Cogheart - Peter Bunzl

Steampunk for kids .... and what a wonderful world Peter Bunzl lets us into.  Lily, a girl at a dreadful boarding school in the aftermath of her mother's death, is unhappy and it shows.  She's naughty and nearly uncontrollable.  When her guardian comes to the school to take her home, she is delighted, until she is told that her father is missing, presumed dead, and that everything must change.  For a couple of secret policemen are after something that her father made and is now missing.

Lily's father is a mechanical maker, the steampunk version of robots.... He's made Lily a lovely fox friend, Malkin, a mechanimal,  who at the beginning of the story has been injured and is taken to a clockmaker for repairs.  His character is rather foxy - short sharp sentences like barks, and a no nonsense approach to life.  All the mechanicals that Lily knows are kind supportive and have specific jobs, and characters that go with the jobs. Lily is a strong character, her new friend Robert the clockmaker's son, not quite so strong  - always worried that he cannot do things as well as his father, and also - afraid of heights.

 And just what is it that the secret policemen are after?  Something small.  Something very important. 

Bunzl's first novel is a good one.  He has a lovely writing style that will appeal to readers around 8-12 years.... although I am somewhat older and loved it.  He includes a short glossary at the back of works that those readers may never have come across - what a lovely idea in the age of "just Google it!"  There is a second book to follow next  year with the same characters.  I will be looking out for that one.  All in all, a great read, just right for the Christmas stocking, and with a gorgeous cover.

From me to you at a Seasonal time of the Year......

You can do nothing.  You might do something.  You might even do lots of things.  Eat a bit, drink a bit, enjoy whatever kind of celebration you plan.  Don't get frazzled - there's always next year! 

Reading, buying, wanting, giving Children's books......

https://mangobubblesbooks.com/

The link will take you to a blog where only children can contribute.  The blog is owned by a boy, the reviews are all posted by children.  Some good reviewers there too!  So if you are a child you can read and post - and if you are older you can read and discover.

This is a brilliant way to find books you have not read - how ever old you are; and if you buy books for your children, grandchildren, neices, nephews,  friends or yourself.... be my guest, and visit.

PS. the parent knows I am posting about this site.

The Loving Husband - Cristobel Kent

Nicely tangled thriller here for fans of the genre - and very much better than many of them.

 

Fran is married to Nathan. Nathan "works in the building trade". Nathan has an office. Nathan is often off around the country on new projects. Nathan and Fran have two children, and Nathan is not very keen on sex. Two small children keep Fran busy, and in an old, grubby house, somewhere on the Fens it's hard to think much about the life she used to lead in London before Nathan persuaded her that a move to the country would suit them all.

But right at the beginning of the book we can see very quickly that things are not going to plan. Fran wakes in bed, just after midnight, and finds the other side of the bed empty and cold. She remembers him coming to bed, so what's the game then? A dreadful game, that's what, for within two pages we know he is dead, she has found him in a ditch outisde. Two male police detectives are convinced she did it, and the Family Liaison Officer thinks that she didn't. Fran herself begins to wonder if all she knew about her husband was right, and true. She has no proof either way, but from his past, lots of other people gradually enable her to form a picture of what he might have been - although Christobel Kent will keep you waiting until the last chapter to solve this excellent thriller.

Nicely woven, you are never sure how guilty anyone might be. There are plenty of times when you might say aah, of course, only to find a few chapters on that it was not the case at all. A good thriller has to have a believable story, but most of all a very believable end and this book has that. Set in a rural area where nothing much happens, with a couple of policemen who have their own axe to grind, and a woman who thought she knew what was was, I hope this will keep you turning the pages as it did for me. 

 

 

Podkin One-Ear - Keiran Larwood

It's December and the time of year when we think about presents (or not!);  how much we should spend and what we should buy.  Well, you know me, I'm a booky person and I want all my friends to be too) although sadly they are not!  But here's a new one that might be just the thing for a booky child - say a good reader of seven years onwards up to ten or so depending on what they like. It's also a great book to read aloud.    

Podkin, who at the beginning of the book still has both ears, is the son of a chieftain.  Not a human but a rabbit, living in a large warren in a pleasant place, leading a fun life, mitching off lessons, eating too much and generally enjoying a life like any eight year old rabbit would.  Until one day the unspeakable happens.  Raider rabbits arrive at the warren and force themselves in.  Podkin's father is killed, an aunt helps Podkin and his siblings to safety, but does not leave herself.  They are running, running, running, away from the Gorm, the most terrible of rabbit enemies.

It isn't Watership Down, it's not The Lord of the Rings either, but it is closer to the latter in it's tale of bravery, seeking that which is lost, and fighting the enemy.  In their flight, they are helped by a witch and a blind soldier - and Podkin, his sister Paz and the baby Pook are soon living a life so far removed from their old one in the home warren that it might have been a dream.  There is violence and scary stuff in this book - just the sort that children like!  Just wait till you see what havoc Podkin can wreak with his very special bronze knife which is one of the twelve articles that the Gorm want to find and destroy.  Some nice black and white pencil drawing illustrations too, which were very close to my imaginings.

Just right for a stocking!

Mrs Mac Suggests - what to read in DECEMBER

Well..... What comes near the end of December?  Christmas of course, and even if this is not your religious choice, or if you simply have no faith, it is probable that you have some kind of celebration at the end of December.  I always wish my pagan friends a "Cool Yule!"

What to suggest?  I suggest that whatever you choose, it should have the word Christmas in the title, and for me this year, I have two reads.  One I found for myself, and the other a friend passed on to me.


The one I found was  

Crime At Christmas - C H B Kitchin 

because I love a golden age of crime read every now and again and this one looks good, published in 1934 the first time. Cripes!

The one passed on to me was

The Christmas Mystery - Jostein Gaarder 

which is about time travel, a child's disappearance, and a strange man who made an advent calendar a long, long time ago.

Whatever you choose for December, enjoy the read.  Take some time out from phoning/texting, wrapping and cooking and stretching the money, and have a few hours curled up with a good book - that's my wish and my present to you!  

The Autumn Statement 2016.......... and magically, a drop in the standard of living!!

A Letter published in a daily newspaper  this week, from a Mr Michael Clemson in Kent, rang a bell with me, when the words ",,,,, led to believe that our standard of living is back to the way it was in the Twenties".  That's the 1920s for younger readers.  He then goes on to say that his own memory only stretches back to the 1940s. and then he lists the things he remembers from that time.

In bold italics are my own memories of my childhood.....

His father a factory manager on a modest income
My father, an upholsterer on a modest income

One holiday a year at a bed and breakfast
Our annual holiday was only once spent in a B&B; thereafter, camping or hired caravan 

Little cash for luxuries
Little cash for luxuries (in fact if I saw Jaffa Cakes on top of the groceries, it was holiday time)

So far, so similar.

And them Mr Clemson goes  on to comment that now most families own at least one car, several TV sets and the games that go with; children have mobile phones, computers and the games that go with them.  Continental holidays are the norm, and supermarket trolleys are piled high with the weekly shop.

We had a second hand car, but outside of large towns and cities now, bus services are nearly non-existent, so a car is necessary to get to work perhaps 30 or more miles distant.

I was about 10 when we got a TV - just the one, black and white. 

Games were things in boxes you got out of the cupboard.  They had names like Monopoly, Halma, Snakes and Ladders,  Cluedo, Ludo.

To make a phone call you made sure you had loose change and walked to the phone box.

Apart from fruit and veg, our groceries were delivered by the grocer on Friday nights, and my Mum got meat from a butcher next door to the Grocer.

So we get to the end, and its still a similar list!!

 I have all the trimmings now, but not everything that's on offer of course, I don't want it all.  But  a PC with a keyboard is a great thing to have, because I am a professional typist, and I have a lot to say!!  I take a couple of holidays every year, sometimes they are biggies (but not always!).  We have a mobile/cell phone each, and a land line.  So all in all, my circumstances are way better than they were in my childhood.  I know things are different now,  I just wish everyone didn't think they needed so much!

Is this Bah Humbug! from Mrs Mac?  Nah! it's only November she says, *laughing*!