Jeremy Strong |
Puffin |
0141320583 |
Jan 2007 |
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With characteristic good humour and seeming irreverence, Jeremy Strong’s latest novel, ‘Beware! Killer tomatoes’ introduces Jack, a hapless individual whose catalogue of disasters include sitting upon the prongs of a fork ‘ ouch! ‘ swallowing a coin ‘ dangerous! ‘ and, most recently, crashing his bike into a parked car. These mishaps are affectionately termed by his family, Jackcidents. |
Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools
Philip Caveney |
Bodley Head |
0370329155 |
Jan 2007 |
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Ryan’s Brain
Michael Lawrence |
Orchard Books |
1846162270 |
Jun 2006 |
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With work that defies easy classification, traversing many genres and all age-ranges, Michael Lawrence deserves to be a much bigger, brighter star amidst the skyline of children’s literature. The ‘Aldous Lexicon’ trilogy, due to draw to a close in October with the highly anticipated, ‘The Underwood See’, showcases his skills as a powerful, thought-provoking novelist. Meanwhile, his irreverent ‘Jiggy McCue’ stories have found firm readership with children for the anarchic sense of fun and frivolity that fills their pages, an affectionate base lies beneath the mad-cap antics in the latest, ‘Ryan’s Brain’. |
The Cafe on Callisto
Jackie French |
Catnip |
184647003X |
Apr 2006 |
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Catnip are a new publishing venture incorporating the established Happy Cat Books list. One of many exciting publications featured within their list this year is the award-winning Jackie French’s ‘Callisto’ series. Perhaps most familiar to readers in the UK as the author of the thought-provoking ‘Hitler’s Daughter’ Jackie French is an author whose breadth and diversity of work frequently broaches territory that is both challenging and uncharted! |
Blart
Dominic Barker |
Bloomsbury |
074758074X |
Feb 2006 |
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Irresistibly irreverent, ‘Blart’ is one of those all-too-rare, laugh-out-loud books. A hapless sort of a chap, Blart, our eponymous protagonist and unlikely hero is a pig farmer by trade and all things porcine certainly form the basis for his comfort-zone. Together with the cantankerous wizard, Capablanca, blowhard warrior, Beowulf and petulant Princess Lois, Blart unwillingly becomes a part of the motley crew who aim to do battle against evil over-lord Zoltab and the minions and Ministers who seek his return. |
Fire Pony
Rodman Philbrick |
Usborne |
1904442714 |
Oct 2005 |
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Rodman Philbrick has a talent for painting a panoramic view of life without excess. His descriptions have a raw, organic feel that belie their crafting. Fire Pony sees Roy and his tempestuous brother Joe Dilly arrive at the Bar None on the run from a secret they share. This secret is central to the novel. Issues of trust and of the need to contend with one’s past are constantly the ground-base for the races Roy runs with pony Lady Luck, the battles against fierce cougars and the fiery drama of the novel’s eventual climax. |
Watch Out for Sprouts! Poems, pictures, doodles and serious thinking.
Simon Bartram |
Templar Publishing |
Oct 2005 |
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Children who have met Bartram’s The Man on the Moon, or Dougal, The Deep Sea Diver, will already know that they are in for a treat with this concoction from the same author. Any parents who haven’t yet introduced their offspring to Bartram’s vivid colours and writing – well, what are you waiting for? |