Chilly thrills, a rat romp and dragon races by various authors – children’s book reviews –

Age 8 plus:

Fireborn: Phoenix and the Frost Palace

Aisling Fowler and Sophie Medvedeva

Fantasy adventures don’t come better than this chilling and thrilling series set in a frozen world which transports young readers to the headiest heights of imaginative storytelling.

Phoenix and the Frost Palace is the second fabulous Fireborn book from Surrey-born but now Los Angeles-based Aisling Fowler, an exciting new author who has set critics’ tongues wagging and youngsters gasping with delight as her epic adventures play out in the snowy northern forests of a prehistoric world, and come gorgeously illustrated by Sophie Medvedeva.

By turns breathtaking, funny and heart wrenchingly sad, these stories star a girl called Twelve who has spoken the Pledge and become a Huntling. And now she is training in the art of fighting monsters and has chosen a new name to reflect her elemental power... Phoenix.

Three months after the destruction of the Hunting Lodge, a witch arrives from the frost palace of Icegaard, desperate for Phoenix’s help. Icegaard is in grave danger from an evil force called the Shadowseam and, if the witch-palace falls, all the clans of Ember will fall with it. Travelling north, Phoenix and her friends, Five, Six and Seven, must battle frightening new monsters and find a way to defeat the Shadowseam. But as Phoenix learns to control her new power, the faceless Croke begins to haunt her dreams. Phoenix will have to fight with everything she’s got to save Ember from mortal danger. But the price of survival may be more than she can pay.

Fowler’s dazzling new adventure has all the perfect ingredients for fantasy fans... stunning world-building, exhilarating action sequences, magical moments, terrifying monsters, warm friendships and a cast of memorable characters both good and bad.

But this is also a story that is not afraid to tackle darker topics like envy, betrayal and grief, and with a compulsive plot that continues apace from almost the very moment that the first book, Fireborn, ended, this is an addictive series that no thrill seeker will want to miss.

(HarperCollins Children’s Books, hardback, £12.99)

Age 9 plus:

Moonflight

Gill Lewis and Pippa Curnick

Family comes first in a glorious, heart-melting adventure with all the heady hallmarks of a modern classic from much-loved, award-winning author Gill Lewis.

Moonflight is a magical reading experience as Lewis immerses young readers in a mesmerising world of rats... good and bad rats who rule the streets and skies, and a timid young ratling called Tilbury Twitch-Whiskers who is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

And what an epic, exhilarating story it is, packed with action, drama and emotion, liberally wrapped in Lewis’s warmth and wisdom, and all brought to life by Pippa Curnick’s sumptuous and atmospheric black and white illustrations.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that the seventh-born rat of the seventh-born litter is always a rat in want of an adventure. Tilbury Twitch-Whiskers is no exception. He just doesn’t know it yet.’ Tilbury lives with his family in the Dockland area of London and even though he was born small and weak, and is terrified of the world outside his family home in the Chandlery, he is destined to do great things. The curse of a legendary diamond hangs heavily over the Dockland Rats and when his eldest siblings leave home, it becomes clear only Tilbury can break the curse and save ratkind from Disaster. And so Tilbury finds himself catapulted into an adventure which involves journeying across the sea to the realm of the dreaded White Death. His mission is to return the priceless diamond to its rightful owners. Along the way, he will find huge cats and unfamiliar rats ruling the roost, squabble with his gutsy sister Nimble-Quick, and learn shocking hidden secrets. A truly intrepid hero has been born!

Moonflight is a thrilling, high-flying story as Lewis’s soaring imaginative powers create a stunning cast of rats set in a contemporary world but with all the nostalgic tropes and vibes of classics through the ages.

Young readers will love watching Tilbury grow in mental stature as he faces up to his fears and discovers the value of family, the importance of telling your own story and understanding where life’s real treasures are to be found.

A sparkling and inventive adventure that promises to be one of 2023’s standout middle grade novels.

(David Fickling Books, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus:

Dragonracers

Peter Bunzl and Lia Visirin

The super-powered brain of award-winning author Peter Bunzl reaches dizzy new heights of imagination and invention for a thrilling and magical real history-inspired adventure courtesy of specialist publisher Barrington Stoke.

Set amidst the competitive and innovative 1910 Manchester-London air race, packed with suspense, fun-filled fantasy, a daring cast of characters and a magnificent dragon, this sky-high adventure is a thrill ride from the starting gun right through to the finish line.

Twins Kitty and Harris Hawk have grown up at the airfield where their father works as an engineer. Kitty dreams of taking to the skies and competing in the world’s first long-distance air race. But despite her obsession with the idea of becoming an aeronaut, her father thinks children should stay firmly on the ground. When the twins discover a strange and unusually large egg from which a dragon hatches, they watch it grow rapidly into a magnificent and powerful creature that learns to fly with Kitty riding on her back. And little do they imagine that this is the first step on a journey that will see them taking to the skies and competing in that first long-distance air race. Can they win the huge prize that’s at stake, and will their daring adventure lead their father to change his mind about Kitty’s future?

Bunzl started his career as an animator and film-maker, working on everything from commercials to BAFTA‑winning children’s TV programmes, and Dragonracers is full of all the visual drama and rich scene-setting which have brought him such success in his career as a children’s author.

Harnessing fascinating real history around the early days of flight with a brilliant brand of soaraway fantasy, and opening an intriguing window into life over one hundred years ago, Bunzl’s magical tale is brought to life by the stunning illustrations of artist Lia Visirin, and is published in Barrington Stoke’s trademark dyslexia-friendly format.

Another brilliant flight of fancy from a master storyteller!

(Barrington Stoke, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus:

The Curio Collectors

Eloise Williams and Anna Shepeta

Climb aboard a travelling caravan and share a thrilling adventure with two intrepid youngsters caught up in a perilous mystery! Award-winning Welsh children’s writer Eloise Williams sets hearts pounding with a gripping historical adventure starring a cast of intriguing characters and a plotline brimming with twists and turns. In 1896, Lily and Tom are wanderers, travelling the county with their adopted mother Ma Hawker, and enthralling crowds with their amazing collection of curios. Always on the look-out for new wonders, Lily is tricked into buying a worthless bag of rubbish. But hidden inside is a special piece of scrimshaw... a large, engraved clam shell. A young maid called Flora Meriweather is desperate to buy the scrimshaw, hoping it can help her solve a mystery surrounding her late mother. But someone else also wants to get his hands on the scrimshaw and ensure that secrets stay hidden in the past. Can the Curio Collectors help the truth come to light before time runs out? Williams is a born storyteller, creating characters who linger in the memory and painting an immersive world full of mystery, excitement and suspense. With eye-catching and atmospheric illustrations by Anna Shepeta to bring Lily and Tim’s fast-paced adventure to life, and published in Barrington Stoke’s dyslexia-friendly format, this is a magical book for all young readers.

(Barrington Stoke, paperback, £7.99)

Age 7 plus:

Stink

Jenny McLachlan

Star author (and now illustrator!) Jenny McLachlan is back with a magical new series and it’s definitely not to be sniffed at! Giggles galore are guaranteed as youngsters get up close and personal with Stink, the worst fairy ever... and the writer of the funniest diary-style adventure on the human side of fairyland. We all know fairies, they’re sweet and sparkly and lovely. Right? Wrong! Meet Stink, she’s the rudest, naughtiest fairy there’s ever been. Instead of sparkles, Stink makes mess. Instead of being kind, Stink plays pranks. She also eats woodlice and rides on rats. From the moment Stink flies out of the fairy door and attaches herself to his hair, Danny Todd knows that Stink is trouble. She needs his help to do a good deed and win her silver wings... and Danny will do anything to get Stink to go back to fairyland because if he doesn’t help her earn some fairy nuggets she says she will stay with him forever. But can Stink ever be good? Expect multiple multi-coloured foxes, nuisance gnomes and loads of troll poo as Stink leaves a trail of magical mayhem and side-splitting laughter in her wake. With McLachlan’s gallery of hilarious illustrations putting extra oomph into her wacky and wonderful adventure,