Lisa Thompson
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The Day I was Erased book cover

Maxwell is always in trouble.

He's a total menace to his teachers and big sister, but has a soft side, too: he rescued his dog, Monster, from being run over and checks on his elderly neighbour after school.

One day, while looking through a mysterious cabinet of curiosities, Maxwell finds himself erased from his life: it's as if he's never been born.

At first, being able to walk around without being yelled at is great, but Maxwell starts to miss his old life.

Alex T. Smith
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Murder! by Narwhal! book cover

When the tyrannical family patriarch Sir Ignatious Gristle is murdered on his 90th birthday at his country estate, every one of his gathered family members is a suspect. Trapped by a snowstorm with no way to contact the police, it's up to his mettlesome granddaughter, Edna, and her trusted tortoise, Charles Darwin, to determine whodunnit!

Full of head-scratching clues, page-turning twists and a lot people acting suspiciously, this is the first in a spoofy middle-grade murder mystery series. Outrageously funny and lavishly illustrated – a verbal and visual treat!

Rob Biddulph
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Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City, book cover.

Some legends are born, some are drawn . . .

Drawing feels like magic to Peanut Jones. But art can't fix her problems. Her dad has gone missing, and she's stuck in a boring new school. Until the day she finds a unique pencil turbo-charged with special powers. Suddenly she's pulled into a world packed with more colour, creativity, excitement and danger than she could ever have imagined. And maybe, just maybe, she might find out what happened to her dad. 

Onjali Q. Rauf
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The Night Bus Hero book cover

‘I've been getting into trouble for as long I can remember. Usually I don't mind - some of my best, most brilliant ideas have come from sitting in detention. But recently it feels like no one believes me about anything - even when I'm telling the truth! Everyone thinks I'm just a bully. They don't believe I could be a hero. But I'm going to prove them all wrong...' 

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A selection of Christmas books

Christmas books for this special event:

  • The Christmas Department Store by Maudie Powell-Tuck and Hoang Giang
  • Kid Christmas of the Claus Brothers Toy Shop by David Litchfield
  • Dasher by Matt Tavares
  • Through the North Pole Snow by Polly Faber and Richard Jones 
  • The Winter Wish by Helen Mortimer and Rachael Dean
  • The Christmas Eve Tree by Delia Huddy and Emily Sutton
  • Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht and Jarvis
Abi Elphinstone
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Sky Song book cover

In the snowy kingdom of Erkenwald, whales glide between icebergs, wolves hunt on the tundra and polar bears roam the glaciers. But the people of this land aren’t so easy to find - because Erkenwald is ruled by an evil Ice Queen and the tribes must stay hidden or risk becoming her prisoners at Winterfang Palace.

M.G. Leonard
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Beetle Boy book cover

Darkus can’t believe his eyes when a huge insect drops out of the trouser leg of his horrible new neighbour. It’s a giant beetle – and it seems to want to communicate.

But how can a boy be friends with a beetle?

And what does a beetle have to do with the sudden disappearance of his dad and the arrival of Lucretia Cutter, with her taste for creepy jewellery?