Children’s Book Award Younger Readers Blog Tour Round-up

Over the past couple of weeks we have been lucky enough to have enlisted the help of three fantastic children’s book bloggers to help us celebrate the books in our Younger Readers category.

If you missed any of them never fear!  Here is a roundup of some of the things we’ve been treated to.

We kicked off this section of the tour with a post from Toppsta who told us all about book number 1;

Owen and the Soldier – Written by Lisa Thompson (Published by Barrington Stoke)

In Toppsta’s blog we found out a little about the book.

“A crumbling stone soldier sits on a bench in the park. Only Owen understands how important he is. At home, Owen and his mum are struggling and there’s nobody he can talk to. Hidden away in the park, Owen feels free to be himself. When the war-weary soldier is listening, his worries slip away.”
And two children were lucky enough to be able to have a Q&A session with the author.  They chose some excellent questions to ask.

Here is a little taster

7. Is Owen based on a real person? 

He’s based a little bit on me and all those children who didn’t want to speak up in class.

8. Did you cry writing the book? 

I did! I think that’s a good sign that the writing is going well.

9. Did anyone help you write the book? 

I have an editor called Ailsa who is brilliant! I write a first draft and she gives me her ‘notes’. It’s a bit like getting your homework back from your teacher.

You can find the complete blog post here.

The next stop on the blog tour was posted by Book Lover Jo and was all about book number 2;

The Maker of Monsters – Written by Lorraine Gregory (Published by Oxford University Press)

Jo told us what we can expect from The Maker of Monsters.

“At the heart of this marvellous tale is the power of kindness and friendship to inspire and transform you in the darkest of times. Her world-building is exceptional creating a highly visualised setting that she brings to life magnificently. Filled with bravery and heart, thrills and danger, this story is an absolute joy from start to finish.”
She also managed to talk to the author about her brilliant book.

“In this book I wanted to explore monsters in many guises. From the obvious vicious monsters stitched together and brought to life using necromancy, to the monsters in human form who do terrible deeds for revenge or power. I also felt it was really important to include creatures that may look like monsters but on the inside they are kind and good.”

To read the full blog click here.

The last post of this leg of the blog tour was hosted by Library Girl and Book Boy.

Mutant Zombies Cursed My School Trip – Written by Matt Brown (Illustrated by Paco Sordo and Published by Usborne)

We were tempted by Blogger Jo’s thoughts on the book.

“Matt Brown has, once again, managed to tread the fine line of being properly creepy but also hilarious! He masterfully steers his readers from laughter to fear as the true scope of what’s at hand at Leviathan Hall comes to light.  I love that this series is so highly illustrated. Paco Sordo’s illustrations add so much to the humour of the book.”

I think this is also the first time we’ve ever had a quote from one of our shortlisted book characters before.  I’ll let you read the blog to find out what Keith the Zombie has to say about his nomination!

There is also a link to a fantastic podcast with the author which is well worth a listen!

To read the full blog post click here.

Thank you to all three of our star bloggers and to the authors, illustrators and publishers for their support and assistance in supplying books, quotes, interviews and resources for the posts.

Look out next week when we kick off the next round of blog posts to celebrate the Books For Older Readers from our final three fabulous bloggers –

www.Getkidsintobooks.com

www.Booksfortopics.com

www.Thebookactivist.com

You can keep up to date with all things Children’s Book Award by following us on Twitter @CBAcoordinator or check the website.