When crossword puzzles, triplets and magic come together, the combination is a delightful mixture of commonsense, logic and madness. Small Change for Stuart is about a very short boy with slightly crazy parents.  The parents do not realise that their short son is going to be traumatised through life because his first initial and surname invite a nickname that he has to live with - S. Horten. Moving to the tiny village of Beeton, Stuart is lost. He has no friends yet because he cannot count the irritating triplets next door called April, May and June. Stuart does, however, have the prospect of a great-uncle who disappeared during the second world war. Stuart follows his great-uncle Tony's treasure-trail and discovers many things. The reader - especially the adult reader - winces at his mistakes and then marvels at his triumphs. Full of puns, wordplay and wry humour, Small Change … [Read more...]

When a little girl called Jill is told that she has to meet Jack, she begins a wonderful journey of stories with Mother Greenwood and a few Jacks here and there. The Famous Adventures of Jack by Berlie Doherty is a collection of new tales that have the same charm, predictability and comfort of well-loved classics. With Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack's magical snuff-box and Daft Jack, the book is packed to the brim with familiar, old-world stories that are utterly new. It's almost like taking a quilt you love and stitching it into different patterns that are just as beautiful! … [Read more...]

"Where are you, Varsha?" "I'm not here!" I call back. "It looks like you are." "No, I'm inside here." (pointing to my book) That's the way it was with The Story of Cirrus Flux. I enjoyed the ride through 18th century England, with Matthew Skelton's small liberties with historical facts. I wondered again at how far science has come, but how cruel the human race is. We're such a bunch of contraries. We are capable of great kindness and great cruelty. We are capable of infinite selflessness and inhuman selfishness. We want revenge, but want to forgive. We go to any lengths for people we love. The Story of Cirrus Flux, while making you gasp and shiver, also has all these contraries melting together. … [Read more...]