Books with author KateThompson

The first time Laurie and her dad see the white rider watching them from the deep, cool shadows of the trees, he is alone. Laurie is convinced that his appearance has a meaning, that somehow he is trying to tell them something - something her dad needs to pay attention to. Is the rider somehow linked to the genetic research into squirrels that Laurie is helping her dad with in the lab? When a second rider with a bloody sword appears alongside the first, and then a third and a fourth, Laurie knows she must try to understand who they are and what they represent. With the help of her brother and his best friend, she discovers what the riders mean but will it be too late to stop the inevitable chain of events that has been set in motion...?

A 24-page picture book combining fun rhyming text, relatable characters, dynamic illustrations and a strong take-home message about normalising emotions, created with 3-7-year-olds in mind. The protagonist, Maisie Brown is a little girl who has been feeling frightened and nervous. She idealises the amazing superheroes she knows everything about, believing them to be brave, strong, bold and, ultimately, afraid of nothing. But that’s where she’s wrong! Because, as Mum and Dad tell her, even Superheroes get scared and that’s perfectly normal. Through this wonderful story, emotions such as worry and fear become understandable and relatable for children, assuring them that everyone feels such emotions – even those that seem the bravest. It is an encouraging, heart-warming, light-hearted tale, with a great moral at its core, striking the perfect balance between teaching kids a strong message and giving them an exciting, fun reading experience. This title is the perfect companion to bedtime for any little superhero, ready to realise their powers and their feelings!

Acclaimed author Kate Thompson won both the Guardian Children's Book Prize and the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award for this enchanting novel. Irish teenager J.J. Liddy wishes he could provide his mother with her true birthday desire-the gift of more time. Everything seems to happen so fast in the modern world. Before long, J.J. finds himself in the land of the ever young, where the faeries teach him some amazing truths. "Thompson's nifty plotting mines a rich vein of Irish faerie lore and magic for thismeditation on the losses that modernization brings."-Publishers Weekly