L.H. Johnson's Blog, page 28

The Rabbit, the Dark and the Biscuit Tin by Nicola O’Byrne

The Rabbit, the Dark and the Biscuit Tin by Nicola O’Byrne (author) My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’m increasingly falling in love with books that are a little bit strange. I think we tend to search for the level in children’s literature; we look for the planes that can help us understand these strange […]

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year edited by Allie Esiri

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year by Allie Esiri My rating: 4 of 5 stars Beautifully produced, this is something to wallow in. Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year does precisely what it says on the tin; three hundred and sixty five extracts from Shakespeare for every day of the year. It cover […]

Monica Turns up Trumps by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer

Monica Turns Up Trumps by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars The more I read of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s connectors, the more I’ve come to realise that she is an author of extremes. She is either very good or very bad, and only sometimes does she land in the middle. Were I […]

Book Fair 101: everything you needed to know about book fairs

I came up with the title of my autobiography over the weekend. Inspiration struck just after I’d picked up a lovely copy of one of the Moomin annuals, displayed face out on a bookstall at York Book Fair. It was priced at £750. My autobiography is, perhaps unsurprisingly, going to be called: Books I have […]

A Song For Summer by Eva Ibbotson

A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Sometimes it’s difficult to know where to begin with Eva Ibbotson and then, I realise, it’s here. A sunlit, simple day where breakfast was buttery toast and the world’s open to explore. She’s simple that way, instinctive; food features heavily, sunlight idyllic […]

Malory Towers, Wise Children, and adapting Enid Blyton

"It's quite the thing," said my father to somebody on the phone, "There's an attempted drowning"

Judy, Patrol Leader by Dorothea Moore

Judy, Patrol Leader by Dorothea Moore My rating: 4 of 5 stars Oh man, I loved this! Judy, Patrol Leader by Dorothea Moore is a new venture to me; new author, much more ‘Guide’ orientated then many of my normal reads, and yet it’s a delight. A rampant, utter, delight. It’s vivid, heartfelt, ferociously readable […]

The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay

The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have such time for what Hilary McKay does, and The Time of Green Magic is a joy. Wild, rich, fantastical, and full of intense, palpable danger, it’s a dream. McKay is good, so good, and the day she is given […]

Midnight Is A Place by Joan Aiken

Midnight Is a Place by Joan Aiken My rating: 3 of 5 stars I’ve never wholly clicked with Joan Aiken. I think, sometimes, some of it stems from my preferences; I like stories with a particular taste and style and frame. I like being able to handle them and know what I’m going to get […]

New Class At Malory Towers

Malory Towers: New Class at Malory Towers: Four brand-new Malory Towers by Enid Blyton My rating: 3 of 5 stars Malory Towers is having a moment. The past couple of years have seen theatre adaptations, news of the rights being sold to the BBC, and the publication of this: four new Malory Towers stories from […]