ACHUKAblog
Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month, January 2018
Times Children’s Book of the Week, Jan 13 2018
Familiar to many through the high adventure of her Dreamsnatcher series, Abi Elphinstone returns with a spectacular new story
“At the heart of this warm, imaginative tale is a sense of the magic to be found in the wilderness…” GUARDIAN REVIEW
Second book in new fantasy adventure trilogy, perfect for readers aged 9+ and fans of Philip Pullman, Piers Torday, Katherine Rundell and Frances Hardinge.
The second title in this dramatic adventure sequence. Sky’s life has changed dramatically since fleeing the underground compound where she grew up. She and her friends are now hunted by dinosaurs and pursued by deadly enemies. A map left by her missing father seems to be the best chance of survival.
Find out more about the author and the series here: https://lauramartinbooks.com
Third book in the series, an earlier title having been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. With lots of line illustrations by James de la Rue, this is fantasy adventure in the mode of Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell.
If you’re looking for a big book with a track record as a bestseller in many different languages this adventure set in the time of knights and castles is well worth considering.
Published by Pushkin Children’s Books in 2013 and now in paperback, its route into English is noteworthy:
1962 ‘De brief voor de Koning’ published in Netherlands
1963 Where it wins Children’s Book of the Year Award
1977 Published in German
1990 Published in Danish
1994 Published in Estonian
2000 Published in Czech
2002 Published in Russian
2004 Wins Best Children’s Book of the Last 50 Years Award in Netherlands
2005 Published in Spanish and Japanese
2006 Published in French
2007 Published in Italian and Indonesiabn
2008 Published in Korean
2009 Published in Chinese and Portuguese
2011 Published in Greek
2013 finally published in English (translation by Laura Watkinson)
If you’re looking for a fast-paced, page-turning adventure series to hook a young reader aged 9-11, the Secret Breakers series by H. L. Dennis (billed as ‘Da Vinci Code For Kids’) is definitely worth considering.
The sixth and final book in the series, The Circle of Fire, was published in the autumn but all the Hodder-published titles should still be available.
I love Paul Howard’s sketched illustrations in this island-set summer adventure – perfect for any 7+ animal and nature lover, into beach-combing.
This is the kind of title that can easily slip by un-noticed and not find the readers it deserves.
This video [in the full post] is five years old. But it’s an impressive continuous-movingshot monologue by Joe Craig, author of the Jimmy Coates action series, once described as The Bourne Identity for kids.
The latest title is Blackout, which has a fine book trailer of its own.
series website:
http://www.freewebs.com/jimmycoates/
I stumbled on this video on the National Trust website – TV producer, Stephen Moss, explaining why he believes children need outdoor play.
It has had only a little over 1000 views in a year and deserves wider broadcast.
