What You Could Be Reading This Year – Dozens of New Reads for 2013…

You are going to need to have a beverage handy for this post… it is the ultimate collection of new children’s books that are launching in 2013… When you are mad about kids books then possible the best invitation of the year is to the PanMacmillan Children’s Presentation for 2013… then you will get up at the crack of dawn and drive across the city… through the morning traffic… and you will walk into an auditorium full of streamers and balloons and a goody bag packed with books!!!

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Did I say a bag packed with books: there were a couple of other goodies too… posters, chocolates and such… the posters are up and the chocolates long gone… but the books remain!!!

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The publishers got to show us what to expect in the year ahead… I tell you the truth, it is going to be another fabulous year of reading for us… I thought I would just post se7en + 1 things that we loved from each of the speakers… it was hard – there were so many books to choose from and honestly I didn’t touch the surface… think of this post as a taste – everything from baby books to teen reads… Hope you enjoy it!!!

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First up for the Day was Priddy Books:

  1. Sticker Doodle Books: These are new, just coming out and I have to say if I get any to review I won’t be sharing them with my kids!!! That are adorable and full of fun things to do… there were definitely no books like these around when I was a kid!!!
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  3. Hello Baby: I am in love with this series… I may need to get it just for myself!!!
  4. Slide and Seek Books: Really cute first word board books… with a simple question and you slide the window and it reveals a typically beautiful Priddy Book photograph.
  5. Animal Rescue and Cupcake Shop: These adorable activity books bring activities to a new level: there are stencils, stickers, space for drawing, a story and of course a recipe to try in real life. And the animal rescue – I have a child who is going to float ten feet off the air with joy when she sees this book!!!
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  7. Baby Treasure Hunt: This is a very junior version of Eye Spy books and in a word: super cute!!!
  8. Classic My first Words: Frankly all my children have loved First Word Priddy Books – they are everything to love, out in a new chunkier board book version… hard to resist!!!
  9. Sticker Books with 1000+ stickers: You can not beat Priddy Sticker books… the end!!!
  10. And the se7en + 1th

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  11. Adorable: Alpha Prints…

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Pan MacMillan…

There were so many new books for the year… you can get a tasteful here:

  1. The loveable Julia Donaldson, Children’s LaureateLaureate Tour from Lands End to John O’Grotes.
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  3. Of course the prolific Emily Gravett – has new books coming out… and we are going to love them!!! Honestly if there was an author that I wanted to buy the entire collection of stories then she would be the one… just love them all… the cleverness, creativeness, artiness…
  4. All new Early Readers: For Example the Gruffalo… these books are the same stories, but reformatted for easy readers and my easy readers got to try some out and really enjoyed them.
  5. The Delightfull Zoe and Beans: Have new stories and a new format… oh chunky board books, be still my heart!!!
  6. Aunt Amelia… by Rebecca Cobb: Baby sitting with a difference, Aunt Amelia is a giant lizard.
  7. The Crocodile Who Didn’t Like Water by Gemma Merino: There is a twist in the tale of this book that my kids are going to love!!!
  8. Non-fiction books: Think Again by Clive Gifford: Tons of false facts are refuted… my kids would love this book, it would just fill their trivia tanks to the brim!!!
  9. And the se7en + 1th:

  10. And the favourite, I know you are all going to love these: Getting into Art by Susie Brooks – simply stunning. Animal is Art and People in Art… Masterpieces and their great artists and a really fun activatey to go with each of them!!! Look forward to a review of this book from us!!!

Then we had to look at the books for older kids:

  1. Lost Worlds: by the author of Young Sherlock Holmes. My older boys are finally reading this, though it has been on the coffee table for a week… I think the cover is a little ho-hum – uninviting!!! But once they were reading they enjoyed the tech and the gadgets and the twisting turning plot.
  2. A couple of series are completing… and new books were: Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari. You will definitely need a box of tissues for this one, how a teen girl copes with her friends suicide.
  3. And then Gloss by Marilyn Kaye, four girls in New York in the summer of 1963… working in the world of fashion…
  4. Oh we are looking to Hero, by Sam Angus. Since last year, Soldier Dog was one of our top books of the year. To be sure get ready for a good cry!!!
  5. More Oliver Fibbs and More: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Over the Moon.
  6. A Mortal Instruments Companion: Where have we been… there is a companion guide and a movie coming out and I don’t think we have read any of these… so we will have to investigate!!!
  7. Chriss Riddel’s Goth Girl… oh everything by Chris Riddel is totally loved in our house… the illustrations grab us!!! The villains are bad and the heroes adorable.

Then we had a break to play Simon Says… and as soon as folk new there were prizes they were leaping from their chairs to join in!!!

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Walker Books

  1. Timmy Failure… This is the book that ALL my kids grabbed first from the goody bag… it is hysterically funny… little quips and clever little puns… It is a quick and easy read, a great easy reader!!!
  2. Anthony Horowitz will be visiting South Africa… It’s all about the Power of Five and Oblivion.
  3. Judy Moody and her younger brother, Stink. About the cutest kids on the net, and very closely related to some of the kids that I live with!!!
  4. How to be Invisible by Tim Lott: I think this book is going bring bullying out of the closet. About the kid that just doesn’t fit for a whole lot of reasons… He is constantly bullied at school, and at home he blends into the background. Than he discovers and a mysterious book and finds out how to become invisible… lots of life lessons in an engaging way!!! This book will be out in July.
  5. The Lion Who Stole My Arm, by Nicola Davies… is the first in a series of real life chapter books. Books where real animals and conservation are woven into the fictional story. This book is set in Africa, and a young boy loses his arm to a lion – the story is his journey to seek revenge and what he learns upon the way… will he in fact pursue that revenge in the end? The second book in the series, The Elephant Road – is set in Northern India and highlights the struggle for the elephants natural forested habitat.
  6. Janice Warman wrote The World Beneath – A South African book at last!!! The story is told through the eyes of Joshua, the domestic workers son. He is growing up in Cape Town and homesick for his family in the Ciskei. Joshua finds a freedom fighter seeking refuge in the garden one night and the tale turns to the political situation and Joshua is awakened to the changes taking place and the unrest in a country seeking freedom from oppression in the 1970’s. You will have to wait for this one, it is only due out in October.
  7. There is a new Kate di Camillo coming out: Flora and Ullysses… and I just adore her books, the fabulous heroes and the villainous villains… here is a sneak peak.
  8. and the se7en + 1th … a pile of Picture Books:

  9. Lot’s of Picture Books: Oh no, George!; Oliver by Birgitta Sif; more Jon Klassen

Hachette Books:


I have to say Hachette Books’ website is great… and well worth clicking through for fabulous book resources for your favourite reads.

    Tons of Great Picture books: more old favourites and new stars…

  1. The affable Hugless Douglas by David Melling;
  2. A new Mick Inkpen Collection is coming out… be still my heart!!! A worthy web-site – click on it!!!
  3. The Author of Claude, Alex T. Smith has Catch it if you Can Can… His books are silly, funny and read again and again books!!!
  4. ElephantTantrum by Gillian Shields: This is one I am really looking forward too, not that we would ever have tantrums in our house!!! This book is a funny take on the tantrum… Little Ellie has everything, but she wants more… and then she meets her match in the form of a rather large toy elephant!!!
  5. And tons of chapter books:

  6. More Cressida Cowell and her Dragon Training… this series need never end!!! EVER!!! I don’t have to say anything… if you haven’t read it – Why not? and if you have… Well Read On!!!
  7. Sleuth on Skates by Clementine Beauvais: Ann adorably cute sleuth, a spunky gal heroine… this is going to be great!!!
  8. Love is a Number by Lee Monroe… A teen read that is so much more than boy meets girl… Here’s the plot: Girl is devastated at the death of her perfect boyfriend, she is sad and angry and texts him… never expecting a response. Meanwhile, there is a boy that found an abandoned phone… and he never expected a message… and read on, read on…
  9. The Mysterium 01: The Black Dragon by Julian Sedgwick: A classic mystery… Danny’s parents are circus performers, who are killed in a mysterious fire… he is half Chinese, half British… and he travels to Honk Kong with a friend who is researching Triad Gangs… she vanishes and Danny is left to figure out the dangerous quest to find her and unravel everything that he thought he knew…
  10. And the Se7en + 1th

  11. The book my teens and I are eagerly awaiting: Fractured… the sequel to Slated… by Teri Terry… Just. Can’t. Wait. Slated is the story of a young teen, who lives in a time when anyone with “unsociable thoughts” has their brain wiped clean… there is a huge conspiracy hidden between the pages and Slated was unputdownable… Really. Just. Can’t. Wait.

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Barefoot Books:


We love and adore Barefoot Books, we love and adore Barefoot Books… okay…just once more: We love and adore Barefoot Books…

You can call them authentic, different, cross-culture, eco-friendly, packed with real facts, bringing ancient myths to life… call them whatever you like, Barefoot Books are great!!!

  1. The Girl With a BraveHeart: The feature Book
  2. Earth Tales: Each tale ends with an earth-friendly activity…
  3. Monster Readers: First Readers…
  4. Greek Myths: Filled with extra blocks of detail, maps and a family tree – Who’s who in the Greek Myths!!!

You can read more about their fantastic books on their blog… and if your kids aren’t spending some time listening to the Barefoot Books Podcast then they should be!!!

Thank you PanMacmillan South Africa for the invitation to your book show and the back packed with books… we can’t wait for another year of good reading!!!

In the interests of disclosure and all that: PanMacmillan, did not in anyway pay for this post, neither did anyone else!!! However, PanMacmillan did provide a great event and a great goodie bag packed with fine reads. Just saying… !!!

11 Replies to “What You Could Be Reading This Year – Dozens of New Reads for 2013…”

  1. that is almost too overwhelming to be true….
    Zoe and Bean – oh how cute 🙂
    Did I spy a few dragons in the goody bag???

  2. Hi their Love and Lollipops… It is a new book from Priddy Books called Alpha Prints – it is so clever, every picture is made with finger prints and the book has a little fingerprint texture – love it!!! It is a new book nd hasn’t yet been published – though it will be out later in the year… as soon as I hear about it further I will let you know. Lots of love and have a great week!!!

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