Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
Macmillan, £6.99
A fitting book to celebrate the coming of spring, this imaginative and touching story is gently and wittily told through topiary. Although known to his great grandson as an elderly and somewhat forgetful gardener, Grandpa has had a full and interesting life, reflected in the vibrant shapes he cuts into the garden’s hedges. A cannon and ball memorialise the time his desire to become a gardener was thwarted because he had to go to war. In the final, wonderfully lush fold-out spread the garden remembers Grandpa, and that helps the little boy remember him happily too. (3+)
Many Moons by Rémi Courgeon
Quarto, £10.99
The endless fascination of the moon as it waxes and wanes is richly displayed in this gorgeously tactile picture book. The vivid yellow moon slice cut into the cover shines out, drawing readers into the dreamy and playful world of changing moonlight. On the shiny pages inside the moon grows from a tiny sliver – drawn as the perfect bow of a little boy’s arrow – to a glorious orb that makes sleep impossible, and then the world goes back to total darkness. Each phase of the moon inspires an imaginative response, and the astronomical information at the back makes this an educational book too. (4+)
The Cities Book illustrated by Livi Gosling and Tom Woolley
Lonely Planet, £14.99
A mixture of photographs and illustrations, each with a lively caption, this is a whistle-stop tour of 86 cities across the globe. The book includes the major natural and human-made landmarks, but it also gives a glimpse of children’s home lives around the world. With only a double-page spread for each place, the information on each is brief, but taken overall it is a good starting point for thinking about similarities and differences in how we live. (9+)
Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo
Particular, £17.99
The exceptional women included here come from many times and places. Ranging from Cleopatra in ancient Egypt to Serena Williams in the present day, the women are politicians, artists, writers, scientists, explorers, sports stars and lawyers. Each is celebrated in a brief biography, written in the style of a modern fairytale – with the twist that she is often an unsung shaper of our society. Illustrations by female artists of 60 of the entries add to the joy of this ebullient, inspiring collection. (9+)
The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Chicken House, £6.99
After the huge praise for her debut novel, The Girl of Ink & Stars, which scooped the Waterstones children’s book of the year award, Kiran Millwood Hargrave could easily have written a sequel set in the same world. Instead, she started from scratch. Drawing on the true story of a leper colony in the Philippines, The Island at the End of Everything is a passionate but delicately told narrative of great courage and kindness in a world full of prejudice and cruelty. Ami’s mother has leprosy but Ami does not. When the government rules that children who are not “touched” by the disease are to be dispatched to an orphanage on another island, Ami must say goodbye to her mother despite knowing how sick she is. How Ami stands up to the regime in the orphanage and bravely finds her way back to her mother makes for a gripping adventure from which many lessons can be drawn. (9+)
Margot and Me by Juno Dawson
Hot Key, £7.99
Dawson deftly intertwines stories from two generations to make an immensely readable whole. When teenager Fliss arrives at her grandmother Margot’s remote farm – a temporary arrangement while her mother recovers from cancer – she is sure that she hates her. She is equally sure that she will hate the countryside. But when she finds Margot’s teenage diary, Fliss is soon caught up in the fascinating and moving stories from her grandmother’s wartime experiences, which change her views of both. Dawson’s understanding of adolescence and her attention to the details of different periods bring both protagonists’ stories sharply into focus and provide a satisfying emotional core, while a large cast and a busy plot drive the story along at a cracking pace. (12+)
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D Schmidt
Andersen, £7.99
Set in New England, this sparely written novel is a deeply affecting story of love and loss that sympathetically reflects the intensity of adolescence. Jack has been told only a few things about his new foster brother: that at 14 he has almost killed a teacher; that he has been held in the county’s most notorious juvenile facility; and that he has a daughter he has never seen. But Jack discovers that those headlines tell him little about why Joseph is as he is. With his loving family home and simple farming life, Jack has no experience of either the harsh events that have shaped Joseph or the fierce love for his baby daughter, Jupiter, that drives him to a kind of madness. But Jack quickly learns to trust Joseph and becomes determined to support him. He tells the dramatic story of Joseph’s search for Jupiter unsentimentally and with a compellingly naive understanding. The deep Maine winter, with thick ice and dramatic snow storms, is an additional delight. (13+)
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