David Walliams the comedian has taken to writing childrens books like a duck to water, he really has been so successful and he is being compared to the the number one World Famous Roald Dahl in his creativeness. The Books are capturing the imagainations of children world wide and its one of David`s ambitions to get all children reading.

His books include: Awful Auntie, Gansta Granny, Billionaire Boy, Mr Stink, Demon Dentist, Ratburger and  The Boy in the Dress his first Novel debuted in 2008.

David’s books have been translated into 40+ languages and have sold over 6 million copies in the UK alone. His books have also achieved unprecedented critical acclaim – RATBURGER, DEMON DENTIST and AWFUL AUNTIE, have all won the National Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year.

Books are suited for children from around 7 upwards, depending on the child, my 7 year old daughter just read Mr Stink and loved it, then saw David Walliams as the judge on Britain`s got tallent and now thinks he is brilliant, she is looking forward to reading the rest of his books over the summer.

Other books he has for younger children are the following picture books suited to children 3 years and up, The Slightly Annoying Elephant, The First Hippo on The Moon and The Queens ORANG-UTAN

Illustrators for Walliam`s books are Quentin Blake and Tony Ross

Check out our great selection of David Walliam`s books at great prices!

 http://www.childrensbooks.ie/david-walliams-2

Summer Reads for Kids, Teens & young adults

As recommended by Lovekidsbooks

Katie the Kitten Rhyming Stories, Alex Scheffler

(Early Learning)

Katie's a kitten with sleek shiny fur She has sparkly eyes and a lovely deep purr. Lizzy's a lamb

who loves to have fun She plays in the fields and skips in the sun. Katie the Kitten and Lizzy the

Lamb are two playful creatures that love to dance and skip through the day!

My First Gruffalo Little Library, Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler

(Baby & Toddler)

From the Gruffalo baby and toddler series featuring all your favourite characters from the deep

dark wood. Learn about colours, numbers, opposites and animals with this fabulous set of four

bold, bright board books in a miniature slipcase. A perfect gift for young Gruffalo fans! Great for

taking on holidays or for travelling.

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, Liz Pichon

(Ages 8 upwards)

Tom Gates is the master of excuses for late homework: dog attacks, spilt water ­ lightning..Tom' s

exercise book is full of his doodles, cartoons and thoughts,as well as comments from his long-
suffering teacher, Mr Fullerton. After gaining five merits for his CAMPING SUCKS holiday story,

Tom's work starts to go downhill which is a pity, as he's desperate to impress Amy Porter, who

sits next to him...

There are eight books in this series, enough to cover the whole summer for enhusiastic readers or

rainy days!

The Twits, Roald Dahl

(Ages 8 upwards)

Fantastic story by the No.1 Childrens author Roald Dahl. Mr and Mrs Twit are extremely nasty, so

the Muggle­Wump monkeys and the Roly­Poly bird hatch an ingenious plan to give them just the

ghastly surprise they deserve! Lovekidsbooks recommends all of the Roald Dahl Books, amazing

stories for children to get lost in their imaginations.

The Secret Seven Collection, Enid Blyton

(Ages 9-­12)

Kids who enjoy adventures or dreaming up adventures will love these books. Peter, Janet and

Jack, Barbara, Pam, Colin and George, together they are The Secret Seven ­ ready to solve any

mystery, any time! In their first adventure and the Secret Seven super­sleuths are already on the trail

of a mystery! The gang are dressed in disguise, following a lead to a spooky old house in the snow...

Paper Towns, John Green

(Teenage Fiction)

Quentin has always loved Margo Roth Spiegelman, for Margo (and her adventures) are the stuff of

legend at their high school. So when she one day climbs through his window and summons him on an

all­night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow. But the next day Margo doesnt come to school

and a week later she is still missing. Q soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance . . . and

they are for him. But as he gets deeper into the mystery ­ culminating in another awesome road trip

across America ­ he becomes less sure of who and what he is looking for. This is a thoughtful,

insightful and hilarious coming­of­age story.

Girl Online, Zoe Sugg

(Young adult fiction)

The incredible debut novel from YouTube phenomenon Zoe Sugg aka Zoella.I have this dream

that secretly all teenage girls feel exactly like me. And maybe one day when we realize that we all

feel the same we can all stop pretending we're something we're not... But until that day I'm going

to keep it real on this blog and keep it unreal in real life.Penny has a secret. Under the alias Girl

Online Penny blogs her hidden feelings about friendship boys high school drama her crazy family

and the panic attacks that have begun to take over her life. When things go from bad to worse her

family whisks her away to New York where she meets Noah a gorgeous guitar­strumming

American. Suddenly Penny is falling in love ­ and capturing every moment of it on her blog.But

Noah has a secret too one that threatens to ruin Penny's cover ­ and her closest friendship ­

forever.

Books for Early Readers

There is a fantastic selection of books suitable for junior and senior infant children learning to read, the Jolly Phonics which is thought in many schools have workbooks, story books, a CD and a DVD, all of which are really helpful for the children as they get to practice in the same way as they are learning in school. These books are brillaint for encouraging and giving children confidence as they start reading and recognising letters and words.

Then once they move onto starting to read, there is a lot of choice in books which are really great for starting to read. Julia Donaldson`s Songbird books are brilliant, they are done in stages 1 to 6 and each book contains 6 stories for that level.  Ladybird Key Words with Peter and Jane are still hugely popular today and also the Read it Youself range of books are fantastic and they are done in levels too to help children progress their reading.

Once children build their confidence, there are other great books which alot of authors have brought out called a "Lets Read!" version of the books they have, Julia Donaldson has a good few in her range, other titles include: Marcello Mouse, The Shark in the Dark, Dinosaur Sleepover, Hamiltons Hats, The princess and the Pig, The Princess and the Wizard, Room on the Broom, The Gruffalo, A Squash and a Squeeze, The Gruffalo`s Child and many more.

The Complete Original story of these books have been re designed to support children who are growing in reading confidence, they encourage children to become enthusiastic, independent readers.

Another range of books are the "Early Reader", these are great for 6/7/8 year olds, many authors have created books in this version, there is a good selection in the Horrid Henry, Moody Margaret and Rainbow Magic books.

All of these books are specifically written to encourage and strengthen childrens reading skills and give them confidence when reading, they will also help them to enjoy their books and hopefully encourage them to read more and more and learn to love reading. 

http://www.childrensbooks.ie/jolly-readers

Jolly Phonics 

http://www.childrensbooks.ie/julia-donaldson-

Songbird Books and Lets Read!

http://www.childrensbooks.ie/simon-francesca

Horrid Henry Early Readers and Judy Moody

Enid Blyton a childrens author who's books date back to 1930, most famous for Noddy, the Famous Five and the secret Seven, estimated to have written 800 books in 40 years.

Following the high sales of The Adventures of the Wishing Chair (1937) and The Enchanted Wood (1939), she became a phenomenal success in the 1940s and 1950s and skilfully built a literary empire.

At Lovekidsbooks we have a great selection of books by Enid Blyton, for ages from 6 upwards, these books are fantastic for children who are reading themselves. The Secret Seven and the Famous Five are full of exciting adventures which are brilliant for childrens imaginations, they can escape into the world of the Famous Five or Secret Seven and imagine the worlds of these characters and their adventures.

Other fantastic books we stock by Enid Blyton include

Amelia Jane,

Malory Towers,

St Clare's,

The Naughtiest Girl,

The Mysteries Collection,

The Magic Faraway Tree,

The Magic Folk Collection,

The Wishing Chair Collection

These Books and lots more can be found on http://www.childrensbooks.ie/blyton-enid

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been voted as the number one book to read before a child turns 16 by World Book Day, 2015. Roald Dahl the famous world renowned childrens author of which other books include Matilda, The Twits, Danny Champion of the World, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches and The Fantastic Mr Fox

Roald Dahl wrote 22 children's books, including three books that were published after his death.

His books are witty, humorous and very entertaining. There are always a few grown up villains from which the children break free from and go on amazing adventures. All the characters are really well described and detailed, children love the books, Roald Dahl had an amazing imagination in which he was fantastic at portraying in his stories. Children get lost in the books and the characters.

Some have been made into films, probably the most well know being Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory 1971a musical fantasty film, direceted by Mel Stuart and staring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.

Later 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory staring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton.

The Fantastic Mr Fox another fabulous movie, its a stop motion animation movie, startin George Clooney as Mr Fox.

Roald Dahl`s books are to be treasured and enjoyed by children whether they are reading themselves or being read to, these are definitely books have in your home for years to come.

Feel good books to start the new year - 2015

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers:

Age group 2-5

How to Catch a Star is the first time effort of new children’s author Oliver Jeffers. This is a charming tale of a young boy who is so in love with the twinkling stars that he wants to get one for his very own. This is a fun whimsical tale with a good moral for children, that things may not always be what we expect, but that reaching for the stars (our dreams) is always a good idea.

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams and illustrated by Tony Ross

Age group 8+

Ben is an eleven year old boy who has to stay with his granny every Friday night as his parents are big fans of ballroom dancing and go every Friday night, leaving him to stay with granny. Ben finds this really boring and would rather be home, Granny eats lots of cabbage and wants to play scrabble all the time.

Ben mistakenly finds a selection of Jewellery hidden away. He is then intrigued about his Granny and when spying on her stops her breaking into a Jewellers. This leads to Granny explaining how she is an international jewels thief and Ben is amazed to find out that his granny isn't boring after all, she isn’t a regular granny!

Ben and granny go on a jewel quest, to steal the crown jewels and from here the adventure begins, there are lots of funny parts with some sad too, lovely story to share with children.

This is a fun book to read with great illustrations to go with the story, another David Walliams book with great humour for children and adults to enjoy.

The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney

Age group 7+

The latest in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, sure to entertain, A family road trip is supposed to be a lot of fun . . . unless, of course, you’re the Heffleys. The journey starts off full of promise, then quickly takes several wrong turns. Gas station bathrooms, crazed seagulls, a fender bender, and a runaway pig—not exactly Greg Heffley’s idea of a good time. But even the worst road trip can turn into an adventure—and this is one the Heffleys won’t soon forget.

A squash and a squeeze written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

Age group 2-5

Another great story by the writer of the Gruffalo, this story is about a lady who feels her house is too small, my house is a squash and a squeeze she grumbles, when a wise old man hears her and offers to help.

The wise old man says bring in your hen; bring in my hen what a curious plan!

So the story proceeds with the wise old man advising the lady to bring in all her animals one by one and each time the house is getting to be more and more of a squash and a squeeze!

In the end the wise old man tells her to take out all the animals, to which she realises her house was perfect all along, she didnt realise what she had to begin with. It isn’t a squash and it isn’t a squeeze!

THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Age group: 8/10+

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, one of our must-read children’s books with philosophy for grown-ups, is among the most poetic and hopeful reflections on human existence ever penned. Lyrical, charmingly written and beautifully illustrated, it sweeps you into a whirlwind of childhood imagination to peel away at the deepest truths about the world and our place in it.

Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Published in 1943, translated into 180 languages since and adapted to just about every medium, Exupéry’s famous novella is one of the best-selling books of all time. More importantly, it’s one of the most important handbooks to being a thoughtful, introspective and, yes, hopeful human being.

Popular Teenage Fiction

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This love story by John Green is both beautiful and emotional it will have you crying and laughing. Hazel a terminally ill cancer patient meets Augustus at her Cancer Kid Support Group, he is there to support his friend. A friendship sparks up between herself and Augustus and her life changes, the friendship develops into a relationship between the teens. The story is beautifully written it is funny, sad and heart breaking at times.

What lies ahead for Hazel and Augustus, as their friendship and relationship developes life takes a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. This beautiful story now a successly movie.

Other popular books by John Green. Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, An abundance of Katherines.

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg aka Zoella

The incredible debut novel from YouTube phenomenon Zoe Sugg aka Zoella.I have this dream that secretly all teenage girls feel exactly like me. And maybe one day when we realize that we all feel the same we can all stop pretending we're something we're not... But until that day I'm going to keep it real on this blog and keep it unreal in real life.Penny has a secret. Under the alias Girl Online Penny blogs her hidden feelings about friendship boys high school drama her crazy family and the panic attacks that have begun to take over her life. When things go from bad to worse her family whisks her away to New York where she meets Noah a gorgeous guitar-strumming American. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.But Noah has a secret too one that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Colins

First in the ground-breaking HUNGER GAMES trilogy. Set in a darkvision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is takingplace. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a lveevent called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill orbe killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forwarto take her younger sister' place in the games, she sees it as adeath sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. Foher, survival is second nature.

Catching Fire is the 2nd book and Mockingjay is the third in this really popular trilogy.

Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russel

Nikki Maxwell is not popular, in fact Nikki Maxwell is the opposite of popular - she' a total dork! But Nikki' hoping that by moving to a new school she might just stand a chance of making some friends and leaving her old lame-ways in the past. But life is never that simple!

There is a whole series of books, Dear Dork, Party Time, Dork Diaries Omg: All About Me Diary! And more.

Moone Boy by Chris O`Dowd

Successful film and TV star Chris O Dowd collaborates with friend and screenwriter Nick Vincent Murphy in this hilarious illustrated series.

Martin Moone is eleven and completely fed up with being the only boy in a family of girls. He's desperate for a decent wingman to help him navigate his idiotic life. So when best mate Padraic suggests Martin get an imaginary friend - or 'IF' for short - he decides to give it a go. His first attempt is Loopy Lou a hyperactive goofball who loves writing rubbish rap songs. But Martin soon gets fed up with Lou's loopiness and decides to trade in his IF for someone a little less wacky. Enter Sean 'Caution' Murphy an imaginary office clerk in a bad suit with a passion for laziness and a head full of dodgy jokes. Sean is full of tips and tricks to guide Martin through the perils of the playground from dealing with his sisters' pranks to beating the bullying Bonner boys. But getting rid of Lou is not that easy and having TWO imaginary friends is a recipe for trouble!

Awful Auntie by David Walliams

From number one bestselling author David Walliams comes another heartfelt but hilarious hoot of an adventure Stella Saxby is the sole heir to Saxby Hall. But awful Aunt Alberta and her giant owl will stop at nothing to get it from her. Luckily Stella has a secret - and slightly spooky - weapon up her sleeve.

The Long Haul By Jeff Kinney

Greg Heffley and his family hit the road in author-illustrator Jeff Kinney's ninth installment of the phenomenal bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. His original Diary of a Wimpy Kid was voted 'Best Children's Book of the Last 10 Years' by UK readers.

A family road trip is supposed to be a lot of fun . . . unless, of course, you’re the Heffleys. The journey starts off full of promise, then quickly takes several wrong turns. Gas station bathrooms, crazed seagulls, a fender bender, and a runaway pig—not exactly Greg Heffley’s idea of a good time. But even the worst road trip can turn into an adventure—and this is one the Heffleys won’t soon forget. 

Rainbow Magic: Roxie the Baking Fairy by Daisy Meadows reviewed by Lily aged 7

It was Rachel and Kirsty`s last day on holiday. They were putting away freshly washed T-shirts into their bags. The week they had been staying, there was a craft week on. Their parent’s had agreed to let them do it. The man who was doing the camp had explained that there would be an exhibition and a competition on the last day of the week. 

It was craft day in Fairy land.  Jack Frost had sent his Goblin’s to steal the Magical craft Fairies special pieces that help people all over the world with craft. Rachel`s entry was a book that she`d wrote and kirsty`s entry was a picture of Rachel under a rainbow. The girls went into the exhibition centre and handed there entry’s to Charlie (Charlie is the guy who is doing the camp). 7

Then the girls walked to the cafe Paul [Paul is a food supplier] was giving out aprons and chefs hats. “Hi” said Paul to the girls, “are you here to help with snacks?” “Yes” the girls said “ok then” he said pulling a bunch of cards from his apron pocket “you will each get one of these which has one snack you can cook” he said grabbing a bunch of bowls from a press. So they all went to get their ingredients but on her way back Rachel dropped her eggs “oh no silly me sorry” said Rachel “that`s ok” said Paul “we’ve have plenty more”, a minute later when everyone was baking a horrible burning smell floated through the air it was coming from the oven “my peanut cookie’s” somebody shouted and they rushed to the oven Paul ran over to help “this is all because of Roxie`s missing cookie cutter” Rachel whispered to Kirsty, we have to find her and save craft week.

Can Rachel and Kirsty help Roxie the Baking Fairy get her magical cookie cutter back, before Jack Frost ruins all the sweet treats?

http://www.childrensbooks.ie/roxie-the-baking-fairy

Beast Quest: Trema, The Earth Lord by Adam Blade,  reviewed by Lily aged 7

The Beast Quest books are great for boys that like action and fighting, there is a boy called Tom. Tom and his companion Elenna are always facing different beasts, evil wizards are turning protector beasts evil so Tom and Elenna with their pets have to defeat them and free them from the wizards evil spells.

Trema, the Earth Lord is very dangerous and slimy, his body is always pouring sticky slime, just like glue (so sticky it could glue you to the ground).

He`s got an evil chuckle and when he laughs you can smell his rotten breath.  He has a huge blue shell covering his body like a giant piece of armour and sticking out of the shell are hundreds of legs on the ends are the sharpest claws like teeth.  On top of his head are shiny green crystals, sticking out of his head are pointy horns, his teeth are like they have been sharpened one thousand times with a really sharp pencil parer, his eyes are disgusting lumps of red, in the middle are big black rips.

Tom`s mission this time is to find his prize (a “prize” are different things that can help them on their quest) to help him flight Trema the Earth Lord.

His plan is to lead the beast to the salty wall that the prize has created, the salt will dry up his slime. To defeat the beast they need to get rid of the slime to free him from this evil curse.

To find out more and see if Tom and Elenna defeat the beast, check out the book and there might be a lot of excitement at the end of the book!

Hope you enjoyed my book blog, watch out for lots more blogs to come

Thanks for reading!

Lily

http://www.childrensbooks.ie/beast-quest-29-trema-the-earth-lord-p-b

Lilys Blog: The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, by Roald Dahl

Once upon a time there was a boy called Billy who lived near a big tall house it said “For Sale”. Billy knew it used to be a shop because he could still read the old sign. The sign said Grubber, Billy’s parents told him that a Grubber was an old name for a sweet shop. Billy would love if he could make it into a sweet shop again. One Day Billy went over  to the shop and he looked at the sale sign someone had scrapped it off and in its place was the word “Sold”.

Billy stared up at it, a second later a bath tub crashed out an open window onto the middle of the road and smashed in half. A few minutes later a few more things came crashing out the same window. Billy waited in silence for a moment, he thought something else might come but nothing did. But another window flew open and a head popped out and stared at him. Two more windows flew open a monkey and a Pelly popped out. We are the window cleaners the monkey said, will you help us clean?

Where do you think this story is going?

Does Billy think his eyes and ears aren’t working?

Or does he want to help?

I wasn’t sure what this story would turn into but I really enjoyed reading it and I recommend it.

Lily my daughter aged 7 will be blogging about books she reads for lovekidsbooks, be sure to check them out!