#Review by Lou of A Ticket To Ride by Sue Wickstead @JayJayBus #ChildrensBook #ATicketToRide #Stories #Rhymes @rararesources

A Ticket To Ride
By Sue Wickstead

All aboard!!! Got your ticket to ride this fantastically entertaining children’s book. This is a fun children’s book with rhymes and short stories that are great for on the bus or playing around with the idea of the bus in an imaginative manner. Today, I am part of the blog tour for this next instalment in this lovely collection by Sue Wickstead. Check out the blurb and my review below of A Ticket To Ride for 2 years to 12 years, thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources blog tour spot.

This collection of light-hearted poems and stories is perfect for a cosy afternoon reading with your little ones. Perfect for sharing.

Around the corner and up the hill, jumping off when the bus stops still.

Animals and friends hop on and off the bus as it travels through lands near and far, on special days and everyday afternoons. On this journey, you can meet everything from cats and elephants to one very celebratory bee, telling jokes and adding their opinions.

A Ticket to Ride is a fun collection of cheerful poems with a few short stories sprinkled in. I love the silliness as well as the thoughtful moments, and who doesn’t need a few extra knock-knock jokes to brighten their day? This book is a great read-along, with poems for anytime you want to celebrate.

Review

What will your stop be? The book is your ticket to ride to wherever your imagination or heart takes you on a bus. It encourages fun around buses, language and the silly fun that kids just love to be entertained by. They’re also fun if you’re an adult reading to children. This is part of a gorgeously fun collection of complete within themselves books, which I choose to use in some Bookbug sessions (a Scottish Booktrust group for 0-5 year olds) and kids and adults alike have fun with them. Please note, this isn’t part of their collection, but we do have freedom to choose our books outwith too. The book itself is suitable for children of 2 years to 12 years. There are poems galore, some that are acrostic and all manner of other styles, which is what makes it suitable for such a broad age range.

Packed with jokes, animals and more, it’s the journey you and your children don’t want to miss. Meet animals in entertaining places like a Lion In A Bath, a Gutter Beetle, a Mouse Maze, some strange Electric Elephant Rain and more…
The illustrations are colourful, bold and entertaining for all children to enjoy.

The stops and imaginative, interactive aspects remind me a bit of Playbus in the 80’s. It has that level of fun (for adults, that title also makes me think of Ticket to Ride by The Beatles).

I highly recommend this book which encourages fun, imagination, language through rhyme, which is great to read aloud with children or for older children to also share and perhaps read aloud to their siblings or adults in their lives.

#Review by Lou of The Spectaculars: Battle of the Stars By Jodie Garnish #JodieGarnish @Usborne #Childrensbook #MiddleGrade #kidslit

The Spectaculars: Battle of the Stars
By Jodie Garnish

Review written by Louise Cannon

Enchanting, theatrical, dramatic, The Spectaculars: Battle of the Stars is an entertaining read for middle-grade readers to get lost in and travel with a magical theatre school.

Blurb

Jump onboard the Wondria… The Spectaculars is an enchanting adventure series filled with magic, theatre and danger, perfect for drama lovers. For fans of Nevermoor, The Train to Impossible Places and Carrie Hope Fletcher.

There’s magic in the air as Harper begins her third year as a Spectacular at the Wondria – her magical travelling theatre school.

An immersive theatre show is touring the Hidden Peaks, bewitching everyone with its starry charms. But when the show’s fortune-teller predicts danger in Harper’s future, Harper is suddenly pulled into a terrifying battle of powerful spells and sinister figures.

With her friends, Harper must uncover who is behind it all – because if they can’t, it will be closing night for the whole of the Hidden Peaks…

Review

Immersive theatre shows are amazing and this book reflects this style of theatre to a degree. Hidden Peaks is charming everyone, but there are sinister forces at work after Harper talks to a fortune-teller who predicts her future.

What unfolds is a theatrical world of magic and friendship to pull readers in. The mild trepidation creates a desire to see how this entertaining read where the colliding fantastical world of theatre and magic ends.

#Review of ShadowHall Academy: Ghost Story Society By Phil Hickes @Hickesy @Usborne #Middlegrade #GhostStory #Usborne #Kidslit #ChildrensBook

ShadowHall Academy: Ghost Story Society
By Phil Hickes

Review written by Louise Cannon

If your child likes friendship and a bit of a haunted atmosphere and wonderment of what happens next, that causes that next page to turn, this is the book for them.

Blurb

Welcome to Shadowhall Academy, where spirits haunt the school halls. A brilliantly spooky new series from the author of Aveline Jones.

It’s the perfect night for a ghost story, don’t you think?

As if Shadowhall Academy wasn’t creepy enough, Lilian and her friends have started a Ghost Story Society. It’s all harmless fun, until one girl warns of a sinister book hidden somewhere in the school that can bring your darkest secrets to life.

So when Lilian finds a mysterious book and discovers a long history of strange happenings at Shadowhall, she starts to suspect the terrifying story might be true.

Lilian’s friends warn her not to mess with dark magic, but she’s never been one to resist an adventure. And when she writes her deepest secrets in the book, she unleashes a danger far worse than she could ever imagine…

Review

Lillian and her friends created what seemed harmless fun, an innocuous ghost story. Nothing more was to be expected. Sinister things start to happen and with a mysterious book and quite a history to be discovered, the story builds into something else that sends the girls, and readers, into a world of secrets and magic. As weird mystical things start to unfold, there’s also true friendship throughout between the girls, which brings a heart-warming element of sit on the edge of your seat darkness and discover what the whispering walls have to say.

Discovering the characters who play detective, uncover ghostly goings on are, posh Serena, goth, Marian , anxious Angela, gutsy, loyal Lillian is also fun.

The Shadowhall Academy is an entertaining read. Fans of Jennifer Killick will like this book. I highly recommend Shadowhall Academy.

#Review by Lou of Bibi Saves the Ocean @judithewa_author @LoveBooksTours #LBTTour #LBTKids #ChildrensBook #PictureBook #Ocean #BibiSavesTheOcean

Bibi Saves the Ocean
By Judith Ewa

Review by Louise Cannon

Saving the ocean is a hot topic and here it is packaged into an entertaining picture book story, just in time for the sunnier, better weather is on the horizon.
Find out more in the blurb and then my review below.

Blurb

Clever, resourceful, and bighearted! When this little girl discovers nature has taken a beating, can she use her head to rescue the day?

Bibi loves the beautiful world. Hitting the beach with her two best friends, the joyful nine-year-old can’t wait to have fun in the sun, surf, and sand. But she’s shocked when the pristine playground she was expecting is covered in garbage.

Determined to solve the mystery, the conscientious child discovers the recycling area is hidden, the no-littering signs are faded, and the trash bins are neglected. But with a job so big, she fears rolling up her sleeves and getting her hands dirty won’t be enough to set things right.

Can Bibi recruit her community to jump in and turn the dump into a paradise?

Bibi Saves the Ocean is the heartwarming second book in the Preserve the Planet Series of children’s picture books. If you or your young reader like protecting the environment, working together for the good of all, and discussing the power of caring for the Earth, then you’ll love Judith A. Ewa’s illustrated tale of hope.

Buy Bibi Saves the Ocean to be part of the solution today!

Review

Bibi is just a normal child. She loves hanging out with her friends. On this occasion their chosen destination is the beach and they have a fun-filled day planned. What she hadn’t banked on is that their day will be ruined by other people’s rubbish scattered across what should have been a pristine beach of golden sands and blue sea. Bibi and her friends go on an adventure around to see what needs improvement and discover how to get the community involved in cleaning it up, so it can be a beach people can use responsibly again.

Bibi Saves the Ocean is poignant and relevant. It’s as emotional as it is fun with a good plot line. The author manages to get the point across about the ocean and beaches needing to be clean and recycling your litter without it being overly preachy, which is clever. The illustrations are punchy and fun as well, that get across the story, well. The book also shows team work and what can be achieved when we work together for a cause and how much fun can be had on a beach when it’s clean.

It sits well with similar books that are about the environment and taking manageable action, being aware of the environment and aware of our own actions.

About the Author

Judith A. Ewa is the award-winning author of the new children’s book Bibi Saves the Ocean. Her international career as a finance professional, currently working in the area of climate change, has spanned the areas of humanitarian assistance, sustainable development and peacekeeping. The focus of her career has been on improving the lives of children around the world, especially in developing countries. Her latest work is the second book in the Preserve the Planet Series. Through her books she aims to bring awareness to children about the importance of preserving the environment. Each book also offers a simple solution that children can actively carry out to bring about small changes today, to make a big difference tomorrow. Judith holds an MBA from the University of Leicester. She enjoys listening to jazz, is an avid football and tennis fan who currently resides in Switzerland. Find out more about Judith at www.judithaewa.com

#Review by Lou of Mousey Mornings by Fiona Lowry @FionaLowry9 #PictureBook #KidsBook #MouseyMornings

Mousey Mornings
By Fiona Lowry

Review written by Louise (Lou) Bookmarks and Stages

Mousey Mornings is a cute, cosy picture book with lots of pictures, a story without too much cheese and can also be used for useful discussions.

Blurb

Discover the cozy, hidden world beneath the stairs with Melvin and Zara.

Melvin is a brilliant little chef who loves to whip up delicious treats for his best friend, Zara. But when Melvin’s whiskers droop from exhaustion, Zara realizes it’s time to step up and lend a paw.

Through teamwork, kindness, and a sprinkle of determination, the two friends embark on a heartwarming journey to rediscover what makes their friendship so special.

Perfect for young readers, Mousey Mornings is a delightful tale about the importance of helping one another, sharing responsibilities, and the magic of lasting friendship.

Join Melvin and Zara as they learn that the best recipes aren’t just for food—they’re for friendship, too!

Review

There’s a whole mousey world to have fun exploring. Young readers join Melvin and Zara in this cosy story about friendship and teamwork.

It’s a book that can be related to human households. Melvin is exhausted after always doing nice things like creating treats for his friend Zara, who doesn’t really do a lot back. She then realises just how tired he’s becoming after working hard and decides it’s time for her to give him a hand (paw) out. The friends then realise how valuable their friendship is and even more so when they work as part of a team.

Mousey Mornings is nicely illustrated and is great for reading alone or aloud. It’s a lovely bedtime story.
It’s also great for opening up discussions as part of a family or in an educational setting.

#Review of Santa Steals Christmas By Eve Nairn-Magnante Illustrated By Nicholas Child @SantaStealsXms #SantaStealsChristmas #Christmas #InclusiveStories #ChildrensBooks #DyslexiaFriendly #Kidslit

Santa Steals Christmas
By Eve Nairn -Magnante
Illustrated By Nicholas Child

Review written by Louise Cannon (Lou)

Santa Steals Christmas is written by a child for children. It is a book that’s also created for supporting charities. 5% of sales of each book will be donated to Scottish Autism via Work for Good, 5% of sales of each book will be donated to Dyslexia Scotland via Work For Good.
The book has a font and typeface designed by a dyslexic for people who have dyslexia.
Suitable for 3 years plus, it is the world’s 1st children’s picture book to be fully accessible! Available in dyslexia friendly book, ebook, audiobook, audio description, videobook, BSL & braille.

Blurb

This Christmas isn’t like every other Christmas…

This year, Santa can be spotted stealing presents instead of sharing them – but how can this be?!

Can Rudolph and the elves save Christmas before all the girls and boys wake up?

A witty and surprising mystery, inspired and written by a child for children.

Review

Santa Steals Christmas has big bold pictures and distinctive font, with short, snappy sentences. It all begins in Santa’s workshop, where many toys can be seen. Toys are all delivered, but an alarm rings out to alert the real Santa that there is an imposter. The race is on to find the “naughty Santa”. What is discovered is quite a good twist and of course the real Santa saves the day that will leave children with festive cheer.

Santa Steals Christmas has all the entertaining fun with just the right amount of trepidation young children need, with a great ending that makes everything all right in the world again. It’s a fast read and races along at a good pace so that it can capture young children’s concentration levels. The illustrations make it fun and are bright and bold, helping children follow the story.

The accessibility for all children has been carefully considered through the type-face, font, margins, spacing ensuring that even those with dyslexia can have some festive fun with it.

I read it to a couple of groups of children who were delighted by this book. Their parents also approved of this book and all that it brings for every single child.
I also recommend this delightful and inclusive book.