Jed Greenleaf by Kieran Larwood illustrated by David Wyatt

Feather, Bone, Claw, Fire, Leaf and Iron - the Guilds - who will gain power this year?

About this book: Albion city is governed by a puppet queen, secretly controlled by Lord Cromwell, and strange magic is afoot as six Guilds all compete to rule it. Although the Leaf Guild is the weakest, no one has reckoned with newcomer Jed Greenleaf’s extraordinary ability to transform into a half-tree, covered over with bark . . . he just needs to learn how to harness that power. Could he be the hero that the Guild needs to win at the tournament? It just might be that this year Jed can turn over a new leaf in the history books,and bring glory to the decaying Guild and peace to Albion.  Books Up North

Here are some children's book tropes that apply to this book:

• The chosen one – A character who is destined to save the world or defeat a great evil.

In this book his name is Jed.

• A magic school – A school for magical arts exists where the character goes to study and train.

Jed is taken to Yggdrsail House which is actually a house inside a giant tree and the home of Guild of Leaf. There he begins his training for the Arthanfest competition.

• The wise old mentor – A powerful mentor figure helps train/guide the hero.

Madame Stump and her husband are in charge of training for the Guild but Jed's mentor or inspiration is actually the dead hero Jack Greenleaf

• The dark lord – An ultimate evil or antagonist that stirs up trouble in the world

Cromwell and Lady Ireton have been drugging Queen Jane. The are totally corrupt and the Arthanfest competition has been rigged so either Iron or Fire always win.

• A magic sword – The hero wields an enchanted blade with magical properties and powers.

Jed does not have a sword but he has his armour in the form of very thick tree bark and he has the power to manipulate trees and bushes.

• A magical creature sidekick – A unicorn, dragon, sprite, etc. joins the hero on the journey

There are levels of power for Guild members. Jed has no idea he is able to reach level three until he meets a tree dryad.

• A quest – The hero must journey to obtain some object or defeat some evil.

Jed is attacked while competing at Arthanfest. His new family are all captured. Working with his new friends Phoebe (Claw Guild) and Nxy (Bone Guild) they have just two days to save his family and expose the crimes of the Iron and Fire Guilds. The queen needs to know the truth and Cromwell must be defeated. There were times in this story that I simply gasped out loud at the treachery and danger. 

• A magical world – The story is set in a world where magic is real and commonplace.

Each of the Guild champions can transform into their specific gift for example bark for Jed who is from the Leaf Guild. There are historical references in this setting to with names like Oliver Cromwell; Dick Turpin; and Samuel Johnson. 

• A magical object – The use of a magic ring, wand, amulet, chalice, or similar item.

Every guild has an amulet which is the source of their power. At Arthanfest the Guilds complete for to collect magickal globes.

• Magical creatures – Appearance of elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, trolls, etc.

Jed has his tree dryad. I loved his way of speaking. "Larkspur and lavender, that be good work ye did last night, laddie ... We sozzled them redjackets like a gaggle of dumplings."

• The outcast hero – The hero is a misfit in some way and doesn’t fit in.

Jed is an orphan. As a young boy he was very unwell and so he is small and seemingly quite weak. He has been badly bullied by one of the young farm workers with the awful name of Sam Gigglemug. 

• Nature magic – Magic tied to the elements or forces of nature.

Members of the Guild of Leaf gain power from trees especially oak trees.

• Evil queen/king – A tyrannical monarch that needs to be overthrown.

Cromwell is not a monarch but he is evil and must be overthrown.

• Discovery of powers – The hero finds they have magical abilities they didn’t know about before.

When Jed is taken to Yggdrsail House it is obvious he has reached level one and can transform his skin into bark. On his first day Mr Stump discovers Jed can also perform at level two because he can talk to plants and as the danger increases when he is on the run from the soldiers is it clear he has reached level three and has the help of the tree dryad.

This self-contained story is a wonderful adventure and feels as though it has sprung from ancient folktales particular to our green and pleasant land. As fresh as the brightest green shoots and as sturdy as the oldest oak, this is a wonderful piece of storytelling. Love Reading4Kids

Jed is such a fabulous character. Sickly and bullied by those around him, he is full of self-doubt, worried about his abilities and his newfound role as part of a Guild which is far from flourishing. Yet, as the story progresses, his courage and determination lead him to achieve things he would never have thought possible, overturning corruption and righting wrongs along the way. Despite all the cruelty he has experienced, Jed shows unfailing kindness and loyalty to those he cares for, an instinctive sense of right and wrong guiding him in the choices he makes.  Through the Bookshelf

I spied this book in a local bookshop (Three Sparrows) and saw the detail on the cover that this book was by the author of Podkin One-ear which is a book series I loved.

Jed Greenleaf has 433 pages but I gobbled up over 250 pages today because it is so fast paced. This is one of those stories that you know will end in a mammoth battle of good versus evil. And yes it does. I also hoped the ending of this book would have a satisfying conclusion - and yes it does and great news this is a standalone book. Readers aged 10+ who enjoy stories of good and evil with heroes and quests are sure to enjoy this richly told story. 

Look for other books by Kieran Larwood:

The Legend of Podkin One-Ear

Street Child by Berlie Doherty

When we meet Jim, he is living in extreme poverty with his mother who is clearly extremely unwell and his two sisters. Jim spends their last coins on a hot pie (with plenty of gravy). It really is the last coin and so it is not long until they find themselves evicted. Mrs. Jarvis takes the children to a house where she once worked. She is able to leave the two girls there but not Jim. They walk off into the night and then she collapses in the street. Jim lives in fear of the workhouse but that is exactly where he is taken now that his mother has died. 

Jim adapts to the brutal life in the workhouse, but he dreams of escape. One day the opportunity to do just this arises but Jim has no idea that he is about to lose his freedom again.

"Nick thrust a shovel at Jim. The basket hovered just above the hold and Nick eased it down and steadied it and started shoveling coal into it ... Jim stabbed at the coals with his shovel. He had to lift it nearly as high as himself before he could tip it into the basket, and the few coals he managed to lift slid off and bumped against him."

The hours of this are long and dangerous. Jim is hardly given any food and Nick controls Jim by using his ferocious dog. It feels as though Jim will never escape.

Street Child was first published in 1993. I have listed this book for senior primary ages 10+. It looks like a junior book with only 170 pages but the violence and cruelty inflicted on young Jim Jarvis are sure to upset very sensitive readers. There were times I had to stop and take a breath as I read the way Grimy Nick treated Jim.

On her web page Berlie Doherty has links to a wealth of materials associated with this book.

Bookseller blurb: When his mother dies, Jim Jarvis is left all alone in London. He is sent to the workhouse but quickly escapes, choosing a hard life on the streets of the city over the confines of the workhouse walls. Struggling to survive, Jim finally finds some friends… only to be snatched away and made to work for the remorselessly cruel Grimy Nick, constantly guarded by his vicious dog, Snipe. Will Jim ever manage to be free? (This is) the unforgettable tale of an orphan in Victorian London, based on the boy whose plight inspired Dr Barnardo to found his famous children’s homes.

I have shared four cover designs because I think this can be a good discussion starter with a class - talking about which cover the students like and why and aspects of cover design such as placement of the title, font, colour choices, and the way a cover might help you predict the plot of a story. 

Here is the Kirkus review. Book Bag review.

I do need to give a word of warning about Barnardos homes. Wikipedia says: "Barnardo's was also implicated in (the) inquiry for sending British children to Australia in the mid-20th century, where some were tortured, ... and enslaved. Barnardo's acknowledges its role in this "well intentioned" but "deeply misguided" policy supported by the government of the time."  I would not use Street Child as an impetus to research Dr Bernado and his charity, but you could use parts of this book to explore life in Victoria England and also with an older group as a way to talk about the United Nations Rights of the Child. As an adult reader if you are curious about Bernardos take a look at this article. 

Companion books:

The Fortune Maker

The Truth about Verity Sparks

A Very Unusual Pursuit

My Friend the Octopus

Other books by Berlie Doherty:

Carnegie Medal winner

Carnegie Medal winner

The Christmas Pine by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Victoria Sandøy

I travelled far across the sea, and now I am a Christmas tree.

Notes from this book: "The Christmas Pine is based on a true story. It celebrates a special tradition that stretches back over seventy years. Every year since 1947, the Mayor of Oslo in Norway presents the British people with a spectacular Christmas tree. The pine tree is a symbol of peace and friendship: a thank you for the UK's support during World War II. "

"Each year, the UK Poetry Society asks a poet to write a poem to welcome the tree." Julia Donaldson wrote this poem in 2020. It is a beautiful poem as you would expect but this book is made extra special by the scrumptious illustrations by the Norwegian illustrator Victoria Sandøy. If you are looking to add a new Christmas book to your collection I do recommend The Christmas Pine. 

You can see some children from a London Primary school performing the poem. 

Previous poets include Clare Pollard, Joseph Coelho, A.F. Harrold, Julia Copus, Ian McMillan, Liz Lochhead and Kevin Crossley-Holland.

You can see children performing the 2021 poem written by Sinead Morrissey. 

They found me high

above the breathing canopy,

tightjacketed prodigy—

interstellar silence

laced through my hair

and frost like a tapestry

nailed to my door.

Such absolute dark

above my tippy-top

spangled crown,

ballooning sky-shot

Arctic greens draped

winter’s finest shawl

about my shoulders.

Unstable starship

of the planet,

your lungs are my fingers—

their feather-thin million

branching endings:

tiny-bright tiny-light

redeemers of air.

Spectacular child

in the barn, who fell

like a comet or windfall,

I also attend—

I also stand, in all

my pine-needle finery,

and shine.

And in this video the children read the poem by Joseph Coelho and then they talk about the tradition of sending the tree from Norway. 

Here is the French edition of this book:

Station Jim by Louis de Bernieres illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark

Railway worker Mr Leghorn (Ginger) finds a puppy left on a train. No one claims the little fellow and so he becomes a loved member of the family - Dad (Ginger) and Mum - Molly Leghorn, and the children Alfie, Arthur, Beryl, Sissy and Albert. Jim has some great adventures he even stows away on a ship. Eventually Mr Leghorn puts little Jim to work with a charity box around his neck collecting funds for The Railway Widows and Orphans Fund.

A major chain bookstore in my city offered a good discount on purchases last week so naturally I made a visit expecting to buy a few books! I spied this one on their shelf of new releases. Louis de Bernieres is an adult author best known for Captain Corelli's Mandolin. You may already know I adore the art of  Emma Chichester Clark so I expected this book would be very special. Then when I opened it up and scanned a few pages I found some delicious words:

• obstreperous
• pestiferous
• rhetorically
• gallivanting
• eccentricity
• inexplicably
• ostensibly
• lugubrious

This story is very, very English but I think that is a good thing. If you are reading this book in Australia, for example, there will be so much to talk about and explore. Steam trains with individual compartments, Christmas puddings with threepence coins, using a mangle to wring washing, piercing chestnuts before putting them on the fire, ink pens and inkwells and an object called a donkey stone. The chapter entitled Raggabone is fascinating. It describes all the tradesmen who worked on the streets. The Muffin Man, Diddicoys (gypsies) who could mend machinery, the Pieman, Any Old Iron Man, and the Rag-and-Bone man.

When you pick up this book try to read the chapter Station Jim's Christmas a few days before Christmas day. I loved this chapter. Making the pudding was especially delicious:

"Molly (Mrs Leghorn) had already made a pound of breadcrumbs, and shelled and chopped the Brazil nuts, and blanched and skinned and chopped the almonds, and grated the cooking apples, and grated a lemon rind and squeezed out the juice, and stoned and chopped the dates, and bought some eggs and demerara sugar and a little bottle of rum, and weighed our some sultanas and currants and a little posset of mixed spices ... "

Perhaps I need to tell you here is some smoking and drinking in this story. Don't let this put you off reading this charming story. The smoking references are always qualified with the warning:

"Like everyone else in those days they had the bad luck of not knowing smoking is a deadly habit."

I recommend this book as a family read aloud or perhaps a book you could read to a class (age 8+) over a couple of weeks - there are fifteen chapters.  Preview the first chapter here. You might enjoy the audio book too.  You could perhaps follow this book with The Railway children by E Nesbit.

If you read this with a class it would be fun to look closely at the notice Mr Leghorn displays at the post office:

"Enywon want a pupy? Noy suer how old. Very sweet and wel behayvd. Prity much houstraned already. Afrade of cats. Blak and tan. Aply Number 4 Railway cottiges."

Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange

"The fire wasn't the only act of sabotage. Just a few days later, three telephone lines in the village were cut, including the line to the police station. At first it was blamed on high winds, but when the man came to repair them, he said it was obvious the lines had been severed deliberately."

Petra (Pet) lives in a lighthouse on the Kent coast in England just across from France. World War II has begun and the Germans are advancing on France. Petra gives the reader insights into daily life in her small town and the changes people are making because of the war. Gas masks, blackout curtains, rationing, and more recently suspicion. Petra's mum is German. People from Germany are considered to be the enemy.  Mrs Angela Helene Zimmerman Smith (Mutti) is taken to a hearing where there can be one of three outcomes:

Category A "aliens were considered a serious threat and were to be locked up in internment camps"
Category B "were not be locked up, but they faced restrictions on where they could live and what they could do"
Category C  "were not considered dangerous at all and were free to continue living as normal."

Petra is sure her Mutti will be a category C but she is not. Someone produces maps, drawings and charts in a package that was intercepted on its way to Germany. Mutti is seen, by the court, as posing a threat to national security and she is taken away to an internment camp.

Petra sees strange things going on around her village. She is also acutely aware of the legend surrounding the standing stones near the lighthouse (read the prologue link below). Her sister, Magda or Mags has become distant and silent, her father has dangerous secrets and one of the local boys seems to acting suspiciously. Petra finds important information in many forms but she is not sure who she can tell.  Is her father really the spy? Who is the white haired man who lives in a remote cottage not far from their lighthouse? Why has her mother 'confessed' to something she did not do?

This writing is atmospheric. It contains so much carefully researched history but all of this is presented in context and not as an intrusive layer. This is historical fiction at its best. I knew nothing, for example, about Operation Pied Piper. I also loved all the details about the life and work of a lighthouse keeper.

This is a story that can stand along side other classic stories of WWII such as Carries War, When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit,  The War the Saved my Life, and Goodnight Mr Tom.

The slow dismantling of Petra’s faith in her loved ones adds a delicious instability to the growing unease of this WWII thriller. Kirkus

You can read the story prologue here. Listen to this review which is filled with enthusiasm and plot details. Here is an interview with Lucy Strange.  You can see Lucy Strange here. Listen to an audio sample from page 224.

Themes in middle grade war novels

The confusion of living through these times:
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Rose Blanche (picture book) by Roberto Innocenti
An elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo
The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
When Jays fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson

Evacuation and it's consequences:
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
Vinnie's War by David McRobbie
The War that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
Letters from the lighthouse by Emma Carroll

Spies, survival and resistance:
What about me? by Gertie Evenhuis
The Little Riders by Margaretha Shemin
The upstairs room by Johanna Reiss
Letters from the lighthouse by Emma Carroll
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
A hero on a bicycle by Shirley Hughes

Enemy Aliens:
Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange

Evacuation of Dunkirk:
Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange
The little ships (picture book) by Louise Borden

I would follow Our Castle by the sea with Letters from the Lighhouse. You might also like to read another book by Lucy Strange which I enjoyed: The Secret of Nightingale Wood. Adults might like to search out the movie Their Finest.

Sir Tony Robinson's Worst Children's jobs in History illustrated by Mike Phillips

If you follow this blog you will know I rarely talk about non fiction.  Taking this one step further if I AM talking about a non fiction title it must be really GOOD - and yes it is.

If you have students or children who enjoy the Horrible History series rush out and grab a copy of this book which won the Blue Peter Best Book with Facts award in 2007.

There are six chapters in this book each with an intriguing heading :

• First get yourself some training
• The great outdoors
• No hiding place
• Mean streets
• Service without a smile
• Slave to the machine

You can get a feel for the colloquial style found in this book from the very first page.

"Stop reading this book right now! Put it down, walk slowly to the kitchen and open the door of the cupboard under the kitchen sink.  Off you go!  Don't touch anything just look. Are you back yet? Did you see lots of plastic bottles ... they make jobs like cleaning ... quick and easy."

Of course if you'd been alive in the Middle Ages you would not have had access to any of these products and every job would be ten times harder than it is now.

What jobs are we talking about?  Here is a list of some that you may never have heard of and there are lots more too.

• mudlark
• costermonger
• link boy
• fuller's apprentice
• jigger-turner

Here is the picture for a fuller's apprentice.  "You had to take off your shoes and socks and climb into a barrel full of other people's wee."  This was the way they processed woven wool.

Each job has an easy to read description and a little job score scroll.  Here are the details for a stepper - a young orphan girl sent from a charity home to scrub doorsteps for a penny each.

Job Score
Stepper
Boredom
steps all look the same
Hard Slog
work till your hands and knees are red
Cash
very little
Glamour
nobody notices you

Each chapter ends with a detailed timeline and there is an excellent index.  This is a book you can read quickly or linger over ... you can dip in or read from the first page to the last.  What ever way you read this book you are sure to learn something new and fascinating and perhaps slightly gruesome.  Watch this little film where Tony Robinson visits an exhibition about the worst jobs.

I would pair this book with some fiction titles such as A very unusual Pursuit, Barnaby Crimes Curse of the Night Wolf, Midnight is a place and Lydie by Katherine Paterson.

I have discovered there are other titles in this series such as these books about World War I and World War II which are popular topics in our library.  These should go on the library shopping list.

Wisher and the runaway piglet Georgie Adams

I have just spent the last week listening to the audio book of Wisher and the Runaway piglet the first book in the series Railway Rabbits.  It was such a delight to listen to this story briefly each day. Kate O'Sullivan does an excellent narration and seems to easily change so many character voices. Listen to an audio sample here.

Last year one of our students read Wisher and the Runaway piglet and she recommended it to me. I love it when this happens.  The young reader wondered if there were more books in the series. Together we looked inside the back cover and discovered there are eight more books so we have now added them to our library.

As this first story opens Barley is anxiously waiting for the arrival of his new babies.  Mellow has sent him off and while he waits looking at the river various animals from the woodland community pass by and offer their advice and good wishes.  Barley returns home to the news five babies (3 boys and 2 girls) have arrived.  They name them Bramble, Bracken, Berry, Fern and Wisher.

Close to their burrow there is a terrifying beast - the Red Dragon.  It "roared along the valley every day - up and down, up and down - whistling loudly and belching clouds of smoke.  Although it looked a terrifying beast Barley had never once seen it stray from its tracks."  Have you guessed what this really is?

After several weeks spent in the safety of their burrow the five little rabbits are allowed to explore the world outside - but not stray to far.  Wisher keeps hearing a little song in her head :

I whisper a song like the wind in your ear

Wisher, beware. Wisher take care.

While she does take care, Wisher somehow manages to become caught up in a race to find a tiny runaway piglet. Luckily she has made a good friend Parsley the mole.  Together they find Foster the piglet and restore him to his family.  One fun aspect of this is watching the spread of rumours about the fate of Foster.  First it is one dog, then two or three, then a pack of wild dogs - five or six.  This aspect of the story would make for an interesting class discussion.

I have included the new and old covers.  Read an interview with the author here.  I am sure younger readers will eagerly seek out this whole series which would also make a good family read-aloud.

The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

If I could walk, maybe Mam wouldn't be so ashamed of me.  Maybe we could disguise my crippled foot.  

Maybe I could leave the room ... 

That's what happened, though not in the way I thought it would. 

This book is really only suitable for the most mature readers at my school but I do hope I can put in into the hands of a senior student who finds this poignant tale as engrossing as I did.

This is another one of those books that I started one night and almost finished in one sitting - not bad for 314 pages.

Perhaps you have read the classic story Goodnight Mister Tom.  The war that saved my life follows the same historical period and evacuation experience of children sent from London to stay in rural England.

Ada has been born with a club foot.  Her ignorant and abusive mother did not allow any medical intervention when Ada was a tiny baby.  She regards Ada as a cripple and stupid.  Children are being evacuated all over London.  Ada decides she and her younger brother Jamie must leave.  They board a train filled with children bound for Kent.  Reluctantly a lady called Susan Smith takes in the two children.  Very, very gradually the three form a strong bond but for Ada the most special part of her new life is the pony in the field beside the house.  Ada's care of the pony called Butter and her determination to learn how to ride and jump, mirror the persistence and care of Susan and gradually Ada, Jamie and Susan form a little family unit.

There are several very violent scenes in this book especially early in the story when Ada is locked in a small cupboard by her abusive mother.  While I do highly recommend this book I feel it is only suitable for mature students.

It is very easy to tell the author adores horses.  This is the scene when Ada meets Butter for the first time :

"I toddled and stumbled.  Everything hurt.  The pony watched me.  When I reached the stone wall I sat on it and swung my legs over to the other side.  The pony stepped toward me, lowered his head, sniffed my hands, and pressed his neck against me. I put my arms around him.  I understood how he go his name.  He smelled like butter in the hot sun."

Here is the Kirkus review.  Here is a video interview with the author.  Here is a detailed review in the School Library Journal.  Here is an excellent set of teaching notes from the publisher.  I also found a sample of the audio book which runs for ten minutes.

You might also enjoy Carrie's war, An elephant in the garden, Children of the King or Vinnie's war by David McRobbie.  Mosst importantly though, when you have read The war that saved my life you must read Goodnight Mr Tom.

The mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine

If you have watched the television series Mr Selfridge the you will immediately recognise the setting for this fast paced Victorian drama The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow.

"Through one archway was a rose-coloured room, in which elegant shop girls offered scent in pretty bottles. A display of coloured parasols dripped down from the ceiling like a waterfall of exotic hothouse flowers.  ...  There was so much to discover.  A pianist in a white waistcoat played a grand piano on the fourth floor landing ..."

Mr Sinclair sounds just like Mr Selfridge

"He was an American, a self-made man, renowned for this elegance, the single, perfect orchid he always worse in his buttonhole, for the ever-changing string of beautiful ladies on his arm and, most of all, for his wealth."

Sophie Taylor has moved from a life of privilege to that of a working girl employed by Sinclair's, a new and very grand department store which will open tomorrow.  Sophie's past life is only hinted at as we become swept up in the present and the major crime that occurs on the night before the store opening.  One part of the new store is a beautiful exhibition hall and Mr Sinclair has plans to display his collection of treasures including a jeweled clockwork sparrow "encrusted with pearls and pink, yellow and blue sapphires (and) each time it is wound it will play an entirely different song."

Sophie is one of the last people sighted in the store the night before this serious crime is committed and so suspicion falls on her.  What Sophie does not know is that this crime originates with one of the most notorious criminals living in London - the Baron. Sophie has been shunned by the other girls in the millinery department but she has found a true friend in Billy an apprentice porter.  Together with Lil (Lilian Rose) and Joe, a young man who is on the run from the Baron.  There are clues to unravel and codes to decipher.

Listen to the author talk about her inspiration for this book.  I think this is a book middle grade and upper primary students will really enjoy.  I would also suggest reading Withering-by-sea, The truth about Verity Sparks and Rooftoppers.  You will see Katherine Rundell (author of Rooftoppers) has endorsed The mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow on the back cover.  Click this quote below to read a review by Zoe at Playing by the Book.

Woodfine’s period drama is a perfectly paced, exciting read and when readers turn the final page, they’ll be delighted to see that further adventures in crime-solving await Sophie and her friends

The Calder Game by Blue Balliett

I remember the first Blue Balliett book I ever found was Chasing Vermeer. This is a book I read years and years ago but a memory of a fast paced adventure and fabulous problem solving lingers with me. These same feelings are true for this third title by Blue Balliett where we once again meet Calder, Petra and Tommy.

One exciting thing I must say before going any further with this review something wonderful that occasionally happens when I read is when real life and the story overlap or make a connection. As I was reading The Calder Game last week Google celebrated 113th birthday of Alexander Calder.

Before reading this book I had not even heard of Alexander Calder. His work is so fabulous.

In this latest adventure our three friends have moved up a grade. The new teacher seems most uninspiring especially since these are all very gifted students. She has organised for the whole class to view the latest exhibition of works by Alexander Calder but there are some many restrictions placed on the kids they all feel as though the joy of this day has been drained out of them.

Several days later Calder Pillay and his father head off to England. Walter Pillay is attending a conference and Calder is left to explore the area around Woodstock. In the main square he sees a sculpture by Alexander Calder. Since they share the same name, Calder is fascinated by the work of this artist but as the days unfold this young boy will disappear, a major crime will be attempted and Petra and Tommy will fly to England to help solve this dangerous and intriguing mystery.

If you enjoyed Chasing Vemeer or The Wright 3 then you will want to grab The Calder Game. I am sure you will not be disappointed. You might also like to dust off your set of pentominoes because they play a vital role in this story too and Brett Helquist the illustrator has hidden them all through the illustrations which adds another puzzle for you to solve. Read more about this book, the illustrations and an extract here. Finally you must take a dip into the author web site it is full of information including details of her newest book which we will now need to hunt out for our library!