This preview highlights titles to be published in July


07


faces her biggest chal- lenge in Stanley the shark, who doesn’t like her creations. Can Oona and Stanley become friends? HarperCollins is publishing this ahead of the live- action remake of “The Little Mermaid”, which will also have a Black mermaid as the main character.


Macmillan Children’s Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781529013276 The author and illustrator of I am Dog turn their hands to feline friends in their new picture book, which shows what a cat gets up to through a cat’s point of view. Sweet and funny.


Nelson Mandela, Chris Van Wyk, Paddy Bouma (illus) Long Walk to Freedom Macmillan Children’s Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781529069297 The picture book adaptation of Mandela’s autobiograpy Long Walk to Freedom, published with an introduction from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.


Justin Roberts, Christian Robinson (illus) The Smallest Girl in the Class Two Hoots, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781529066302 Roberts, known in the US for his family musical numbers, has created a charming, rhyming story about empathy through Sally Brass, the smallest girl in the class. No one notices Sally but she notices everything, and when she finally speaks up, she makes her class- mates realise they need to all be a bit kinder to each other.


Peter Bently, Chris Chatterton (illus) I am Cat


Fiction 9–12


Jenny McLachlan, Chloe Dominique (illus) Dead Good Detectives Farshore, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781405298155


Arree Chung Remixed Macmillan Children’s Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781529096118 When Colours fall in love they create families of all different colours, shapes and sizes. But when families split up, it can be hard for children to accept change. Chung’s ingenious illustrations will offer reas- surance during difficult transitions.


Alexandra Page, Stef Murphy (illus) The Worry Tiger Two Hoots, 21st, £7.99, pb/hb, 9781529074130 Murphy creates a luscious jungle for Page’s Worry Tiger in this ingenious picture book, which tack- les dealing with anxiety.


Andrew Sanders, Aysha Awwad (illus) Where Has All the Cake Gone? Macmillan Children’s Books, 21st, £7.99, pb, 9781529037128 Young Albert tells an amusing tall tale about being kidnapped by penguins when his father asks where the cake has gone. But is he really fibbing?


Freddy McConnell, Rosalind Beardshaw (illus)


Little Seahorse and the Big Question Puffin, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780241453384


A seahorse and his little one talk about the things they need in this celebra- tion of the father-child relationship. McConnell, a trans man and “seahorse dad”, wrote the book to show families like the one he created with his own son.


Nadia Shireen Billy and the Pirates Puffin, 21st, £6.99, pb, 9781780081373 Billy and Fatcat are back for a third adventure. After finding a message in a bottle, the plucky heroes encounter singing mermaids and sticky- toffee-eating sharks, and must find a way to escape Captain Howl.


puddle of wee on the floor, he imagines who might have done it. A princess? A superhero? A unicorn? Rowland and Byrne are the duo behind Who Pooed in My Loo?, which the publisher says sold 3,500 copies in just two months.


Lucy Rowland, Katy Halford (illus) There’s No Such Thing as Mermaids Scholastic, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9780702302244 A little girl goes on the hunt for mermaids in this vividly illustrated rhyming tale. Third in the series after There’s No Such Thing as Elves and There’s No Such Thing as Unicorns.


David Lucas, Bruce Ingman (illus) Attack of the Giant Baby! Bloomsbury, 8th, £6.99, pb, 9781408899878 This amusing depiction of a baby on the rampage has a sweet reminder that at their most destructive small children need love and cuddles. Now out in paperback.


Lucy Rowland, Mike Byrne (illus) Who Did a Wee? Wait and See! Scholastic, 7th, £12.99, hb, 9780702317620 When a little boy spots a


Bellen Woodard, Fanny Liem (illus) More than Peach Scholastic, 7th, £12.99, hb, 9781338809275 When Bellen’s class automatically hand over the peach crayon when someone wants the “skin-colour” one, she realises something needs to change. Ten-year-old Woodard is a “Crayon Activist” and founded the More Than Peach Project, and this book features advice for other young activists.


Ged Adamson The Elephant Detectives Nosy Crow, 7th, £12.99/£6.99, hb/pb, 9781839942891/ 1839942907 When Alan loses his elephant, a girl who says she is an elephant detec- tive comes to his aid. A sweet story about friend- ship from the author and illustrator of Shark Dog!


One to Watch


Sid (short for Sidonie) must free a load of ghosts who have been trapped by a sinister landlord, while pretending she can’t see Bones and his irritating parrot. McLachlan’s take on the detective middle-grade novel, a crowded field, is fresh and fun, and the


interactions between her heroine and the incorrigi- ble pirate are hilarious. Parts of this book had me desperately stifling giggles on a London bus, which is always a good sign.


Fiction 9–12


Jonathan Tulloch Cuckoo Summer Andersen Press, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781839132094


Tracey Corderoy, Steven Lenton Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: Pirates Ahoy! Nosy Crow, 7th, £12.99/£6.99, hb/pb, 9781839945816/ 1839945823 The sixth title in the Shifty and Sam series, which has reached sales of 288,000 copies internationally, features a pirate called Captain Chucklebeard. When Sam and Shifty are asked to bake for a pirate party, someone steals Chucklebeard’s treasure. Can the dog detectives save the day?


Enid Blyton, Becky Cameron (illus) Bunny’s First Christmas Hodder Children’s Books, 7th, £12.99, hb, 9781444958232 A sweet Christmas story about a rabbit who worries about where he will end up when he leaves the toy shop, charmingly illustrated by Cameron.


Dr Shini Somara, Nadja Sarell (illus) A Mathematician Like Me Wren & Rook, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781526361981 When she sets off on a camping trip, Aliyah discovers that numbers are everywhere, from counting money at the shops to finding the Fibonacci sequence in nature. Previously published in hardback.


Lou Carter, Nikki Dyson (illus) Oscar the Hungry Unicorn and the New Babycorn Orchard Books, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781408365137 Oscar has to accept there is a new unicorn on the scene when Oola brings home Babycorn. A fun exploration of sibling jealousy and the fourth book in a series.


Tom Percival Milo’s Monster Bloomsbury, 7th, £6.99, hb, 9781526613028 The latest book in the Big Bright Feelings series is about jealousy and what happens when your best friend finds a new friend to play with. Also avail- able in paperback.


Sophy Henn Lifesize Baby Animals Red Shed, 7th, pb, 9781405299497 This is a non-fiction book about animals with a twist: readers will be able to fold out pages to compare themselves to the life-sized pictures of real animals. Henn, the illustrator of this fun and inventive title, is behind hits such as Where Bear? and Pom Pom Gets the Grumps.


Eoin McLaughlin, Polly Dunbar (illus) The Roar Faber Children’s, £12.99, hb, 9780571374342 When Tortoise gets stuck on his back, Hedgehog learns you have to listen to someone if you want to cheer them up. The last in a series that started with lockdown favourite The Hug, it will be published


One to Watch


Two children help a wounded German airman in the Lake District in 1940 in Tulloch’s beautifully written and moving “Whistle Down the Wind”-esque story. As Tommy and Sally endeavour to keep the airman hidden, more details about


Sally’s life and precarious living arrangements are revealed. A moving story about identity and finding your family for fans of “Carrie’s War” and “Goodnight Mister Tom”.


© Lee Thompson TheBookseller.com 27


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