Chapter Books
The Naughtiest Unicorn
Pip Bird & David O'Connell
Chapter book
Join the naughtiest unicorn for friendship, magic and mayhem in this hilarious series. Mira CAN'T WAIT to start Unicorn School. (Her big sister goes and won't stop going on about it). But when Mira arrives on her first day all the unicorns are gone ... except Dave!Dave isn't quite the sparkly magical unicorn Mira was expecting to find at the end of the rainbow - he's more grumpy than glittery, more interested in lunch than magical quests and he always runs off when Mira tries to ride him - but Mira's not going to let that get her down. Along with her new friends and their (much more glittery) unicorns, she is determined to be the best at Quests and protect the special unicorn world.
An Alien in the Jam Factory
Chrissie Sains & Jenny Taylor
Chapter book
The first book in a hilarious, jam-packed new adventure series starring Scooter the inventor and his top secret alien sidekick. Scooter McLay's cerebral palsy affects how quickly he can move his body, but his hyper-creative brain is a constant fizz of brilliant ideas. He spends every day inventing top secret recipes and machines for his family's jam factory. There's just one thing missing ... a pet, to share it all with. Or better still, a friend. When a tiny alien named Fizzbee crashes through the factory window, she might just be the answer. Now it's all hands on deck, as they team up to save the factory from dastardly neighbour Daffy Dodgy.
Daisy And The Trouble With London
Kes Gray
Chapter book
This laugh-out-loud Daisy adventure for readers of Year 2 and beyond is from bestselling author of the Oi Frog series, Kes Gray.Here comes trouble!Daisy is off to actual, actual London for the day.Nanny and Grampy are taking her to see the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and lots more.The trouble is, all Daisy really wants to see is Cooey the pigeon . . .
Einstein the Penguin
Iona Rangeley & David Tazzyman
Chapter book
When Mrs Stewart invites a small penguin to visit on a spontaneous visit to London Zoo, no one could have imagined that later that day they would find him on their doorstep, rucksack on his back and an adventure about to begin…
Einstein the Penguin is the debut children’s novel for Iona Rangeley, aptly brought to life with the help of the award-winning illustrator, David Tazzyman. A lovely mix of whodunnit with a slightly preposterous story of a penguin who comes to live with our two heroes, Imogen (age 9) and Arthur (age 6), causing them to put aside their sibling squabbles and come to his rescue. Rangeley manages to pull at your heartstrings as you come to understand each of the characters’ insecurities, bringing together the fear of losing a friend with the loneliness associated with never having had one. The grown-ups are scatty at best and young readers will love it as our heroes come to put one over on them.
Lovely as a class readaloud, children will enjoy the parody of incompetent teachers/zoo-keepers/detectives/parents while also prompting several discussion points about right and wrong. This could be a fun next step for readers who have enjoyed Paddington or Erica’s Elephant.
Marge in Charge
Isla Fisher & Eglantine Ceulemans
Chapter book
Meet Marge, the mischievous babysitter with rainbow hair who loves to make a mess and bend the rules . . . At dinnertime Chef Marge cooks up chocolate soup, and at school Marge the Muscian conducts a chaotic concert in the playground! Jake and Jemima have brilliant fun with their new babysitter, but will they manage to tick off all the jobs on Mummy's list?