There is a hotel that is hidden to the human eye that caters to the most smelly, hairy, warty clients around. Nestled amongst the waterfront hotels for humans is the number one place to stay for magical creatures, The Nothing to See Here Hotel.
Frankie Banister runs the Nothing to See Here Hotel with his parents. This isn’t your average hotel though! It’s a hotel for magical creatures and it’s full of all sorts of weird sights, smells and sounds. All varieties of magical creatures come to stay here, from trolls and ogres to mermaids and werepoodles. There is no such thing as a normal day at The Nothing to See Here Hotel but things get really crazy when a messenger arrives to announce the imminent arrival of the goblin prince, Grogbah. He’s mean, demanding and very, VERY important. Before the Banisters know it Grogbah is taking over the place. Then another unexpected guest arrives to shake things up.
The Nothing to See Here Hotel is a rambunctious, rollicking read packed full of imagination and fun. As soon as I entered The Nothing to See Here Hotel I immediately felt at home and didn’t ever want to leave. It is fun from beginning to end and I need to read more escapades of Frankie and his family.
You can tell that Steven Butler and Steven Lenton had enormous fun writing and illustrating this story. The characters are hilarious and they have some great lines. There is Granny Regurgita (Frankie’s great-great-great troll grandmother with the best insults), Nancy the hotel cook (who is a giant Orkney Brittle-Back spider), Gladys Potts the werepoodle and Mrs Dunch (a geriatric mermaid). My favourite characters though are the Molar Sisters, the triplet tooth fairies. Their names are Dentina, Gingiva and Fluora and they have the worst dental hygiene in all of the magical world (because they eat nothing but sugar cubes and their teeth are rotten). Their magic wands come in very handy though to help the Banisters out of some sticky situations.
The Nothing to See Here Hotel is perfect for reading aloud as there are lots of great voices you could do. It would make a great read aloud for Years 3-6, especially for those teachers wanting a change from the usual Roald Dahl. There is plenty to keep all kids engaged and begging you to read the next chapter. I’m glad to see that this is the first book in this new series so there will be more books to come.
Clem Hetherington and the Ironwood Race by Jen Breach & Douglas Holgate
Malcolm doesn’t like animals. Which is a problem because his family love them. Their house is full of pets. What the house is NOT full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday.The only bright spot on the horizon is the Year Six school trip, which Malcolm never thought his parents would pay for. And yet there he is, on the bus, heading to… oh no. A farm. Over the next days, Malcolm changes. He learns a lot about animals. More, in many ways, than he would like. He learns what it’s really like to be an animal. A whole series of animals, in fact…It does make him think differently. And speak differently. And eat differently. And, um, smell differently. But will he end up the same as before? Because sometimes the hardest thing to become is… yourself.
My name is Charlie Ian Duncan. I will be 12 on 2 February. I have written this history of my war with the grannies because I need everyone to know that I didn’t mean for Mrs Cyclopolos to blow up. I just wanted a paper round.
When his grandfather becomes ill Prez goes to stay with a foster family. The Blythes are a big, warm, rambunctious family who live on a small farm and sometimes foster children. Although he seems cheerful and helpful, Prez never says a word. Then one day Prez answers the door to someone claiming to be his relative. This small, loud stranger carries a backpack, walks with a swagger and goes by the name of Sputnik. Sputnik bursts into their lives and sets out to help Prez and try to save Earth.
Leo Lennox has an epic problem: it’s his thirteenth birthday and he has just grown a tail.
Larkin Mills: The Birthplace of Death! Larkin Mills is no ordinary town. It’s a place of contradictions and enigma, of secrets and mysteries. A place with an exquisite ice cream parlour, and an awful lot of death. An extraordinary mystery in Larkin Mills is beginning to take shape. First we meet the apparently healthy Albert Dance, although he’s always been called a sickly child, and he’s been booked into Larkin Mills’ Hospital for Specially Ill Children. Then there’s his neighbour Ivor, who observes strange goings-on, and begins his own investigations into why his uncle disappeared all those years ago. Next we meet Young Olive, who is given a battered accordion by her father, and unwittingly strikes a dreadful deal with an instrument repair man. Make sure you keep an eye on Mr Morricone, the town ice-cream seller, who has queues snaking around the block for his legendary ice cream flavours Summer Fruits Suicide and The Christmas Massacre. And Mr Milkwell, the undertaker, who has some very dodgy secrets locked up in his hearse. Because if you can piece together what all these strange folks have to do with one another …well, you’ll have begun to unlock the dark secrets that keep the little world of Larkin Mills spinning.
My Best Friends Are Books 