It’s a very busy day at the airport! The simple push or pull of a tab in this chunky, interactive board book can cause all sorts of amazing things to happen: bags go round the carousel, helicopters take off and aeroplanes fly through the clouds!

Full of delightful detail and magical mechanisms, this is the perfect book for keeping busy hands and busy minds entertained for hours. It’s also a great way to introduce your child to planes and airports if you have a holiday abroad this summer.

Recommended for pre-school readers

History Spies: Escape from Vesuvius by Jo Foster

Published by Macmillian Children’s Books
Published 6th February 2009
RRP £4.99
ISBN 978-0330449007

Pompeii, AD 79: Vesuvius is about to erupt. The Department of Historical Accuracy needs a History Spy with nerves of steel to find out what the city was really like …

Your mission: find out what happened at a gladiator battle, what went on at the luxurious banquets, and why everyone in Pompeii was so smelly! Finally, witness the eruption that buried the city for 2,000 years.

Join top History Spy Charlie Cartwright in his adventures as he travels through space and time, dodging bombs, dinosaurs and erupting volcanoes.

Recommended for readers 9+

Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman

Published by Walker Books
Published 1st June 2009
RRP £4.99
ISBN 978-1406314601

When Poppy Fields goes on an activity holiday to a remote Scottish island, she is looking forward to a week of climbing, hill-walking and horse riding. But things take a bad turn when their instructor has what appears to be a fatal abseiling accident. When Poppy discovers that his rope was cut, and more of the instructors start to have "accidents", she and best friend Graham suspect foul play and decide to investigate.

‘Mondays are Murder’ has won the Red House Book’s Younger Reader Award for 2010. This title is the first book in the series, so that’s great news if you like it as there are plenty more to read!

Recommended for readers 9+

The Blue-Eyed Aborigine by Rosemary Hayes

Published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Published 5th August 2010
RRP £6.99
ISBN 978-1847800787

(Reviewed for you by Lynsey Evans, Marketing)

This is a tale of Jan Pelgrom, an 18-year-old Dutch cabin boy and Woulter, a soldier, upon the ship Batavia in 1629, heading towards Java. Living in squalid conditions with little food and water left after 8 months at sea, the Batavia runs aground on a reef, with the ship already in ill-feeling and a mutiny on the cards. The ship’s captain divides the passengers, soldiers and crew on to two islands. The captain then takes the boats, the best crew and sails to a different island, where they adapt the boats and head for Java, living the rest behind with basic rations. The shipwrecked crew and passengers left behind think they have been abandoned.

Mutiny ensues, and Jan finds himself as the Under Commander's right hand man, which means Jan has to do many awful things, including kill for him. A small war between the islands’ separated crew commences before the Captain returns. Most of the mutineers are hung, though Jan and Woulter escape the noose, but are abandoned on the South Land (which we know as Australia). Here they survive for weeks before Jan befriends the Aborigines, who believe the white men are their spirit ancestors and welcome them.

The story is based on the diaries from the ship’s commander, which made it all the more interesting for me. Jan and Woulter are suspected to be the first European settlers in Australia. Once Jan and Woulter arrive on the South Lands they then tell the story from their perspective, giving the reader the feeling they are living the story out through their eyes. For me ‘The Blue-Eyed Aborigine’ was an easy read, a fast-paced story that dealt with quite awful facts. It does contain some mild swearing as well cover topics such as murder, rape, violence and sex, though none are gratuitous and all in the context of the story. It was so well written, that I felt sorry for Jan, then loathed him before championing him again at the end of the book. It reminded me of ‘Lord of the Flies’ – how a life and death situation can make humans animal. My one criticism is that I thought the story could have been much longer – I wanted to know more about Jan’s life with the Aborigines.

A definite must-read this summer!

Recommended for readers 12+

(Reviewed for you by Claire Tupholme, Wordsmith Editor)

‘Before We Say Goodbye’ tells the story of a Jerusalem suicide bombing from the perspectives of two teenage girls: one the bomber, the other her victim. The novel is inspired by a true story and speaks of the human impact of violence and hatred in the Middle East. The unique quality to this book is that it is even-handed and non-judgemental, enabling readers to empathise with both the suicide bomber and the victims. The narrative is a mixture of people’s viewpoints, during the course of a few hours in one day as events unfold, and allows readers to see how everyone involved is affected.

Amnesty International’s collaboration with Walker Books has the ongoing objective of developing fiction that contributes to a better understanding of human rights. Good fiction can capture the imagination and affect perceptions of the world around us. Being inspired to see the world from someone else’s point of view can be a first step towards understanding and tolerance and a step away from prejudice, hatred and violence.

Recommended for readers 14+

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This title is widely available through various publishers on the high street and online.

This year sees ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ celebrate its 50th anniversary. Even half a century after it was first published it is as popular as ever and is still on the exam syllabus. Why wait until you may have to read this for your GCSEs? It’s a modern classic, and one everyone should read.

'Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird’.

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

’To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a coming-of-age story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition.