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Happytown Must Be Destroyed by James Harris

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Leeza’s parents are ordinary. Unfit, grumpy, a bit embarrassing. Totally normal, right?
Until today. Today they are jogging. Eating salads and enjoying them. Smiling all the time. They’re happy. Really, really happy. Who could complain about that?
Leeza, that’s who.
Because it looks like someone’s brainwashing everyone in town. Who’s going to save the world? Oh no! It looks like it might have to be Leeza. OK then. Let’s do this. You coming?

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Nutty Nonsense by Colin West

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 11 Feb 2022

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From the Publisher

The country’s best — and shockingly undervalued — nonsense poet has compiled a collection of his most popular poems and added new illustrations to help out a children’s literature charity (see below). The result is just under a hundred pages of unrivalled entertainment. You won’t find a dud verse anywhere. Here’s one, turned to at random, Hedgehog’s Valentine:

If you’re sickly,
Feeling prickly,
As your trickly
Tears fall thickly,
Don’t act fickly,
Kiss me quickly,
You’ll feel tickly,
Not so prickly,
And partickly
Far from sickly.

For everyone who enjoys their nonsense nonsensical, their rhymes rhythmical (one of the areas in which West is outstanding) and their pictures picturesque, Colin West has dusted down and polished up some of his funniest poems, and added brand new drawings for this collection of Nutty Nonsense. It’s full of amusing characters – step up Norton Norton and his amazing nostrils, accident prone Uncle Harry, and a lighthouse keeper with an enormous family. You’ll also meet fabulous creatures, such as the friendly-looking (but always hungry) Ogglewop, and the fearsome, nocturnal Blunderblat. There’s  the mysterious Wobble-Dee-Woo, a nautical cat named Shivermetimbers, and many more crazy creations.

Published by Poems & Pictures, a small independent publisher of books based in the North of England, established in January 2012.  All profits from sales of the book will go to the Children’s Literature Festivals charity.

Grimwood by Nadia Shireen

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Times Children’s Book of the Week 23 Sep 2021

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Fox cub siblings Ted and Nancy are on the run from Princess Buttons, the scariest street cat in the Big City. They flee for Grimwood, expecting to find refuge in the peaceful countryside. Instead, they are met with thieving eagles, dramatic ducks, riotous rabbits and a whole host of unusual characters. Grimwood is . . . weird. But when Princess Buttons tracks them down, Nancy and Ted and the animals of Grimwood must unite in a mind-bending race against time …

 

The Exploding Life of Scarlett Fife by Maz Evans ill. Chris Jevons

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Scarlett Fife has BIG feelings. And she’s about to get into BIG trouble. From the bestselling Maz Evans comes a heartfelt and hilarious new series, perfect for fans of Roald Dahl’s Matilda.

Scarlett’s in big trouble after a BIG FEELINGS episode leads to a runaway hamster getting into the vicar’s trousers at her aunty’s engagement party. If she loses her temper ONE MORE TIME, she’s going to miss out on her trip to Mega Awesome Sicky Fun World, the best theme park on the planet. But feelings are like slime in a party bag. No matter how much someone tells you to keep it in, it’ll always find its way out. And very soon, Scarlett notices that every time she pushes her feelings down, something explodes. Like … really, properly explodes. It might be her teacher’s slimy green smoothie. A huge pot of purple paint. Or a massive pile of elephant poo at the zoo. And let’s hope Scarlett doesn’t get mad at Aunty’s wedding – that wedding cake is HUGE …

Follow Chris Jevons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisjevonsillustration/

The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. (Paperback) by Jen Carney

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The start of an exciting new series full of Billie’s laugh-out-loud observations and doodles!

There is a new girl at Billie’s school, and Billie takes it upon herself to show her around, teach her the Biscuit Laws, and remind her that yes, two women can get married (after all, Billie’s mums’ wedding is the event of the year). But then suspicion sets in. The new girl seems very close to Billie’s best friend Layla. And doesn’t she know a little too much about the latest big school heist – the theft of Mrs Robinson’s purse…?

Follow Jen Carney on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jencarney76/

Monster Doughnuts 1 by Gianna Pollero ill. Sarah Horne

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A deliciously funny series from  new talent Gianna Pollero, illustrated by the award-winning Sarah Horne. Ten-year-old Grace likes doughnuts and cakes as much as the next kid – but they are also her secret weapon. Grace is a monster hunter who owns a bakery – and everyone knows how much monsters LOVE any kind of sweet treat! Just don’t tell them about the secret exploding baking powder inside the doughnuts and the cookies … When Grace’s Monster Scanning Machine alerts her to the doughnut-loving, people-eating, board-game-playing cyclops Mr Harris, she realises she’s about to face her biggest challenge yet…

Follow the illustrator on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahbhorne9/

The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 1 Apr 2021
Cost Book Awards 2021 Shortlist

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A laugh-out-loud, against-all-odds triumph of a story.

Billy Plimpton is an eleven-year-old boy with a big dream. He wants to be a stand-up comedian when he grows up, delivering pinpoint punch-lines and having audiences hang on his every hilarious word. Surely an impossible ambition for a boy with a stammer. How will he find his voice, if his voice won’t let him speak?

The idea for this story came from Helen Rutter’s son, who has a stammer: she wanted to write the book that he would love to read, starring a child like him.

You may also be interested in this recent picture book about a boy with a stammer: I Talk Like A River an ACHUKA Book of the Day in January 2021.

The Best Ever Book of Funny Poems chosen by Brian Moses

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 18 Mar 2021

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A new anthology of humorous children’s poems from Macmillan, curated by Brian Moses, who has been a Macmillan children’s poet for many years. Check out Lost Magic: The Very Best of Brian Moses, a collection which includes performance stalwarts such as ‘Walking with My Iguana‘ ‘The Lost Angels’, ‘Aliens Stole My Underpants’, ‘Behind the Staffroom Door’, ‘Lost Magic’, ‘The Sssnake Hotel’, ‘A Feather from an Angel’, and ‘Cakes in the Staffroom’:

Perfect d for reading aloud. Explore poems about pets, peculiar creatures, school, family, fantasy, dinosaurs, dragons, space, and just plain NONSENSE.

The anthology includes work by Brian Bilston, Sue Hardy-Dawson, Pie Corbett*, Paul Cookson, Liz Brownlee, Mike Jubb, James Carter and Rachel Rooney.

*Corbett’s Wikipedia entry is in need of amendment/updating

Bunny vs Monkey And The Human Invasion by Jamie Smart

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 8 Mar 20201

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Big thick bumper edition – super value!

This brand new remastered book collects together Bunny vs Monkey 3: The Stench and Bunny vs Monkey 4: The Wobbles for the first time. Since he crash-landed to Earth in a rocket, Monkey has been causing absolute mayhem! Bunny and the gang (Squirrel, Pig [the Pig], Action Beaver, and Skunky the Inventor) have almost had enough. In this rollicking comic extravaganza, the pint-sized friends must tackle a helliphant, rocket-powered hot air balloons, and the most mind-boggling creatures of all… hew-mans…

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiefumboo/

Chocolate Milk, X-Ray Specs & Me! by Bethany Walker ill. Jack Noel

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 28 Jan 2021

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In this hilarious, fantastic debut by Bethany Walker. 10-year-old Freddy Spicer writes letters to his parents – who he believes are working at a Brussels-sprouts farm in Outer Castonga, with no internet or phone access. In fact, Freddy’s parents are secret agents out of the country on a highly classified mission – but Freddy has NO IDEA! Throw in: Grandad’s X-Ray specs; A laser blaster that accidentally destroys the shed; A strange new neighbour flirting with grandad; and Suspicious goings-on at school . . . Laugh-out-loud, high energy, fully illustrated fun for young readers!

Read an interview with the author on the Scholastic website.