Authentic, engaging and delightful: The best Children’s books out now – DYLAN’S PARK by
DYLAN’S PARK by Dylan Thomas Illustrated by Thomas Docherty Edited by Helen Docherty (Graffeg £12.99, 32pp)
Dylan’s Park is available now
Published to mark Dylan Thomas Day this month, this celebration of childhood imagination is a superb combination of radio extracts and poems by Thomas, remembering the freedom and fantasy that he and his friends experienced in Swansea’s ‘ugly, lovely’ Cwmdonkin Park.
The park was full of ‘terrors and treasures’, of robbers’ dens and pirates’ cabins where they held beetle races and formed secret societies where the threat of divulging secrets was ‘torture by slow fire’.
Beautifully illustrated, it recreates a time when, left to their own devices, children could create scary, thrilling adventures and still be home for tea. An utter delight.
Age 4+
THE SUMMER AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE by Lisa Williamson (David Fickling Books £8.99, 352pp)
The Summer After The Night Before is available now from the Mail Bookshop
Aimed firmly at older teenagers, this raw, powerful novel explores sexual consent seen through the lives of teenagers celebrating the end of GCSEs.
Ben has been in love with vivacious, beautiful Molly, his twin sister’s best friend, for as long as he can remember. At a drunken party, Molly vomits and almost passes out, so Ben takes her back to his house and gives up his bed for her.
What happens next unravels slowly but involves adolescent inexperience, misunderstandings, and a loyalty test between Ben, his sister and Molly.
Written from multiple, authentically voiced viewpoints, the ending might not please everyone but everyone should read it.
14+
CROW: THIEF OF MAGIC by Fiona Dixon (HarperCollins £7.99, 304pp)
This impressive fantasy debut, the first in a series, follows Crow, a young boy whose talent is robbing the rich for the criminal underworld of Starsgard. But when a break-in goes wrong at the home of Viktor, a mysterious sorcerer, he is offered the job of Viktor’s apprentice, bringing safety and a future.
He learns the art of catching dreams from sleepers which can be sold to the wealthy and powerful – but dreams may also be nightmares that can be summoned to destroy.
When ghosts appear warning Crow of danger, he must learn who to trust. With breakneck pace and an engaging hero, Dixon is a writer to watch.
9+