When Kat and her mother leave London for a new life in scenic Dorset, she wastes no time setting up a pet-sitting agency.

  Everything is falling into place a little too nicely. No sooner has she a few clients on her books than a mystery appears and beckons...

   Pippin lives with her grandmother, who was once a master detective and scientist. When the animals in the magic forest are in danger and there is not enough water, it is young Pippin and her mouse, Tony, who set out to help them (fortunately she can talk to ani...

  When we last met Dave the dragon, he was enthusiastically pursuing his goal of becoming a knight. Now he is back, accompanied by his eccentric sidekick Albrecht, who is still pungent, glossy of coat and prone to telling improbable stories. And still a goat.

  Indeed,...

  When I was young I knew of an old lodge in the woods near the river where we lived. My brothers and I often wondered who had lived there and if any ghosts appeared after dark.

  Perhaps that is what draws me to this book, with its wonderings and what ifs, its gentle c...

 This mysterious, imaginative debut from Australian author Jessica Miller wrapped round my mind like out-of-control ivy in a neglected garden. And while Elizabeth would find that image terrifying, I think Zenobia would be delighted. 

  Elizabeth is moving...

  This is a huge, rich tapestry translated from the Japanese and published by the always interesting Pushkin Press. 

  First we meet Erin and her mother, who care for the Toda — huge and magnificent beasts of war. After her mother dies, Erin finds herself caught in...

  Bluebell loves her food. Whether it be crumpets oozing butter, caramel waffles melting over hot drinks, pomegranates, noodles, fruit salads, chocolate cornflake cakes, toast; Bluebell loves it. So when she's instructed to keep a food diary and join the gym, she's not...

  From my experience, if you want to work in a bookshop then the best place to start is by loving books and bookshops themselves - and for ultimate bookshop girl Paige Turner (yes, that is her real name), there's not a lot she wouldn't do for her local, Bennett's Books...

  There is a school in Oxford called Spires Academy where, under the tutelage of writer in residence Kate Clanchy, they make poems. Poems which are concise and subtle, vivid and moving, fluid, arresting, beautiful and often funny.  

These poets are all...

  Ella starts at a new school, wearing the wrong clothes and with a secret no one must find out. All she wants is to make friends. There's pretty, popular Lydia, and quiet, mysterious Molly. It seems as though Ella can't be friends with both - so who should she choose?...