Books for kids

This week’s children’s books recommendations from ReadingZone.

www.ReadingZone.com is for parents and children who want to know more about children’s books and authors with reviews, recommendations, extracts and competitions.

5+

S is for South Africa
By Beverley Naidoo, Prodeepta Das
Published by Frances Lincoln
£11.99
ISBN 9781847800183

Many children might be wondering about the South Africa they see on television and what lies beyond the giant football stadiums that are hosting the FIFA World Cup.

S is for South Africa draws a lively, detailed picture of the ‘Rainbow Nation’, providing a photographic alphabet of its cities and rural areas, the contrasts of wealth and poverty, and its people and landscapes. Some children will be surprised that Africa comprises modern cities and schools as well as rural villages.

Intertwined are sayings and traditions that bring the culture of South Africa to life, from the little Imbira home-crafted piano to ‘Madiba’ – Nelson Mandela, or ‘elder of the clan’.

9+

Artemis Fowl
By Eoin Colfer
Published by Puffin
£6.99
ISBN 9780141329727

Artemis Fowl won the public vote earlier this month for the ‘Puffin of Puffins’ – the nation’s favourite Puffin title published in the last 70 years.

As it is also one of our favourites, we thought it was worth highlighting for those who haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Artemis Fowl, the young mastermind of crime who the series is named after.

Artemis isn’t your average criminal – he’s only 13 but he has his eyes set on the most audacious heist he can envisage; stealing fairy gold, and lots of it.

Get two copies for your household though, because you will be just as gripped as the younger members of your family. It’s brilliant.

Books for kids

This week’s children’s books recommendations from ReadingZone.

www.ReadingZone.com is for parents and children who want to know more about children’s books and authors with reviews, recommendations, extracts and competitions.

5+

Me and You
By Anthony Browne
Published by Doubleday
£10.99
ISBN 978-0385614894

This is a wonderful retelling by Anthony Browne of the Goldilocks fairy tale, which Browne gives a contemporary twist. A girl becomes lost after chasing her balloon and, weary of walking the forbidding inner city streets, she enters the house of the three bears which looks bright and welcoming.

However, all is not well in the world of the Bears in Browne’s story. Baby Bear is well looked after but lonely – his parents are too busy thinking about work and housework – and when ‘Goldilocks’ runs safely into the arms of her mother at the end of the story, it is Baby Bear we are left feeling sorry for.

Browne shows that it is ‘Goldilocks’s’ grey cityscape that has the warmth of a real home, not the Bears’ fairytale world.

9+

How to Survive Summer Camp
By Jacqueline Wilson
Published by Oxford University Press
£9.99
ISBN 978-0192729927

With our thoughts turning to the summer holidays, Jacqueline Wilson fans will be thrilled to see this new edition of How to Survive Summer Camp in the bookshops this month.

Stella is dumped at Evergreen Summer Camp while her mum swans off to Europe on her honeymoon. Stella’s summer holiday at Evergreen doesn’t look promising and gets off to a bad start with her roommates, snobby Louise and nasty Karen, and threatens to get worse until she begins to get the better of her roommates, and her fear of swimming.

Once they’ve read the story, there are loads of quizzes and activities at the back of the book for readers to enjoy.

Books for kids

This week’s children’s books recommendations from ReadingZone.

www.ReadingZone.com is for parents and children who want to know more about children’s books and authors with reviews, recommendations, extracts and competitions.

5+

Why do Farts Smell Like Rotten Eggs?
By Mitchell Symons
Published by Red Fox
£4.99
ISBN 978-1862307490

Why do farts smell? Why do we burp? Do lemmings really jump off cliffs? This is a smart and funny approach to trivia with buckets-full of answers to the kinds of questions that kids ask.

You can leave them to read the book, or swot up some interesting facts to impress them. When they are doing their History homework, be ready to explain that the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme was based on King Louis XV1 of France who lost his ‘crown’, and other amazing facts.

It’s a perfect read for children who avoid fiction – or even books – as the layout invites them to ‘dip in’ to the pages when they want. Boys will, of course, be impressed by the title.

9+

The Naughtiest Girl in the School
By Enid Blyton
Published by Hodder Children’s Books
£5.99
ISBN 978-1444900743

The Naughtiest Girl in the School was Enid Blyton’s first boarding school story and it’s been republished here in a special classic edition with wonderfully old-fashioned black and white illustrations.

Elizabeth Allen is spoilt and selfish. When she is sent away to boarding school she decides to be the naughtiest pupil there – but she soon finds out that being bad isn’t that simple.

Boarding school stories continue to appeal to today’s children, especially post Harry Potter, and whether children are Blyton fans or not, this story has plenty of appeal with its page-turning action, mischief and friendships. Once you’ve got them hooked on this story, there are plenty more to follow.