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The Wild Book by Juan Villoro

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A middle-grade / YA debut from a leading Mexican author. First published in Mexico City in 2008. This English translation by Lawrence Shimel.

Thirteen-year-old Juan’s summer is off to a terrible start. First, his parents separate. Then, almost as bad, Juan is sent away to his strange Uncle Tito’s house for the entire holiday! Who wants to live with an oddball recluse who has zigzag eyebrows, drinks fifteen cups of smoky tea a day, and lives inside a huge, mysterious library? As Juan adjusts to his new life among teetering, dusty shelves, he notices something odd: the books move on their own! He rushes to tell Uncle Tito, who lets his nephew in on a secret: Juan is a Princeps Reader, which means books respond magically to him, and he’s the only one who can find the elusive, never-before-read Wild Book. An unforgettable adventure story about books, libraries, and the power of reading.

Hope Road is a publisher specialising in writers and writing from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. 

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Lori And Max by Catherine O’Flynn

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Times Children’s Book of the Week, 31 Aug 2019

“Crime for kids is a bloated genre with mixed offerings, but this writer has cracked the code and this thrilling, funny, perceptive detective story is in a class of its own.” Alex O’Connell, THE TIMES

Lori wants to be a detective, but so far the most exciting mystery she has solved is the disappearance of her nan’s specs down the side of the sofa. Max is the new girl at school and Lori is asked to look after her. Max is odd. She doesn’t fit in – but then, Lori realises, she doesn’t really fit in either. When some charity money goes missing and Max disappears, Lori seems to be the only person who doesn’t think Max has stolen it and run away. Even the police don’t want to investigate and suddenly Lori finds she has a real crime on her hands.

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Cloud Forest by Victoria Turnbull

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A child’s grandfather (‘Umpa’) teaches them to read and to follow the words, out the garden gate and all the way to the sea. Every day is a new adventure. They visit castles in the air, feast with friends and sail away on the rains. But then one day, Umpa isn’t there…

A moving tale from author-illustrator Victoria Turnbull speaks of the power of books to bring people together, and to help us remember loved ones when they’re no longer with us.

Turnbull writes on her website: “I love stories. I have always loved stories. However, it was a long time before I could see myself as a storyteller. I was born in York, in the North of England. My childhood was spent drawing and making things. I got in to writing later in life, on a masters degree in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. It was there I discovered picture books to be the most wonderful way in which to tell stories.”

In this Books for keeps feature she describes how she “combined my pencil drawings in Photoshop and printed them out onto watercolour paper. I used washes of pigment and linseed oil to build up colour before adding more detail in coloured pencil. I wanted this illustration to have a warm colour palette. My own childhood memories have a yellow colour cast like an old photograph. Yellow is the colour of summer; the colour of my grandfather’s favourite flowers; the colour of hope.”

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The Lost Book by Margarita Surnaite

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“A mysterious, entrancing debut” GUARDIAN REVIEW

Margarita was born and raised in Lithuania. She received her BA in Graphic Arts from Vilnius Academy of Arts. In 2012, she became interested in picture books while studying in the UK as an exchange student. The following year she joined the MA Children’s Book Illustration course at Cambridge School of Art, which she completed with a Distinction in 2015.

Margarita has a twin sister, Alina Surnaite, who is also a children’s book author and illustrator.

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Norm by Sylvia Laing

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Norm looks exactly the way a normal person looks. For a long time, he thought the way he lived was best.
But then a golden bird took him beyond his village where he discovered a world that was completely unruly. At first, he was afraid. But thanks to his new friend, Red, Norm discovered the immeasurable freedom in letting go of the rules.
 

The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer

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Inspired by the Kennington loop on London Undergorund’s Northern Line:

On her twelfth birthday Cecilia goes out with her parents and sister to celebrate with a visit to a museum. On their way Cecilia drops the marble that her sister gave her as a present, and running to pick it up she is taken away on an empty underground train into a dark and deep tunnel. The fun family outing becomes a much more serious mission when Cecilia finds that she and her marble have a very important role to play in freeing the inhabitants of the tunnels from the tyrannical rule of the Corvus. A truly inventive, clever and magical story about the power of friendship and the importance of self-belief by debut novelist Nadine Wild-Palmer.

Waterstones

 

Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

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A beautiful picture book about hope, change and the passing of time. Winner of the Caldecott Medal 2019.

On the highest rock of a tiny island at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse. From dusk to dawn, the lighthouse beams, sending its light out to sea, guiding the ships on their way. As the seasons pass and the waves rise and fall, outside, the wind blows; inside, the lighthouse keeper writes, and the rhythms of his life unfold. But change is on the horizon…

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The Closest Thing To Flying by Gill Lewis

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Times Children’s Book of the Week, 9 Feb 2019

When Semira discovers a diary written by Hen, a girl living over one hundred years ago, she finds the friend she has been desperately seeking. An unforgettable tale of friendship, hope, and finding the courage to fight for what you believe in.

Gill Lewis is the multi-award-winning and best-selling author of novels including Sky Hawk, White Dolphin, and A Story Like the Wind. 

Waterstones

The Whispers by Greg Howard

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“This is an absolute stunner. Intensely likeable, sweetly sassy protagonist, a choir of corn, a redneck superhero, a hobgoblin hermit and a journey through grief to bittersweet acceptance.
Totally gorgeous tearjerker.”
Imogen Russell Williams, Twitter

A coming-of-age tale that will make you laugh and cry, perfect for fans of Time Travelling With a Hamster and The Goldfish Boy.

Before she disappeared, Riley’s mama used to tell him stories about the Whispers, mysterious creatures with the power to grant wishes.

Riley wishes for lots of things. He wishes his secret crush Dylan liked him back. He wishes the bumbling detective would stop asking awkward questions. But most of all he wishes his mother would come home . . .

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