If you are looking for an escape from high summer, Mary Cathleen Brown’s The Tall Man (Everything With Words, £7.99, 10+) will quickly transport you to a grim Gothic world of ominous intrigue. It is set in the town of Forkhead, “a strange name for a town”, full of a “strange spacey air full of dreams and headaches”. Tom has recently moved there with his mum and the town and the house he now has to call home begins to affect him in strange ways: “it felt like Forkhead might be his head, two pronged and each prong pointing a different way.”
Brown’s spiky prose adds an extra layer of edginess to this unusual novel, whose compelling mystery (who was the Tall Man? Who is the boy trapped in Tom’s basement?) is only part of the tale: the family drama underpinning it is just as convincing. The Tall Man is an affecting debut for the more mature middle-grade reader.
There are odd events aplenty in Chris Judge’s debut graphic novel Evil Duck and the Feather of Fortune (Gill Books, £12.99, 6+) . It is set in Ducklin City, where the banks of the river Duckey are home to ducklings Flo and Eddie. On a visit to their grandfather’s nearby house, they discover the old duck has an illustrious past as a fighter of crime: he was the famous Fearless Frank Duck.
When the ducklings find the frozen form of their grandfather’s arch-enemy in the attic, they accidentally defrost him, unleashing a whole load of trouble on the city. There is a wealth of waddle-on parts in the plot for animals determined to assist or thwart Frank, Flo and Eddie, including seagull Gully Wally and a puffin, Puffanne. With plenty of action scenes and absurd transformations, Judge has crafted an assured entry into a thriving marketplace for comic-style books for newly independent readers.
Cath Howe’s Call the Puffins series also offers lots of coastal adventure for newly independent readers. In Muffin and the Shipwreck (Hachette, £6.99, 6+), Team Puffin reconvenes when a shipwreck washes up on Egg Island. The puffins aren’t really supposed to explore the ruined vessel, but the mischievous Forti just can’t resist. As Forti encounters an aggressive octopus, his friends have no choice but to get involved. Facts about the surrounding seascape are seamlessly interwoven into Howe’s story, whose short chapters and clear prose will appeal to young readers graduating to chapter books, and a formal fact file at the end reinforces educational opportunities . There is plenty of visual inspiration on offer too, courtesy of Ella Okstad’s illustrations, which show the full range of the puffins’ escapades over 105 pages.
Leonie, the spirited heroine of Olivia Hope’s Little Lion Girl (Bloomsbury, £7.99, 3+), is, like Forti, fearless in the face of danger. When her mother suggests they take a trip to the big city on the train, Leonie channels her bravest self, determined to enjoy the city’s sparkle: its “colours, sounds and interesting faces”. The city might “roar like a jungle”, but Leonie finds a way to match its energy with her own, flapping across the pigeon-filled squares without fear, climbing up the fountain with abandon. This is a glorious fantasy in which make-believe facilitates personal growth, and Fiona Woodcock’s misty dreamlike painted illustrations are – like Leonie’s leonine persona – the perfect accompaniment.
If you are looking for ideas to fill the end of summer days, This Book Will Make You An Artist (Nosy Crow, £14.99, 5+) provides endless inspiration. Written by Ruth Millington, it introduces children to the work and techniques of 25 different artists. The book opens with the ancient art of cave painting and Roman mosaics, before entering into a potted history of classical and contemporary art.
The range and diversity of artists included is notable: well known painters such as Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo, of course, feature, but Jean-Michel Basquiat’s graffiti, Yayoi Kusama’s polka dots and Liu Bolin’s invisible men add a real touch of cool. Each double-page spread also features an easy tutorial, so budding artists can create a homage to their favourites at home. Needless to say, the illustrations from Ellen Surrey are a work of art of their own, with the bonus attraction of incorporating the artist’s real images among their busy backgrounds.
What better way to prepare for the return to school than to immerse yourself in a fine boarding-school story! Sheena Wilkinson steps confidently into the tradition perfected by Enid Blyton with First Term at Fernside (O’Brien Press, £8.99, 10+). Set in 1925 at the eponymous Belfast boarding school, it features two chalk-and-cheese cousins as its twin protagonists. Robin, an avid hockey player, is thrilled to be returning to Fernside after the summer. Her shy cousin Linnet, leaving home for the first time, isn’t quite so excited. She finds dorm life “crowded, noisy and bouncing”; it is “like living in an ant colony”.
Wholesome storylines centred on building moral character abound. There are animals to be rescued, misunderstood new students to accommodate with kindness, games to be won. There are stern matrons, firm but fair teachers, and the odd rotten apple of course. The writing is vivid, and the book feels fresh and contemporary despite the historic setting. There is a massive appetite for this type of book and First Term at Fernside will satisfy it well.
