Shadow Thieves book cover for review: an adult and a child stand silhouetted on a rooftop, facing away from the viewer, looking over a cramped city saturated blue. The man is holding a lantern with a yellow light. In the distance, St Peter's Cathedral is silhouetted against lightning and a rising sun. The title 'Shadow Thieves' is in gold, the 'o' shaped like a lock, and the 'i' like a key.
Book Reviews

Shadow Thieves | Book Review

By Peter Burns (pub. Farshore, June 2025)

It looked like a scrap of paper, tucked behind one of the roof tiles beside him. He pulled it free. It was a small rectangle of thick cream card, on which was printed in fine copperplate type:

Wanted: the clever, the cunning and the fearless.
Must be willing to risk death daily.
Fortunes available for the most daring and capable.
No one over 18.
Orphans preferred.

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The cover for the book Tyger for review, showing a close-up of the Tyger's face looking straight at the viewer with orange eyes, surrounded by orange, black and white striped fur.
Book Reviews

Tyger | Book Review

Written by S.F. Said, illustrated by Dave McKean (published by David Fickling Books)

‘Nothing is ordinary,’ said the tyger. ‘Everything is extraordinary. In all of infinity and eternity, that flower exists only in this world; this precise position in space and time. Everywhere else, there is a different flower, or no flower at all. And the same is true of you. Nothing special? You are miraculous beyond measure, both of you.’

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A Secret of Birds and Bone review cover
Book Reviews

A Secret of Birds and Bone | Review

By Kiran Millwood Hargrave (published by Chicken House)

She checked her neck again, feeling for the clasp. She searched the front of her tunic, down her trouser legs, all the way to her shoes. Then she felt her neck again.

But she was not mistaken. There was no sign of the locket. It was gone.

It matters, Sofia. Keep it safe, always.

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October October book review
Book Reviews

October, October | Book Review

By Katya Balen, with illustrations by Angela Harding (published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

She wanted me to go to school and spend my weekends with her far away, but then when would I ever be wild and free and climb trees and scavenge for treasure and tell stories by a fire?

I don’t want her.

She’s not wild like we are.

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