Emma from Bookish in Crickhowell gives us her top picks for children & teens
Picture Books
Hattie Peck
Emma Levey
Join Hattie Peck on an adventure to find all of the lost eggs in the world. The perfect picture book, with a wonderful story and beautiful illustrations.
Penguin in Peril
Helen Hancocks
With bare cupboards and hungry bellies, three cats steal a penguin to catch fish for them. A hilarious sequence of events unfolds as the penguin makes his escape, gets mistaken for a nun and a waiter, before finally making his way home.
Open Very Carefully
Nick Bromley
What would you do if you were settling down for a quiet bedtime story and you realized that a crocodile had fallen into your storybook and was wreaking havoc? Would you slam that book shut and cram it back onto the bookshelf? Or would you be brave enough to peek..?
The Day the Crayons Quit
Drew Daywalt & Olvier Jeffers
Crayons have feelings too! Poor Duncan just wants to colour. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: his crayons have had enough! They quit!
7 Years +
Whale Boy
Nicola Davies
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards.
In this short novel local author, Nicola Davies, paints a rich and vibrant picture of life on a tropical island, which feels as fresh as the sea air itself. It is the story of Michael, a young boy growing up in Rose Town, who has been saving up for his own fishing boat for years. But when a terrible storm wrecks his home, Michael is forced to take a job working for a rich, mysterious newcomer named Spargo.
9 Years +
Roof Toppers
Katherine Rundell
Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True: there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case. But Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive, but that means still possible…and you should never ignore a possible.
Teen Reading
Wonder
R. J. Palacio
This is a powerful novel about a fifth grade boy born with a jarring facial deformity who insists on going to school. It tells us as much about his sister and classmates as it does about him. A subtle lesson on the meanings and possibilities of kindness.
The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
This heart-wrenchingly beautiful novel about a teenage girl and boy who meet at a cancer support center has already won emotional accolades from readers and reviewers.
