The Secret of the Dread Forest

The Secret of the Dread Forest
by Gillian Summers

Keelie has reluctantly travelled to the Dread Forest with her dad. The Dread Forest is home to Keelie's haughty grandmother, who doesn't approve of Keelie because she is half elf and half human. For that matter, none of the other elves approve of Keelie either.

How is she going to survive in this unfriendly place with only her grouchy guardian cat Knot and a demanding treeling for company. Even her gorgeous, would-be boyfriend Sean o' the Woods is no longer interested in her.

Things start to look up for Keelie when she begins sword fighting lessons, although her tutor is less than could be desired, but with the good there comes the bad and once more Keelie is called upon to save an ailing forest.

This is book three in this wonderful, hard-to-put-down series.

Book 1 The Tree Shepherd's Daughter
Book 2 Into the Wildewood
Book 3 Secret of the Dread Forest

Keelie's adventures are due to continue in a new trilogy - The Scions of Shadow. I will keep you updated on it's publication.

Picture Book Picks - Penguin & Dogs On The Bed

Penguin
by Polly Dunbar

I can't say enough about this book! I just love it. It is a lovely, gentle tale of a boy called Ben who opens a gift and finds a penguin inside. A real penguin, not a toy. The whole story revolves around the boy trying to persuade the penguin to speak to him. He moves from gentle persuasion to more rather aggressive techniques.

It is a really charming book, which is beautifully illustrated by the author and very humourous! I think it is the facial expressions that just crack me up. They make me laugh every time.




Dogs on the Bed
by Elizabeth Bluemle


This is the first book I have come across by this author, but I am mightily impressed. Dogs on the Bed is a story many of you may be familiar with if you have either a dog or a cat and the night-time campaigns they mount to take over your bed, be they allowed there or not. The shoving and gradual take over of the bed until you are pushed out.

This story has a lovely rhythmic flow to it and amusing illustrations by Anne Wilsdorf. I found I was telling the story to the voice and rhythm of the last Children's Laureate Michael Rosen. I don't know, it just felt like one of his poems and I hear his voice as I read it, which probably influences my storytelling of this book.

Here's a little taster of Michael Rosen, a very funny man and a great poet.



Just in case you missed the news, Anthony Browne is the new Children's Laureate and will hold the post until 2010. He took over the post from Michael Rosen who held it from 2007 to 2009.

You can find out more about the new Children's Laureate and previous Laureates here.