The Deepest Secret of Eerie-on-Sea
Thomas Taylor: Mermedusa (Walker Books 2023) Have you ever been to a small seaside town in autumn, after the tourists have left, you can no longer get ice cream and the cold winter winds are slowly blowing in? Then you may have already been to Eerie-on-Sea. Not many people visit here at this time. Even the locals don’t venture ashore once darkness descends. They are afraid of the local legends. Or rather from what the legends are about… It’s the end of December in Eerie-on-Sea. Violet Parma came to town to find her lost parents exactly one year ago. That’s when their friendship began with Herbert Lemon, the Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and that’s when they started to unravel the legends surrounding the city on an adventurous journey. Now, more mysterious events are happening: a hypnotic eerie hum travels through the city walls, the Mermonkey breaks down, and…
Operation Christmas
Jenny Pearson: Operation Nativity (Usborne Publishing 2022) What would you say if Archangel Gabriel appeared to you four days before Christmas and asked you to help him save not only Christmas, but also the world? Oscar and his little sister Molly find themselves in this exact situation when an angel descends (literally from the sky) on their grandparents’ garden in Chipping Bottom. He told that he messed up the announcement of the holy news two thousand years ago so badly that Joseph, Mary, a wise man, a shepherd and most likely a donkey were teleported to the present-day England. In addition, this year will be the 100th Nativity performance, which their grandmother is directing and wants it to be great (unlike previous years). It surely will be memorable… The Monty Python-like basic idea in itself is a guarantee of success, which is strengthened by the kind but ‘problematic’ characters, especially…
Legends and monsters
Karen Foxlee: Miss Mary Kate Martin’s Guide to Monsters – The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm (Pushkin Press 2023 – originally published by Allen & Unwin Australia in 2022) Mary-Kate Martin gets upset about a lot of things, like brown colored pencils or mismatched clothes. But now she is shocked to find that a huge fire-breathing monster that, according to legends, lives in the Woolington Well, does not frighten her, but rather excited her to investigate its mystery. Mary-Kate accompanies her archaeologist mother to the countryside, where she has to excavate an old well, in the place of which the owner of the surrounding land wants to build a large shopping center. Mary-Kate must find out if there is any truth to the old legends before it’s too late. There are two types of monster hunters, one that hunts monsters to harm them and the other that hunts monsters to…
Someone is murdered on the Orient Express again
Robin Stevens: First Class Murder (Puffin Books 2016) According to Katherine Rundell (Rooftoppers, The Good Thieves) Robin Stevens is the Agatha Christie for children. The author was born in America, but has lived in England since she was 3 years old. She also was a boarding school student, however, unlike the protagonists of the story, she never found a real crime to investigate. Nevertheless, the mystery followed her throughout her life. Ever since she read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, she knew she wanted to be Poirot or Miss Marple when she grew up. She studied crime writing at university and then worked for a children’s book publisher before becoming a full-time writer. She started the Murder Most Unladylike series in 2014 and finished it in 2021. The series contains a total of 11 volumes, two of which are short story collections. The main characters of the story are Daisy…
How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?
Mac Barnett – Jon Klassen: How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? (Walker Books 2023) Santa Claus enters homes through the chimney on Christmas Eve to deliver the presents. But how does he do it? Does he tighten his belt? Or shrink himself down? Or stretch out his arms and legs very long? And if there is no chimney, then how does he do it? Maybe slide under the door or post himself at the post office? Such and similar questions was asked by Mac Barnett and he tried to find the answers with Jon Klassen who illustrated the story. Mac Barnett is an American children’s book author, whose works have been translated to more than 30 languages. He has collaborated several times with Jon Klassen, a Canadian writer and illustrator who works on children’s books and animations. I will not reveal whether the great mystery was solved or not.…
Waiting for Christmas
L. D. Lapinski: Stepfather Christmas (Orion Children’s Books 2023) Harper and her brother Will got used to their living room turning into a winter wonderland when Christmas approaches, as it is their mother’s favorite holiday. But this year they will also have a surprise: they will meet their mother’s boyfriend, Nick. Harper immediately realizes that he is Father Christmas. The others say it’s impossible, but then why are there holiday ‘miracles’ appearing around Nick? Harper is determined to find out what the truth is. Not that it would be a problem if Nick were Santa Claus, but the girl doesn’t want her mother to be hurt. The 25 chapters of the book can be read as an Advent calendar: one chapter every day, but I was too curious and read it all at once. I really liked it. It was light and yet touched serious questions. In my opinion, the…