When a storm floods the valley where Cari and her mum live, destroying their home, things feel pretty bleak. But hope appears in an unexpected form.
Local nature rangers have a plan to reintroduce beavers into the area, as the changes that these amazing animals make to the waterways could prevent another flood.
Cari knows that she has to get involved. But with the project facing resistance from other locals, can she convince them to give the beavers a chance – and will it be enough to save her home from being destroyed for a second time?
Between a dog and human there is a special bond. A Bond must never be broken…
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken awSome people say crows are evil. Some say they bring death and disease. Some say they are omens of bad luck. But Ash knows better. Kevin, the crow who Ash saved as a chick, is a friend. A friend who understands when Ash feels sad or lonely. And a friend who knows about Ash’s special place – the Crow Tree. It’s where Kevin lives and where Ash goes to escape his worries. But when developers arrive to cut down the Crow Tree and build on the field, will Ash be brave enough to speak out… before it’s too late? Crow Wars is part of the Astro range from Rising Stars Reading Planet. Astro books are ideal for struggling and reluctant readers aged 7-11. Each book is dual-banded so that children can improve their fluency whilst enjoying exciting fiction and non-fiction relevant to their age. Reading Planet books have been carefully levelled to support children in becoming fluent and confident readers. Each book features useful notes and questions to support reading at home and develop comprehension skills. Interest age: 10-11 Reading age: 8 -9 years
Between a dog and human there is a special bond. A Bond must never be broken…
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken away and abandoned on Dead Dog Alley. With nowhere else to turn, Pup joins a pack of misfit street dogs who help him learn to fight for survival on the streets. Pup holds onto the hope of one day being reunited with his boy. But as that hope shrinks with every passing day, Pup begins to wonder if their bond is irreversibly broken…
A thrilling and heart-warming novel by award-winning author Gill Lewis, celebrating the unique bond between humans and animals and the power of unconditional love.
With internal art by Gill Lewis
Reviews:
Michael Morpurgo – ‘The most unusual book about the lives of dogs I’ve ever read. It’s a dog world out there in Gill Lewis’ accomplished storytelling. Not sure I’ll ever look at a dog again the same way. Unforgettable.’
Lauren St John – ‘A masterpiece of animal writing. Lewis’s deep love and understanding of dogs shows on every page, and she does for Pup what Anna Sewell did for horses in Black Beauty. A wise, brave book, steeped in kindness.’
Sita Brahmachari – ‘A lovesong to the timeless bond between humans and dogs as well as an important allegory for hope.’
Nizrana Farook – ‘A story of love, survival, loyalty and lifelong bonds. It tugged at my heart and made me sob, it made me yearn with Pup for the love he so desperately sought… It’s a book that everybody should read – it’s man’s best friend in a whole new light.’
Karin Celestine – ‘A heartwrending classic for animal lovers.’
Jonathan Meres – ‘A wonderful story, beautifully told.’
Susanna Bailey – ‘This is such an engrossing, moving read. Pup’s story encapsulates the powerful connection between humans and dogs… Pup and his ‘crew’ stole my heart, broke it; mended it again. Wonderful.’ Fleur Hitchcock – ‘An extraordinary book. A Street Dog named Pup is a serious read. Harrowing, thrilling, devastating, uplifting.’
Julia Green – ‘It is wonderful. Incredibly powerful and compelling, with wonderful characters and an epic scope. [Gill Lewis] writes with such love, compassion and clarity I really felt every step of Pup’s journey… And that final chapter – well, it’s deeply moving and truly beautiful.’
Excluded from school, Dylan is forced to move to a tiny village in Wales where his grandad lives. With no Xbox or Internet, life is looking pretty bleak, but when Grandad takes Dylan out on his boat to see the whooper swans, things begin to change. Out on the water, free from all the pressures he’s been under, Dylan begins to feel like himself again. But when the swans’ habitat is threatened and tragedy strikes at home, can Dylan keep going when it feels like everything is slipping out of control again?
Shortlisted for the Tir na n-Og award – for a book in the English language category https://llyfrau.cymru/en/gwobrau/tir-na-nog/tir-na-n-og-awards-shortlist-2022/
Shortlisted for the Reading Rampage 2022 https://readingrampage.org.uk/2021-22-books/
Reviews:
“An outstanding novella” – Bookseller
Just Imagine – Roy James https://justimagine.co.uk/review/swan-song/
Kate Heap – Scope for Imagination https://scopeforimagination.co.uk/2021/01/24/swan-song-by-gill-lewis/
My Book Corner – Anthony Burt http://www.mybookcorner.co.uk/swan-song-by-gill-lewis/
The Strawberry Post https://thestrawberrypost.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/book-review-swan-song-by-gill-lewis/
ARC review https://lisasbooksgemsandtarot.wordpress.com/2021/01/05/arc-review-swan-song-gill-lewis/
Emma Suffield https://emmasuffield.wordpress.com/2020/12/12/swan-song-by-gill-lewis/
Red Sixty Seven is a collaboration between 67 authors and 67 artists with a single goal: to raise funds to support conservation work aiming to reverse the declines of our most at-risk birds. Contributors include Chris Packham, Natalie Bennett, David Lindo, Ann Cleeves and more.
My contribution is for the White-fronted Goose, illustrated by Szabolcs Kókay
Curated by Kit Jewitt
Oxford Reading Tree: TreeTops Greatest Stories
Illustrated by James Gifford
A re-telling of the Welsh legend of Cantre’r Gwaelod, the lost area of Wales that disappeared beneath the sea. This drowned land was once a pleasant and prosperous kingdom, its low-lying fields protected from the waves by the sea wall. But only Mererid, the storm child, knows that the tide-gates are failing and the next storm will breach the sea wall. As clouds and ravens build overhead, she must race to save her friends and kingdom before it’s too late.
Bobbie is thrilled that a golden eagle has settled near her family farm. She loves climbing the hills to watch it soar across the sky and stalk its prey. But not everybody shares her feelings for the magnificent bird. When it becomes clear that the eagle is in grave danger, Bobby is determined to do everything she can to protect it. But then she is faced with the threat of being sent far away from everything she knows. Will Bobby be brave enough to fight for the Bird and the home that she loves?
Shortlisted: Tir na n-Og prize for a book about Wales told in the English language.
Shortlisted: Shrewsbury Bookfest Big Book Award 2020
Shortlisted: Dudley Children’s Book Awards 2020
When Semira discovers a diary written by Hen, a girl living over 100 years ago, she finds the friend she has been desperately seeking. A friend who brings not just comfort, but inspiration to be brave, to fight for her place in the world, and maybe even to uncover the secrets of her own past.
Shortlisted: Stockton Book of the Year Award
Shortlisted: Juniper Book Awards
Nominated: 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal
Shortlisted: Leicester Reading Rampage 2020
Shortlisted: RED Books Award 2020
Shortlisted for the Northeast Book Award 2019
Izzy and Asha need a space to call their own, away from difficult families, the Skull brothers and the trouble they bring.
But the derelict building site where they stake their claim already belongs to something else, a wilderness they never expected and an injured wolf that desperately needs their help.
Can they reconnect to the wild and save the wolf? Or is their pack too weak to fight much stronger powers?
A stunning tale of our lost connection to nature and the wild that hides in us all, from renowned storyteller Gill Lewis.
Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+
Run Wild has won the Portsmouth Book Award 2019
Winner: Portsmouth Book Award (2019)
Shortlisted: Doncaster Reading Rampage 2020
Shortlisted: Shropshire Teenage Book Award 2019
You can download the school resources for the book here
An anthology of Cameroonian folk takes brought together by a conservation project, a publisher, eleven authors and an illustrator.
As the sun rises behind Mount Yuhan, a leopard, a hornbill, a civet and a tortoise ascend a ladder into the clouds.
A fly picks a fight with an elephant. A monkey pits his wits against a crocodile. And that’s all before breakfast. Armoured pangolins and blue-bottomed drill monkeys are just some of the fascinating creatures you will discover in this collection of folk tales from the Korup region of Cameroon, tales that are just as extraordinary as the animals that inspired them…
A beautifully illustrated story of freedom, music and seeking refuge.
A small group of refugees is crowded on to a small boat on the sea.
One boy, Rami, has brought his violin. He tells a story of how the violin was invented, and of a stallion that could run like the wind. It weaves through the other stories, bringing them all together into a celebration of hope and of the power of music and story.
Illustrations by Jo Weaver.
Joe has always loved the moorlands, the wildness, the freedom, the wide open space.
But since his father died, everything has changed and the moors are no longer a place of refuge.
Now the whole community is divided over the fate of the hen harriers that nest up there – and Joe finds himself stuck right in the middle, with a choice to make, and a huge secret to keep.
Joe can’t keep everyone happy. But can he find the strength to fight for what he really believes?
Sky Dancer is shortlisted for the UKLA book award 2019
Shortlisted: UKLA Book Award 2019
Gorilla Dawn tells the story of Imara, a young girl abducted from her village home, and Bobo, the son of a wildlife ranger, who are imprisoned by a group of rebel soldiers deep in the heart of the African jungle. When the rebels capture a baby gorilla, intending to sell him into captivity, the children vow to return him to his family in the wild before it’s too late. The consequences of getting caught are too terrible to think about, but the children are brave and determined. Will the bond between the gorilla and the children finally give them the courage they need to escape the rebels and can they ever find true safety?
Gorilla Dawn won the Leeds Book Award and was shortlisted for the Little Rebels Award (highly commended), the UKLA Children’s Book of the Year, North Somerset Teacher’s Book Award and Steyning Grammar School Award. It was also selected for the 2016 Bookbuzz booklist. The US edition received a starred review from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and it was selected for the Junior Library Guild.
Scarlet Ibis is the moving story of a young girl – Scarlet – struggling to hold her family together against the odds. Crammed into their small tower block apartment in London, Scarlet and her autistic half-brother Red are fascinated by the baby pigeon that hatches on their balcony. When the bird’s parents abandon it, Red takes the chick into his care but when their own mum has a breakdown, the siblings are split up and sent to live apart in foster care. As Scarlet struggles to adjust to life with her well-meaning foster family, she determines to do everything she can to find her beloved brother and keep his little pigeon alive for him.
Scarlet Ibis won the Little Rebels Award 2015. It was also shortlisted for the UKLA Children’s Book Award 2015 and long-listed for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2015.
Winner: Dolly Gray 2020 Children’s Literature Award
When twelve-year-old Tam is sent to work at a bear farm in the city, he has never felt so alone. He hates seeing the cruel way the bears are treated, but speaking up will mean losing his job. And if he can’t send money home, how will his family survive? When a sick cub arrives at the farm, Tam secretly nurses it back to health and they develop an unbreakable bond. Tam swears to return his beloved cub to the wild, but how will they ever find a way to be free?
Moon Bear was shortlisted for the Little Rebels Award 2014. The German edition of the book (Die Spur des Mondbären) won the German Environmental Prize for Children’s Literature.
Set on England’s South-West coast, Kara and Felix can’t stand each other when they first meet, but on discovering an injured dolphin calf on the beach they know they must work together to save it. The pair battle to protect the nearby reef but must also find out the truth behind the disappearance of Kara’s mother
Widely reviewed, praise for White Dolphin could be found in the likes of The Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Bliss and The Evening Standard. Winner of the Green Earth Book Award, White Dolphin was shortlisted for the Brilliant Book Award and the Independent Book Awards amongst others.
Gill’s debut novel, Sky Hawk is a touching story about friendship, loyalty and hope. Callum and local outsider Iona form an unlikely partnership when they pair up to protect a rare osprey in a remote part of Scotland. From glittering lochs, across wide oceans to far off lands, the pact Callum and Iona make will change lives forever.
Sky Hawk was critically acclaimed upon publication, attracting rave reviews in the national press. It won the UKLA Children’s Book of the Year in 2012 as well as the Green Earth Book Award. The novel was also shortlisted for the Red House Children’s Book Award, the Branford Boase Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.
