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Kiki and Me by Leo Timmers

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 12 Oct 2026

Publisher: Gecko Press
ISBN: 9798348041700

See also:
The Monster In The Lake [ACHUKA Book of the Day 4 Se 2025]
Bear’s Lost Glasses [ACHUKA Book of the Day 7 Oct 2024]
Elephant Island [One of New York Times Best Children’s Books 2022]

“This tale will easily become a beloved classic on the shelves of horse fans. Heck, even the horse averse will cave under the sheer beauty of the illustrations. Equestrian adoration brought to life via breathtaking artwork—an unequivocal champion.” KIRKUS
“This book stages joy so fully, and resolves heartache with such virtuosity, that it is lifted into rare air.” PublishersWeekly

Leo Timmers, writing on the Gecko Press website:

You could say there is something of me in all of the characters here: the child who got to discover the world, the horse that is left behind when Kiki grows up, and also the father who looks for a solution when the horse is left behind.

Because it’s so personal, it also has a different feel from my other books. There is still humor in it but there is also another side, which is a little bit more serious, a little more poetic. When I first stumbled upon this story, I was a little afraid of it. It didn’t feel like something I would normally make—so I knew I had to make it.

The colour spreads in this really wonderful picture book are all wordless and in the middle there is a sequence of seven such spreads uninterrupted by any printed words, allowing for fresh retelling each time, and for children to make up their own words for this part of the story.

First there was a long, windy road. Then I heard voices. The gate lowered . . . and there she was. Kiki.

It took her a while to get used to me, but she was a fast learner. Kiki did everything for me. She watered me, kept me warm, groomed me, and fed me. Kiki loved me. And I loved her.

Kiki and her horse explore the landscape together and are inseparable. But Kiki grows older and things change. One day, the horse is alone—and thinks it will be forever.

Delicate black-and-white drawings alternate with rich, dramatic paintings to tell a poignant story about inseparable friends and growing up.

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Pomona: Stories of the Cat Witch by Tor Freeman

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 8 Oct 2026
Indie Book of the Month October 2026

Publisher: Guppy Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 9781916558823

See also:
Boss Of The Underworld [ACHUKA Book of the Day 5 Mar 2025]

Pomona lives in a little house in the forest, near her friends Ratso, Prince Frog, Elfis and Grandma Wyona.

In this funny and charming collection of stories, she learns how to bake a cake with love, finds a friend for her lonely pet caterpillar, discovers empathy and confirms that there definitely isn’t enough room for anyone else in her hammock!

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SOUTH by Rob Biddulph

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 17 Sep 2026

Publisher: HarperCollins 
ISBN: 9780008627751

See also:
My First Draw With Rob: Vehicles [ACHUKA Book of the Day 4 Feb 2025]
I Follow The Fox [ACHUKA Book of the Day 30 Oct 2024]
The Blue-Footed Booby [ACHUKA Book of the Day 19 Aug 2022]
Draw With Rob 3 [ACHUKA Book of the Day 2 Mar 2021]

One of the highlights of the Autumn – a new picture book from Rob Biddulph…

When Pip’s family fly south for the winter, they forget one thing: Pip. At first he’s delighted at the freedom to do as he pleases, but soon realises that being alone isn’t quite the adventure he imagined…

Filled with loveable characters, emotive storytelling and truly glorious artwork, Rob returns with another unforgettable tale about the bigness of the world, the adventures in store, and the love that guides us home.

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Uprooted! by Philippa Rice

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 19 Jun 2026

Publisher: Cicada Books
ISBN: 9781800660700

When you step outside the world you know, adventure blossoms!

A flower grows in a garden. The other flowers are happy with the same fence, the same sky, but Little Flower longs for something new. He wants to see the world.

So, the gardener pops him in a pot and takes him on an adventure. The flower travels far and wide, feeling the rush of the sea and the wind, discovering new soils and new horizons. The world is more wonderful than he could ever have imagined. He returns home with fresh eyes and stories to tell.

This gorgeous, sweet and laugh-out-loud story from New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Philippa Rice is a joyful antidote to digital fatigue and restless scrolling. It’s a vibrant reminder that the world is still full of wonder — if only we open ourselves to new feelings, new places and new adventures.

Follow the highly creative (she describes herself as “an artist, cartoonist, writer, author, animator, craft-person”) Philippa Rice on

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Philippa Rice writes on here website: “I live in Nottingham with my three small children. I’m lucky to have my own work space at home. The washing machine is right outside my door. Sometimes it feels like I’m working inside a spaceship.

Using different mediums and techniques is what I love. A big one for me has been autobiographical comics. My romantic, relationship comics were all over Tumblr in 2011, and later became a #1 NYT bestseller called ‘Soppy’. Prior to that I had a webcomic called My Cardboard Life, which I used to update five times a week. Self publishing books of that comic allowed me to become a freelance artist full time. I studied Animation at University and love to animate things whenever I get a chance. I’m almost always working on some new crochet thing – I like to crochet while watching TV shows.”

Enjoy some of her recent animations:

The Children of Wolf Rock by Natasha Farrant

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 11 Jun 2026

Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571382521

“This is the epitome of a modern, classic adventure which kept me eagerly turning pages as the children unearth the truth behind the lies, and find themselves in increasing danger. I was genuinely gripped by their discoveries, their developing friendships, and their willingness to follow their hearts, even when this led to trouble, danger and difficulties.” BookCraic
“There is an immediacy to [Farrant’s] writing, instantly engaging readers and making the book so hard to put down.” ThroughTheBookshelf

Middle grade adventure novels (the lifeblood of newly confident readers) don’t come much better than those by Natasha Farrant and she is on top of her form in this companion novel to The Children of Castle Rock.

High in the mountains of western Scotland, there is a loch, and on its shores there is a castle, and in that castle there is a school . . .

Stormy Loch Academy is like no other teaching establishment. For one, its headmaster, Major Fortescue, believes in sharing the beauty of the world with his students, so that they will have the courage to fight for it.

For Minna, Kass and Tom it proves to be the safe haven from their chaotic home lives, giving them all a chance to breathe freely, and to roam the valleys and lakes on their doorstep.

But then they come across Addie, an older ex-student, hiding out in the wild, with only her guitar and her dog for company . . .

At first they believe her stories, but when she goes missing, the lies she has told start to emerge.

With Addie at risk, Minna, Kass and Tom must travel to London to uncover her past. The journey is dangerous, especially for those so young . . . But these are the children of Stormy Loch, and bravery and adventure runs through their bones . . .

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Entangled by Emma Rea

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 16 Apr 2026

Publisher: Firefly Press Ltd
ISBN: 9781917718189

“A very entertaining and enjoyable read!” ThroughTheBookshelf
“[A] well-paced adventure, with an atmospheric backdrop, a likeable protagonist and a diverse cast.” BookTrust
“With its blend of atmospheric settings, heartfelt emotion, and a twisting plot, this book is set to become a standout read for those who crave a story that is as visually rich as it is emotionally compelling.” MrRipley

Did you recommend Escape From The Child Snatchers [a Book of the Day last week] to someone and they’ve already finished it? Well, here’s what they could read next—another really good, just-published middle-grade adventure.

When Thomas’ sister, Tia, gets kidnapped during an art trip to Venice, no one will believe he has a vital clue, especially when he’s so clumsy.

Ever since Tia lost her sight, Thomas has been by her side. But Tia is the second girl to go missing in Venice that week and now it’s up to Thomas to race across the city, navigating canals, carnival parades and masked balls, and uncover a hair-raising conspiracy.

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Escape from the Child Snatchers by Sufiya Ahmed

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 10 Apr 2026

Publisher: Andersen Press Ltd
ISBN: 9781839136511

See also:
Rose Raja: Undercover Codebreaker [ACHUKA Book of the Day 15 Aug 2024]
Mission To Cairo
Churchill’s Spy

“An absolutely riveting adventure, brimming with danger and discoveries, and with courage and friendship. The short, action-packed chapters are perfect for encouraging readers to continue reading ‘just one more chapter’.” BookCraic
“Humza and Ranj are very engaging characters whose friendship is heart warming, making it easy to empathise with their experiences and cheer them on every step of the way.” ThroughTheBookshelf
“An exciting and very fast paced novel that blends adventure with social history. It invites young readers to consider whose stories are remembered and whose are forgotten, while delivering a narrative driven by bravery, loyalty, and the determination to protect family at all costs.” BfK
“With likeable protagonists, sinister villains and an action-packed plot, the novel brings this dark period of history to life for a young audience in an accessible and age-appropriate manner.” BookTrust

Just the book for newly-independent readers beginning to rattle their way through well-crafted, exciting adventure stories. Children’s publishers can never have enough of such titles on their list, or find authors capable of producing them at pace.

Is it my imagination or is there a lack of current book series to keep such readers engaged?

1865, India. Humza and his friend Ranj set off on a daring quest to find Humza’s missing brother, Dani, in London.

After a terrifying journey, they are welcomed by a seemingly kind Englishman who leads them to an inn. There, Daisy, the innkeeper’s daughter, warns them – they’ve been captured by the notorious child snatcher!

Can Humza and Ranj escape his clutches and find Dani?

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The Awesomely Adventurous Librarians by Donna David ill. Victoria Stebleva

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 10 Feb 2026

Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9781382063913

Don’t you just have to love a book with a title like that?

We all know that librarians are superheroes, but does anyone know what they really do when the library lights go out and the readers have gone home? In Sleepy Creek Library, living and breathing stories have to be retrieved from the Land of Books.

Rida loves helping her grandad in the Sleepy Creek Library. She makes a list of all the readers’ requests and passes it to Grandad to retrieve them. But when Arun asks for a book so adventurous no one has ever been able to catch it, Grandad says he can’t help. Can Rida secretly journey to the Land of Books and find the story herself?

The illustrations (including front and back cover) are packed with enhancing detail and, as usual with books from this publisher (Oxford) the page design is exemplary.

You can follow the Russian illustrator on

 

 
 
 
 
 
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The author is there as well:

 

 
 
 
 
 
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The author writes (on the School Library Association website):

Libraries and librarians are brilliant. I’ve always thought so. You find them in town centres, villages, big cities and schools and, in every case, they are doing something quietly radical; they are making knowledge, education, information and opportunities available to everyone. 

The Awesomely Adventurous Librarians is my letter of deep gratitude to every librarian. The thanks comes from me, of course, but it also comes from every child who walks through the library doors. The children who are a bit bored, the ones whose parents don’t have the money to go to a soft play or a bowling alley, the ones who are cold, or curious, or lost, or exactly where they are supposed to be. Because I’ve been every single one of those children. 

Cat Nap by Brian Lies

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ACHUKA Book of the Day

Waterstones
Bookshop

“Utterly beautiful, playfully fun, and, above all, breathtaking.” KIRKUS

Our Russian blue/Siamese mix, Dylan, disappeared one day, and we couldn’t find him anywhere in the house. A few hours later, he reappeared, unruffled, but his whiskers were full of spiderwebs. We wondered where he had gone and surmised that he had found a wormhole in space and time—maybe he’d gone back to ancient Egypt, where cats were revered, and had adventures there! That idea morphed into a wider story about Kitten journeying through works of art from different times and cultures.
Brian Lies, talking to KIRKUS

With lush paintings and intricately constructed 3-D artwork, bestselling and Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator Brian Lies introduces a sleepy kitten whose afternoon nap transforms into an epic journey through art, time, and history. Includes a note from the author about how the illustrations were created.

In the warm, late afternoon sunlight, a girl sits on the couch reading a book. Her kitten dozes nearby. But when Kitten notices a mouse and dives after it through a framed poster on the wall, an epic chase through time, art, and history ensues. Is it a dream? That’s up to the reader to decide, but for the kitten, every leap and bound is full of suspense and makes for a masterpiece.

Caldecott Honor–winning andNew York Times bestsellingauthor-illustrator Brian Lies creates a truly unique picture book journey that invites young readers through the galleries of an art museum as well as through time, space, and history. As the cat and mouse leap from one page to the next, they are portrayed in the style of masterful artworks from history—an ancient Egyptian relief, an illuminated manuscript, a stained-glass window, a ceramic dog—each painstakingly and lovingly re-created in its original media by Brian Lies. When the sly mouse gets away, Kitten finds himself lost and alone. Will art help him find his way home?

This visual showstopper by an award-winning and bestselling picture book creator offers readers a page-turning cat and mouse chase, an introduction to famous works of art throughout history, an epic adventure story, and a homecoming. Backmatter includes information about how each of the illustrations in the book was created, notes on the original artworks featured in the book, and an afterword inviting young readers to make, create, and build things.

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Sin Bin Island by Doug Naylor

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 18 Sep 2025

Waterstones
Bookshop

“Insanely funny and inventive – get yourself a ringside seat for this cartwheeling, high-wire, fire-breathing circus of a book.” Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
“At getting on for 400 pages, this is not a short read but it feels like one. The story is really engaging from the off and Digs and the friends that he finds at Cyril Sniggs’s are all hugely likeable so that you not only want to see if they can escape from whatever is thrown at them but check that they do escape, and in one piece too, making this a brilliant choice for confident readers in Year 4 upwards who want something to get stuck into that will provide several hours of enjoyment. I loved it and cannot wait to return for a second helping.” MrsSydney
“I was laughing out loud from the very first pages. I simply loved it! The Russian Dolls – inspired!
The friendships, the challenges, loved all of it. A book that I now ABSOLUTELY recommend to anyone over the age of 7!” IndependentBookReviews
“This is an exceptional adventure story, one that I think many children will enjoy. From the humour, adventure, friendship and secrets- it is a treasure chest of a story!” MyShelvesAreFull

This first children’s book by the co-creator of Red Dwarf and scriptwriter for Spitting Image amongst other things was given its official launch at Waterstones in Piccadilly on Tuesday of this week. Talking to Radio Times about his first children’s book, Naylor said, “There are real similarities between Sin Bin Island and Red Dwarf. There are two gangs of four. I hope there are a lot of laughs along the way. The science fiction has been replaced by hard magic, and it’s an adventure story with lots of twists and turns. I didn’t write down at all – I didn’t pander, and I didn’t find I was restricted, like ‘Oh, I couldn’t do this.’ I never felt like that. I just kind of told the story as well as I could, with the heroes all being 13.”

Naylor was in entertaining and revealing conversation with fellow Fickling author, SF Said. We learnt, amongst other things, that he is keen to publish another Red Dwarf novel, that he greatly admires the writing of Neil Simon and that the novel as originally delivered to Liz Cross, his editor at David Fickling Books, was much longer. 

For an excellent summary of other things we learnt from the conversation go to this page on ganymede.tv

DETENTION JUST GOT DANGEROUS
When Jack Digby is sent to Cyril Sniggs’s Correctional Orphanage for Wayward Boys and Girls, he doesn’t expect lessons in how to fire cannons and fend off pirate attacks. But perhaps he should, as the school, some say, was founded by a pirate. Even stranger, at the end of each year, the four worst-behaved pupils are banished to the terrifying Sin Bin Island, where they must survive for a week. Legend has it, the island was once used to smuggle magic onto the mainland, but in over 300 years the magic has never returned.