Many authors and illustrators have had to cancel book launches and no longer have the opportunity to promote their books in real life. We invited authors and illustrators to share news of their middle grade fiction published in March so that we could share them with you.…
The House of Hidden Wonders is an action packed mystery set in Victorian Edinburgh. We couldn’t put this book down, it’s a real page turner. We were absolutely fascinated by the story of three impoverished sisters and the mystery that they are thrown into when a ghost appears in their underground hideaway.…
My first memory of Ballet Shoes is watching it on a Sunday evening as a child. I was completely drawn into the story of the Fossil sisters, three orphans growing up in London in the 1930s. Soon afterwards I read the book and loved it.…
The Highland Falcon Thief is an action packed adventure which takes us on a steam train journey around the British Isles. Full of intrigue, mystery and fascinating facts about steam trains, it’s also a story about friendship and bravery as two eleven year olds team up to discover the identity of a thief when jewels go missing during the journey.…
Shadows of Winterspell combines secrets, friendship, magic and reality in a page turning novel that had us gripped until the end. Stella’s family secrets are threatening the safety of the creatures that live in Winterspell Forest and when she makes new friends at school she realises that facing these secrets is the key to driving the shadows away and making the forest safe again.…
Yesterday’s Father Christmas relaxing with a glass of wine is Raymond Brigg’s Father Christmas. Emma Graham, Maudie Smith and Mat Tobin all chose this as their favourite Christmas picture book on previous Story Snug Advent Calendars.
The Story: We follow a grumpy Father Christmas as he goes about his work on Christmas Eve.…
Yesterday’s stamp came from a very important letter that a brave little mouse called Winston needed to deliver to Father Christmas. Winston is the main character in How Winston Delivered Christmas – An Advent Story in twenty-four-and-a-half chapters by Alex T Smith.…
Over the years we’ve enjoyed various Booky Advent Calendars to help us count down the days until Christmas, both at home and on Story Snug. We always put our Christmas books away during the year and get them out around the end of November, it’s always such a lovely treat to rediscover old favourites.…
This year I had the pleasure of meeting author H. S. Norup (Helle) at an SCBWI conference and it was really interesting to talk to her about her debut novel, The Missing Barbegazi. The story weaves together the themes of grief, family, friendship and the experiences and history of the Barbegazis who are rumoured to live in the Austrian mountains.…
The Crayon Man, by Natascha Biebow & Steven Salerno, is a colourful non fiction picture book which tells the story of Edwin Binney, the inventor of Crayola Crayons. It’s an absolutely fascinating read, crayons are such an integral part of our daily life but we had never considered how they were invented before!…