This week's Chapter Book of the Week is another book that you won't see until the Autumn, but we wanted to make sure we squeezed it in before the blog takes the long sleep.

"The Tigers in the Tower" by Julia Golding is based around a piece of history that many children may not know about when they go on school trips to the Tower of London, listening to the stories of deposed monarchs and traitorous criminals that were once imprisoned there. From the 1200s right up to 1835, the zoo hosted a "Menagerie" - a collection of weird wild and exotic animals, kept behind the thick stone walls of this Norman castle.

In Julia's fantastic and scintillating tale we meet Sahira who, along with her family, embarks on a perilous journey to London to present two regal Tigers to be kept and displayed in the menagerie. Sahira's father is a captain in the East India Company, and her mother is a wise and elegant Indian woman. Sahira bridges two worlds that - at the time this book is set - were drawn together by the colonisation of India by the British, aspects of which Julia burnishes her already fascinating story with.

Sahira's parents don't make it, perishing on the journey - and the poor girl soon finds herself left alone in London, to survive on her wits, but with one last dying wish of her father's uppermost in her mind - to make sure that the beloved tigers are well looked after and protected at all costs.

Sahira enlists the help of new friends who understand the importance of her quest, and so this plucky young girl must find her own path in a land that is not her own.

There's a lot of amazing subtle allegory to pick out in this story, as exciting, fresh and original as they come in middle grade fiction. Julia's deft descriptive and immersive writing fleshes out Sahira's character beautifully, and there are times where the points made about migration to a foreign land, and the protection of endangered species in our wonderful world are nicely woven into the core story of Sahira's bravery and determination.

In a publishing industry still over-obsessed with middle grade detective novels, it's genuinely nice to read a MG book that eschews the tired old cliches of a smart kid unravelling the criminal machinations of a bunch of hapless adults. Instead this is a tale of a girl who has her heart set on something far more important - protecting animals who deserve a far better life than being clanged up in cages.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A heady, atmospheric and intoxicatingly involving story with a brave and plucky young girl at its heart.

"The Tigers in the Tower" by Julia Golding is out on 18th September 2020, published by Lion Hudson (kindly supplied for review). 

Our second Book of the Week this week is a bit of an unusual one for us...

We're not the world's most religious folk, it's fair to say, but there was something rather intriguing about "The Lion Kids Bible Comic" by Jesus Barony, Bambos Georgiou, Michailo Kazybrid and Ed Chatelier.

Lion Hudson are renowned for their spiritual books, but what we weren't expecting was to see a rather hilarous and sometimes irreverent look at the classic bible tales from a crop of amazing comic creators who've collectively worked on Shaun the Sheep comic, and various titles for Titan, Marvel and other britcomic giants.

So instead of Dennis the Menace, Desperate Dan and Roger the Dodger prepare to meet some bible-themed alternatives.

Jacob the Dodger, Josh the Bosh, Desperate Sam and Daniel Dare name but a few of the characters who'll crop up in this comic collection, alongside Adam and Eve (and a rather pernickety snake).

It's all tongue-in-cheek stuff, feeling a lot like "Horrible Histories meets the New Testament" - and y'know what? It actually works brilliantly at that.

Even if you're not religious, this is fun as a purely historical piece of work (or for that matter, heh, even as a piece of hilarious fiction). Cool comic stuff from an incredibly talented bunch of creatives, we heartily approve.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Bin your preconceptions about boring Bible texts, this is a hoot-a-minute comic take on bible stories from a collective of cool comic creators, definitely not to be missed!

"The Lion Kids Bible Comic" by Jesus Barony, Bambos Georgiou, Michailo Kazybrid and Ed Chatelier is out now, published by Lion Hudson (kindly supplied for review). 

You really do find the nicest people working in children's books. Take Hattie at Lion Hudson, who got in touch with us to ask if we'd like to review some of Lion Hudson's upcoming titles. "Of course we would!" we replied, because they publish some truly gorgeous books.

The books arrived safe and well with a wonderful accompanying letter from Hattie, reintroducing herself to Charlotte and telling her a story about what it's like to work in children's publishing (I think Charlotte was a bit worried that Hattie and her colleagues might catch cold from being sent out into the rain to think about the consequences of spilling ink all over vital manuscripts!) - A lovely thing, and like all Hattie's letters, we stuck it in Charlotte's adventure book where all our treasured bits and bobs are kept. Hattie you're an absolute hero!

So to the books - Well, to "Hogs Hate Hugs" by Tiziana and John Bendall-Brunello. A book that introduces us to a bristly little hog who is royally fed up with A) being extremely cute and B) being squeezed, hugged, cuddled and swaddled by everyone he meets. He can barely struggle out of bed in the morning before mum has zoomed in for a hug. Dad joins in too, as do all the other animals Little Hog meets. But enough is enough!

Little Hog designs a big bold poster proclaiming that "Hogs Hate Hugs!" and hugs are banned! But will he stick to his guns? Even when a mysterious monster suddenly appears in the woods that Little Hog is exploring. Sometimes there really is nothing for it than to curl up safe in your mum or dad's arms.

Little hog is a fun character, and we love the story and illustrations very much indeed. Make room for a hug (and a hog) in your bookshelf now!

Charlotte's best bit: Hog's reaction to the big scary monster in the woods! EEK!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Everyone needs a hug now and again, even a bristly hog (or a bristly daddy first thing in the morning!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by the utterly, utterly awesome Hattie at Lion Hudson)

For this week's #ReadItMD13 Theme Week we'll be taking a look at various aspects of making and crafting in conjunction with children's books. To kick off though we'll take a look at some of the making and crafting books we've enjoyed, as well as some of the ones that have slipped through our net.

For us, the best make-and-do books are the ones that offer feasible (very important that) and engaging makes, that perhaps stretch things a little beyond just sticking two yoghurt pots together and calling it a butterfly.

Last Christmas we were very impressed with Lion Hudson's range of christmas-themed crafting books (yes I know it's the middle of the summer but it's never too early to start your christmas shopping and making, haha). With all sorts of activities ranging from simple christmas card makes, through to some quite spectacular Rudolf Red Nose truffles (which we make even when it's not Christmas because they're so yummy).

(There is a slightly less girlishly pink one available too)

DK are pretty much THE go-to for make books. They produce absolutely stunning books with clear diagrams and photography, and a whole host of brilliant ideas.

The Fantastic Rainy Day Book (Dorling Kindersley)

"The Fantastic Rainy Day Book" is probably quite hard to get hold of but this is definitely a book chock full of brilliant makes and ideas for art.

Make a hat!

DK also publish a range of Mr Maker themed books (and everyone loves Mr Maker...don't they? What do you mean "We would if he ever let the kids on his show have more of a go!")

Mr Maker - Let's Make It! (Dorling Kindersley)

Children's Making and Crafting books come in all shapes and sizes, covering a massively diverse range of subjects. We particularly like Origami at home, and this is one of the best Origami books we've seen...

Easy Origami by John Montroll

 Unlike most, it's very easy to follow and you can genuinely make all of the models in the book without getting your fingers tangled. Origami is a really easy and satisfying activity and the end results can be really beautiful.

Last but not least we had to mention Usborne's amazing crafting and making range.

"Summer Things to Make and Do" from Usborne Activities. Perfect for the British summer!

We've been taking a look at this one recently and it's absolutely perfect for the British summer - when you need to find lots of things to do indoors because it's nearly always raining (actually it's been boiling hot for most of the weekend but even so, you can drag a crafting mat out into the garden and do all your summer making in the beautiful sunshine too!). With lots of stickers for your crafting projects (vitally important to a busy 5 year old like Charlotte), it's full of fantastic ideas to get your summer started properly.

These few books we've covered just offer an insight into a tiny tiny fraction of the huge market for children's activity, make and crafting books. If you've got a favourite we haven't covered, why not leave a comment below and tell us which book you like to dip into for makes and crafting!