The Chewing Gum Rescue and Other Stories

This one's a treat. Eleven short stories from a writer whose particular gift is in challenging, enjoyable stories for seven to eleven year olds, Magic and mystery lurks in unexpected places so that rubbish dumps, bus queues, gardens are the setting for the fantastic, and her stories are immediate, involving. I've used the first five paragraphs of The Travelling Boy with top juniors, student teachers and a primary school staff to start a discussion on how gifted writers 'get you in' to a story by creating a mood; planting clues ... have a try. A splendid collection, better. I think, than her Carnegie winning The Haunting. Inviting cover, complementary pictures from Jan Ormerod.