'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Emily Gravett
|title=Wolf Won't Bite
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Those three little pigs have captured the big bad wolf and are showing off all the tricks they can get him to do. They make him stand on a stool, and wolf won't bite. They can ride him like a horse, but wolf won't bite. He jumps through hoops and dances, looking more and more frustrated with the pigs' shenanigans.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230704255</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|summary=''Driving with Plato'' is a companion book to [[Breakfast with Socrates by Robert Rowland Smith|Breakfast with Socrates]], in which former Oxford Fellow Robert Roland Smith took various elements of a 'typical' day and provided insight into what a collection of thinkers might have to offer to make these mundane routines more interesting. Here, in the company of a similarly eclectic range of writers and thinkers, he considers the key aspects of a life, from birth, through school and riding a bike, to your first kiss, losing your virginity, having a family before a mid-life crisis, leading to divorce, old age and death. Montaigne said that to philosophise was to learn how to die, and here Roland Smith ensures that we think about each stage leading up to that moment.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668305X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Nicola Smee
|title=Funny Face
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The young boy is playing with his ball, when along comes a bear who steals it. The big meanie! He takes the only sensible action when faced with a big scary bear: he sticks his tongue out and pulls a funny face!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140881871X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ruthie Knapp and Jill McElmurry
|title=Who Stole Mona Lisa?
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Taking in a history of its production, as well as its theft, ''Who Stole Mona Lisa?'' is an intriguing look at La Gioconda. The story is told from the point of view of Leonardo da Vinci's painting herself, and will strike a chord with any intelligent and curious youngsters.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408811588</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Louise Yates
|title=Frank and Teddy Make Friends
|rating=3.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Professor Frank Mouse loves to build things in his workshop, but he's envious of the wild creatures that make things in the company of others. He does what any sensible engineer does: he makes a friend for himself. Teddy and he have a lovely time building things together, until Teddy's attempt to do something nice for Frank goes wrong, and the two friends fall out. Thankfully, a reforming of the friendship isn't too far away, and the two chums are back stronger than ever.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224083694</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Candace Ryan and Mike Lowery
|title=Ribbit Rabbit
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Frog and bunny are best friends, but from time to time they fall out. However, after a bit of a sulk and a bit of a think, they soon remember why they were best friends again.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408814412</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mick Inkpen
|title=Kipper
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Kipper's blanket stinks, his ball is chewed and his bone is soggy. He's in the mood for some tidying up, so he tosses them and gets everything spick and span. Sans blanket, his basket is suddenly very uncomfortable, so he looks around to see how animals get comfy. You know Kipper, right? You've read the books and seen the TV series narrated by Martin Clunes. You'd like a dog, like a dog, like a dog like Kipper. Now we're treated to a 21 year anniversary edition of the original book, complete with a 10 episode DVD.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444902733</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Asa Jones
|title=The Illustrated Mind of Mike Reeves
|rating=3.5
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Mike Reeves doesn't have his troubles to seek. His wife was brutally raped some four or five years ago and whilst she might seem to be recovered she cannot stand to be touched by a man – any man, Mike included. Quite suddenly Mike was alone, in every way – until he found himself drawn to the darker arts and began to dabble in Tarot, the Runes and I Ching. He's guided by two spirits. Sean is a wise and benevolent older man and Debbie, well she… isn't. She's the one who satisfies Mike's sexual needs. If that's all sounding rather good, then hesitate a moment, for with the good comes the bad and the bad is in the form of Tony a (very) real-life gangster who's been doing his own dabbling in the spirit world. When their worlds clash Mike has a problem which could well be more than he can handle.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>160693905X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mara Bergman and Nick Maland
|title=Oliver and the Noisy Baby
|rating=3.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=We've met Oliver Donnington Rimington-Sneep before - he has had [[Oliver Who Would Not Sleep by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland|trouble sleeping]] and [[Oliver Who Travelled Far and Wide by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland|travelled far and wide]]. This time, he's suffering with a noisy baby. He does what every sensible older brother does: he goes and plays with his toys, retreating into his imagination and flying around the world, taking in all the sights and sounds.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340997451</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Caroline Jayne Church
|title=Nutmeg Says Yum!
|rating=3.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=That Nutmeg is one naughty mouse. First she won't [[One More Hug For Nutmeg by Caroline Jayne Church|go to bed]], and now she's turning her nose up at all the delicious fruit that's on offer. She doesn't want apples as they're too crunchy. Pears are a funny colour. Bananas? Too squidgy. She wants strawberries. Thankfully, Nutmeg's mummy is a wise and sneaky mouse, so she whips up a delicious strawberry surprise, with an interesting mix of ingredients.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408308932</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jeanne Willis and Margaret Chamberlain
|title=The Tale of Georgie Grub
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Georgie Grub flat out refuses to have a bath. His mother is fed up of trying to get him clean, so she throws in the towel and leaves him to his filth. As the week goes on, he gets dirtier and dirtier. People hold their noses when he walks by, his teacher throws him out of school, and Georgie ends up scrabbling around in bins. Happy ending? Oh no no no. Georgie Grub gets his comeuppance, and quite right too, the mucky pup!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849392137</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Margaret Forster
|title=Diary of an Ordinary Woman
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=After reading the introduction, I couldn't help but sneak a sly read at the author's note right at the end of the novel. I don't usually do this. I'm glad I did as the information is both surprising and revelatory. Back to the beginning and Chapter 1 ... We meet the 13 year old Millicent in 1914. By her written statements and recorded mannerisms, we see that she's a girl who knows her own mind. For example, she thinks writing in her diary every single day could be dull and boring so she's made a golden rule that she's only going to write something down when she feels like it. Some may call her precocious but I liked Millicent right from the start. Courtesy of her diary we find out that she's part of a large and boisterous family. She doesn't appreciate all the noise and chatter from her siblings. She craves peace and quiet to think and to read. She's a prolific reader. She also believes that she's smart and clever and wants to 'do' something with her life when she grows up. She's not sure what exactly but she certainly doesn't want to be a mere housewife and mother.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099449285</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Lesley Pearse
|title=Belle
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Belle's story begins in London in 1910. She is fifteen years old and lives an innocent life in her mother's brothel, with no understanding of what really takes place there. Her mother has encouraged her to read and write, wanting her kept away from the harsh realities of the brothel and the rough streets of London that surround her. But Belle's innocence is shattered when she witnesses the murder of one of the brothel's most popular girls, and is subsequently grabbed from the street and trafficked to Paris as a prostitute.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718157028</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Melling
|title=The Kiss That Missed
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The king is in an awful rush, and doesn't even have time to read the prince a bedtime story. He blows him a kiss, but it misses! So, he dispatches his knight to track it down, and an elaborate and bizarre adventure ensues.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340999853</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
|title=Susan Laughs
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=There's something very satisfying about a good picture book. With a pre-schooler at home with me all day we get through a lot of books, so I've seen hundreds, from dazzlingly brilliant through to terribly dull. There are times when my daughter at I look at each other at the end of a book and shrug in disbelief that a publisher thought it worth printing, and there are times when we read something over and over (and over!) because it's so good. This particular book is one of the brilliant ones I'm happy to say, and let me tell you why...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842709909</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Keith Hern
|title=Zimbabwe in Pictures
|rating=3
|genre=Travel
|summary=I'm a bit of an amateur photographer, and since the advent of digital cameras I always come back from holidays with thousands of photos, over-excited by the fact that I am no longer limited to 24 or 36 exposure films! I enjoy, therefore, flicking through photography books, to see the images that have captured someone else's imagination and to see if I can pick up any interesting framing ideas, or subject settings.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685707</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Judy Bartkowiak and Carolyn Fitzpatrick
|title=Passing the 11+ with NLP: NLP Strategies for Supporting Your 11 Plus Student
|rating=4
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=The 11+ process is nerve-wracking for parents and children alike and many parents find it difficult to know how best to help their child. Over-enthusiastic intervention can make a child more nervous and conscious that there's a lot at stake, whilst leaving the child to get on with it can well make the child feel that their success or failure doesn't matter to you. It's also important that any preparation is built up in a steady way and that it leaves the child feeling confident of their success. 'Passing the 11+ with NLP' is a dual purpose book: there are the strategies for giving your child self-esteem, focus and concentration along with the other skills needed to pass and then there are details of the type of questions your child will face in the exam.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685731</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ally Carter
|title=Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Gallagher Girls)
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=When your average girl wonders what a boy is really like, she and her friends will maybe ask around among brothers and lab partners, or even, if he is majorly good-looking, try to trail him around town on a Saturday morning. But the girls of the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women do things differently. They have access to top-secret files. They have been trained to disguise themselves for covert operations. They know how to read the slightest hints drawn from a person's body language. When they get curious about something, there's very little chance it will stay hidden. But now their skills are really being put to the test. Cammie's room-mate Macey, the daughter of a senator on the campaign trail, has been attacked. It will take everything her friends have learned, and more, to protect her and solve the mysteries which surround them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140830953X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Chris Mould
|title=Spindlewood: Pip and the Wood Witch Curse
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Pip doesn't want to be sold to Captain Snarks as a pirate's cabin boy. He is sure he'll get sea-sick, and he would far rather continue to work at the stable yard. But the foul-breathed drunkard who runs the orphanage refuses to listen: he will receive more money for the lad if he sends him to sea. On the way to the docks Pip manages to escape, and he stows away in the rear carriage of the Stage Fright Theatre Company, charmingly described as 'dancing masters of the macabre'. Our hero remains there for many days, hidden from everyone and only occasionally sneaking out to find a bone to gnaw, until the travelling troupe arrives at its destination, Hangman's Hollow. And then Pip's troubles begin in earnest.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340970693</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Xinran
|title=Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love
|rating=5
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Xinran first came to my notice with her 2002 book "The Good Women of China" which retold tales of the women she had come across through her work in Chinese radio, where for many years she had hosted the local equivalent of a cross between Woman's Hour and a late night phone-in talk show. She has been busy bringing us other stories in the meantime, but in this latest work she returns to those early days in radio and the stories she learned. Many of these stories she decided were too painful to tell. They speak of children, specifically daughters, abandoned by their Chinese mothers one way or another.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099535750</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Matt Dunn
|title=The Accidental Proposal
|rating=3.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Edward Middleton seems like a pretty decent guy. He always stops to buy a Big Issues from Billy, a local homeless man and he takes his elderly widowed neighbour shopping once a week. These are some of the reasons why his girlfriend, Sam, loves him so much. One night, after a friend's wedding, Sam asks Ed if he would also like to get married to which Ed enthusiastically replies 'yes'. However, the following morning, whilst nursing his hangover, he cannot work out if it was a hypothetical question or an actual proposal. His best mate Dan is no help at all and is quite incredulous that anyone should ever want to marry Ed.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847395244</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=William Styron
|title=The Suicide Run
|rating=4
|genre=Short Stories
|summary=A WW2 naval soldier, guarding a prison island for those found guilty at courtmartials, is forced to wonder if he is winning his own battles against those arriving and leaving. A soldier remembers calming memories, and those causing tension, as he rests up before action. And for a highly-charged young man, there may be too much risk to be found in his high-octane downtime.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099532220</amazonuk>
}}
