Very young children will have lots of fun joining in these noisy rhyming romps, which are jam-packed with favourite vehicles / animals and their noises!

Recommended for pre-school readers

Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

Published by David Fickling Books
Published 27th May 2010
RRP £10.99 Hardback
ISBN 978-0385618946

Be careful what you wish for . . . Andi is short. And she has lots of wishes. She wishes she could play on the school basketball team, she wishes for her own bedroom, but most of all she wishes that her long lost half-brother, Bernardo, could come and live in London, where he belongs.

Then Andi’s biggest wish comes true and she’s minutes away from becoming someone’s little sister. As she waits anxiously for Bernardo to arrive from the Philippines, she hopes he’ll turn out to be tall and just as mad as she is about basketball. When he finally arrives, he’s tall all right. But he’s not just tall ... he’s a GIANT.

In a novel packed with humour and quirkiness, Gourlay explores a touching, sibling relationship and the clash of two very different cultures.

Recommended for readers 9+

Crazy Days by Maggi Gibson

Published by Puffin
Published 1st July 2010
RRP £6.99
ISBN 978- 0141324661

Seriously Sassy is a delightful, light-hearted and fun series that will hugely appeal fans of Cathy Cassidy and Jacqueline Wilson.

In this third book, life is seriously good for Sassy Wilde - she’s had her first kiss, she has the two bestest bezzies ever and her rock-chick dreams are on the verge of coming true. But just as everything's set to take off, her new boyfriend starts acting weird - and then the record company turns Sassy’s world upside down! Sassy feels like giving it all up - until a real disaster strikes. Now's not the time for Sassy to pack away her guitar, because her talents are needed more than ever …

Recommended for readers 9+

Wyrmeweald Returner's Wealth by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Published by Doubleday Children’s Books
Published 29th April 2010
RRP £12.99 Hardcover
ISBN 978-0385617338

(Reviewed for you by Wordsmith Editor, Claire Tupholme.)

Set against the backdrop of a vast, unfriendly landscape, at the heart of this tale is a young man on a journey to master this terrain, a journey to bring back the fortune he was denied by his low birth.

In Returner's Wealth, the first book of their Wyrmeweald trilogy, Stewart and Riddell bring us an imaginative, highly visual tale of creatures and lands unlike any other from myth and legend. The protagonist, Micah, finds himself surrounded by dragon-like creatures called wyrmes that fill the skies above and rough ground below. This landscape, the weald, inspired by both the Scottish Highlands and the American West, is almost an extra character in the book. This rich and hostile environment is perfect to highlight one of the driving themes of the novel: The extremes of human nature. The base evils of the human condition - greed, violence, exploitation, betrayal, deceit are brought to the fore in the story's characters. And it's these qualities that serve to bring about the most heartbreaking consequences. At the same time, this darkness is juxtaposed with hope, love and friendship, possible even against the odds. Including a beautifully described harmonious relationship between man and beast.

For me, the novel begins to ask: what is it that drives our actions? Is it greed, adventure, hope, love? And then as the story progresses the question becomes – which of these will win out in the end? The action, the twists and turns of the plot, and the fates of the characters are all outcomes of these desires. What is it that makes someone a hero?

A dark and sometimes violent fantasy story, Returner's Wealth haunts the mind, but like a waterfall through the cracks of rock, there are glimmers of light shining through ...

I eagerly await the next instalment, as the closing chapters leave me wondering which way the story will turn next, and I couldn't help thinking all the way through, wouldn't Returner's Wealth make a good film ...

Recommended for readers 12+

(Reviewed for you by Data Inputting Team Member, Jessica Woodbridge.)

The Moonstone Legacy is an adventure story set in England and India and the first book of the trilogy. It is also the first young adult novel Pushkin Press have published.

Fourteen-year-old Lizzy’s family is subject to a curse that killed her mother and is said to kill members of the Abercrombie family during the full moon.

The curse is linked to the Moonstone, a sacred stone that is supposed to have been taken from India by Lizzy’s Great Uncle George and hidden at Shalimar, Aunt Lavinia and Uncle William’s home in the North York Moors.

The discovery of Great Uncle George’s diary takes Lizzy and Rain to the Temple of the Moon, India in search of the rightful place of the Moonstone. Here, they encounter people who want the Moonstone for themselves and who will do anything to get it. Lizzy discovers the terrible past of George Abercrombie and what she finds out puts her in mortal danger …

The Moonstone Legacy is packed with adventure and keeps the reader turning the pages until the end of the book. I recommend reading this book!

For information on The Moonstone Legacy visit www.moonstonelegacy.com (Please note using this link will navigate you to a third party’s website.)

Recommended for readers 12+

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

Published by Michael Joseph (part of Penguin Books)
Published 1st April 2010
RRP £12.99 Hardcover
ISBN 978-0718155582

Move over vampires, there’s a new supernatural force in town … angels.

When Sister Evangeline finds mysterious correspondence between Mother Innocenta of the Saint Rose Convent and legendary philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller, it confirms Angels walked among us – and their descendants, the cruel Nephilim, still do. Indeed, the Nephilim are hunting for artefacts concealed by Abigail Rockefeller during the Second World War - objects that will ultimately allow them to enslave mankind - and have so far been prevented from reaching their apocalyptic goal by one, clandestine organisation: The Angelology Society. And if the Angelologists are to stand any chance of winning this new battle in the ages-old war, they must find the artefacts first. But their fate rests in the hands of innocent Sister Evangeline, who holds the key to unlocking Abigail Rockefeller’s hiding places … and whose own destiny may yet find her prey to the terrifying Nephilim army, with horrifying consequences for humanity.

(Reviewed for you by Lynsey Evans, Marketing Team)

Angelology introduces us to the world of angels who walk among us, called Nephilim, a hybrid of human and angels. They are a secret, powerful race who blend into existence with humans. The story twists and turns, from Biblical times to the present day, weaving the characters’ past and present into an unexpected and quite brilliant ending.

The hunt is on for the hidden lyre, an instrument so powerful, whoever plays it could change the world drastically, for better or worse, or simply destroy it. The Nephilim and the Angelologists are both trying to discover the lyre’s secret location, which drags Sister Evangeline and Adam Verlaine into a dangerous world, so dangerous in fact, their lives will never be the same again.

For me, Angelology started off slowly as it built the characters’ backgrounds and explained the lyre’s history. A few chapters in, the story explodes into a face-paced page turner, with unexpected twists and a thriller element. It’s a big book to read, but don’t let that put you off as it’s an excellent read. It leaves you with a sense of wonder – are angels real or not? Is the book so cleverly written it makes you ask this very question, or indeed do angels walk among us … read it and decide for yourself!

Recommended for readers 12+

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850.
This title is widely available through various publishers on the high street and online.

Based on the author’s own tumultuous journey from boy to man, this epic tale traces young David’s progress from his mother’s sheltering arms to the miseries of boarding school and sweatshop, as well as the rewards of friendship, romance, and self-discovery in his vocation as a writer. A cherished favourite with generations of readers (starting with Dickens himself), this novel combines a compelling narrative with a memorable cast, from the brutal Mr Murdstone to the exuberantly optimistic Mr Micawber.

Like most of Charles Dickens' novels, David Copperfield was published in 19 monthly one-shilling instalments, containing 32 pages of text and two illustrations, with the last instalment being a double bill.

David Copperfield has been subject to several TV and theatre adaptations over the years. The BBC aired its version at Christmas 1999 with Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) cast as the young David Copperfield.