.  However this book still provides a huge amount of support information and acts as a great starting point for further investigations.  I am sure that it will encourage the young, and not so young, reader to look more closely at the range of stuff that surrounds us and enables us to survive as human beings.

 

Details

Title        The Greatest Stuff on Earth

Author      Steve Tomacek

Illustrator      John Devolle

Publisher     What on Earth Books

ISBN           9781804661413

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Even Lions get Scared by Dr Marcelle Moore and Monika Marzec

We live in a world where mental and physical health are real concerns, and the issues can start at a very young age.  This means that all nurseries, foundation stage environments and primary schools need to have a wide range of materials, that can support children through a variety of situations.

This picture book is about a young lion called Scout, who has always been strong, brave and full of life; but then one day he finds himself in an entirely new and frightening situation.  This is the first time that he has had this strange feeling and he has no idea how to cope with it.  His imagination takes over and he thinks that the other animals will look down on him for being scared.   However a chance meeting with a firefly helps him understand what he is feeling and how he can help himself to calm down and feel better; it also helps Scout to realize that the other animals also feel the way he does and do not see it as a weakness in him.  The sections where the firefly describes the way that Scout is feeling will definitely ring a bell with many, children and adults alike.  We tend to think that we are able to cope with new situations; so it can be quite traumatic when we come across a situation we cannot deal with and which makes us feel out of control and vulnerable.

The author of this book is a children’s psychologist  and has used her expertise to help young children cope with stressful situations.  Particularly useful are the breathing exercises to help the children to calm down.  The fact that this is written as a picture book makes it really accessible to a younger audience and the use of rhyming text makes the whole story really flow.  The illustrator has used a bright and cheerful colour palette which is attractive to the reader and the facial expressions create a sense of the issues that Scout is trying to cope with.

This book has so many lessons for the young reader, but it can also  help adults understand what the child is feeling; it can even help adults understand their own fears and worries.  It will make a great addition to the classrooms and libraries for younger children, but I think it is also useful for older children who struggle to access more complex texts.

 

Book Details

Cherish Editions

ISBN  9781915680679

 

 

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I am Rebel by Ross Montgomery

I am thrilled to be part of the blog tour, highlighting the amazing Top Ten books in this year’s Children’s Book Award.  Once again Ross Montgomery has produced a masterpiece that will pull at your heart strings.

 

The Children’s Book Award is the only national award for children’s books that is voted for entirely by children. It is owned and coordinated by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and is highly respected by teachers, parents and librarians. It has brought acclaim and strong sales to past winners such as J.K. Rowling, Patrick Ness, Andy Stanton, Malorie Blackman, Anthony Horowitz and Michael Morpurgo, who has won a record four times. The award has often been the first to recognise the future stars of children’s fiction and has the ability to turn popular authors into bestsellers.

 

Ross Montgomery

“I’ve always loved dogs. I was brought up in a “dog family”: there was always a small amount of fur on the surfaces, no matter how many times you cleaned, and the day was broken up by taking them outside and carrying around their poo in a little bag. It meant that you really couldn’t leave food out anywhere: I left a Victoria sponge out once and left the room, and it lasted maybe ten seconds. It also meant that, no matter what, you always had a companion. At the end of the day, you could always come home to find someone who wanted to plonk on the sofa next to you and fall asleep, tail softly wagging.
I was thinking a lot about dogs when I decided to write I AM REBEL. I was thinking about how they love, and how loyal they can be, and how they want nothing more than to be with you. I was thinking about how brilliant they are at existing, at simply enjoying the moment for what it is. If a dog lived the exact same day every single day for the rest of their lives, they would be absolutely thrilled. Change a dog’s beloved routine – a slightly shorter walk than normal, a different treat, sitting on their place on the sofa – and they’ll act like their world has ended.
That’s what happens to Rebel in I AM REBEL. He’s spent every single day of his life on the farm with his young owner, Tom: he has everything that he could ever want. But when Tom runs away to join the uprising and fight against the bad King, Rebel’s whole world is turned upside down. How long will Tom be gone for? What if he gets hurt? What if he never comes back?There’s only one thing he can do: step out into the big wide world for the first time in his life, to find Tom and bring him back home for good.
It’s the first time I’ve written from the perspective of a dog, and I wanted to think about how they would see the world – with open eyes, and an open mind, and an open heart. But I also wanted to write about love: how it can be found in the quietest moments of the day, and how it can bring us strength we never knew we had. And more than anything else, I wanted to write about the power in small things: how the love between one young boy and a dog can still matter in a world that’s falling apart.
I hope you enjoy reading Rebel’s journey, and meeting all the characters he finds along the way!”

 

Children across the UK are encouraged to get involved. Copies of the books can be purchased at a discount from our partner supplier Heath Books here [link https://www.heathbooks.co.uk/federation-of-childrens-book-groups-childrens-book-award-2025/] and online voting will be opened at the conclusion of the blog tour. The deadline for voting is Friday 9th May and category winners and the overall winner of the most popular children’s book published in 2024 will be announced at a ceremony in Birmingham on 7th June, attended by representatives from all our local groups and livestreamed on the FCBG YouTube channel.