'Oy yew' by Ana Salote

Oy lives on the smells and crumbs of his local bakery before he is snatched and sent to work first in the factory, and then the house, owned by the villainous Master Jeopardine. The master’s child slaves have a strange tendency to vanish before they grow tall enough to leave with their wages. And, if this wasn’t bad enough, Jeopardine has an obsession with rare and valuable bones and has his eye on Oy’s unusual thumb joints...

Can Oy and the other waifs escape before they grow too tall? And can Oy survive the master’s attempts to bump him off so he can exhibit Oy’s bones in his collection? This is a very imaginative story with lots of twists and turns so buckle up for a bumpy ride!

If you've ever wondered how 'Oliver Twist' would've turned out had Lemmony Snicket collaborated with Charles Dickens, this will give you some idea. And should you find yourself falling in love with this weird and wonderful world, the good news is that there’s another two books to follow…

Wilf the mighty worrier saves the world by Georgia Pritchett (illustrated by Jamie Littler)

Now you may not think that someone as anxious as Wilf would make a very good hero because he's afraid of just about everything. His list of things he is officially scared of includes: lifts, the sea, dark places, stuffed animals, the waggly wavers on insects and peanut butter. He is, however, blinking brilliant at hopping.

But Wilf must overcome his fears when supervillain, Alan, and his stroppy teenaged robot moves in next door with plans to destroy the world. Can Wilf survive the beginning of the end of the world? And will he stop worrying enough to save the day?

This is a very funny book that had me in giggles all the way through. And, as someone who also suffers with anxiety, I even picked up a few tips... Perfect for 8+ readers who like silliness and fun with an unlikely hero.

The Dream snatcher by Abi Elphinstone

Moll Pecksmith is being pursued by a witchdoctor called Skull who creeps into her dreams, seeking to lure her away from the safety of her gypsy camp into his evil clutches. On learning that Skull is responsible for her parents’ deaths, she decides to exact revenge by finding the “amulets of truth”, the only things that can destroy Skull’s power.

Moll is a fun character to hang out with. I really want to be her and spend my life climbing trees, catapult-shooting, and burping the alphabet. She’s got a couple of cool sidekicks too – the bumbling Siddy, who has a touch of Ron Weasley about him, and the mysterious Alfie.

Not quite so fun are the evil creatures pursuing Moll: his bloodthirsty hounds and the ghostly vapours that slip down Moll's throat, trying to extract her name. In fact, the book is so packed with darkness and peril that the reader risks becoming numb to the horrors that Moll faces after a while. However, it maintains a good pace and is never slow or boring. Some readers may be frightened by the darkness. But kids who enjoyed the later Harry Potter books will delight in this book's magical world.
 

What do kids want...? Monsters!

What do kids want? Monsters!

One theme that comes up again and again when I’m chatting to kids while helping at the local library is… Monsters! They can’t seem to get enough of them. Funny ones, scary ones, friendly ones… If I ask children which are the favourite of the books they’ve been reading, time and again the books with monsters are the winners.

Don’t be silly Sarah, didn’t you know? There’s no such thing as a Gruffalo! Hah, well that’s what the grownups might say. But every child knows that monsters really do exist and they're lurking under the bed and behind the wardrobe, just waiting for the right opportunity to jump out and pounce.
My own childhood monsters didn’t just hide under the bed. They actually crept inside... or they would have done so if I hadn’t had a night time routine of pulling the bed sheets back to check before I went to sleep each night. I fooled them, see?

So given the actual existence of monsters, what better place to encounter them and learn how to fight them than in books? If anyone can recommend a literary monster or two, please send them my way.

Well, perhaps don’t actually send them my way. Not the scary ones anyway. It’s hard enough getting to sleep during the hot summer nights without having to worry about what might be about to chew off a toe or two…

Horrid Henry's Nightmare

The front cover glows in the dark!

Well it grabbed my attention anyway. I had to cup my hands around my eyes to check. And glow it did. Having pressed my face so close to the copy on the shelf, it seemed a bit rude not to take it to the check-out...

Not that I needed much encouragement. I’d heard good things about horrid Henry from some of the kids at the library where I’m doing voluntary work. The only complaints were about the distinct lack of Henry on the library shelves, the early kids having stripped them bare.

This latest offering from Francesca Simon has the usual collection of short stories. My favourite is the one where Henry and his pal, Rude Ralph, try to freak each other out with scary stories. Here Henry shows a rare vulnerable side. It turns out that he isn’t quite as tough as he likes to make out. That makes him easy to identify with, and we can all think of someone a little (or a lot) like him. He has a certain charm so that, despite his horridness, we can’t help loving him.

Is Henry a good role model? One mum at the library said that she didn’t like her daughter reading the books because she copied the bad behaviour. But the thing with Henry is that he doesn’t always get away with misbehaving, there are often consequences. So perhaps the books are a good way to chat to would-be Henry’s and Henrietta’s about how being horrid can go horribly wrong.

Funny, loveable and glows in the dark. What more could a kid (however grown-up) want?

Rummaging in the wardrobe

My favourite book when I was growing up was “The lion the witch and the wardrobe” by C. S. Lewis. I loved it so much that I read it over and over again throughout my childhood. I was enchanted by the idea of stepping into a magical world full of dwarfs, fawns and talking animals. I loved the idea of being on the side of good, fighting against evil. And the possibility that an ordinary child could be crowned king or queen of a magical land.
 
I admit to checking the back of every wardrobe I came across, just in case a gateway to a magical world had appeared. Even now I can’t see an old wooden wardrobe without wondering...
 

That’s one of the beauties of books: they take you into another world where you meet new characters and you can feel you are right there, fighting alongside the good guys and sharing in their troubles and their triumphs. When ordinary life seems a bit... well... ordinary, books can give you a sense of excitement and adventure. And those adventures alongside the hero or heroine can inspire you with new ideas and inspirations to use back in your real life.

Now I should really go and do something boring like tidy my bedroom. But before I start I think I’ll have a quick rummage in my wardrobe, you just never know...