Review by Aamani Bommareddy of "Vicky Angel" by Jacqueline Wilson

"I shut my eyes but I can still hear her. I put my hands over my ears but I can still hear her. I can run and run and run but I’ll never be able to get away from her." Jacqueline Wilson’s poignant children's novel Vicky Angel follows fourteen-year-old Jade Marshall as she navigates life after her best friend Vicky’s death; but burdened by feelings of guilt and unable to accept the reality of Vicky’s cruelty towards her, she begins seeing Vicky’s ghost, who wreaks havoc on her life and relationships. With simple and effective writing, Jade’s (painfully relatable) voice is allowed to shine through the narrative; and all her innermost thoughts and emotions, in their truest and ugliest forms, are laid bare.

What made the story most rewarding to read, even as an adult, was Wilson’s resistance to writing characters that fit neatly into moralistic boxes, instead painting the story in the shades of grey that colour real human experiences. Jade’s mum can be neglectful and ignorant but also comes to her support, leading to some of the most heartwarming moments of genuine happiness for Jade. And although Jade’s journey with grief and mental health is complicated by the growing realization of Vicky’s ill-treatment towards her, we’re reminded to separate the real Vicky from the villainous spirit taking her form in Jade’s mind, exaggerated by guilt and poor self-esteem.

For a short novel, Wilson manages to build a set of characters so rich with backstory, that reading it feels like experiencing the real world through Jade’s eyes – in all its messiness and imperfection and warmth and wonder. So, when Jade is finally ready to move on, and Vicky Angel "flaps wings as white as swansdown, waves one last time, and flies away," we can trust that they will be there for her as she starts her new life.

About the reviewer
Aamani Bommareddy is currently an undergraduate student of Journalism and Creative
Writing at the University of Leicester, with a particular interest in literature and music.
Along with journalistic articles and features, she enjoys writing short stories. 

This review was awarded an "honorable mention" in our 2026 Student Book Review Competition, held in conjunction with the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester. 

Review by Katherine Hetzel of "Jötunheim" by Constantine

Jötunheim is the sequel to The Cats of Charnwood. It's a time-travelling, dream-space jumping adventure which takes the Guardian cats Bailey and Scruff back 1200 years to a Charnwood not yet impacted by man’s need for stone, in a bid to find a new world for the Jotnar (giants) before humans can wipe them out.

Having travelled to the 9th century, Bailey and Scruff need the help of Leif, a human boy; Fala, a young giant; the cats of Osgathorpe; and a young Old One, in order to save the giants and prevent the pools of Kapol-Tok– doorways to other worlds – from being sealed or lost forever in the future.

As is often the way, time travel and world-hopping can be confusing, but interspersed as it is with Norse mythology and information about the geography of Charnwood, the reader is easily carried along with Scruff and Bailey to the end of their journey.

Written by a neurodiverse author with neurodiverse and reluctant readers in mind, the story is structured with lots of short chapters and section breaks to aid concentration, and often grounds the reader as to who is speaking or thinking so as not to lose track. In the early edition I read, there were punctuation errors, but if you can see beyond those the story being told is original and – as a Charnwood girl myself – is interesting in both the history and myths it presents. The book can be read alone, but reading The Cats of Charnwood first might help a reader to settle into the cats’ world more quickly. 

About the reviewer

Katherine Hetzel is an ex-microbiologist-and-egg-pickler turned children's author, writing fantasy adventure novels for middle grade readers. She's also a volunteer librarian two afternoons a week in a local primary school, and enjoys encouraging pupils of all ages to explore the world of books. To find out more, visit her website here. 

You can read more about Jötunheim on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Review by Ayana Sen-Handley, age 11, of "The Cats of Charnwood Forest" by Constantine

The Cats of Charnwood Forest is a charming, mythical story that entranced me from the first. I adore cats so it sounded perfect for me!

I thought the intricate detail with which the author described the surroundings added extra splashes of colour to the story and I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Shadow, the kittens’ garden and the shrouded dream space that enabled the cats to move so swiftly.

Despite this, I felt the plot could have had more depth and clarity for I wanted to read more of certain things such as the mysterious riddle that concerned the fate of innumerable realms. Was there more to that than meets the eye?

The environmental message was very cleverly put, and how it portrays the human (and other) worlds being slowly poisoned by that of the wicked fairies is engrossing, but it could have been even more powerful.

The concluding cliff-hanger where Tenacious doesn’t recognise her kittens puzzled me because I think moms have better memories than elephants when it comes to their children!

Overall, this gripping book is beautifully written and packed full of interesting, charismatic characters – especially Ghaz’on. I would highly recommend this to anyone I know.

About the reviewer
Ayana Sen-Handley is eleven years old. A writer, artist, and performer, she has danced for the Welsh National Opera, and with Martine McCutcheon in the Broadway musical Elf, sung with G4 at Southwell Minster, performed on the West End, and as Dick Whittington in a Leicestershire pantomime this Christmas. She has also led an arts and crafts workshop for Nottingham City Council's Story Parks, and been published in several anthologies, including Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature's Speak Up. 

Review by Sophia, aged 8 of “Gangsta Granny” by David Walliams.

Gangsta Granny is written by David Walliams. The main characters are Ben, Ben's granny, his mum and dad and Raj, the shopkeeper. 

My favourite part of the book is when Ben can only say 'urm...umm" because his granny is doing naked yoga! this made me laugh out loud. 

This book is about a boy called Ben who wants to be a plumber but his parents want him to be a dancer.

On Fridays Ben goes to his granny's house but he finds it boring and all granny makes for dinner is things with cabbage. Surprisingly, Ben looks in the biscuit tinned finds jewels which leads him into wanting to find out more about granny.

Could she be hiding a big secret? dun, dun duuuun!

My favourite character in this book is granny because she makes me smile as she is so funny and she is addicted to cabbage. I also think she is a very cool gran.

I recommend this book, it is suitable for children aged 8 and over. There a few tricky words for younger children.

I would give this book 5/5 and a big thumbs up! 

by Sohia, aged 8. 

Review by Esme, aged 8 and John and Harry, aged 9 of “Roy the Rooster” by Rose Impey.

It was brilliant we all loved it! 

Roy the rooster was very ugly. He was the ugliest in the world when he hatched and near the middle, he said to himself that he was lonely and had no friends.

Everybody stayed inside when Roy was around. Everybody made fun of him. They said, ‘you look like a bad dream,’ and ‘how can anyone be that ugly?’

Soon Roy had a reputation. Roy was the boss of the town and he was a bully to everyone. But some turkeys wanted trouble. Roy couldn’t run back to his ranch, he could only hide behind a horse or run as far as he can. 

One day, he decided he wanted to go out fishing and he would like to stop fighting. He wanted a nice quiet life.

People said that he wrestled rhinos. Mothers told their children you better be good or Roy the rooster will get you everyone was scared of him so everyone kept well away from him but Our favourite part was when he became the nicest rooster in town because he wasn’t nice at the start and he was nice at the end. 

Roy was happier when he was nice, and he met new friends. It actually had a nice happy ending.

By Esme (aged 8) John and Harry (aged 9) thank you for reading this book review.

Review by Gia, aged 8 and Amaana, aged 9 of “The Creakers” by Tom Fletcher.

We both really liked the book because it has lots of detail and is really different to other books we have read. It was good because it started sad then ended happy. It   wasn’t like normal princess books.

This story is about a girl called Lucy whose parents went missing, which was very upsetting. Then, every other child on their lane lost their parents too. All the children made lots of mess in all the houses and on the street. They even threw toilet paper on the trees. 

Lucy investigates and tries to find the parents. Under the bed she finds the Woleb    which is from the world of the Creakers. Everywhere is upside down. Could this be where the parents have disappeared to?

Lucy and Norman create a plan rescue their parents. Will their plan work? Read the book to find out.

Lucy Dungston is my favourite character because she investigates and tries to find the parents. Norman Quirk is also good because he is very smart and neat and he has lots of badges from scouts.

We recommend this book because it is adventurous and it’s very funny.

Welcome to the mysterious world under your bed! 

By Gia and Amaana aged 8 and 9

Review by Emily, aged 8 and Abigail, aged 9 of “The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch” by Tom Fletcher.

The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch is the best book we have ever read. It is awesome!

The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch is about a boy called William Trundle, a girl called Brenda Payne, Bob Trundle (aka Williams dad), Pamela Payne (aka Brenda’s mum) and the Christmasauraurus. The Christmasaurus is a dinosaur.

One day Santa came to William’s house and invited the family to the North Pole so they went on Santa`s sleigh. When they were at the North Pole Santa gave them a tour. On the tour, Santa gave the children a magic bean each and a little fairy each.

Santa said he was going to the kitchen to get a drink of milk but he wasn`t, he was going to the Winter Witch. Brenda could feel that he wasn`t going to the kitchen so Brenda and William followed Santa to the Winter Witch. They hid in a bush until Santa went back to their parents. 

Brenda and William crept in to the room and saw the most amazing thing ever there was, the Winter Witch! Somehow the Winter Witch put them in a magic portal and they travelled back in time. William and Brenda saw lots of memories.

Brenda got frozen into the Winter Witch, she wasn`t very happy about it as sometimes she gets angry. William used his fairy wish to save Brenda. Brenda looked frozen to the core when she was the Winter Witch. When she was out, she was so much happier.

Finally, they were out of the portal but Christmas was fading. William had to get in the sleigh and deliver the presents with the Christmasaurus. William had saved Christmas!

The book is amazing! Me and Emily really recommend this book.  

By Emily and Abigail aged 8 and 9

Review by Dylan and Zach, aged 8 of “Rhode Island Roy” by Rose Impey.

Rhode Island Roy is a really good book because it is funny and it is about a rooster called Roy. When he hatched out of his egg, he was by far the ugliest rooster in the entire universe. During the book, Roy killed some cats, damaged a dog ,head butted a horse, wrestled a rhino, kidnapped a cow, gunned down a goat, and tangled with a tiger .

If some turkeys or bantams were looking for trouble, they would pick on him. At the start of the book it said, “wanted Roy100$ reward”. We think Roy lives in America  in a desert. Roy even had a bet who could curse the worst. We don’t know why a rooster would have a pistols. 

At the end Roy started to cry because Larry said ”you look ugly I bet you don’t have any friends”.  But then they became best friends.

We liked Larry because he was brave and went up to the roughest rooster in the world, which is Roy, and made him cry. Him and Larry became good friends and Roy was happy. I recommend this book to year 3 children because it was a good book but a bit easy for us.

By Dylan and Zach aged 8.

Review by Immy, aged 9 of “Gangsta Granny” by David Walliams.

I think Gangsta Granny is the perfect book for most ages. It’s great because it’s funny and adventurous. 

Gran is my favourite character because she is very interesting, funny and you can really have a good laugh at her. My favourite part is when Granny and Ben go through the River Thames sewer and Granny acts like it is normal when they see the rats! Gran likes to play board games but is nothing like a normal granny!  

Gangsta Granny is about a granny who likes to eat cabbage soup (this made her trumps smell like cabbage) and her grandson Ben who stayed overnight at her house on a dark Friday night. In the night, in the kitchen, he found a biscuit tin full of secrets. Ben realised Gran is an international jewellery thief.

At school, at show and tell, Ben never has good stories because with his parents he never goes anywhere fun. However, one day he goes on a robbery with gran to steal the Queen’s crown. 

Will this give him a good story at show and tell?   

If you read this book, you will never think of grannies the same again     

By Immy age 9                                                                                          

Review by Rudy and Mia, aged 9, of “The Worst Witch” by Jill Murphy.

This book is about a girl called Mildred Hubble and she finds everything tricky. Her best friend Maud always supports Mildred. She also has a different type of cat than the rest because the rest were black and her tabby is stripy grey. 

Halloween was celebrated in a castle not far from the school. Mildred’s class were picked to do a broom formation team but Mildred’s broom was broken so she had Ethel’s broom. But Ethel put a spell on the broom, so Mildred fell off it when they were doing their broom formation. Everyone wasn’t surprised that Mildred fell off her broomstick.

That night Mildred ran off because she thought she would get told off because she fell off her broom. Mildred ran into the forest with her cat Tabby. She heard a noise then found terrible witches making a spell to turn the whole school into frogs. 

Do you think Mildred will come back to the school and tell Miss Cackle? Or do you think she will keep it a secret? Read the book to find out.

We would both recommend this book. It would be good for year 4 boys and girls to read.

By Rudy and Mia (Aged 9).

Review by Niamh, aged 9 and Sadie, aged 8 of “Tiger Hunt” by Judy Waite

Tiger hunt is a really good book we both liked it. 

Sadie liked that the ending was a surprise and Niamh liked that Cathy Moon was being nice to Tiger and was looking after it. We liked that there was a happy ending.

The story is about a little boy called Eddie who though he saw a tiger when he was looking out of the window at school. Everyone ran to the window, but her teacher wasn’t happy.

At playtime and lunchtime Becky and Eddie searched in the woods for the tiger. At lunch they spotted something orange and stripy…

Read the book until the end to find out what the surprise is!

By Niamh and Sadie, aged 9 and 8.

Review by Leila, aged 9 and Charlotte, aged 8, of “The Gift” by Kathryn White.

The Gift is a brilliant book.

We both really enjoyed this book, as it was really interesting and fun. It was about a girl named Tia. Tia was given a magical Egyptian mirror for her birthday. The mirror was bright and new to her but to her Mum and Nan, it’s the old beaten up mirror but they were happy that she saw it that way.

A few days later, Tia was supposed to meet up with her new friend, Esther but instead she got pulled into the mirror and found herself in a secret burial chamber. All of a sudden all of the lights turned off and a man was standing in front of her. He looked after the burial chamber. His name was Sahure and he cut into Tia’s hand then the Queen/ Pharaoh Ahmose came to help Tia to get up.

Then Tia saw a girl that looked like Esther her new friend it was so, so, so weird. 

A few weeks later, Sahure told them they were in danger! They ran outside and sat in the chariot and a mad thing happened… Sahure kicked them off and said “Now the crocodiles won’t be hungry!” 

They went through some really hard times but their God, Amon, guided them back to the place where they found their friends that took them to a secret village. That night was pretty sad as Tia had to leave but they lived normally like nothing ever happened.

We both really liked the part where Tia got home to her mum and gran after the adventure because it was a nice happy part in the story. We were happy for Tia and that everything worked out in the end. We would really recommend this book.

By Leila and Charlotte aged 9 and 8

Review by Maizey Batchelor, aged 14, of “Straight Outta Crongton” by Alex Wheatle

This book had me hooked right from the start. It’s very relatable for teenagers: 

“He hasn’t got anything to bring apart from his drunk-up bruk-ass self,” says Mo, the main character of this book. I really love the way Alex uses slang and colloquial language. 

Mo is a fifteen-year-old girl who lives with her mother and her mum’s horrible boyfriend Lloyd.  She tries her best to stay out of their way, since Lloyd has been to prison for all the wrong reasons. She prefers to hang out with her two G’s Elaine and Naomi or spend her time wishing she was Sam’s girlfriend. 

One day, Lloyd beats up Mo and she runs away to stay with Elaine. But Lloyd is not finished. He hurts one of Mo’s friends and Mo needs to make it right. Who does Lloyd hurt? Will Mo ever get revenge on Lloyd.  And Will she ever be reunited with her mum?

Alex Wheatle has written lots of other great books such as Liccle bit, Home Girl and Crongton Knights. He really captures the minds of teenagers and his books are far more enjoyable than any others I’ve read previously. Straight Outta Crongton is full of both drama and romance and I give it a five-star rating!

About the Reviewer 
Maizey is fourteen and loves drama, dance and performing. She has recently re-discovered books after a long break from reading. This is her first ever book review!

Seren Price, Aged 8, review of “Skellig” by David Almond

Skellig is a really good book. 

It’s about a boy called Michael who finds a man in the garage of his new house. The man has bones that are all weak, he has a disease called arthritis. Michael finds some strange lumps on the man’s back, they have soft feathers, he thinks the man might have wings. 

Michael’s mum and dad are always at the hospital because his baby sister is very poorly. The only person he can talk to is his friend, Mina, who lives next door.  Mina doesn’t go to school, but she is very clever and good at drawing. She knows all about birds and about the poet William Blake, who writes about angels. Mina and Michael help Skellig get better by bringing him Chinese food and beer.

They think Skellig might be a sort of bird-angel, especially when he helps Michael’s baby sister get better. 

This book is very different to other books I have read. It is very interesting because I learnt about clever girls, birds and their hollow bones, and William Blake the poet. It was good and sad at the end when Skellig got his arthritis fixed and flew away. 

About the Reviewer 
Seren Price is 8 years old. She loves to read all kinds of stories and has already written three of her own. She loves history and when she grows up, she wants to be an archaeologist. 

Review by Ruby Perry of "In Darkling Wood" by Emma Carroll

This story is about a young girl called Alice, whose brother has a fatal heart condition. But one night there is a call that can change everything. Alice has to stay with her aunty and discovers that the wood at the top of her garden is magical. She becomes friends with a girl called Flo from 1918 and together they seek the beauty of the wood’s fairies. As protests about cutting the woods begin, they have to work as a team and join up with other people to protect it. 

This is one of those books that express feelings through the story and connects to the reader’s feelings. It engrossed me and kept me reading. Emma Carroll writes very addictive books.

About the Reviewer

I am Ruby Perry and I am 10 nearly 11 years old. I have a passion for reading and writing and enjoy creating my own stories. I like to use my imagination when writing, and I read a variety of genres of books. A few of my favourite authors are: Emma Carroll (historical fiction), Lauren Child (mystery), J. K. Rowling (fantasy literature), David Walliams (comedy), Judy Blume (realist). I read every single day and one of my biggest wishes is to have my own library or run a book shop, but most of all I would like to write my own books. 

Review by Lee Wright of "Sunny and the Ghosts" by Alison Moore

It is said that a good writer can turn their hand to any genre, and with her debut children’s book, Alison Moore has put that to the test. There has always been a child-like innocence to many of the protagonists in Moore’s adult novels. This time, however, she has come full-circle, making the protagonist a child in a child’s story. 

Sunny and the Ghosts tells the story of eight-year-old Sunny, whose parents buy an antique shop in Devon, and move into the flat above. 

Sunny’s father likes old things. He plays old songs when driving around because it “Makes the van feel happier.” His mother likes the butterflies which are preserved in frames, while Sunny helps around the shop, polishing the antique furniture - one of which, a blanket box, has a stowaway ghost inside (the first of six), named Herbert. 

Of course, Sunny’s parents don’t believe him, even when the Victorian piano begins playing by itself during the night. We swiftly meet Walter, Violet, the sisters Mary and Elise, and finally Peregrine. 

Moore keeps the story ticking over (quite literally in the episode with the antique cuckoo clocks), always conscious of her readership. Along the way, strange things happen, like an invasion of stray cats into the shop, “First it was ghosts,” says Sunny’s friend. “And now it’s cats.” 

Sunny also attempts a day trip to the seaside for the dead, all accompanied by the illustrations of Ross Collins, who adds a George Adamson style quality to the story.    
And Moore’s literary influences are sprinkled throughout this book. Herbert the ghost’s favourite novel is Wuthering Heights for instance. Macbeth and Hamlet are mentioned, so too A Christmas Carol. And one of Sunny’s new ghostly friends gets trapped in the stationery cupboard while looking for notepaper to fulfil her beyond the grave ambition of writing a book. An encounter which leads to one of the funniest lines:

“Can’t you walk through doors?” asked Sunny. 

“No,” said Violet. “Can you?” 

A further influence can be found in the creation of the infuriating Mr Ramsbottom (and what seven-year-old wouldn’t titter at that choice of name?) who comes across as a combination of Mr Gruber and Mr Curry from Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear series. 

This book also draws on Moore’s last two adult novels. Death and the Seaside and The Missing both explore that place where the real and fictional worlds meet. And since being propelled into the spotlight in 2012 when she made the Man Booker Prize shortlist, alongside well-known heavyweights like Will Self, Deborah Levy and eventual winner Hilary Mantel, Moore has developed an almost cult fan-base that’ll surely buy her work, whether children’s fiction or not.   

And even though this is Moore’s first foray into children’s literature, it certainly won’t be her last. A follow-up book, also to be published by Salt Publishing and titled Sunny and the Hotel Splendid is already in the works. A tidy stream of adult novels and children’s books looks set to continue from the prolific former Man Booker Prize short-listed author.      

  
About the reviewer
Lee Wright was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1980 and has been writing both fiction and non-fiction since 2008. He is taking an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester.   

Interview with Katherine Hetzel

Katherine Hetzel has been an egg-pickler, weigher-outer of pic ’n’mix sweets, bacon-and-cheese-slicer, a pharmaceutical microbiologist (the serious job choice), a mum, a learning assistant, and a volunteer librarian at a primary school. She’s a published author who writes fiction for children (StarMark and Kingstone with Dragonfeather Books, Granny Rainbow and More Granny Rainbow with Panda Eyes) and visits schools to share her love of creative writing. She also writes short stories for adults, and blogs about life and writing at Squidge’s Scribbles, http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk 

Interviewed by Evie Doyle

ED: Where did the idea for Kingstone start?

KH:  It started with a challenge at our writer's group - find a picture you like, and write something inspired by it. I ended up with a picture of a woman whose skin was covered in square patterns. I had it in my head she was a priestess and wrote 'Puzzle Piece.' In that piece of flash, the priestess was going to 'read the destiny' of a girl deemed unworthy by her parents. That little nugget grew and filled out ... and I decided I wanted to write a novel that explored faith. I had wanted to write a novel that explored faith for some time, but had a couple of failed attempts before Katia jumped out at me and demanded for her story to be told! As a Christian, I try to live by a certain 'code,' but I'm all too aware that I often fall short and question what I believe. That sort of grew into an idea for a story where, if you were forced to do 'wrong' things for the sake of your faith, how would that turn out? What would happen if you had to lie or steal to protect something you really believed in? The Triple Gods and belief system of Katia's world in Kingstone became something which reflected some of my own beliefs and experiences. 

ED: Where did the idea come from for the gods to be of sun, moon and mountain? Sun and moon are common deities, but 'mountain' less so. 

KH: I needed three gods to reflect the Trinity with which I'm familiar. Sun and moon, like you say, seemed obvious ones to pick and didn't need too much thinking about! But I needed something to anchor them. My first attempt was sun, moon, earth, but as I played around with the earth bit, I had the idea of earth reaching towards the sun and moon, and bingo - mountain. It sounds good when you say it - as Katia would have had to in the temple. There's a rhythm to the words and the images lend themselves very well to both a recognisable faith symbol and hand gesture. I have great fun making it all up! 

ED: How in-depth is the lore behind the story? Are there myths and procedures within the temple that didn't appear in the book? 

KH: I tend to write character-driven stories, so write to infuse my books with enough detail to let the reader know the important things about the world the characters inhabit - in this case, Katia's home, her desires, and the impact they have on her. It's a fine balance, trying to make a fantasy world believable without overwhelming the reader with so much that's different to their experience, they get lost. Having said that, I'm sure there are lots more myths and procedures I could've written ... it's only really limited by my imagination! There are lots of scribbled ideas in my handwritten notes which play around with the temple procedures and outlines of myths, but not all of them made the cut, as they say. 

ED: How long did it take you to write Kingstone?

KH: This is the only book I can tell you exactly! An author friend (the lovely Amanda Berriman) had begun a writing chart, where she challenged herself to write every day for a year. I'm not a very disciplined writer - I don't have set times to work - but I thought I'd give it a go. I set myself the target of 100 days. I didn't write every day, and not always on Kingstone, but I had a first handwritten draft after 74 days. It took another 65 to edit and type up before I showed it to anyone. Those writing days were spread over a good six month period, and after that, there was more work to do before I was happy enough to send it to Bedazzled Ink. I think I was relatively lucky in that the idea had been in my head for some time and when I started to write, it came fairly easily. Other novels have taken much, much longer. 

ED: Both Kingstone and Starmark could be described as fantasy novels. What is it about fantasy that you enjoy writing?

KH: As a reader, I've always loved losing myself in different worlds (my favourite has got to be Discworld), so I suppose it was natural I'd end up writing fantasy myself. I like the fact that you can shape the world how you want it to be, and stretch the muscles of imagination of both myself as a writer and of the end readers. I've tried to write stories about 'the real world,' and somehow they never feel as real as what I create in my head. Perhaps I just have a desire to escape 'real' life and lose myself for a while. 

ED: Is Kingstone inspired by any specific period in history?

KH: Not consciously. I suppose it might be that I tend to a more olde-worlde (definitely pre-tech) setting because it can help highlight the differences between what we experience nowadays and the life my characters live in my imagination. I do look to past history for inspiration for certain scenes and settings, but I don't replicate them exactly; I'd be worried about getting the details right!

ED: What age range is Kingstone directed at? And why that age range?

KH: It's aimed at middle grade readers, or 9-12 years according to the way the publishing industry likes to label books. I prefer to write for children because they are still able to let their imaginations fly and ready to believe the worlds you present them with, but my main motivation in writing for children is to try to encourage a love of reading from an early age. Having said that, I think adults also enjoy reading children's books because of the escapism they offer; so long as the books I write are read and enjoyed, I don't really mind how old the reader is.

ED: For a while, I didn't think we'd get to see the triple gods. Why did you decide to have them appear?

KH: I wasn't sure myself, until I reached that point in the novel! For many who believe in God or other deity, there is often a personal encounter which impacts on their faith, which serves to strengthen their belief. It felt right for Katia to have that kind of encounter for herself, at a point when she's at her lowest and believes that she isn't worthy of the gods she worships - and to see how that affected her. What was more fun was making them appear for others.

ED: And finally, have you got anything I can look forward to reading next?

KH: Well, I signed a contract earlier this month with Bedazzled Ink for publication of The Mage of Merjan, the first in what I hope will be a series of five fantasy adventure novels collectively called The Chronicles of Issraya. I don't have a publication date yet, but I would imagine it'll be out sometime next year. (It usually takes up to eighteen months from signing a contract to getting the book 'out there'). I'm writing up No 2 in the series at the moment, working title The Black Diamond. The stories focus on a young girl called Tilda as she learns to use the Power of Issraya and helps to protect it - and the people of Issraya who depend on it - from those who would steal it for their own dark ends. So fingers crossed, there's lots more for you to look forward to - providing I can get them written reasonably quickly.

About the interviewer

Evie Doyle is currently studying Psychology, Biology and Performing Arts at Charnwood College. She is an avid reader in her spare time as well as a scout and guide. She is also part of an amateur theatre group.

Review by Mark Mayes of "Zod of Zodbury Hall" by Sam Shepherd, illustrated by Catherine Beaumont

A delightful follow-up to On the Couch: A Bohemian Terrier, this is a perfect blend between story and illustration. Our hero, Zod, is getting up to all sorts of mischief, while the cook is sleeping, and his Mistress and Master are otherwise occupied. 

This book is funny and memorable, and will be entrancing to children, and certainly a good number of adults - of which I am one. Zod is not a bad pooch, but he causes more than his share of disruption. He is quickly bored, and knows what he wants and that he wants it NOW! - much to the chagrin of the gardener and the long-suffering cook.

The illustrations are bursting with motion and vibrancy - beautifully chosen colours, and energetic lines. One of my favourites was a precipitous view down a spiral staircase. The text does just enough, with admirable simplicity and restraint, to convey the mayhem this little dog is causing. Towards the end, the technique of reiterating Zod's catalogue of chaos is deftly handled. 

Zod might be described as 'high-maintenance,' but he has clearly won his Mistress's heart for keeps, and can really do no wrong.


About the reviewer
Mark Mayes loves to read, and occasionally he reviews books on Amazon and Goodreads. He also enjoys writing - mainly fiction, poems, and songs. 

Review by Rosalind Taylor of "Spy Dog Unleashed" by Andrew Cope

This book is very cool. It is full of adventure. In this book, Lara the Spy Dog, who is also called GM451, sets out on a journey to stop Mr. Big from stealing the Millennium Diamond. Lara is helped out by Sophie, Ben and Ollie. By the end, no one is sure who has the real diamond and who has the fake one. There is also a naughty dog who looks like Lara, but who is owned by Mr. Big. You can tell she is different because she doesn't have the bullet-hole in her ear. This is a very exciting story.

About the reviewer
Rosalind Taylor is seven years old. She has a twin sister called Miranda Taylor. She hopes you enjoy the book!

Review by Miranda Taylor of "Miranda the Beauty Fairy" by Daisy Meadows

I think this is a really good book. It is written by Daisy Meadows, who is actually a lot of different people put together. I like this book because the fairy has my name. In the story, the goblins try and steal Miranda the Beauty Fairy’s magical lipstick. Rachel and Kirsty, who are girls from the real world and friends with the fairies, stop them. I like the character of Kirsty a lot because she is adventurous and not shy. But I still like all the characters in the book, except the baddies and Jack Frost. I especially enjoyed the end of the book the most because then everything goes back to normal. I would give this book five stars out of five. I love Rainbow Magic books.  

Author the reviewer 
Miranda Taylor is seven years old and she has a twin sister called Rosie. She hopes you like her review.