Pocket Rockets

 

Pocket Rockets are a fantastic new series for emerging readers released just in time for this cold and rainy winter. The books are a smaller format than usual which makes them very portable, easy to carry in a pocket or bag. And best of all they are only $5 each, which means kids can try a new series without parents making a big investment, or even buy the books with their own pocket money! There are 10 titles in the series, which includes books that are popular with both boys and girls, so finding an appealing title shouldn’t be a problem. There are 2 Zac Powers, 2 Go Girls, 2 Space Scouts, 2 Naughty Stories and 2 From Your Diary With Love titles. In store now $5 each.

Boy vs Beast

Boy vs Beast is a new series aimed at very early readers.  If you think of Beast Quest’s little brother, you have the idea.  The series currently has eight books with more in the pipe line. It is written to a strict criteria of sentence length, word frequency and word difficulty, so that new readers can read the book, and actually follow the story because all of their effort isn’t taken up with trying to understand lots of new words.  This makes them excruciating to read as an adult, but they work a treat for their target market.

The ‘Boy’ is Kai who lives on Earth, separated by a border-wall from Beastium, which is where the ‘Beasts’ live. There are battles and adventures, and the action keeps coming.  Maintaining the peace takes up a lot of Kai’s time, so it’s lucky he is a resourceful young chap, and a born leader.

There are black and white maps and illustrations of the various tools and gadgets used, and there is a lot of BANG, KAPPOW & ZAP etc.

Having heard the publisher talk about these books in terms of their aim to help a young child acquire a love of reading, particularly boys, I’ve become a fan of these.  They are best read in order, although if you read the first one, the order would probably not be critical after that.  As an introductory offer, the first book Aquatan is only $5 and the other seven are $10.  Four more books will be published next year.

If you have a young boy, who has read all of the Zac Power books, or who has found the Beast Quest series a bit too difficult, Boy vs Beast is definately worth a try.

The publisher is also the creator of the EJ12 books, which I will talk about in another post.  Previously she created the Zac Power and Go Girl books.  She is passionate about getting children reading, and providing books that they will want to read.   She is also very aware of age appropriate content, so parents, you can feel happy about the books.  Her website is Lemonfizzmedia.com   if you are interested in checking Susannah out.  Heather

Take Zac Power for a Test Drive

Fans of H.I. Larry’s hugely popular mini-spy, Zac Power, will be pleased to hear that 4 new adventures are now available in the Test Drive series. Aimed at readers aged 7 to 9, these books are James Bond for kids – spytastic escapades with lots of fun thrown in.

In #13: Zac’s Double Dare (PB $7.95), Zac, a spy for the good spy group GIB, is once again working to stop BIG, the evil spy group. He and his class are waiting to see the Pirate Exibit. Zac is bored. But Zac is soon summoned to the latest GIB Test Labs, hidden right there in the museum – things are looking up!

Also just released are # 14: Zac’s Quicksand, #15: Zac’s High Dive, and #16: Zac’s Space Race, all PB $7.95.

Jess

Ten Books First Readers Need

As chosen by the Fairfield Books staff, these are the top ten books first readers need. Aimed at kids aged 6 to 8, these books are perfect for that in-between stage when kids are only just able to read on their own. While they are in chapter book format, most still have some illustrations and should be approachable for those just branching out on their own.

Tashi by Anne Fienberg

Victor’s Quest by Pamela Freeman

Henrietta There’s No One Better by Martine Murray

The Giant’s Tooth by Gillian Rubenstein

The Cat on the Mat is Flat by Andy Griffiths

Old Tom by Leigh Hobbs

Big: Stories from Little Lunch by Danny Katz

Zac Power by H.I. Larry

Wombat and Fox by Terry Denton

Esio Trot by Roald Dahl

As chosen by the Fairfield Books staff, these are the top ten books first readers need. Aimed at kids aged 6 to 8, these books are perfect for that in-between stage when kids are only just able to read on their own. While they are in chapter book format, most still have some illustrations and should be approachable for those just branching out on their own.

Zac Power: Test Drive

When my nephew turned seven recently, we gave him a pile of books, as usual.  This year was a little different because he is becoming an independent reader.   We tried out a couple of the Zac Power: Test drive series on him.   When he saw the Zacs, he said “That looks awesome!!!”  High praise indeed from a seven year old.  After the present unwrapping hubbub had died down, he picked one of the books up, and with a little help from his big cousin Jess with the big words, he was reading the stories by himself.   A joy to behold.  The Zac Power books have been around for a little while, and have been aimed at reluctant boy readers aged 8 up.   The Test drive series are for the younger, new reader age group, and as Nathan said,  they are awesome.  Zac Powers are $9.95, and Test drives, $7.95.    Heather