Tag Archive | Hodder Childrens

Five & The Smuggler’s Code by Chris Smith

Jan25

Solving The Code

Five & The Smuggler’s Code by Chris Smith is a marvellous contemporary children’s adventure that is perfect for the over eights. Whatever your age, if you remember the original famous five, this book will entertain you. It is the second book in the New Famous Five series. This book can be read as a stand-alone but I recommend reading the books in numerical order as the first book sets the scene.

As with the previous book, this one is simply and effectively illustrated by James Lancett.

All the characters were well drawn. The reader meets up with the three new children and their dog, as well as grandad Dick, great aunt Anne and Professor George – all part of the original famous five.

As the children set about solving a new crime, it is seamlessly woven into a crime from fifty-four years ago.

The locations spring to life. I recognised the setting of the Mermaid Inn at Rye as I visited there as a child, more than fifty-five years ago.

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Five & The Forgotten Treasure by Chris Smith

Jan25

A Fabulous New Series

Five & The Forgotten Treasure by Chris Smith is a marvellous children’s book and just perfect for eight years and older. It is the first book in a brand-new series called The New Famous Five which promises to be fabulous.

I grew up on Enid Blyton’s original Famous Five books so I was excited to read this new version. Of the original famous five, we meet George who is now a professor. Just like her father.

The book is set fifty-five-years after the original. We meet three new children and their dog who go to stay with George. She is the cousin of their grandpa Dick who was in the original series.

A new adventure awaits but it is linked to an old one, fifty-five-years ago. Blending old and new, Chris Smith has created the perfect tale for old and new readers alike.

There is a feeling of familiarity to the book as locations, as well as characters, are familiar. There are picnics and lashings of ginger beer – a nod to the originals.

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How To Fly With Broken Wings by Jane Elson

Apr25

Spreading The Magic

How To Fly With Broken Wings by Jane Elson is a beautiful, contemporary children’s novel that is about friendship, remembrance and celebrating differences.

We meet twelve year old Willem who has autism. Jane Elson challenges us to realise that people with autism think differently and find navigating life hard. I worked as a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) in the local high school for many years. I worked with numerous pupils who had autism, and Jane Elson has perfectly captured Willem – his dislike of change and social situations, his need for a comfort object and his literal interpretations. Willem is also highly intelligent.

Willem has a desperate search for friends which means the bullies take advantage of him. He does, however, have a friend in Sasha who looks out for him and who understands Willem’s needs.

The book is written in the first person, alternating between the voices of Willem and Sasha. We become intimately acquainted with them both.

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Will You Catch Me? by Jane Elson

Apr23

Powerful & Heart-Wrenching

Will You Catch Me? by Jane Elson is a powerful, heart-wrenching children’s novel and just perfect for ages ten years and older. It is a novel that I would recommend for any age as it will help you to get inside and understand the working of a young girl’s mind.

The novel has the heart-breaking theme of alcoholism. This effects not only the sufferer but all those they interact with. We follow Nell, in year eight as she struggles to cope alone with her Mum’s addiction. The reader’s heart just breaks for Nell. She is the self-proclaimed carer for her Mum since she was six years old. She keeps silent as she fears her Mum being taken away.

We really get to know Nell as the novel is written in her voice in the first person. We hear her fears and applaud her bravery and stoicism.

Nell loves her Mum but being the responsible one is exhausting. “I don’t want to go home, I’m scared of what I might find.” The reader longs for Nell to just be able to be a child. There are glimpses of the Mum her Mum could be, and the relationship they could have – but the demon drink keeps on winning.

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