Caroline Bouffard reviews books for the young.
Danny and Nicki Cooper's dog, Patch, starts bringing home human bones and burying them in Mr Cooper's prize-winning lily beds.
The kids team up with the police to find the source of the bones while trying to convince their father to give Patch another chance.
An engaging and unpredictable mystery with great pictures that is suitable for ages 6-8.
Kids will love rediscovering Cinderella from the point of view of a lizard named Lennie who is unwillingly turned into a footman and Hansel and Gretel become two chubby junk-food addicts who shove their hostess into a pizza oven when she tries to make them eat their vegetables.
This book will capture the imagination of readers aged 7-10 while making them giggle.
I also recommend it for anybody teaching creative writing: challenge your students to rewrite a familiar fairy tale of their own!
Debi Glori's new book Witch Baby and Me (Corgi, pbk, $17) will delight fans of her "Pure Dead" series.
Lily's new baby sister Daisy is a genuine Witch Baby who turns herself into a dragon, transforms Lily into a slug and is accompanied by a smelly dog called WayWoof.
The problem is, Lily is the only person who seems to notice Daisy's powers and trying to control a Witch Baby is a dangerous job.
Readers aged 6-9 will laugh at Lily's predicaments and relate to her feeling that the adults in her life just don't seem to understand anything sometimes.
Moonshadow has been trained as a spy by the mysterious Grey Light Order and his first solo mission sees him breaking into a castle to steal plans for a frightening new weapon.
Fans of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider and any of the other espionage-themed series out there will enjoy the descriptions of Moon's battles as he walks the fine line between following orders and trusting his own instincts.
Hazel's only company is her creepy cousin, a dog with a wooden head, and a flock of smoking ducks until she ventures into the forest one night and meets some mysterious new friends.
Subtle humour and some sophisticated language would make this a fun book for adults to read aloud while readers aged 10-12 will enjoy it on their own.
England is on the brink of war and Tally's father decides to send her out of London to the safety of an eccentric boarding school called Delderton Hall.
While on a school trip to the tiny country of Bergania, Tally meets Prince Karil and must help him face a threat against his family.
Children will fall in love with the weird and wonderful world of Tally's school and the mystery surrounding Karil offers a fascinating glimpse of Europe just before World War 2.
- Caroline Bouffard is a teacher working online with enthusiastic young readers.
