Last Now Next :: 21 April

Today’s post is coming to you from my 7 year old’s bedside table! I’m always interested to hear what everyone’s kids are reading, and A is really getting into planning her reading the moment so i thought I’d share her last, current, and next reads.

LAST: Dog Man: Unleashed by Dav Pilkey
A loved Cat Kid Comic Club when she read it during the summer holidays, and when we told her she could pick out something from the bookshop a few weeks ago she went straight for the first Dog Man book. She read that one four times in a few days and was super keen to pick up book 2 last weekend.
Honestly, I’m sure no other adult who has looked at these is going to be surprised to hear that it really isn’t my thing, and I could probably name at least 47 books – including other graphic novels – I’d rather she read (it’s the poo jokes that get me – and her telling me the poo jokes… over and over….) BUT she adores them and when it comes down to it that’s really all I care about. I’ve seen her fly through books before (she’ll often sit down and read a bunch of Billie B Brown or Rainbow Magic Fairy books in a day) but I’ve never seen her finish something and then immediately start over and take it with her everywhere all day, so that was really cool, and worth the joke retellings.

CURRENT: The Amelia Jane Collection by Enid Blyton
This one has been another first in terms of reading habits – it’s the first time she’s picked up something this big and stuck with it all the way through (almost – I think she’ll probably finish tonight). Previously she has picked things up and read a chapter or two then moved onto something new. I suspect it’s the fact that each little chapter is it’s own adventure, but whatever it is I’m loving seeing her feeling so proud of reading through it.

NEXT: Plum and Woo: The Puzzling Pearls by Lisa Siberry
I picked up The Puzzling Pearls last week to read myself but it was intercepted before I even got it home and A is excited to get stuck into it once she finishes with Amelia Jane. It’s the first in a mystery new series for readers 9ish and up, by Aussie author Lisa Siberry – I loved her previous novel The Brilliant Ideas of Lily Green (my review is here) so I’m super keen to read it too! Here’s the blurb from the publisher’s website:

Hannah Plum loves fashion, fun, and junk food. Patti Woo is obsessed with detective novels, lives in leggings, and is definitely not Hannah’s friend. But the two girls are stuck at the beachside Heartbreak Hotel together while Hannah’s dad and Patti’s mum are out birdwatching and – yuck! – falling in love.

When a hotel guest’s beautiful pink wedding dress is stolen, Hannah is determined to get to the bottom of it. With a reluctant Patti in tow, the two girls are launched into an ever-deepening mystery. Why is a wedding planner sending secret signals to an unknown guest? Who’s leaving creepy wet diving relics in the hotel rooms? And could some long-lost, famous pink pearls be at the heart of it all?

If Plum and Woo want to survive the summer, they’ll need to solve this mystery in style. But first, they’ll have to survive each other …

Doesn’t that sound fun?
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I’d love to know what you (or your kids) are reading last/now/next – leave me a comment if you’re like to share!

xo Bron