Hello and welcome to our first  blog about books!

We are a mum (K) and son (O) who have a shared passion for books, in particular children's books. It's been a big part of our lives and we spend lots of time trawling the shelves of our local book shop (when the staff know your name, you know you spend too much time in there!). As a teacher, I am passionate about instilling a love of books in children, always have a book on my desk and love to recommend books. My son shares my passion and has shelves of books in his room.We want to use this space to share our opinions about books so that you get two different views: one from K and one from O.

We hope you enjoy!

Choosing a book for our first review was difficult but, after much discussion we choose ...

A Spoonful of Murder - Robin Stevens.

The sixth book in the Murder Most Unladylike series sees Daisy and Hazel heading to Hong Kong to mourn the passing of Hazel's grandfather; however, when they get there, things take a dramatic turn in more ways than one.  Very quickly, Daisy and Hazel are dragged into trying to solve a kidnapping and a murder! What will they discover along the way?

K's view: A gripping read and an other triumph for Robin Stevens! You're drawn into the plot quickly and are trying to guess 'who dun it' right from the start (I didn't manage to!).  As always, the book was very well written and I loved the fact that you didn't need to have necessarily read the previous books - I think that children would be able to pick up the story easily even if this is the first one they've read. I also liked the change in dynamic between Daisy and Hazel, with Hazel taking more of the lead as they're in Hong Kong.  This is as gripping a read for adults as it is for children and I couldn't put it down - in fact I even woke up early to finish it!  It's also going down very well in the classroom and children have been keen to tell me how much they've enjoyed it!

O's view:  I couldn't put this book down!  It was so much fun trying to guess the murderer, I got completely adsorbed by the book! The characters are very interesting when they are in a different background and Hazel had to take the lead. I got to see a different side to both of them. I thought the plot kept you on your toes for the whole thing, making you triple guess the criminal. A true success.

We can't wait for the next instalment!