Interest Age 5-8 Poor Josh, he’s being tortured by his baby brother. Charlie may only be 17 days old but he’s really making Josh angry: he keeps everyone awake all night; he takes all their parents’ attention; they’ve had to move house, and no-one has time to unpack, let alone decorate Josh’s room. But over the course of one night, Josh comes to love his brother so fiercely he knows he’d dive into icy waters to save him. It’s a beautifully observed slice of family life told with genuine warmth, and without a trace of sentimentality. Sam Usher’s illustrations of the two brothers are gorgeous too. A special book for sharing or for children to read on their own. ~ Andrea Reece
About the Little Gems series: Little Gems are in a gorgeous new chunky format, with high-spec production including coloured endpapers and jacketed flaps with activities. Additional features include high quality cream paper, Barrington Stoke font and illustrations on every page. They are perfect for 5-8's. These quality stories promote good reading practice for all newly independent readers.
Josh has a problem. There's a new little person in the house, his baby brother Charlie. It's supposed to be a happy thing - but he's proving to be a nightmare! When Charlie's not howling the place down, he's hogging all of Mum and Dad's time and attention. Josh is fed up. But can baby Charlie change his mind? Tender and heartwarming tale about new siblings.
High quality cream paper and a special easy to read font ensure a smooth read for all.
Michelle Magorian is undoubtedly one of the pre-eminent children’s writers of historical family drama and of books set around the Second World War. She may not be a household name but that’s purely because she doesn’t write as frequently as those more obvious bestselling novelists. Just Henry is her seventh novel. Unlike some authors Magorian writes when the time is right having first undertaken considerable research, followed by a lot of thinking time before actually putting pen to paper and then there’s always the very important rewrites to polish the story. Magorian loves the research and the writing in equal measure but particularly loves writing dialogue.
Interestingly, Magorian’s first love when she was younger was to be an actress but she also loved writing and day dreaming – the perfect combination for a successful novelist. Here at Lovereading4kids we urge parents and children to try out the wonderful writing, experience the roller-coaster of emotions you’ll get from reading a Michelle Magorian novel. We’re confident you’ll be swept up into a time and place that should never be forgotten.
Click here to read a Q&A with the author from top children's publisher Egmont.