13th December 2024


when the legendary Black Lion goes missing they use their power (Misha can speak to animals, Ziggy can shapeshift) to help track it down. First in an illustrated series by Bello, author of Only for the Holidays.


Jess Brallier, Jack Keely Tuck and Tina and the Lost Fortune


Puffin, 13th, £7.99, PB, 9780241704257


Tina and Tuck are two unlikely friends in this comedy adventure from the founder of Poptropica, pitched at readers who are moving on from picture books. A second book, set in a haunted school, will be published in autumn 2025.


Andy Day, Steven Lenton (illus) Dino Dad: Big Dino Talent Show


Puffin, 6th, £7.99, PB, 9780241643099


Ruby takes part in a talent show in the third dino adventure from Day, a popular CBeebies presenter.


Elys Dolan Rex Dinosaur in Disguise: Museum Mystery


Walker Books, 6th, £6.99, PB, 9781406397727


Rex goes undercover as a museum guard and befriends an ancient Egyptian mummy in this hilarious adventure, the second in a series.


Andy Griffiths, Bill Hope (illus) The Land of Lost Things


Macmillan Children’s Books, 27th, £7.99, PB, 9781035046157


Paperback publication of Griffiths’ new adventure, which places you, the reader, at the heart of a crazy adventure involving rocketless trips to the moon and fights with a high-voltage octopus.


Bex Hogan, Hannah McCaffery (illus) Bronte Tempestra and the Weather Witch


Piccadilly Press, 27th, £7.99, PB, 9781800784932


A school trip is plagued by a witch in the third instalment in Hogan’s fantasy series for seven- to-nine-year-olds.


Nicola Kent Cat and Dumpling: Home Sweet Home


OUP, 6th, £6.99, PB, 9780192788450


First in a new series about best friends Cat (an impulsive dreamer) and Dumpling (a cautious planner), who decide that they can solve their housing needs by moving in together. Will they


16


survive as flatmates or will their differences be too much to overcome?


Nathanael Lessore, Simran Diamond Singh (illus)


Solving Crimes Is NOT My Superpower Little Tiger, 6th, £7.99, PB, 9781788956642


Lessore, the author of brilliant teen novels such as Steady for This, takes on the challenge of writing for young readers with this story about a girl who is the only kid in town without superpowers. But when the school football trophy goes missing Sara decides to find the criminal and work out what her superpower is, after all.


Matty Long Croaky: Caverns of the Gemosaurus


OUP, 6th, £6.99, PB, 9780192785237


Croaky and his fellow scouts go on a hunt for the Gemosaurus, a mythical creature that lives underground in the crystal caverns, in the newest instalment in this illustrated series.


Yasmine Naghdi, Chitra Soundar Ballet Besties: Dante’s Winning Dance


Piccadilly Press, 13th, £7.99, PB, 9781800785878


Dante struggles with his love of ballet when his football mates make fun of him in the third in this inclusive series about ballet.


Billy Partridge Hupo and the Wonder Thief


Flying Eye Books, 6th, £12.99, HB, 9781838741624


Flying Eye’s key release for March is this magical tale, about someone


who is on a mission to restore dreams and wonder to his home once again, before the Wallower destroys everything in its path.


Anders Sparring, Per Gustavsson (illus) The Pinchers and the Curse of the Egyptian Cat


Gecko, 1st, £8.99, PB, 9798765670132


Theo and Ellen accidentally break an ancient cat statue and release a curse that turns thieves into honest people and vice versa, so they go on an adventure that involves sneaking into a zoo and breaking into an antiques shop to try to stop it. Third in a series.


Holly Webb, Rosie Butcher (illus)


4


The Guinea-Pig Party Barrington Stoke, 13th, £6.99, PB, 9780008712808


Katy thinks her dreams have come true when she finds a guinea pig in the vegetable patch. But, when someone from school says they have lost their guinea pig, will Katy do the right thing and return the pet she has come to love?


Fiction 9-12


Jasbinder Bilan ( 4), Skylar White (illus) Puloma and the Bear


Barrington Stoke, 13th, £7.99, PB, 9780008698096


A girl helps a bear that is being illegally used by a circus in this gripping adventure, set in the Indian countryside.


Ann Brashares, Ben Brashares Westfallen


Bloomsbury, 27th, £7.99, PB, 9781526685490


When three former friends reunite, they find a radio that allows them to speak to a group of children living 80 years in the past. But their communication leads to the Nazis winning the Second World War, so they must do all they can to put history back on the right track. From the author of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, writing for the first time with her brother, Ben.


Dhonielle Clayton The Deadly Fates Piccadilly Press, 4th, £7.99, PB, 9781800785526


Ella, Brigit and Jason return for their third year at the Arcanum Training Institute. When they start investigating what happened to the Institute’s Conjure architect, they end up in the Underworld. Third in the Marvellers series.


Maria de Jong Ride North Andersen Press, 6th, £7.99, PB, 9781839135200


De Jong mixes pathos with a spirit of adventure in her debut novel


about a 12-year-old who is grieving after the death of her mother. When her dad suggests the family move to Auckland with his new girlfriend, Folly is so horrified she runs away through the New Zealand wilderness with her pony, Tooth. Stirring and wise.


Ella Dove How to Roller-Skate with One Leg


Orchard Books, 13th, £7.99, PB, 9781408373859


Maya has lost her leg in an accident but when she returns to school she finds


out that her friend, Sophie, has ditched her for the cool kids. Instead of falling apart she decides that she is still going to try to complete her bucket list, including learning to roller skate and having an amazing 13th birthday party to show Sophie what she is missing out on. Dove’s debut has already won praise from Jacqueline Wilson, who said this book is “so surprising, so very special”.


Jess French Beastlands: Legend of the Crystal Caves


Piccadilly Press, 13th, £7.99, PB, 9781800784086


In their second adventure, Alethea, Kayla and Rustus split up to try to stop the evil Professor Penn, who is raising an army of beasts. Kayla tries to uncover Penn’s plans in the ruthless Southlands, as Rustus hunts for prophecies within the hidden Crystal Caves. Meanwhile, Alethea must journey to a new realm to unite the people against the danger ahead.


Cornelia Funke, Tammi Hartung, Melissa Castrillón (illus) The Green Kingdom


DK, 6th, £12.99, HB, 9780241698020


In this contemporary novel about nature and friendship, a girl finds a bundle of old letters in her new home in New York and goes on a plant-inspired quest.


Jamie Hammond Grumpfort Usborne, 13th, £7.99, PB, 9781835400951


Children’s book designer Hammond is making his debut with this funny


illustrated adventure about a reluctant monster-hunter. When


Mo is beaten up by a goblin on his first patrol, he goes into the woods to try to find a monster and improve his reputation. But instead he stumbles upon Grumpfort, a secret monster fortress, and tries to stop a monster-kidnapping creature called the Grumpsnatcher.


Sarah Harrison School of Doom: Be the Worst


Chicken House, 13th, £7.99, PB, 9781915947215


In this school adventure with a monster twist from the winner


of the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2022, Eddie is sent to a school for monsters when her talent for eating a wheelie bin as easily as a cheeseburger gets out of hand.


Amy Jeffs Storyland:


Children’s Edition Wren & Rook, 13th, £9.99, PB, 9781526367402


This illustrated collection of the myths of Britain, including tales of giants, demons and princesses, was previously published in hardback.


Pádraig Kenny After Walker Books, 6th, £7.99, PB, 9781529517804


Jen lives with her father, who is not her biological father but a human-appearing AI, in this dystopian novel set in the aftermath of a technological collapse. A tender novel about humanity, family and whether it is the people who create new technologies who are dangerous, rather than the technology itself.


Jennifer Killick Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Woods


Farshore, 27th, £7.99, PB, 9780008720506


Killick, the author of the brilliant Dreadwood series, is sticking with the horror genre for this first in a new series, about a group of children who decide to investigate the mysterious goings on in their town.


Jacqueline King Lobster Blues ZunTold, 13th, £8.99, PB, 9781915758125


In this sequel to A Cake for the Gestapo, set on Jersey in 1942, a group of friends decide to try to help the Russian men who are being kept prisoner by the Nazis.


Books Children’s Previews: March


IAN SHARP


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