The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a book all about sensations, of cold and fear, warmth and happiness, food and starvation. From the very first page you really feel as if you’re in this world. “Snow lay thick, too, upon the roof of Willoughby Chase… The house was all alight within, and the joyous … Continue reading
The Snow Angel tells the story of a young girl with a love of the natural world and adventure who loses her parents to Ebola then finds herself rejected by her adopted family and plunged into an even more dangerous world. Her plight is lightened by the arrival a new friend and the occasional appearance … Continue reading
‘Once upon a time, a hundred years ago there was a dark and stormy girl.’ With echoes of the Brothers Grimm and Snoopy, The Wolf Wilder is a book that already feels like another classic from Katherine Rundell. Adding to that effect are atmospheric illustrations throughout by Gelrev Ongbico who talks here about the process … Continue reading
Following on from last year’s list of the best Christmas books for children, 2019 sees a gathering of the very finest illustrated tales of snow, ice and winter magic. These are stories imbued with the sense of wonder and possibility which is evident during the winter months. And when the real world is distinctly lacking … Continue reading
2017 was inevitably the year of Dust. Philip Pullman’s return to the world of His Dark Materials dominated the world of children’s books so completely that I’ve not quite been able to bring myself to read it yet. I think I’ll wait until the, ahem, dust has settled. In the meantime there were plenty of … Continue reading
A combination seemingly put together to cater specifically for my tastes, One Christmas Wish brings together the author of one of my books of the year (Katherine Rundell’s The Explorer) with the artist behind one of the best Christmas picture books of recent years (Emily Sutton’s The Christmas Eve Tree). Thankfully they don’t disappoint. ‘It was … Continue reading
There’s a little way to go yet, but I’m going to put my neck out and say that Lauren St John’s new novel is the best book of the season, and one of the highlights of the year. The Snow Angel begins a little like Katherine Rundell’s debut The Girl Savage which I read at … Continue reading
‘Fictional food’s not reliable,’ says Alexei, a character from Katherine Rundell’s third children’s novel The Wolf Wilder. This incorrect assertion is something Rundell disproves again and again in her delicious books. ‘I think food grounds a story: gives realism to the maddest plot, gives breathing space to the wildest action, brings comfort and humanity to … Continue reading
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s list of my favourite picture books and graphic novels of 2015 comes another ten books for children, these ones containing more words than pictures. It’s a stupidly broad category that includes stories about trains, wolves, refugees, pills, Christmas, tigers and tapirs. And that’s just how I like it. Five … Continue reading
December is the month when I excuse myself from my intimidating pile of unread books and turn back to some favourites from Christmases past. I never read the Wolves of Willoughby Chase myself, but it was read to me by a primary school teacher of impeccable taste. As I sit here thirty years on, … Continue reading
After the unforgettable Rooftoppers, comes The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell, easily my most anticipated book of the year. ‘Once upon a time, a hundred years ago there was a dark and stormy girl’, it begins. With echoes of the Brothers Grimm and the work of Snoopy, this is a book that already feels like a classic. … Continue reading
‘Lyra barged open the door, dragged her rickety chair to the window, flung wide the casement, and scrambled out. There was a lead-lined stone gutter a foot wide just below the window, and once she was standing in that, she turned and clambered up over the rough tiles until she stood on the topmost ridge … Continue reading
