A beautifully illustrated book that highlights the importance of all the animals found in a woodland ecosystem. When a man in the bulldozer arrives to tear down trees declaring that “this land is too full” he finds the animals of the woodland in his way. He takes the time to ask each one what they do and realises they’re important to maintaining the woodland. This is a gentle way to introduce young children to the role each child has in an ecosystem, from the typically less likable creatures like wasps and rats to more cuddly characters ... View Full Review
A simple picture book with a positive message. This little picture book forms part of a series that shares the importance of different gifts. In this book we see the Gift of Resilience. In the short rhyming text we’re told that although it’s a gift you can’t buy it in a shop or online, but it can help you to overcome challenges and bounce back from setbacks. Showing resilience can also be a great example to others and help them to unlock their own gift. The examples and situations used throughout the book are ... View Full Review
Available from Stories for our hearts
Ruairí and Charlie are author Breege Hoyne’s own children and in Ruairí's Rocket to heaven, the love the two brothers share and how Ruairí’s death affected Charlie is conveyed. The book has gentle illustrations with soft pastel tones throughout as we see how much Charlie loved his younger brother and the ways they used to spend time together. I liked that when Charlie was told the sad news of Ruairí’s death, it was conveyed in clear and simple yet still compassionate language, rather ... View Full Review
This is a delightful collection of four short stories by Kevin O’Flaherty. The common themes throughout are reflection, choice and outcome made by fictional characters in a variety of geographical locations. Each story is a modern parable demonstrating the triumphs and flaws of human nature. The four stories are set in the locations of Tucuman, Argentina, the Basque region of Spain, Gloucester and the west coast of Ireland. In Argentina, the story is set around James as he travels from New York to Tucuman to seek fulfilling work of building a health care centre. It describes how he ... View Full Review
More challenges for Riley on and off the pitch in this nail biting sequel. It’s the start of a new season for Riley and the Highfield flyers. With another shot at the league after last year’s painful loss, changes in school and the grief of his mum’s terminal cancer diagnosis, Riley is exhausted. When bad news arrives Rile must once more show his strength of character in the darkest times, with his team there to offer support and a moment of escape. I found the first book in this series, Life of Riley - ... View Full Review
This is an enjoyable children’s story with charming illustrations. It is a story with unexpected outcomes, with themes of realizing there is good and bad in everyone. Situations can turn around, there is always a way to progress despite how circumstances look. If you work and try hard and never give up, you will succeed. Teamwork, forgiveness and goodness/kindness triumphing are also important underlying themes. Everyone deserves a chance. The story offers hope and inspiration to all. The children are having afternoon classes so that they can work on their education. They have them in a forest ... View Full Review
A rhyming journey through the A-Z of cat life. This is a bright and fun picture book for anyone that loves cats. Whether you have your own feline friend or love animals in general this book delivers on catitude. The soft colourful illustrations and rhyming phrasing are perfect for younger readers to enjoy with family or as a class, and the author has included other items corresponding to each letter onto the page for readers to spot. I think that this book works as a gently flowing bedtime book for younger readers. The alphabet words may be perhaps more advanced ... View Full Review
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Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods by Harry Dehrian is an imaginative space opera that follows a range of characters as they navigate a technologically advanced world. Although the setting is futuristic, the key themes of mystery, power, ambition and destiny are universal.
This is an epic sci-fi read weighing in at around 700 pages, containing in essence 5 parallel narratives. The structure reminds me of A Song of Ice and Fire in that there’s enough detail and action that they could probably be a story in their own right but could also all intertwine further down the ... View Full Review
A dystopian adventure for young readers that celebrates stories. 12 year old Ceres is a keen and imaginative storyteller able to project her creations to her friends through her left eye. But in a world where the Council is banning books, the ever invasive Vine of brainless gossip latches on to everyone and Ceres starts having trouble with her special gift, it seems like storytelling is about to be destroyed for good. Can Ceres fix the humming in her head and bring her stories to life again? This is an unusual chapter book with lots of whimsy and peculiarities. Ceres’ ... View Full Review
A search for a lost kitten that taps into many children’s keen desire for a pet. For anyone that knows a child that desperately wants a pet, 11 year-old Tempest and her 8 year-old brother Wallace will be easily identifiable characters. Told no by their parents but still determined, Tempest hears a kitten stuck up in a tree and decides secretly keeping him is the answer to showing her parents that they’re responsible for a cat. But when the cat gets out, the mystery of his whereabouts begins. This story is both filled with information that is important ... View Full Review
Immerse yourself in bottle-flipping fever as young Billy gets supernatural assistance to improve his technique. For the setting of Hog’s Head Stew, cast your minds back to 2016, when chucking a bottle and getting it to land upright in a flukey position or location was sweeping the internet and schoolyards far and wide. Billy is at the bottom of their school’s bottle flipping league, discovering the attic is the best place to practise without his parents asking him to stop with the repetitive noise. But the delivery of an old wardrobe might scupper his plans and comes ... View Full Review
A warmly illustrated picture book about loss and overcoming obstacles to make a kite. Melia misses the friendship she had with her dog Ginger and wants to join in with other children playing with their kites. After they turn her away, she has to find out for herself how to build a kite, and even though the other kids laugh when she does, Melia finds joy when the kite soars. This is a gently told story that could be shared as a story about overcoming obstacles (with Melia building her kite) or as a gentle introduction to loss (with the ... View Full Review
