A techno blackout, saving the planet and daffy detectives by various authors - book reviews -

Age 9 plus:

The Day the Screens Went Blank

Danny Wallace and Gemma Correll

Can you imagine a world with no screens?

How would you manage if all the technology in the world suddenly just… STOPPED!

After twelve months of pandemic, imagining a world without a lot of things we all took for granted will certainly hit the spot with many youngsters… and comedy king, author and presenter Danny Wallace’s hilarious no-tech tale is guaranteed to tickle a few funny bones.

So meet two plucky children as they set off on a madcap cross-country rescue mission without the aid of any screen technology, and discover that maybe living without the latest tech isn’t such a dreadful thing after all.

When ten-year-old Stella wakes up to discover a world full of blank screens, her family, town, and in fact the whole world seems to have been thrown into chaos. And what about poor Grandma who is stranded at the other end of the country?

Cue a rollicking madcap road trip, full of driving disasters and family fall-outs as they set off on a rescue mission. And the strange thing is that despite all the mishaps and misunderstandings, the family find that being away from screens means that even though they might not be able to rely on technology any more, they can always rely on each other.

Wallace’s brilliant new ‘what-if’ adventure – brought to life by the perfectly matched anarchic illustrations of Gemma Correll – is packed full of his trademark laugh-out-loud comedy but also contains uplifting and timely messages about the insubstantial nature of technology, and the importance of real human communication.

Waking up to the unimaginable with a smile on your face!

(Simon & Schuster, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus:

Activists Assemble: Save Your Planet

Ben Hoare

The world can sometimes seem a scary place to live…

Forests are being burnt to the ground, the oceans are filling up with plastic, so much of the air we breathe is polluted, habitats and wildlife are under threat, and ice on mountains is melting in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Worries and fears about our planet, and the impact of human behaviour, are widely discussed today and many wonder how we can cut down on waste and pollution, and live our lives without harming the planet.

But in a call to arms by award-winning journalist Ben Hoare, children can now seek out an understanding of these important issues and motivate themselves to become champions of our precious and fragile planet.

Activists Assemble: Save Your Planet – packed with colourful, detailed and lively illustrations by Jade Orlando – contains everything a young activist needs to know about major current environmental issues, why they occur, and how they can be resolved.

Discover how and why the world is getting hotter, the consequences of deforestation, and the impact of too many vehicles. Become a real-life super hero and help to protect the environment… from quick and easy fixes to changes that could have a long-term global effect.

From David Attenborough and 15-year-old Kabir Kaul to Greta Thunberg and Bella Lack, meet the famous faces leading the way in the worldwide crusade to be more environmentally friendly and take the quiz to find out just how green you truly are... and could be.

And there is the added bonus of an activity section giving readers details of how to further explore environmentalism, test their eco-hero knowledge, start important conversations using ‘discussion time’ questions, and even a space to write down their own thoughts and observations.

The perfect introduction to environmentalism for home or school… and an inspirational guide for a new generation of eco-warriors.

(Macmillan Children’s Books, paperback, £8.99)

Age 7 plus:

InvestiGators: Take the Plunge

John Patrick Green

If corny one-liners, chaos, comedy and calamities are your child’s idea of reading heaven, introduce them to the deliciously daffy detective duo… the InvestiGators!

Written and illustrated by John Patrick Green – whose impressive CV includes work with Disney, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Scholastic and DC Comics – this full-colour, laugh-out-loud graphic series is ideal for reluctant readers.

Brimming over with glorious puns, lashings of toilet humour, and plenty of references to pop culture, Green’s high-energy, snap, crackle and pop story will have youngsters snorting and sniggering from the first appearance of the alligator investigators right through to their final frenetic flourish.

Mango and Brash are