This preview highlights titles to be published in July
07
Oxford University Press, 7th, £5.99, pb, 9780192784100 In his new adventure Marvin and his friend Joe go to a waterpark. When they hear someone shout- ing, “Shark!”, Marvin must become MARV to save the day.
Harriet Muncaster Mirabelle and the Naughty Bat Kittens Oxford University Press, 7th, £5.99, pb, 9780192778666 Mirabelle is on a school trip to a magical-creature animal sanctuary when she accidentally lets the bat kittens out of their enclosure. Can she find them before they cause complete chaos?
Helen Peters, Ellie Snowdon A Seal Pup Called Pearl Nosy Crow, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781839942792 When a newborn seal pup is abandoned on the river- bank, Jasmine and Tom are determined to care for her until she is old enough to be released. Part of Peters’ delightful series for younger readers.
a reissue of Bond’s classic story. HarperCollins is also reissuing Paddington Marches On, Paddington Abroad, Paddington at Large and Paddington Takes the Test this month.
Julia Eccleshare (editor) Stories for 4 Year Olds HarperCollins Children’s Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780008524647 Children’s book expert Eccleshare compiles stories by Michael Bond, Jill Barklem, Anne Fine and more for four-year- olds. Books of stories for five to eight-year-olds are also out in July and are pitched as being the perfect birthday gift.
Olaf Falafel Trixie Pickle Art Avenger Puffin, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780241537640 Trixie Pickle realises she loves art and, using inspiration from Banksy and Picasso, becomes an “Art Avenger” to get back at bullies at school. Falafel’s Art Club channel has more than 5,000 subscribers on YouTube and Art Avenger mixes art and humour with fact files that stay on the right side of entertaining.
Michael Bond, Peggy Fortnum & R W Alley (illus) Love From Paddington HarperCollins Children’s Books 7th, £6.99, pb, 9780008164355 Paddington writes to Aunt Lucy about his experiences in London in
Teenage & YA
Benjamin Dean The King is Dead S&S Children’s, 7th, £8.99, pb, 9781398512542
Alastair Chisholm, Eric Deschamps (illus) Dragon Storm: Mira and Flameteller Nosy Crow, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781839940040 Young dragonseer Mira and her dragon Flameteller come to the rescue when the King of Draconis announces a plan to destroy all dragons. The fourth title in Chisholm’s gripping young fantasy series.
Olivia Tuffin,
Jo Goodberry (illus) Sunshine Stables: Willow and the Whizzy Pony Nosy Crow, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781788009829 When a pony goes miss- ing at Pony Camp, Willow comes to the rescue in the sixth book in the Sunshine Stables series, aimed at younger readers. Books by Tuffin, an equestrian expert, have sold more than 126,000 copies worldwide, says the publisher.
Olivia Brook Fairy Forest: Baby Bunny Magic Orchard Books, 7th, £5.99, pb, 9781408366707 Second book in a new fairy school series by the publisher of Rainbow Magic. Set in Oakwings Academy, where fairies learn to care for animals and the forest. The first book is out in May.
The Adventure Club: Polar Bear Patrol Orion Children’s Books, 7th, £5.99, pb, 9781510108004 Tilly and the Adventure Club head to the Arctic Circle to track a polar bear and her cubs. Written in diary format, this is the third in a series.
Rob Lloyd Jones, Alex Patrick (illus) Me, My Brother and the Monster Meltdown Walker Books, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781529503517 Giant monsters are smashing up the super- markets in the village of Rottingdean and nine- year-old Otis realises the six-headed gingerbread man looks exactly like a drawing done by his little brother, Jago. Can Otis and his pals sort the monster mess out?
Ash Stone Xtinct! T-Rex Terror Orchard Books, 21st, £6.99, pb, 9781408365694 First in a new fiction series about extinct animals that come back to life, and Jeevan and his friends, who have to save them. Billed as being perfect for fans of Beast Quest, “Deadly 60” and “Jurassic World”.
Jess Butterworth, Kirsti Beautyman (illus)
Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, LeUyen Pham (illus) The Princess in Black and the Mermaid Princess Walker Books, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781529502794 The Princess in Black and her friends are enjoying themselves on the royal boat when they find a mermaid, in this latest instalment of Hales’ series for readers just starting on chapter books.
Atinuke, Onyinye Iwu (illus) Too Small Tola Gets Tough Walker Books, 7th, £6.99, pb, 9781406398793 Tola and her grandmother have to lockdown in this topical story about the impact of coronavirus. When they start to run out of money, Tola goes to work for a wealthy couple, the Diamonds, and her intelligence means she
One to Watch
A delicious royal mystery centred on James, a Black teen- ager whose boyfriend disappears as soon as he ascends to the throne. When threatening letters start to appear and bits of gossip are leaked to the public, James realises
even his inner circle can’t be trusted. There are shades of Dumas and the real-life House of Windsor but The King is Dead is highly original in its explora- tion of race, power and living authentically as a member of a royal family.
© Laura Gallant
TheBookseller.com 29
Fiction 9–12 Efua Traoré
The House of Shells Chicken House, 7th, pb, 9781913696719
ends up doing more for them than cleaning.
Matt Oldfield, Tim Wesson (illus) Johnny Ball: International Football Genius Walker Books, 21st, £6.99, pb, 9781529504453 The third book in the Johnny Ball series sees the Tissbury Tigers go on tour. Can assistant manager Ball lead the team to international glory? The Ultimate Football Heroes series has sold more than 400,000 copies through the TCM.
Fiction 9-12
in this silly and hilarious series, which has reached sales of 30,000 through the TCM to date.
Polly Ho-Yen Day No One Woke Up S&S Children’s, 21st, £6.99, pb, 9781471193569 Ana is a normal kid, albeit one who has fallen out with former best friend Tio, but when everyone else falls asleep and won’t wake up, can Ana and Tio come together to work out what is gong on? A taut thriller about friendship and courage, from the author of Boy in the Tower.
Karen McCombie How to Hide an Alien Little Tiger, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781788951104 Two friends have to help Star Boy adapt to life on earth in this exploration of friendship, empathy and bullying, by the author of the Ally’s World series.
James Dixon, Tamsin Rosewell (illus) The Billow Maiden Guppy Books, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781913101725 A story about a young girl whose discovery of a billow maiden in a remote cave has repurcussions on the entire village, from the winner of last year’s Guppy Open Submissions competition.
Humza Arshad, Henry White, Aleksei Bitskoff (illus) Little Badman and the Attack of the Punjabi Zombies Puffin, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9780241509272 Humza Khan, a.k.a. Little Badman, starts Big School in the next instalment
Sharon Gosling The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott Little Tiger, 7th, £7.99, 9781788954181 Katy has always dreamed of adventure and when news reaches London of a meteorite falling in Brazil, she wins a place on the expedition to find it. Historical fiction set in the 1890s.
Loris Owen The Myriad Mysteries of Eartha Quicksmith: 2 Firefly Press, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781913102876 It’s the second term at Quicksmith’s College of Strange Energy and Kip and his friends must defeat a dark enemy
One to Watch
Kuki does not think she will die young, despite her aunt telling her stories of Abiku, spirits who are born to live as human children but die before reaching puberty. But when Kuki finds the House of Shells and makes a new friend, she might be in
more danger than she realises. Traoré, a masterful storyteller, was critically acclaimed for her first novel, Children of the Quicksands.
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