younger fiction series

Moonlight the Unicorn’s High Tea Hiccup by Sally Sutton and Kirsten Richards

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2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults Junior Fiction Finalist

The Miniwings books are totally FABO! I’ve loved all of the books in the Miniwings series but Moonlight the Unicorn’s High Tea Hiccup is one of the best. Moonlight is the Miniwing who loves food and there are plenty of tasty treats on offer when Sofia and Clara are invited to a high tea with their great-aunts. Where the Miniwings go trouble follows and their mischief is super messy in this story.

As a librarian I love these books because they’re so perfect for young readers and as a parent I have loved reading them to my 5 year old. Sally Sutton has created a special language, Miniwingese, which makes the stories really fun to read and makes you laugh out loud. Each of the Miniwings have their own unique personality so it’s fun to make up different voices for them. They also really like to sing so there are songs throughout the story. Part of the appeal of these books is that they’re packed with colour illustrations. Kirsten Richards’ illustrations bring the cheeky Miniwings to life and she must have really enjoyed creating the mess in this book.

I love this series and I was excited to see that there is another book coming soon.

Dinosaur Rescue: Scuto-stickysaurus

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Like many boys around the country I look forward to a new Dinosaur Rescue book from the wonderful Kyle Mewburn and Donovan Bixley.  Each book gives me my dose of prehistoric facts, disgusting dinosaur behaviour and wild adventures with Arg the brainy cave boy.  Arg’s latest adventure is Scuto-stickysaurus.

In Scuto-stickysaurus, disgusted by his family’s eating habits, Arg leaves his cave to search for the cause of the terrible noise that is filling the air.  He discovers a Scutosaurus, a very slow, heavily armoured dinosaur, and he sets off to save it from his tribe’s hunting party.  It’s not long before he finds himself stuck to the Scutosaurus with no way to pry himself loose.  It’s up to his good friend Skeet to rescue him and the Scutosaurus before it’s too late.

Scuto-stickysaurus has the perfect mix of fact, fiction and stinky dinosaurs that I love about this very cool series.  In this book you can:

  • Learn how to look like a Neanderthal,
  • Find out about a prehistoric trip to the dentist,
  • Get some jungle survival tips (Bear Grylls style)
  • Learn about dangerous jungle plants
  • Discover the perfect way to escape a Deadly Mouth Plant.

There’s also plenty of dinosaur poo and farts to go around, and when it comes to these, Arg is always in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It’s the combination of the story and the illustrations that makes this series so hilarious.  Scuto-stickysaurus is the 7th book in the series and it’s just as good as the 1st book, T-wreck-asaurus.  I hope that Kyle and Donovan have got plenty more ideas up their sleeves for Arg’s future adventures.

Thanks to Scholastic New Zealand I have 2 copies of Scuto-stickysaurus to give away.  You can enter here.

Sophie and the Shadow Woods by Linda Chapman and Lee Weatherly

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Meet Sophie, the one girl who will save the world.  Sophie is different from the other girls in her class at school who like to play games about fairies or giggle about girls.  Her favourite things are action films, taekwondo, sports, adventures, bikes, and skateboards, and when she grows up she wants to be a stuntwoman.

Sophie has just turned 10 and her taekwondo skills are going to come in very handy, because she has become the new Guardian of a magic gateway in the mysterious Shadow Woods.  Her mission is to stop the mischievous creatures that live there, including trolls, goblins, and gnomes entering our world.  The only problem is that Sophie has lost the key to the Shadow Realm and if the goblins get their hands on one of the shadow gems, Sophie’s world will be in danger.  Will Sophie be able to find the gem first and defeat the goblins?  Find out in the first book of the series, The Goblin King.

Sophie and the Shadow Woods is a cool new series by Linda Chapman and Lee Weatherly.  Sophie is an adventurous girl who kicks butt and she isn’t afraid to stand up to a goblin.  If you’re a girl who would rather read a Beast Quest book than a Rainbow Magic Fairies book, then this series is perfect for you.  We have the first two books, The Goblin King and The Swamp Boggles, in the library now and there are more to come soon.     Recommended for 7+       8 out of 10