No catches, no fine print just unconditional book love and reading recommendations for your students and children.
You can create your own school's page, develop tailored reading lists to share with peers and parents...all helping encourage reading for pleasure in your children.
Find out more
Julia Green lives in Bath, but her favourite places are wild remote islands, beaches, cliffs and hilltops. She has written more than seventeen books for children and young adults, and is the Course Director for the MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. Julia’s books for children include To the Edge of the World, Tilly’s Moonlight Fox, Seal Island and The Wilderness War, which was shortlisted for the Coventry Inspiration Book Award and the Warwickshire SLS Award.
Author photo copyright: Kim Green
Watch a video of Julia talking about Drawing with Light:
Julia Green has written a gentle tale based on her son’s adventures. The boy who loves the sea sails away and follows the currents and the stars until he finds a peaceful island. The Islanders welcomed him, and he lives with them in their natural surroundings in harmony with the land. Whilst sailing the boy navigates by the moon and the stars, battles with the sea when it storms, and enjoys the company of all the sea creatures who joined his boat whilst sailing. This book is filled with the joy and wonder of the natural world surrounding us. It's also about making your wishes come true with determination, empathy, self-reliance and curiosity. Latimer has taken this beautiful story and created colourful, witty pictures which keeps the reader engaged and spotting lots of detail that support the rolling prose of the sea in this gentle adventure. A picture book to inspire and enjoy.
June 2019 Book of the Month | Border Guards and suspicion keep the inhabitants trapped on a nameless island surrounded by a supposedly poisoned sea and scraping an existence from the land. Bonnie lives with her Granda, who is growing increasingly frail. Bonnie has no patience for what passes as education, although such rule breaking is punishable. When she discovers, first a boat, and then the injured boy who arrived in it, she hides both, which is even more dangerous because any contact with outsiders is unheard of. Her mother left by sea when Bonnie was a baby. Could this be Bonnie’s route to freedom? But she has both the boy and her beloved Granda to worry about and the mystery of her mother to solve and the Guards on her trail. This is a thrilling read, a truly heart-stopping adventure which has no need to labour the details of the dystopian society in which it is set. The setting is so vividly realised and the nuances of the relationships are so movingly portrayed that the reader is absolutely in the moment with Bonnie. A beautifully written book with a powerful but ultimately hopeful message.
April 2018 Book of the Month | Jamie lives on an island in the Outer Hebrides. He loves its wild beauty and the remoteness too, though he’s aware of just how much they are at the mercy of wind, waves and weather. The island is also home to Mara, a wild spirit not much older than Jamie but, it seems, completely fearless. Her ambition is to sail her boat out to St Kilda, an island that really is at the edge of the world, and when she finally sets out, pretty well accidentally, Jamie goes too. It’s a wonderful adventure story and brilliantly told, as much about the friendship between the two children and their efforts to find a place in the world as it is about their extraordinary trip. Readers who enjoy this story of courage, resilience and survival will also like Wild Song by Janis Mackay.
One of our Books of the Year 2016 | June 2016 Book of the Month - In a Nutshell: protest – friendship – the great outdoors At a time when children are accused of disconnecting from the natural world Julia Green’s story of kids protecting their patch of wilderness is particularly important. The scruffy woods at the end of his street mean a lot to Noah. It’s more than just a place for him and his friends to play away from adult supervision. Noah needs that connection to the wild world, and when he sees a For Sale sign go up he feels physically sick. His friends feel just as strongly and a war against the developers breaks out before the children discover that the law can protect what matters to them. An exciting, often funny story, with a lovely sense of why nature is so important for us all.~ Andrea Reece Click here to download a specially created activity pack full of exciting outdoor activities to do including building a campfire, making a pond, ID the trees around you, go tracking animals and lots more. Recommended for fans of Michael Morpurgo and readers who enjoy this story will also like The Secret Henhouse Theatre and The Farm Beneath the Water by Helen Peters.
A heartwarming story about a girl and her love for a puppy, a perfect choice for animal lovers. Beautifully illustrated throughout with black and white drawings. One puppy with the wild in his eyes. One girl longing to care for him. The puppy would fit on one hand, it was so small. Its fur was a pale silver-grey all over, except for one dark star on its head.
Fans of The Secret Garden will love this touching and sensitive story of how a young girl befriends a fox in a hidden and magical garden. Tilly has just moved house. She’s lonely especially because her mother is resting up for a new baby. Tilly and the fox explore together in a beautiful and imaginative story.
The touching and romantic story of a bright heroine movingly and carefully navigating the complexities of falling in love is compelling reading. When Freya’s train home from her wonderful summer holiday is stopped by a fatality on the line she determines to find out what exactly happened. Following it up leads her to meet Gabes and, through him, his whole delightful family who epitomise everything her family is not. It all seems perfect until Gabes' older brother Theo begins to take an interest in Freya. Theo is older and haunted by the past but Freya is drawn to him especially when Gabes appears indifferent. How Freya handles the choices she must make is cleverly and convincingly explored.
A touching and tender teenage novel of love and exploration this tells how sixteen-year-old Emily finds first love and also begins an important search to find her mother. Emily was only two when her artist mother left home and she knows little about her but, as she develops her own talents, she begins to feel the need to find out what her mother is like and why she left. Emily is helped by sensitive Seb, a new boyfriend, who helps her to find a way forward.
