Thursday 1 October 2020

Barrington Stoke September Round Up

There's something for everyone in Barrington Stoke's September titles - from misbehaving dogs to marriage-mad mothers, and new friendships to new class members. These colourful new releases are great for readers with dyslexia who want brilliant stories in clear, easy to read formats. 

Noodle the Doodle by Jonathan Meres is a lovely story about an energetic, four legged addition to a classroom! 

Everyone is excited when Noodle the Doodle joins their class, but on the class trip to the beach, Noodle causes more mayhem than fun. Can Noodle prove he is a superdoodle after all and make the class trip the best ever?

This story is great for dog lovers - and for students like Marty who are a little nervous around dogs. It has a huge cast of characters, all with individual quirks, likes and distinctive personalities. Katy Halford's illustrations are sweet and funny, brining Doodle and his school friends to life. It's full of mayhem and fun, and will leave students asking if they can have a four-legged classmate of their own!


The Peculiar Thing with the Pea by Kaye Umansky is a very funny take on the well known fairytale, which will have readers giggling throughout.

Prince Pete doesn't want to get married - he's only 11 after all! But his mother has other ideas. When a girl arrives at the castle claiming to be the daughter of a very well off king, his mother decides to put her to the test. While Patsy would happily face knights or fire arrows, the test Pete's mum has in mind is of a rather different kind...

This is a brilliant story about friendship. Pete and Patsy were great characters and filled their days with adventure, from building treehouses to investing dungeons. Readers will wish they can dive into the story and join them. 

I really enjoyed Claire Powell's illustrations, which all had busy backgrounds full of tiny details. 


The House of Clouds by Lisa Thompson is a touching story about loss, friendship and taking time to look into the skies. 

Tabby's Grandad is full of outlandish stories, from ships in bottles made by bees, to cloud artists sculpturing shapes in the sky. Tabby has lost her best friend and she's stuck taking Grandad's smelly dog on daily walks, the last thing she wants is to sit and listen to Grandad's nonsense. But when Tabby visits a strange, deserted house on the hill, she starts to wonder if at least one of Grandad's stories might be true, only it's too late to ask him more about it. 

Tabby's story is full of magic and wonder. Readers will be desperate to spend more time looking up into the sky after finishing it, looking for shapes made by Ava Laurent and her fellow artists. Tabby is a sweet and very relatable character, who is too busy torturing herself with social media to see how little time she has left with her Grandad. 

Alice McKinley's illustrations bring the art in this story to life, and readers will be desperate to explore her House of Clouds. 


Thank you so much Barrington Stoke for sending me copies of these stories to review. They are all brilliant in their own way, and would be a great addition to any school library. 

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