By Caryl Hart Illustrated by Bethan Woollvin From the chilly Arctic Ocean to the topical Caribbean Sea, the coloured coral shores to the deepest, darkest depths, dive into an underwater wonderland and meet the world's oceans and seas in this show-stopping, eye-popping blue planet adventure! Written in a bubbly, irresistible rhyme, Caryl Hart has expertly packed an ocean worth of fun and information into friendly, accessible bite-sized story chunks that will delight little readers. But this lively, deep sea story isn't without a nod to the climate crisis as Hart shines a sobering yet soft light on the vulnerability of our oceans and the damaging impact human interactions (plastic waste, pollution and shipping) is causing to our marine ecosystems. Swimming in florescent pops of colour and all manners of scaly, slippery, shimmery sea creatures, Bethan Woollvin has once again proved herself as an artist extraordinaire. With a shift of an eye and flick of a smile, Woollvin's distinctive visual style has masterfully brought each watery world and its magnificent animal arks to life for little readers to befriend and connect with. Meet the Oceans is a treasure trove of discovery and delight. It's a love song to our oceans and the ideal introduction to the importance of caring for them. Buy Meet the Oceans: Amazon | Blackwells | Bookshop.org | Book Depository | Waterstones IF YOU LIKED THIS TRY Research and Wild Facts by Caryl Hart Find out how author Caryl Hart researched this stunning picture book and discover ten wild facts about our world’s oceans and seas! SO MUCH OF THE PLANET IS SEA! Have you ever been down to the seaside Where the waves splash and crash to and fro? Or peeped over the edge of a jetty At the sea life that wriggles bellow? Well, you might be surprised to discover That so much of our planet is sea And within it live millions of creatures That are beautiful, strange, wild and free! A RHYMING SUBMARINE JOURNEY FOR YOUNG EXPLORERS Meet the Oceans is a fully illustrated picture book that introduces young children to some of the world’s oceans and seas. Each salty body of water has its own personality and speaks out to readers in rhyming verse. Every spread is lavishly illustrated in bright colours that really pop out of the page, helping to draw young readers in and keep their attention throughout. The book takes young explorers on a submarine journey around the world, from the chilly Arctic, to the breezy Atlantic, through the topical Caribbean and the busy South China Sea. Each sea or ocean introduces themselves in rhyming verse and tells young readers about some of the wildlife features and human interactions that make them so special. FULL OF FUN, CRAMMED WITH INFORMATION Meet the Oceans is full of FUN, and is also crammed with INFORMATION, delivered in friendly, bite-sized chunks, just the right size for young readers to take in and remember without feeling overwhelmed. But how did I decide what to include and what to leave out?! There are so many interesting facts about the oceans of our world. How on earth do you decide which ones to highlight and which to ignore? Well, it was a very tricky job and I didn’t do it all on my own! I worked closely with editors, designers and Bethan Woollvin, the book’s illustrator, to give each ocean or sea its own personality. I tried to pick out different details to show how each ocean or sea is unique and special. So, for example, while dolphins and whales are present in many of our seas, we only mentioned them in on the pages for the Arctic (Beluga Whales and Narwhals) and the Indian Ocean (Blue whales). We learn about the diamonds hidden on the Atlantic sea bed, about the Coral Sea’s glittering Great Barrier Reef and the Pacific’s rubbish problem. We hear about the research stations on the ice in the Southern Ocean and the Aye-Ayes that live on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Each ocean illustration has a different colour palette, further emphasising each marine ecosystem’s special qualities. I also tried to highlight the most interesting geological features (coral reefs, underwater mountains and sea caves) and human interactions (shipping and pollution) that characterise each marine environment. LOVE COMES FIRST Together, I hope our choices create a magical submarine journey where children can explore and make friends with some of the most amazing environments on our planet. We believe that love comes first, and we hope that our book will help our children love the beautiful, fragile, amazing marine ecosystems they discover. Because it is through love that the adults of the future will work to keep these incredible natural places safe from harm. TEN WILD FACTS As well as being full of personality and fun, Meet the Oceans is full of facts! So I’ve picked out ten wild facts about some of the world’s oceans for you: 1. The world’s DEEPEST ocean is the Pacific – the deepest part is called the Challenger Deep and is around 11km deep! 2. The world’s SMALLEST ocean is the Arctic Ocean at around 14 million square km 3. The world’s WARMEST ocean is the Indian Ocean which ranges from 19-36 degrees Celsius 4. The Coral triangle, which is found in South East Asia, is the most BIODIVERSE marine area in the word, supporting more than 600 species of coral, 3000 species of fish, six out of the world’s seven kinds of marine turtle and more species of sea grass and mangroves than anywhere else in the planet. 5. The most POLLUTED ocean is the Pacific, with an estimated two TRILLION pieces of plastic (2,000,000,000,000). 6. The CLEANEST ocean is the Antarctic or Southern Ocean. How long can we keep it that way?? 7. In my research, the most interesting NAMES for FISH come from the Caribbean Ocean. Here are some of my favourites: Stoplight Parrotfish, Smooth Trunkfish, Four Eye Butterflyfish, Blue Striped Grunt, Squirrel Fish, and Porkfish! 8. The RAREST sea mammal is the Vaquita, a kind of porpoise that has only ever been found in the Gulf of California. According to the World Wildlife Fund there are only TEN individuals left in the world. 9. The most common marine animals are krill, small shrimp-like creatures that form the diet of many species of fish and mammals. 10. But the BEST ocean in the world is… well, you’ll have to decide that for yourself!! Buy Meet the Oceans: Amazon | Blackwells | Bookshop.org | Book Depository | Waterstones Meet the creators: Caryl Hart writes picture books and young fiction and runs creative literacy workshops for schools and libraries. She has written Whiffy Wilson, How to Catch a Dragon, Welcome to Alien School, How to Grow a Dinosaur, Supermarket Zoo, The Princess and the Peas, The Princess and the Presents, Catch That Rat, Big Box Little Box and Meet the Planets. She lives in Sheffield with her husband and two daughters. Twitter @carylhart1 https://www.carylhart.com/ Bethan Woollvin graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with a First Class Degree in Illustration. In 2014, she won the Macmillan Prize for Illustration for her debut picture book, Little Red Riding Hood. The success of her first book was replicated in her follow-up titles, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel, and in her first collaboration with Caryl Hart, Meet the Planets. Bethan lives in Sheffield. Twitter @bethanwoollvin http://www.bethanwoollvin.com/

Top 10 Unicorns in Kid's Lit For more unicorn kid's lit recommendations check out my bookshop booklist here. The Secret Lives of Unicorns by Dr Temisa Seraphini Illustrated by Sophie Robin If you thought unicorns were strictly imaginary, think again! Anatomy, evolution, life cycle, magical properties - discover just how much you didn't know about unicorns. Dive into the life's work of famed unicornologist Professor Temisa Seraphini with this beautiful, fully-illustrated encyclopedic volume of unicorn knowledge. Meet species from the fjords of the North to the unforgiving deserts of the equator as you discover the wonders of this enchanting creature from past to present. Guardians of the Wild Unicorns by Lindsay Littleson Cover illustration by Samantha Woo I know it's a crazy plan, and you don't need to come with me. But I'm going to find the unicorns, and when I find them, I'm going to set them free. Lewis is cold, wet and miserable on his school residential trip in the Highlands of Scotland. The last thing he expects to see is a mythical creature galloping across the bleak moorland. Unicorns aren't real... are they? Lewis and his best friend Rhona find themselves caught up in a dangerous adventure to save the world's last herd of wild unicorns. Fighting against dark forces, battling the wild landscape, and harnessing ancient magic, can they rescue the legendary creatures in time? If I Had a Unicorn by Gabby Dawnay Illustrated by Alex Barrow Have you ever imagined what it would be like to have a unicorn for a pet? In this humorous, energetically rhyming tale, a little girl experiences exactly what life would be like with a magical creature for a pet – from sprinkling stardust on grumpy parents to sliding into football practice on a rainbow. Once Upon a Unicorn Horn by Beatrice Blue Do you know how unicorns got their horns? It all began once upon a magic forest, when a little girl called June discovered tiny horses learning how to fly in her garden. But one of the poor horses couldn’t fly at all! So, with the help of her parents, June thought of a very sweet and very delicious way to make her new friend happy. I wonder what it could have been… A magical and fun-filled story about how unicorns got their horns is the first in a new series about how magical creatures came to have their gifts. Sophie Johnson Unicorn Expert by Morag Hood Illustrated by Ella Okstad Meet Sophie Johnson, a self-confessed unicorn expert (among other things) who has dressed up her toys and pets with their own unique horns. Strange then, that she doesn’t seem to notice the real unicorn who has come into her house... A wonderfully humorous story, ideal for fans of unicorns, rainbows and magic everywhere! The Naughtiest Unicorn by Pip Bird Illustrated by David O'Connell Mira CAN’T WAIT to start Unicorn School. But when Mira arrives on her first day all the unicorns are gone . . . except Dave! Dave isn’t quite the sparkly magical unicorn Mira was expecting to find at the end of the rainbow – he’s more grumpy than glittery, more interested in lunch than magical quests and he always runs off when Mira tries to ride him – but Mira’s not going to let that get her down. Along with her new friends and their (much more glittery) unicorns, she is determined to be the best at Quests and protect the special unicorn world! For all fans of The Worst Witch, The Magic Unicorn Society, My Little Pony, Pamela Butchart - and for anyone looking for the perfect unicorn gift for girls and boys! How to Grow a Unicorn by Rachel Morrisroe Illustrated by Steven Lenton Welcome to Mr Pottifer's Parlour of Plants: a magical shop with the most surprising plants you'll ever see! Sarah thinks she's discovered the perfect gift for her garden-loving grandma, but before you can say GARDEN FULL OF UNICORNS, things grow wildly out-of-hand! Live your own hilarious unicorn fantasy in this rip-roaring, rhyming delight from wordsmith extraordinaire, debut author Rachel Morrisroe, and the ridiculously talented, bestselling Steven Lenton. The Legend of the First Unicorn by Lari Don Illustrated by Nataša Ilinčić Once upon a time in Scotland, a young prince had lost his smile... Renowned Scottish children's author and storyteller Lari Don weaves an enchanting tale, inspired by local folklore, about the origins of the unicorn. this stunning and authentic tale is atmospherically brought to life by Nataša Ilincic's rich illustrations, and is destined to become a classic. The unicorn, magical and strong, is Scotland's national animal and heraldic symbol. The Unicorn Quest by Kamilla Benko Frozen meets The Chronicles of Narnia in the first book of an enchanting fantasy trilogy about a girl searching for her lost sister in a land at the top of a ladder up the chimney. When sisters Claire and Sophie move into Windemere Manor they discover a strange ladder in a fireplace that leads them to a magical land Arden. There, they find a world in turmoil. The four guilds of magic no longer trust each other. The beloved unicorns have disappeared, and terrible wraiths roam freely. Scared, the girls return home. But when Sophie vanishes in the night, it will take all of Claire's courage to climb back up the ladder, find her sister, and uncover the unicorns' greatest secret. The Magical Unicorn Society by Selwyn E. Phipps and Jonny Leighton Illustrated by Harry and Zanna Goldhawk and Helen Dardik After centuries of mystery, the mythical Magical Unicorn Society has published its official handbook. The Magical Unicorn Society has existed for centuries, dedicated to studying, understanding and protecting unicorns. The secretive society has been shrouded in mystery - until now. This official handbook documents decades for research and exploration, and provides the ultimate guide to these fantastical beasts. Discover the myth of the Gold and Silver Unicorns, and the legendary stories of the seven unicorn families. Find out about their unique powers, where they live around the world, what unicorns eat and how to have the best chance of spotting one. Learn about the history of the Magical Unicorn Society - from its foundation to the present day - and how to become a member. With breathtaking artwork from Helen Dardik and Harry and Zanna Goldhawk (Papio Press), and stunning design and production, this special book gallops through a history of these mythical creatures and looks at their magical future. At last, here is the proof that unicorns, and their spell-binding magic, are real. For more unicorn kid's lit recommendations check out my bookshop booklist here.

The unmissable YA gothic horror of 2021, Mina and the Undead is an electrifying debut that will hypnotise you from the very first page. Twilight has nothing on this. No, this is dark, dramatic and disturbingly addictive - True Blood meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer style. Its delicious nineties nostalgia, paired with the atmospheric New Orleans setting makes for an exciting twist on the adored Vampire tales. Sure there’s the odd splash of romance but boldly overpowering that is the mysterious, gory killings inspired by legendary (and deadly) New Orleans myths, and a heartwarming sisterhood that fiercely drove the narrative. It’s thrillingly gruesome and bravely distinct and I bloody hope there will be a sequel. Get your copy of Mina and the Undead from Bookshop UK here. WHAT TO READ NEXT My Favourite Point Horror by Amy McCaw I read a lot of Point Horror in the 90s, revelling in the scares, gore and outlandish outfits. I raced through The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High books, and this series was a step in a darker, more exciting direction. These are the books that kick-started my love of horror, and one series was always my favourite: The Forbidden Game trilogy by L. J. Smith. Sometimes, my favourite childhood books haven’t lived up to my memory of them, but this one does it every time. I’m not saying it’s perfect, and there are probably parts that wouldn’t hold up to modern scrutiny, but The Forbidden Game still has a timeless blend of scares and romance. L. J. Smith is also the author that gave us The Vampire Diaries, so we have a lot to thank her for! The plot falls somewhere in the creepy territory between Labyrinth and the original Jumanji movie. If you didn’t know that Mina and the Undead is set in the 90s, you can probably tell from how recent my pop cultural references are. Jenny visits a shop full of strange games she’s never heard of, from a boy who’s just as gorgeous as he is unnerving. She should probably have taken all of that as a great big red flag, but of course she buys a game and goes on her way. She and her friends later sit down to play the game when, in true 90s style, they’re sucked into it. They have to complete the game in order to escape, but it’s not quite so straightforward. They’ll have to face up to their greatest fears and keep one step ahead of the mysterious boy who sold Jenny the game, and isn’t quite what he seems. Just writing that makes me want to read it all over again! The Forbidden Game books did moreish forbidden romance over a decade before Twilight, and they did it really well. Julian is one of those antagonists that is enigmatic, alluring and very, very bad. If you want some gripping escapism, you really can’t go wrong with these books. The mythology in The Forbidden Game trilogy is also really fascinating. It was my first taste of the Erlking myth, the story of an elf who lurks in the woods and can kill children with one touch. Versions of this story have popped up in all sorts of places, and I’ve been obsessed since my Point Horror introduction to it. Stephen King says there are three levels of horror (I’m paraphrasing here): the gross-out, the horror (the unnatural) and the terror (the unknown). L. J. Smith takes readers through all levels, from the gory and disturbing to the breathlessly terrifying. There are scenes that gave me nightmares as a teen and I still think about now, which is always a good sign. The Forbidden Game also has that wonderful Game of Thrones quality of never knowing who will make it out alive… I’ve definitely seen a renewed interest in Point Horror on social media recently. It could just be nostalgia, but some like The Forbidden Game have truly stood the test of time. There are lots of recent books that you can check out if you want Point Horror vibes: The Last Girl by Goldy Moldavsky (called The Mary Shelley Club in the US), Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis, Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy, anything by Dawn Kurtagich, Good Girls Die First by Kathryn Foxfield and Mina and the Undead by me. Amy McCaw's Point Horror Booklist Amy McCaw is a YA writer and blogger. She’s the author of Mina and the Undead, a YA murder mystery set in 1995 New Orleans. Amy also loves travelling and has a particular affinity for America. She’s visited 29 states, 13 Man Vs Food restaurants and many bookish locations, including the cities where Twilight, Interview with a Vampire and Vampire Diaries were set. Twitter: @YAundermyskin Website: amymccaw.co.uk Support F&F and get your copy of Mina and the Undead from Bookshop UK here.

Top Girl Gamers and Coders in Kid's Lit Emmy Levels Up by Helen Harvey (9+) Online, Emmy is a gamer with lots of fans and followers. However, in real life Emmy is bullied by Vanessa, who says she is “a weirdo with bad handwriting and horrible fashion sense and no dad”. But if Emmy can take on the Mulch Queen, Illusory Isles ultimate baddie, online, perhaps she can also find a way to take on Vanessa too? Emmy needs to “level up”, join forces with some new friends and beat the bullies. Fun, fresh and five star fabulous, Emmy Levels Up is beautifully authentic and rooted in in friendship, identity and confidence. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby (9+) Safiya and her mum have never seen eye to eye. Her mum doesn’t understand Safiya’s love of gaming and Safiya doesn't think they have anything in common. As Safiya struggles to fit in at school she wonders if her mum wishes she was more like her confident best friend Elle. But then her mum falls into a coma and, when Safiya waits by her bedside, she finds herself in a strange and magical world that looks a bit like one of her games. And there’s a rebellious teenage girl, with a secret, who looks suspiciously familiar... Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. Last Gamer Standing by Katie Zhad (9+) Ready Player One meets the action of battle royale video games in this middle-grade sci-fi perfect for fans of Fortnite. When Reyna qualifies for the Dayhold Junior Tournament, she knows she's got what it takes to win the championship title and the $10,000 prize. But when she's blackmailed and threatened to be doxed by an anonymous troll, Reyna has to confront the toxic gaming community head-on. With her dreams and the cash prize on the line, it's game on! Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. Marie Curious Girl Genius: Undercover Gamer by Chris Edison (9+) The third installment in the Marie Curious, Girl Genius series sees Marie and her brainiac friends travel to Beijing, China! Glitzy parties, infinity pools and the latest tech, Marie thought she'd seen it all but now she must face her most difficult challenge yet - going undercover! Sucked into the world of professional gaming, Marie must infiltrate the GAME House where all the top gamers live, and find the cheating culprit. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. SkyWake Invasion by Jamie Russell (9+) Fifteen-year-old girl gamer Casey Henderson is obsessed with smash-hit game SkyWake. Little does she realize it’s actually an alien training tool created by an evil extra-terrestrial race. When the aliens swoop down on a national gaming tournament, Casey and her teammates discover they’re abducting the best gamers to fight in a distant alien war across the galaxy... An exciting and original debut sci-fi adventure trilogy for the gaming generation, from a screenwriter, film critic and gamer. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. Wonderscape by Jennifer Bell (9+) Jumanji meets Ready Player One in this time travelling, space jumping, gaming adventure! When Arthur, Ren and Cecily investigate a mysterious explosion on their way to school, they find themselves trapped aboard The Principia – a scientific research ship sailing through hazardous waters, captained by one Isaac Newton. Lost in the year 2473 in the Wonderscape, an epic in-reality adventure game, they must call on the help of some unlikely historical heroes, to play their way home before time runs out. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. Agent Asha: Mission Shark Bytes by Sophie Dean (9+) Asha Joshi has the perfect excuse not to finish her homework, she's just been recruited to join the top-secret Children's Spy Agency. Her first mission: SAVE THE WORLD. Can she do it? Asha's a coder so she should be able to hack into the biggest tech company in the world, fight deadly sharks and figure out why the Internet has stopped working. All before bedtime. Easy, right? This action-packed spy adventure is the perfect story to engage young readers in coding, critical-thinking and STEM. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. The Person Controller by David Baddiel (9+) Fred and Ellie love video games. When a Mystery Man sends them a video game controller it's not like one they've ever seen. And it doesn't control any of their usual games. What it does control, though, it seems like the answer to all their problems. And the key to all their wildest dreams. At least it seems like that… Funny, engaging, magic and meaningful, this is one laugh-out-loud adventure you won't want to miss! Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. In the Key of Code by Aimee Lucido When twelve-year-old Emmy’s musical family moves to California so her dad can take a job with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Emmy has never felt more out of tune. But when she ends up in a school computer science club, she finds that she can understand code through a language she is familiar with: music. Slowly, Emmy makes friends with Abigail and the two girls start to discover their voices through the programming language of Java. An original, inventive and heart-warming novel that beautifully incorporate Java’s syntax and concepts. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. Level Up! by Tom Nicoll (9+) Videogame-obsessed Flo gets more than she bargained for when she finds herself INSIDE her favourite game, along with her not-so-keen-on-videogames-and-wishing-he’d-stayed-home best friend Max. Immersed in the world of Star Smasher, they not only have to face armies of soldiers, but also the very real possibility that there may not be a way out. Turns out, virtual reality isn’t as much fun when it’s not so virtual. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. SLAY by Brittney Morris (YA) Black Panther meets Ready Player One. A fierce teen game developer battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther-inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for black gamers. By night, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson joins hundreds of thousands of black gamers who duel worldwide in the secret online role-playing card game, SLAY. But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, Kiera must fight to save the safe space she's created. But can she protect SLAY without losing herself? Get your copy from Bookshop UK here. Warcross by Marie Lu (YA) In this immersive sci-fi thriller, Warcross isn't just a game - it's a way of life. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. When Emika hacks into the game illegally, she's convinced she'll be arrested, and is shocked when she gets a call from the game's creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year's tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. Get your copy from Bookshop UK here.

Written Helen Harvey 2021 just got a whole lot brighter thanks to this fun, fresh, five star fabulous debut by Helen Harvey! Emmy is brilliant at the computer game, Illusory Isles. Her avatar is a powerful fire elemental with magma claws and flaming breath and taking on the ultimate online baddie, the Mulch Queen, is a point-scoring, no-damage breeze. But life outside of Illusory Isles is far from exciting. Emmy is friendless and bullied by Vanessa AKA the Queen of Mean. But if Emmy can take on the Mulch Queen online, perhaps she can also find a way to take on Vanessa too? But levelling up is a whole lot easier when you have a little help from some friends. Honestly, it's so exciting to have another girl gamer on the scene in kid’s literature (there aren’t nearly enough!! See my booklist for my top 10 girl gamer children's books here) and Emmy is a character who shines brighter than any crystal spell or full power magic bar. I kinda wish I could spend the afternoon gaming with her, although her superstar skills would put mine embarrassingly to shame! And Helen Harvey has created not one, but two, beautifully authentic, dazzlingly inventive worlds that run seamlessly side by side. Online, Emmy is a fiercely confident, skilled heroine who uses her voice and impressive battle tricks to connect with other like-minded users, and it's this exact reason that makes Emmy Levels Up such a noteworthy, relevant read. With so much negativity surrounding the online world, Harvey has used her literary platform to portray gaming as a positive, uplifting and empowering avenue that offers an escape and where your confidence can sparkle and you can express yourself in a community of friends who appreciate you and share your interests and quirks. "But what if one real-life person - just one - knew the other me? The me who plays games and makes videos and fights Mulchbeasts and wins?" Parallel, but far from subordinate to this online world is Emmy's real life that is clouded by bullying, isolation and powerlessness from school, coupled with family tensions and hardships. Written with delicate precision, sensitivity and empathy, Harvey has crafted a thoughtful, moving narrative that echoes the likes of R. J. Palacio, Stewart Foster and Zanib Mian. From an exciting new talent, I'm genuinely so excited to see what Helen Harvey has in store for us next. Get your copy of Emmy Levels Up from Bookshop UK here. WHAT TO READ NEXT Welcome to the Illusory Isles by Helen Harvey When I started writing a book about a gamer, I got to do something really fun. I got to invent my own video game: Illusory Isles. This was exciting, but it was also really hard to get right. Most of my bedroom carpet is taken up with a cardboard model of the Illusory Isles that mum and Ryan helped me make. There is the star shaped isle of Shimmer, the smallest, with its enchanted forests and silver wolves. There’s Sheen, the biggest island, with its bustling city and big lake. And then the last island, Shade, the one we don’t know much about. Puzzle Island My first idea was to invent an adventure game in the style of Grim Fandango or Broken Age. I created a haunted house on a gothic island with a series of elaborate logical puzzles to solve. I was planning to include these puzzles in the book for readers to solve themselves. I thought this sinister mystery game was really cool, but it was totally wrong for the book. I soon realised it was way too complicated and I was asking my reader to pay attention to two stories at once. So I came up with a new plan. The Mulch Queen I realised that the battles Emmy faced in the game should echo the problems she faced in real life. In real life Emmy’s ultimate challenge is beating her awful bully, Vanessa. In the game it’s beating the evil final boss, the Mulch Queen. The Mulch Queen is a slimy, four-armed horrifying monster. She has hundreds of mutant mulch beasts to do her evil bidding and she is determined to take over the Illusory Isles by turning everything good and beautiful into sludge. Soon Emmy starts to see her real life that way too. Each step I take, I hear Lila’s voice in my head saying my trainers have Emmy disease. The mulch is right behind me, swallowing the street, and even though my bright orange trainers shoot fireballs to stop it, the mulch is too powerful. How To Beat The Queen of Mean It’s hard to stop a bully from bullying. Bullying works for the bully when other people – bystanders – ignore it or even condone it. It stops having the desired effect when those bystanders speak up, call the bully out and stand beside the victim. For Emmy to beat the Mulch Queen, she needs a party of brave and daring heroes, each with unique skills that will be crucial in the final battle. For Emmy to beat Vanessa, she needs the help of her friends. For each of Emmy’s friends and allies, I invented a character in Illusory Isles. Wise healer Tia Treekeeper is her teacher Miss Monday, mystical moon-fairy Ilva of the moon is Emmy’s friend Lila and grumpy wizard Roghod Humph is her moody big brother Ryan. Although the details explicitly linking these characters to their real-life counterparts did not make the final cut, I know (and now you know too) that when Emmentine faces the Mulch Queen in the final arena she is surrounded by her best friends in real life and in the game too. Inventing the right game for Emmy Levels Up was the hardest bit of writing the book... ...because I kept getting carried away. With complete freedom to invent any game I wanted to, I created a series of elaborate ideas, detailed mechanics and strange scenarios, but each one was wrong. In the end I needed a straightforward game with recognisable features: a party of heroes, side-quests and spells and a boss to beat. 〜Helen Harvey Helen Harvey grew up in a wild and unruly corner of the internet, where she dodged flames, crafted websites and led a guild of magical wolf-tamers. From a young age she realised that technology gave children superpowers. Helen completed the Bath Spa MA in Writing for Young People with Distinction and won the United Agents Prize for Emmy Levels Up. She lives in Bristol with her gaming partner and two furry writing buddies. She likes adventure games, stormy seas, rock climbing and cats. Twitter: @HellionHarvey. Website: helen-harvey.com Support F&F and get your copy of Emmy Levels Up from Bookshop UK here.

An unlikely hero and an ungainly valkyrie face a vengeful dragon and a trickster god in a quarrelsome quest for a precious poetry-riddled cup, all wrapped up in the comically chaotic world of Norse mythology… kids are going to LOVE this book! It’s got all the adventure of How to Train Your Dragon, the humour of Who Let the Gods Out, and the storytelling spirit of Storm Hound. And this is just the first hilarious exploit of Whetstone and Brings-A-Lot-Of-Scrapes-And-Grazes aka Lotta in an already confirmed trilogy by debut author Cat Weldon! Vicariously vivid and gloriously giddy with two extremely lovable heroes at its heart, How to Be a Hero is a rollicking, madcap, action-packed adventure that middle graders will whizz through. And not to mention that it’s brilliantly illustrated by Katie Kear throughout! Yep, kids are going to LOVE this book. Get your copy of How To Be a Hero from Bookshop UK here. WHAT TO READ NEXT

Firstly, a massive congratulations of the publication of A Girl Called Joy (Simon & Schuster Children’s, April 2021)! Your sparkling new middle grade story is all about finding the joy and magic in life, as well as touching on the importance of nature, anxieties surrounding starting a new school and the beauty and courage of standing out. 10-year-old Joy Applebloom is a wonderfully charming, happy-go-lucky character who has a special knack for finding magic and silver linings in the normal every day. How much do you relate to your protagonist Joy? Oh well I try! I think I’m pretty positive. I keep an eye out for wonder. It’s a good way to get through the day. What’s one of your favourite every-day, real-life magic memories? I saw a gang of crows just the other day, leaving and returning to the same tree, over and over again, a big black noisy cloud. I was walking underneath them. That was something. Joy has spent her whole life travelling the world with her family and experiencing some of the world’s most wonderful natural wonders before returning to the UK and adopting a life of new and unfamiliar routines. How much of this lifestyle resonates with your own? I moved house a lot because of my dad’s job when I was growing up. Every 2 years a new place, going to new schools, making new friends. Starting from scratch. I think it makes you very adaptable. I definitely share that skill with Joy. But her life has been more exciting than mine was. She’s seen more official Wonders. For sure. What’s your favourite travel destination to date? The countryside in central India. Chhattisgarh. There were fields that looked like the pelt of a lion. What do you hope readers take away from reading Joy’s story? I hope it feels like making a new friend. Until now your books have mainly be aimed at teen and YA readers, with the exception of your Iggy & Me series for 6+ young readers. What made you want to tell Joy’s story to middle graders, and did you face any particular challenges writing for this new age group? Joy made me do it. My books usually start with a character, and Joy herself is middle grade, so that was her natural fit. I don’t think the challenges were specific. It’s always a learning curve working on something new, whoever it is for. With a number of gorgeous books under your belt and a winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, do you have any advice/tips for aspiring children’s writers? Enjoy yourself. Sometimes when you are writing your first book, or trying to get published, you can get fixated on the finish line and the goal. But the writing itself has got to bring you something. It’s hard work, of course, but the work needs to make you smile. What’s next for your writing journey? Will we be seeing more joyous adventures from Joy Applebloom? Yes! Book 2 is out in August I think. And I’m working on a 3rd. This question is about your favourite children’s/YA books. What’s a book you loved as a child, a book you love now, and a book you can’t wait to read? I loved Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf by Catherine Storr when I was little. I read it to my daughters too. And I think, even though I haven’t read it in a long time, the book has had an influence on Joy. This last year, the YA book I can’t stop thinking about is And the Stars were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando. I was lucky enough to meet Danielle when she was still working on it, and I have watched it become this incredible piece of work. It is heart breaking and brilliant. I’ve just been sent a copy of Joseph Elliott’s The Good Hawk. I missed this when it came out in 2020 and I’ve just started it and I’m really intrigued. If you could invite any five people – past and present, real and fictional – who would you invite and why? Kurt Vonnegut, Angela Carter, Zooey Glass, Bill Murray and William Eggleston (to take the photos). Not for dinner please! Can we just go out for a walk? I have my best conversations with friends when we are walking. These last questions are inspired by the wonderful Joy! What’s your favourite tree? Oak of course! What’s your favourite animal? A dog called Reg. What do you most like to eat for breakfast? Coffee first. Cereal second. What would you take with you on a last minute trip to the moon? Somebody who knows what they’re doing. Jenny Valentine moved house every two years when she was growing up. She has just moved house again, probably not for the last time. She worked in a wholefood shop in Primrose Hill for fifteen years where she met many extraordinary people and sold more organic loaves than there are words in her first novel. She has also worked as a teaching assistant and a jewellery maker. She studied English Literature at Goldsmiths College, which almost put her off reading but not quite. Jenny is married to a singer/songwriter and has two children. Find Jenny on Instagram @jennyvalentinebook.

Demons of the Ocean (Book 1) The year is 2512. The oceans have risen. A new dawn of piracy has begun. Justin Somper's bestselling Vampirates series was completely new to me before I dived into reading Demons of the Ocean. First published in 2005, the six book series went on to sell over a million copies worldwide and was translated into 24 different languages. And now, over 15 year since book one first hit our shelves, UCLan have re-released the series with gorgeously gothic revamped covers and exclusive new content for a whole new generation of readers and fans. Highly original and intensely captivating, Demons of the Ocean is a sensational high seas fantasy adventure, deeply entangled in dark, slow-burning romance and impressive sword-fighting action that not even Jack Sparrow could keep up with. Driven by a cast of beautifully complex characters and some seriously fierce heroines, Vampirates puts a clever twist on the two firm favourite genres - vampires and pirates - to craft a vivid narrative that's dripping in pirate history and vampire myth. For me, the covers did give off more a YA vibe so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the books are aimed at a slightly younger tween audience of around 10/11+, perfect for readers wanting to sink their teeth into lengthy, addictive series. I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of the Vampirate blog tour and even more thrilled to pass the reins onto Justin Somper himself as he shares some of the amazing and fascinating facts he learned about pirates while writing the Vampirates series. And be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour content too! 5 Things To Know About Pirates IF YOU LOVED THIS TRY

Happy International Women’s Day Taylor! Thanks so much for joining TripFiction to celebrate such a pivotal day. I’m gonna jump right in there with, if you could invite any five inspiring women – past and present, real and fictional – to a dinner party, who would you invite and why? Thank you for having me! I would really love to bask in the collective wisdom of some illustration powerhouses and creatives. So, an ideal dinner party list would be: Carson Ellis (the genius behind Du Iz Tak and Home, to name a few), Joohee Yoon ( the printmaking goddess who made Beastly Verse and The Tiger Who Would be King), Ana Juan (the atmospheric queen behind ghostly tales like Promises and Lacrimosa), Lotte Reiniger (the nimble fingered silhouette animator from the early 1900s), and Käthe Kollwitz (the only artist I’ve ever seen who can capture pure emotion on paper). We would have such fun, especially if we all brought our own sketchbooks to hide behind occasionally. Who are your favourite five female writers? It took me longer than I care to admit to be able to draw together this list, so many of my childhood favorites were written by men. Hopefully, we are collectively creating new classics that push female writers into the spotlight they deserve. I will say, I owe a great deal to the written wit of Eva Ibbotson (Which Witch?, The Secret of Platform 13), I hope a commission to re-illustrate her work comes across my desk someday. Other favorites of mine include Pam Smy (Thornhill), Agatha Christie, Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time), and Diana Wynne Jones (Chrestomanci). Who’s your biggest role model that has inspired you over your childhood and career? My mom is a constant source of love and inspiration, and as a local librarian she spreads that joy of books to all the students who come to her cozy literary safe space. To this day, she will still read me books out loud and do all the voices. She was the one who always said that she knew I would be making books someday, it was just a question of ‘when’. This year’s IWD campaign theme is #ChooseToChallenge. As a children’s author who writes about empowerment, inclusivity, and disability representation, what is something you choose to challenge? That is an excellent theme. I #ChooseToChallenge the notion that characters with disabilities are limited and defined purely by their diagnosis. In Ghost Scouts, I have a whole cast of characters who fit under the umbrella of many different diagnoses and they all achieve extraordinary mischief. Sweet Book is an adorable ghost who communicates primarily non-verbally, Mary Shelley is a highly educated zombie with a limb difference, and Emmy Loulou Garou is a kind-hearted werewolf who deals with panic attacks. These are important parts of their characters, sure---but they are each so much more than one trait. (More on the campaign theme at internationalwomensday.com/theme) This year also marks the publication of your third children’s book in your Ghost Scouts series – congratulations! Why is writing this series important to you, and what do you hope readers take away from reading your books? I love the freedom of middle-grade fiction, it’s the spot for the perfect pairing of illustration and words! My books in particular I hope show readers that they can be loud, messy, mischievous, and a little dark and twisty. What was the original inspiration behind your series? I was lucky enough to be in Girl Scouts for nine years while growing up in Texas. That meant that my weekends were filled with bonfires, canoe trips, camping and just romping around. I wanted to recreate that joy but add a little horror and magic. If you could spend the day with Lexie Wilde and the Camp Croak squad, what would you get up to? I feel like I already spend every day with them. There isn't a twenty-four hour period in the last two and half years that I haven't been working on some aspect of this story and these ferocious scouts. You were raised in Texas, went to school in Cambridge, and now live in Arkansas. Does travel have a big inspirational impact on your writing? Actually, I also lived in France and Scotland! So yes---travelling is incredibly important to me. I love collecting people’s voices and stories when I travel about. I keep a list of names and random quotes that feel a little special to me---maybe, one day, they’ll make it into a book. Where is Ghost Scouts set and what made choose this location? Ghost Scouts is set in the wonderful and perilous swamps of Louisiana. This part of the world was incredibly essential to me for two reasons. One, it has a long history of southern gothic magic that pop up again and again in stories told. Two, this place is a melding of cultures including those of the Cajun and Creole people. This means that the state is rich in diverse religious practices, parades, music and types of food. For anyone following if your literary footsteps, do you have any top tips/must see landmarks/advice? Location-wise? Confront your misconceptions about Louisiana Voodoo by listening to actually Voodoo Queens (priestesses) or attending the local museum in New Orleans. Take an airboat tour of the swamps and see all the alligators. Try the local cuisine---there is a reason this region has world famous Gumbo. And Beignets. And Jambalaya. What’s the most important message you want to send out to young women thinking about their careers? There is room in this world for your voice, you are allowed to take up space. Do you have any tips/advice for aspiring children’s writers? The best advice I can say is---when it comes to dialogue, keep writing until you can hear the characters speak in your mind. For me, I can tell when I have fully figured out one of my characters if I can’t hear their voices and speech patterns. Also, study the trends in current children’s books---surround yourself with the very best stories and pictures and soak it all up. What children’s books do you recommend for IWD? If you are looking for a bit of a scare, check out Thornhill by Pam Smy. It’s a wonderful twisty book that flits between elaborately painted spreads to punchy text as it tells the story of two lonely girls. Very haunted, very fun. About the creator Taylor Dolan was born into a house of stories and raised in Texas. Her mother used to read to her every night, and together they made their way through the worlds of Narnia, Oz and many more. Sometimes, when Taylor is feeling blue, her mother stills reads to her and does the best voices for all the characters. Being a happy booknerd, she attended the Cambridge School of Art for her Master’s Degree in Children’s Book Illustration. She was overjoyed to find a whole herd of booknerds to spend quality time reading quietly together with. She now lives in Arkansas, while using her imagination to pretend she still lives in Cambridge. On her bedside table is a copy of Matilda (Roald Dahl), The Phantom Tollbooth (Jules Fieffer, Norton Juster), and Which Witch? (Eva Ibbotson) which pretty much sums her up in a nutshell. She adores a magical adventure full of wit and monsters alike! For more information about Taylor and her incredible artwork check out Taylor's website taylordolanart.com/, and Taylor on Twitter and Instagram @taylordolanart.

Tsunami Girl is set during the March 2011 Great Eastern Japan earthquake, tsunami and radiation Disaster, what made you want to tell this story, and why was writing this book important to you? A great question – and a huge one! I’ve had a lifelong (from the age of 10 or 11) interest in the culture and history of Japan, and for the last twenty years have spent a lot of time travelling there, making some very important and close friends along the way. For ten years I worked with a Japanese professor/writer as his unofficial assistant and was lucky to have many unforgettable and moving experiences in Tokyo and further afield. Ultimately, we became something more like father and son, and Yoshio moved to the UK and became a kind of grandfather to my young boys. Sadly, he died suddenly on a trip home - and was gone from our lives. That unexpected loss was still affecting my family when the tsunami hit North East Japan, and the shock of those news images and our grief started working together in my mind. As time passed, I knew I had to tell a story that involved my deep interest in the country, the loss of my friend, the trauma of the disaster – but also the extraordinary spirit of resilience and strength that emerged as the process of grieving and recovery emerged. I had talked many times with Yoshio about his memories of Tokyo’s recovery from the firebombing of 1945, and the desperate times that followed, and as both a writer and therapist I wanted to see for myself how the affected communities were starting to rebuild. Tentatively I made my first trip to the Fukushima radiation recovery towns - and from the first moment I arrived in Odaka Town, I knew I had to go ahead with the story that was forming in my mind. Alongside your work as a writer and a therapist you also met with survivors and local residents in Fukushima, can you tell us a little bit more about the research you underwent when writing Tsunami Girl? As usual I did a lot of reading around the subject – I’m lucky to have access to the enormous Cambridge University Library, as well as the internet of course and YouTube videos. (I watched scores of eyewitness videos of the disaster: each was a different story, and each shocking to see.) But I knew for this book I had to travel to the affected towns and get to know people – not just to feel their emotion as they recounted what happened to them, but also to find out how they felt about me writing this story. The Japanese tend to avoid openly criticising or disagreeing, but the response I got was overwhelming positive, along the lines of: ‘please help keep our stories alive’. I came away with many new friends and renewed determination. Even though the book is now finished, I’ll be going back to Odaka, Namie and the other radiation recovery towns as soon as I can. It was also important to travel inside the actual radiation evacuation zone – the so-called ‘Difficult to Return Zone’. To do that we had to get special permission to go with a guide through the checkpoints, and drive and walk in the deserted and damaged villages and towns near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. It felt very real – and very surreal – at the same time. Like walking on the set of a disaster movie, but the Geiger counter in our hands reminding us all the time that the radiation was very present. Did you face any particular challenges when writing about this heart-wrenching catastrophe? Writing about a real disaster – and one in recent memory – requires real caution and sensitivity. This wasn’t ‘my’ story in that I wasn’t directly affected by the tsunami and radiation. But long-term friends of mine in Fukushima City, who were there on 3.11 and afterwards, emailed me every day after the initial disaster, and I had a good idea of the emotions and trauma that people were dealing with. I also met ‘listening volunteers’ who had travelled to the area shortly after the disaster to witness people’s stories and help ease their burdens just a bit. After visiting the area, and meeting local residents, I had so much material that I felt overwhelmed by the scale of the story, and worried that I couldn’t do it all justice. Slowly though I realised that by telling the story from the perspective of an outsider - as long as I kept in mind the reality of so much suffering – I could find my way. The hardest thing sometimes was to spend so much time reading and watching and listening to people’s accounts of what happened to them on March 11th and afterwards. As a writer you’re trying to inhabit those stories, but without the professional ‘safe distance’ I use as a therapist. What do you hope readers take away from Yūki’s story? That the world is always changing around us – sometimes slowly, sometimes dramatically, occasionally catastrophically. But – beyond their trauma - the people I met in the Fukushima recovery towns had such a spirit of resilience, determination, invention to re-make their communities that it left me inspired, and I took my whole family there to see and feel that atmosphere. The returning residents knew they couldn’t make their lives like the ‘old normal’ from before March 2011, but wanted to make stronger and more interesting ways of life, that accepted what had happened, and worked towards a new way of life. Yūki is struggling in her life when she meets the tsunami, but I hope her story shows how imagination, creativity and community can be incredibly powerful forces. As we make our way through our unforeseen crisis – of COVID – I hope it’s a useful and uplifting story to read. Tsunami Girl is powerfully told through both prose and manga – the prose which reflects the reality and the manga story which graphically reveals a between world of imagination. Why did you decide to tell Yūki’s story through these two forms? Right from the start I knew I wanted a manga section to this book. So much Japanese publishing is in manga form – from the cheap and tacky, to incredibly moving and sophisticated subjects, almost anything can be tackled in this way. And also from early on I knew I wanted to tell a grandchild-grandparent relationship, probably inspired by my friend Yoshio plying my younger son Japanese folding drawing books when he was small and encouraging him to draw and draw. (He’s now studying Comic Art at university!) I wanted two threads of the storytelling, and it seemed clear that the ‘between worlds’ story would be told more easily through words and images combined. It was hard to find the way to weave the two stories together, and I used up dozens of plot charts trying to make it work. But I think – hope – it succeeds! The manga story is beautifully illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada. How closely did you work with Chie during the illustrative process? Thanks to lockdowns Chie and I had to chat mostly on Zoom or the phone and only got to meet once! I had already written most of the manga sections when I got in touch with her and asked her to be my manga artist. The first and most important discussion we had was about who I was and why I was writing the book! Chie had been somewhat traumatised by the disaster and wanted to check I knew what I was talking about and had the right intentions. Quickly we established trust, and a working method – I wanted Chie to feel she could change stuff, question stuff, bring her own vision to the characters and story. After that we discussed the topography of the Zone and the surrounding towns, character design and so on. And very quickly I knew I’d found the right artist and let her get on with it! Can you recommend any graphic novels or manga for young people? Most of the manga I’ve been reading lately are what are called gekiga – a kind of adult-orientated, hard hitting genre that arose in the 1960s and 1970s. This is the work that Yūki’s grandfather was doing. There’s some amazing stuff by people like Tatsumi and Shirato Sanpei translated into English, beautiful and hard-hitting, but a lot of it is very adult! Something to mature into maybe, after reading Bleach, One Punch, Dragon Ball etc! I grew up on the British Comic tradition of 2000AD etc, and I still recommend Judge Dredd and Future Shocks as great examples of comic storytelling that can be both futuristically thrilling and saying things about our own society at the same time. To see how the heaviest of subjects can be tackled by graphic storytelling, it’s still hard to beat the ground-breaking Maus by Art Spiegelman. If you can tell the story of the Holocaust through simplistically drawn mice and cats so sensitively, then anything is possible in the form. And for a fun recommendation with a Japanese setting and tons of Japanese monsters, how about: Onibi: Diary of a ghost hunter by “Atelier Sentō”. (Tuttle Publishing). A one volume romp through rural Japan tracking down all kinds of yōkai! As an award-winning author of six brilliant children’s books, plus your co-authored graphic novels with your brother, Marcus Sedgwick, do you have any tips or advice for aspiring children’s writers? Don’t do what I did at first! I would start loads of different things, never finish one completely, and hardly ever showed those beginnings to anyone. This is not a good strategy! So: keep a notebook, write down everything that strikes you as interesting about the world, and when an idea grips you, get through a complete version of that story, poem, novel. Then you can rewrite it and rewrite it, and make it better and better. Then show it to someone! Then do it again with another idea. And try and enjoy the process even when you think it’s not going well. (Are you listening, 12 year old me?!) What’s next for your writing journey? Promoting Tsunami Girl and hopefully getting to do some school visits again! And then I want to complete the adult Japanese-set ghost story I started shortly after my friend died – it has been gathering dust too long, and I think I know what to do with it now. And then I think I can see a YA book/series forming in some notebooks from last year… This question is about your favourite children’s/YA books. What’s a book you loved as a child, a book you love now, and a book you can’t wait to read? My sons have both recently been reading the Wizard of Earthsea books by Ursula K. LeGuin. I often answer with Tolkien for childhood reading, but I remember now how much those Earthsea books made me want to be a writer. Probably now kind of unfashionable, but a book I recently re-read and loved was Missee Lee by Arthur Ransome, which as a child transported me lock, stock and barrel to 1930s China. (Ransome was a journalist there, and a good model for how to integrate research and adventure.) And I can’t wait to read Anna Goodall’s Maggie Blue and the Dark World. It’s her debut book, and it looks and sounds like a fantastic mid-grade adventure. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one thing with you, what would you bring and why? A deep, large, Japanese cedar wood hotspring bath and a source of hotspring water! If that’s too complicated, a stack of sketchbooks and a supply of pens. For drawing and writing. Or a complete translation of Dogen Zenji’s Shobogenzo. See below!! If you could invite any five people – past and present, real and fictional – to a dinner party, who would you invite and why? Right now, in lockdown – any of my wonderful friends! But to play the game: first, I’d love to have dinner with my Dad again. I was still young when he died, and over the last 30 years I’ve thought of so many things I’d love to ask him… Secondly, an obscure choice: the 13th century Japanese Zen Buddhist master, Dogen Zenji. On and off over all my adult years I’ve been reading and re-reading (and trying to understand) his huge masterwork, the Shobogenzo. It feels like it contains everything you need to know, but the meaning just slips beyond grasp. So, I’d like to ask him a few questions! I don’t want this to be too one-dimensional, but thirdly I’d invite a current Zen master – Taio Kaneta. We’ve been corresponding on email, and twice I’ve had to delay meeting him. Kaneta-san has been working with tsunami survivors using everything from listening therapy to playful improvisation to jazz to Buddhist ritual to help ease people’s burdens of guilt and grief. And he’s very funny and down to earth with a great laugh. For number four – self-indulgently! – I’d like to invite Ruby from my trilogy Ghosts of Shanghai. I spent years creating and then writing her, and I’d like to meet the strong and independent woman she became after the main story finishes. When I visited some of her haunts in Shanghai, it felt like she was just around the corner… Finally, fittingly, Tove Jansson. In an age when female creatives struggled to have their voice heard, she created so many wonderful stories for both adults and children, illustrated, painted – and got her voice heard. The Moomin books are a perfect balance of visual and written storytelling, and can be read meaningfully by young people and adults alike. And her Summer Book is a quiet, background inspiration for Tsunami Girl. I’d really like to chat to her… About Julian Sedgwick: Julian Sedgwick is the author of six books for children, and co-author of the graphic novel Dark Satanic Mills and illustrated novel Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black. On the way to realising his childhood ambition to write, Julian read Chinese Studies and Philosophy at Cambridge, before working as a bookseller, painter, researcher and script developer for film and TV, and shiatsu therapist. In his spare time he draws as much as possible, juggles torches and knives, tries his best to learn Japanese - and waits for the weather to get cold enough to go fen skating. For more information visit Julian's website, juliansedgwick.co.uk. Twitter: @julianaurelius About Chie Kutsuwada: Chie Kutsuwada is a Japanese manga artist based in Brighton. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, she is the creator of King of a Miniature Garden and Moonlight. She also provided the illustrations for The Book of Five Rings by Musashi Miyamoto and Warrior Kids, a children's book by Mark Robson. Kutsuwada's books are widely available in English and have been translated into several other languages. Aside from her comics work, she regularly leads manga workshops at institutions across the country, including the British Library, the British Museum and various schools. Twitter: @chitanchitan

Watch this space folks - sensational creative duo Naomi and James Jones have entered the kid's lit scene and their debut picture book is an absolute triumph! Inspired by their son's struggles with fitting in, The Perfect Fit is a bubbly, thoughtful tale about individuality and inclusion, uniquely explored through the charming world of shapes and colours. Full of heart and rooted in kindness and understanding, triangle and her shape squad are perfectly brought to life through Naomi's quirky characteristic charm and James's bold and boisterous illustrations - think, a dose of Jon Klassen's Shape trilogy and a dab of Morag Hood's Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea! "And even though Triangle wasn't exactly the same as everyone else, it was still a perfect fit" Delightfully playful, endlessly entertaining, and oh so satisfying, little readers will delight in triangle's quest to find her perfect place in the world. Coupled with all the fun that's to be had with the shape and colour recognition, The Perfect Fit is destined to become a firm family favourite. It's positively perfect in every way. IF YOU LOVED THIS, TRY... About the author Naomi Jones spent eight years selling children's books rights before embarking on a career as a freelance writer. She currently also works as a freelance industry editor, and reviews children's books for the award-winning family travel website Mini Travellers. Twitter @naomijones_1 About the illustrator James Jones is an award-winning art director and designer. He was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2014. His work has been recognised by AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), Type Directors Club, Design Observer and the ABCD (The Academy of British Cover Design) awards amongst others, and his iconic jackets include those for Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife, Laurent Binet's HHhH, The Good Immigrant and Keith's Richards' Life, as well as numerous designs for the Vintage Children's Classics series. Twitter @JamesPaulJones Instagram @naomiandjamesjones

It’s always a great day when Renée Watson brings out a new book! I’ve loved everything she’s written so far and her latest YA novel, Love is a Revolution, did not disappoint – it’s 2021’s feel-good, summer must read! I’m personally not a big fan of the lovey-dovey rom-coms, so I did have some initial hesitations going into this but this book is so much more than just a love story. It’s a love story about growing up and taking the time to discover and embrace who you are. It’s a love story that sparkles with female empowerment, body positivity and self-care. It’s a love story that fills you with warmth and joy because it’s so honest and authentic. And that’s for sure a love story that I can get behind. There are three things 17-year-old Nala Robertson wants to do this summer – find a new hairstyle, spend time with Imani (her cousin-sister-friend), and, most importantly, find love. When she reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night, Nala finds her falling head-over-heels in love with committed activist Tye Brown. But there’s just one tiny problem… Nala would rather spend her summer watching movies with a tub of ice-cream than volunteering around the community. In order to impress Tye, Nala finds herself telling little white lies to find a common ground – she’s vegan, she’s an activist, and she’s running a dedicated activity programme at her grandma’s senior living residence. As her relationship with Tye deepens, so do the lies and Nala quickly finds herself in a whirlwind of doubt, disorientation and destruction. Could Tye ever like Nala for her real self, or is Nala still figuring out who she really wants to be? "The most radical thing you can do is love yourself and each other." Beautifully layered, funny, honest and fiercely uplifting, Watson takes us on an inspiring journey to discover just how radical and revolutionary self-love is. Nala made for a remarkably, genuine protagonist who proudly embraced and learned from her flaws and imperfections, and it’s this heart and honesty that makes her such a likable and relatable character. I don’t think I’ll ever get over Watson’s ability to write such hard-hitting and raw characters. Love is a Revolution is irresistibly fast-paced and boldly dips into a rainbow of contemporary issues including the power of a small community and the importance of eco-awareness. But it was the unconditional, inter-generational, familial love that really tugged on my heartstrings. I loved that the power to grow and love yourself was rooted in the support, wisdom and compassion that came from within the complicated family dynamics. I want the grandma to have her own spin-off story! This is a book to fall in love with. Perfect for YA fans of Nicola Yoon, Justin Reynolds and Alice Oseman. PERFECT FOR FANS OF