Good Knight, Bad Knight and the Flying Machine
Tom Knight
This is the third book in a series called Good Knight, Bad Knight, written and illustrated by Tom Knight and published by Templar, which sounds unlikely, and certainly the setting of this funny, anachronistic fantasy is. It is the Dark Ages, except children go to school and wear glasses, and there are magic spells and dragons. Barbarians clean their armpits with damp fish. The silliness is a cut above, not least because the author is also a skilled cartoonist. Cousins Godwin (Good Knight) and Berk (Bad Knight) are involved with their friends in a plan to build a flying machine to attack the barbarians. The barbarians have meanwhile decided to be bankers instead for a bit. No point in unpacking the plot any further, but there are good jokes and the multi-talented Tom Knight deserves to be better known than he is.
The Enchanted Wood
Enid Blyton
When Joe, Beth and Frannie move into a new home, they discover a mysterious wood on their very doorstep. Soon, they discover that it's actually an Enchanted Wood, and home to a wonderful Faraway Tree.
Inside the Enchanted Wood, they make all kinds of unusual new friends, including Moonface, Silky the fairy and the hard-of-hearing Saucepan Man, and soon find themselves involved in a host of exciting adventures. Best of all is the discovery that strange new lands can be found in the clouds at the very top of the Faraway Tree itself - from the Land of Spells to the Land of Treats to the Land of Do-As-You-Please.
This delightful story from classic children's author Enid Blyton was first published in 1939 and has delighted children ever since. This new edition has been given a more modern face-lift - but all the fun and magic of Blyton's original has been retained for a new generation of readers.
Cliffhanger
by Jacqueline Wilson
This is the story of Tim who is reluctantly sent on an adventure holiday by his parents. Sports are not Tim's favourite pastime so when he finds out he will be climbing, abseiling, canoeing amongst others he is not pleased and sends his parents a postcard as soon as he arrives asking them to come collect him immediately.
Each day brings with it a new activity and Tim unfortunately is disastrous at each and every one of them. He forgets the vital instruction of holding onto the rope and finds himself dangling off the cliff - don't worry, it turns out okay! Tim's team, The Tigers are rapidly falling behind in the points race for the winners of each activity so his teammates are not too pleased, especially Giles and Kelly, the most competitive children on the team. They make fun of Tim and his new friend "Biscuits" (his nickname for exactly the reason you are thinking) as he is not good at the activities either.
Finally on the last day of the holiday, the teams take part in the Crazy Bucket Race - an obstacle course which must be negotiated while carrying a full bucket of water! Tim, as expected makes a blunder and falls on the ground, spilling all of his water and so his team fall behind AGAIN! Tim and all of his teammates all eventually make it to the last obstacle and cannot see a way past it...what happens next - you will have to read the book to find out for yourself!!
This was a very entertaining read. Tim's postcards home to his parents contain a nice sense of humour when he expresses his anguish at the situation and his wish for his parents to collect him immediately. Children who read the book will find that they can relate to Tim. They may not be good at sports either and there are times when we all struggle to do things we find difficult. Bullying is dealt with showing the difficulty of dealing with a bully and Tim and "Biscuits" showed that they could stand up to Giles and Kelly who were making fun of them. There is also a cute and humourous end to the story.