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Dear Ugly Sisters and other poems by Laura Mucha ill. Tania Rex

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 4 Aug 2020

An effervescent debut collection from Laura Mucha, winner of the Caterpillar Poetry Prize in 2016 and the 2019 YorkMix Poems for Children. She is widely anthologised and is described as a ‘mesmerising performer’ of her own work.

The title poem is a departing note left by Cinderella left for her Ugly Sisters:

Leaving tonight, so good luck with the chores,
I’m dropping my apron and keys by the door.

Listen to extracts from the collection read by the poet on her website…

Follow Tania Rex, the illustrator, on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taniarex_illustration

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Death Sets Sail by Robin Stevens

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 3 Aug 2020

The ninth and final novel in the popular Murder Most Unladylike series.

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are in Egypt, taking a cruise along the Nile. They are hoping to see some ancient temples and a mummy or two; what they get, instead, is murder. Also travelling on the SS Hatshepsut is a mysterious society called the Breath of Life: a group of genteel English ladies and gentlemen, who believe themselves to be reincarnations of the ancient pharaohs. Three days into the cruise their leader is found dead in her cabin, stabbed during the night. It soon becomes clear to Daisy and Hazel that the victim’s timid daughter is being framed – and they begin to investigate their most difficult case yet. But there is danger all around, and only one of the Detective Society will make it home alive…

Stevens is already working on a new series called The Ministry of Unladylike Activity set during WWII.

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The Water’s Daughter by Michelle Lovric

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 31 Jul 2o20

“A thrilling gothic fantasy about a girl who can see what once happened in a place by pressing her fingertips against its walls.” New Statesman

An exquisitely imagined fantasy novel set on the canals of Venice, from an award-winning author. about a girl who can see history with her touch.  Twelve-year-old Aurelia Bon can see what happened in a place by merely pressing her fingertips up against the walls. So when young boys start disappearing around an old palace, Aurelia must use her ability to find out what has happened before the boys of Venice disappear forever.

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Clean Up! by Nathan Bryon ill. Dapo Adeola

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 30 Jul 2020

The sequel to Look Up!

Join lovable, passionate Rocket as she sets off on a mission to save a Caribbean island from plastic pollution! When Rocket goes for a holiday to visit her grandparents, she’s shocked by the pollution that is spoiling their island home and putting the local sea life at risk. Can she think of a way to save the day?

A timely and empowering picture book, showing how we ALL can make a difference.

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I Can Catch A Monster by Bethan Woollvin

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ACHUKA Children’s Book of the Day 29 Jul 2020

Meet Bo the Brave. She’s smart, she’s strong and she is definitely in charge.

Bo’s brothers say she is too little to catch a monster. But Bo has other ideas, so she sets off on a quest to capture herself a beast. Can she defeat the furious griffin, conquer the hideous kraken and triumph over the monstrous dragon?

Or if not, can she make friends with them?

I Can Catch a Monster is a funny and vibrant picture book with a message about not judging by appearance and standing up for yourself and your friends, from the Macmillan Prize-winning creator of Little Red, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel, Bethan Woollvin.

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Spaghetti Hunters by Morag Hood

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 28 Jul 2020

Spaghetti Hunters is a brilliantly funny and wonderfully silly picture book, featuring a duck, a tiny horse and quest for spaghetti, from the award-winning Morag Hood.

Duck has lost his spaghetti, and Tiny Horse has a plan to save the day. But what exactly do you bring to a Spaghetti Hunt? A spade, a fishing rod, a jar of peanut butter, cutlery and some binoculars, obviously. Searching far and wide, Tiny Horse catches worms, a ball of string, even a snake – but no spaghetti. Disaster! Until Duck consults a recipe book and armed with flour, eggs and a pasta maker, sets about making his own spaghetti.

This infectiously comic story encourages reading and home-cooking, teaching children about where food really comes from.

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When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 27 Jul 2020

A graphic novel for 8+ that perfectly depicts life in a refugee camp. A heart-wrenching true story that will restore your faith in real-life happy endings.

Omar and his brother Hassan, two Somali boys, have spent a long time in the Dadaab refugee camp. Separated from their mother, they are looked after by a friendly stranger. Life in the camp isn’t always easy. The hunger is constant . . . but there’s football to look forward to, and now there’s a chance Omar will get to go to school . . . .

‘Does everything one can ask of a book, and then some.’ Kirkus
‘Fantastic graphic novel.’ The New York Times Book Review
‘Sensitive and poignant.’ School Library Journal
‘Not to be missed.’ Booklist

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How Colour Works by Catherine Barr ill. Yuliya Gwilym

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 24 Jul 2020

A captivating book about the science of colour. Why is the sky blue? Why is snow white and darkness black? How do our eyes and brain create a world of colour? Journey through lush green forests, splash into a watery blue ocean, be dazzled by a glowing jungle and see the world through a kaleidoscope of colour in this vibrant gift book. 

Catherine Barr studied ecology at Leeds University and trained as a journalist. While working as an editor at the Natural History Museum, she researched and wrote two major summer exhibitions. Her previous books include The Story of Life, 10 Reasons to Love . . . and Red Alert!

Yuliya Gwilym is a Ukrainian artist based in the Netherlands. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague and has been working as an illustrator ever since. 
Follow Yuliya on Instagram: https://instagram.com/yufrukt

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Loveless by Alice Oseman

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 23 Jul 2020 

A 4th novel from Alice Oseman, one of the most authentic and talked-about voices in contemporary YA.

Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her ‘teenage dream’ is in sight. But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her – asexual, aromantic – Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever.

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The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 22 Jul 2020 
Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week 19 Jul 2020

A book that first caught ACHUKA’s eye back in pre-lockdown February, when it featured in a 2o20 Highlights event held at Han Yard Hotel. “The author grew up in Amsterdam and moved to Devon when she was 12. She describes the book as ‘a madcap adventure set in a beautiful European country about daring to be different’. Another one I shall personally look forward to.”

And here it is:

In all the years that Elinora Gassbeek has been matron of the Little Tulip Orphanage, not once have the Rules for Baby Abandonment been broken. Until the autumn of 1886, when five babies are left in outrageous circumstances: one in a tin toolbox, one in a coal bucket, one in a picnic hamper, one in a wheat sack, and finally, one in a coffin-shaped basket.

Those babies were Lotta, Egg, Fenna, Sem and Milou, who were swiftly and firmly deemed ‘the unadoptables’. Twelve years on the children still have each other – until a  sinister gentleman appears and threatens to tear them apart. The gang decide to make a daring escape, fleeing the frozen canals of Amsterdam for an adventure packed with puppets and pirate ships, clock-makers and cruel villains – and with only a scrap of a clue to guide them to their mysterious new home . 

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