Month: March 2024

What a fantastic selection of book in each category this year – I have loved reading and talking about the books with all of the children in school and taking votes every week since January. We had an amazing final three in each category, but the votes have all been counted and verified and we now have this year’s winners…

What’s The Story –  The Eyebrows Of Doom by Steve Smallman and Miguel Ordonez

As featured on CBeebies Bedtime Stories and read by Steve Carell, The Eyebrows of Doom is an outrageously funny and bonkers adventure story written by the rhyming genius, Steve Smallman, with bright, bold and brilliant artwork by award-winning illustrator, Miguel Ordóñez.

The Eyebrows of Doom are trying to take over the world! Join Dave and his friends as they try to stop them leaping from one unsuspecting animal to the next. And just when it looks as though the eyebrows’ antics have been thwarted . . . all is not as it seems!

This hilarious rhyming romp will have readers young and old laughing out loud.

If this was your favourite book, do try Inspector Penguin Investigates by Eoin McLaughlin and Ross Collins, an exciting, interactive detective story that will have readers hooked from the beginning.

Who could have broken into Baron von Buffetworth’s super-secure top-secret safe? And where have they taken his precious diamond?

There’s only one detective who can solve this mystery: Inspector Penguin! That is, if he can keep his mind off tuna long enough to find some clues…

Telling Tales – Lenny Lemon and The Invincible Rat by Ben Davis, illustrated by James Lancett 

Huge congratulations to Ben who wins his second Coventry Inspiration Book Award, but this time in a younger category, with a laugh out loud funny book that pupils and teachers can all relate to!

Lenny Lemmon is looking forward to Olden Days Day at school. It’s a chance to break the routine and try school as it was years ago. It explains the blackboard in the corner, his teacher’s bad temper and why his friend Sam looks like Oliver Twist. Lenny is pleased with his own contribution, too. It’s in a cardboard box at the back of the class at the moment because it’s not yet time to shine. Except it escapes and ends up in the bowl of sick, sorry, gruel, that Amelia Kelly has brought up, sorry, in.

Soon there are small, gruelly footprints all over the classroom and also a lot of screaming because the rat that Lenny found by the back of the chip shop is FREE. It takes the arrival of cool new girl, Jessica Conrad, to distract everyone. Jessica has a plan to catch the rat but it’ll cost them!

Can the three kids round up the rat before more damage is done? Or will they end up in the headmaster’s office – again. Maybe, but they’re going to need a bigger net… Make sure you don’t miss the next hilarious book in the series – Lenny Lemon And The Trail Of Crumbs.

If you loved Lenny Lemon, do try Cally & Jimmy: Twins Together by Zoe Antoniades and Katie Kear.

Join Cally and Jimmy in four hilarious stories, perfect for newly confident readers. They get into scrapes together, bake some poisonous cakes, almost ruin their school assembly and finally have a twintastic birthday party.

Hooked On Books – The Wall Between Us by Dan Smith.

This is Dan’s second win – the first being back in 2017 with Boy X – and the two books couldn’t be more different.

BERLIN 1961

Anja and Monika live opposite each other. They play together every day, with Otto the cat. One night they wake up to bangs and shouts. Soldiers are building a huge barbed wire fence between them. A terrible forever wall that gets longer and higher until it divides the whole city. On the East side, Monika is scared – neighbours are becoming spies and there are secret police everywhere. It’s Anja who spots that Otto has found a way across. If he can visit Monika, then perhaps she can too. But Anja gets trapped and there’s no safe way back …

Anja and Monika’s story is set in what feels like a terrifying dystopian world, yet it is one that existed in living memory. Dan has brought the terror of Berlin in 1961 to life in a gripping, unsettling read that will stay with me for a very long time.

Told through files, letters and newspaper articles, they really rooted the story in the reality that families would have lived. Most disturbing were the extracts from the Stasi files – as the reader, we could see a disastrous conclusion to Anja’s trip across the wall was coming, which cranked up the tension with each creaking floorboard and turn of the page.

If you loved this, try The Week At World’s End by Emma Carroll

Britain, 1962

Nothing ever happens in World’s End Close. So when Stevie discovers a runaway girl in her coal shed, the first thing she does is fetch her best friend, Ray. Both are dying for a bit of adventure, and when the girl begs for help, they readily agree. Yet they soon realise they’ve taken on more than they bargained for. The girl, Anna, reveals she’s on the run from people who are trying to poison her. Meanwhile, on the news, the Americans and Russians are arguing over missiles in Cuba.

As the threat of war grows, Anna’s behaviour becomes more mysterious. And when Stevie unearths a dark family secret, she wonders if Anna has come to World’s End Close on purpose, with a special message just for her…

Friendship, family and fear for the future are woven together to create a gripping story. Tension grows steadily as we adventure with Stevie and Ray through the week that was the Cuban Missile Crisis. A week where the world was on the brink of a war that no one could win.

Emma brings the world as it was in Britain in 1962 to life – a world of Mods and Rockers, new household appliances and the dreaded cane. With news focused on America, we not only see the Cold War at work, but the American Civil Rights Movement and peaceful protest brought to the fore. And that is just the backdrop to their adventure!

Huge thanks to everyone at Coventry Schools Library Service for organising another amazing Coventry Inspiration Book Awards this year. We have loved reading, talking and voting

Happy reading!

It’s the final eviction from the competition this week, and sadly we say goodbye to three amazing books.

What’s the Story? (Reception to Year 2) – The Dragon Painter by Lesley Sims, illustrated by BlueBean

A charming retelling of a traditional Chinese story makes the perfect addition to the ever growing series.

Chang is the best painter in all of China, so it’s Chang the Emperor sends for when his new temple needs painting. But why is Chang painting dragons without any eyes? Is it true, as he claims, that if you add eyes, painted dragons come to life? This delightful retelling has sweet, simple text and gorgeous illustrations, with plenty for children to spot as Chang paints his surprising dragons.

If this was your favourite story, try Luna and the Sky Dragon by Bethan Woollvin, an inspiring story perfect for little stargazers.

Luna loves the sky and finding out about all the wonders she can see above her. But the villagers can’t stop worrying about the mythical Sky Dragon – a fearsome creature who is said to dwell in the sky. Can Luna share her love of the sky and show the villagers that the Sky Dragon is nothing to be afraid of?

Featuring real constellations as well as facts about the milky way, eclipses, comets and other astronomical delights, this enteratins and educates in equal measure.

Telling Tales (Year 3 and 4) – Batpig: When Pigs Fly by Rob Harnell

BATPIG follows the amazing, porktastic adventures of Gary Yorkshire – an entirely normal piglet whose world is turned upside down when he’s bitten by his friend, Brooklyn the bat, and develops the power of flight! And what could Gary do with this newfound talent other than become a superhero?

Alternating between Batpig’s origin story and a furious and hilarious battle with his nemesis, Repto-Man, this is a brilliantly funny and skilfully rendered commercial young graphic novel series, with each book containing two separate stories.

If you loved Batpig, make sure you look out for the other books in the series, the latest of which is Go Pig Or Go Home, featuring magical sharks – and summer camp!

First there’s the sudden appearance of Sharkraham Lincoln (half shark! half president!), who sets off a major test cheating scandal. And then, at the worryingly named Camp Whomp-a-Pig, Gary’s hoping to finally get a break from superhero-ing, but a grumpy lake monster isn’t letting this sleeping pig lie. Will Batpig ever catch a break to just relax and enjoy a tasty sandwich, and not have to save the world?

Hooked On Books (Year 5 and 6) – Canaligator by Giovanni Eposito, illustrated by Purri Pankras

Canalligator is a graphic novel set in the canals of Birmingham and tells the rhyming tale of Casey, an unlikely reptile hero, and his friendship with four young people.

The combination of verse and graphic is quite unique and a QR code at the start of each chapter takes you to the author’s YouTube channel where the reader can view a short film about each chapter.

If Canalligator was your favourite, try Another Kind by Cait May and Trevor Bream, which is not your average monster story.

Tucked away in a government facility nicknamed the Playroom, six not-quite-human kids learn to control their strange and unpredictable abilities. Life is good—or safe, at least—hidden from the prying eyes of a judgmental world. That is, until a security breach forces them out of their home and into the path of the Collector, a mysterious being with leech-like powers.

Can the group band together to thwart the Collector’s devious plan, or will they wind up the newest addition to his collection?

You now have one more week to vote for your winner. Happy reading and don’t forget to vote for your favourite!

Another week, sees another three cracking books leave the competition. Did your favourite survive the eviction?

What’s the Story? (Reception to Year 2) – Stop! That’s Not My Story by Smriti Halls and Erika Meza

A joyful, empowering call to be the hero of your OWN story!

A girl opens up a book looking for the story that’s perfect for HER and tumbles inside. But Goldilocks is not her story, and nor is Jack and the Beanstalk or Little Red Riding Hood… There’s only one thing for it: she’s going to have to write her own story – and this time, SHE will be the hero.

A celebration of the stories we ALL love and the stories we are yet to write.

If this was your favourite book, try Once Upon A Fairytale by Natalia O’Hara and Lauren O’Hara, a story where the reader gets to decide on the adventure – the possibilities are endless.

Did you ever wish to feast with fairies, live in a tree, or ride a unicorn across the sun-lit sky? Here, in this magical world, you can. You can choose to be a clever princess, or a curious gingerbread man, or perhaps a gentle knight. Maybe you’ll live in a tree, or a tower on a hill. You can eat fresh-buttered sunbeams with fairies, or newt pie and pigtail pudding with ogres. Everywhere you look, you will find a new adventure. Just pick the one you like best.

A captivating book where the child chooses the story they want to tell – empowering children to become storytellers and weave their very own fairytale.

Telling Tales (Year 3 and 4) – Sheep School by Ross Montgomery

A thwarted thespian must use his talents to save his flock from a woolly situation in this hilarious gem from bestselling children’s author Ross Montgomery.

William the lamb just can’t stand still. His feet are always tapping, ready to dance, and he loves nothing more than bursting into song. But his talents aren’t always appreciated at Sheep School. Cast out of the flock, he wanders miserably away only to witness the rest of the sheep being captured by the Big Bad Wolf.

Can William find a way to put his artistic skills to use to save the day?

If you loved Sheep School, try The Ghost Cat Who Saved My Life by Pamela Butchart

The flat upstairs from Sav is empty, so who or what is making the strange yowling noises she can hear at night? Could it be a ghost cat?!

Sav and her best friend Liam decide to investigate, but their ghost hunt takes a very strange turn when Liam gets stuck in the stinky bin room of the flat and it’s a new feline friend who helps to get him out.

Nothing is quite as it seems in this brilliant new addition to the Little Gems list.

Hooked On Books (Year 5 and 6) – The Light Thieves by Helena Duggan

Clever, quirky and hugely imaginative, discover the eagerly anticipated new eco-adventure series from the bestselling author of A Place Called Perfect.

Who would you trust to save the world…a boy or a billionaire?

The earth has shifted on its axis and a mysterious dark mark has appeared on the sun – the whole world is in peril! But billionaire tech genius Howard Hansom has a plan…

When Grian’s sister goes missing he’s convinced she has run off to Hansom’s new city to help save the world. But when Grian and his two friends Jeffrey and Shelli track her there they find that nothing is quite as it seems.

Why is everything so secret? Where is the mysterious Area 13? What does Howard Hansom want with all the people he has enticed to live in his city? The days are getting darker but what’s really happening to the sun?

It this was your favourite book, make sure you read second book, Search For The Black Mirror to find out what happens next!

The energy from the sun is being stolen. It’s a catastrophe for the planet and every living thing on it! Friends Grian, Jeffrey and Shelli are desperately trying to work out how it’s happening. They know tech genius Howard Hansom is behind the theft and they’re determined to stop him. But they can’t use any of Hansom’s smart technology in their quest as it will track them wherever they go. The three young heroes need to find a strange black mirror to help them save the sun, and time is running out…

After this week, there is just one more vote off to go, so keep voting to make sure your favourite book makes it into the final three. Happy reading!