For tweens, Jill is recommending one of her favourite books of the year so far. [[Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan]] is the gorgeous story of a girl reuniting with her mother after 11 years. Things don't go as she'd hoped - you knew they wouldn't, didn't you? It's beautifully written and heartwrenching in all the right ways. This is one you really should not miss. So don't!
And for the little ones, John loved [[A is Amazing!: Poems about Feelings by Wendy Cooling and Piet Grobler]]. How do you get young children interested in poetry? I guess you hope that you don't have to – you want them to be aware of clapping and skipping songs by nature, and of lyrics to music heard in school and at home. Surely it's a case of making sure a child never learns to hold verse in disfavour, and carries a natural eagerness for poetry through to adulthood. But just in case, there are books such as this wonderfully thought-through compilation. It's really quite lovely.
'''Features'''