Alan Durant

Dear Tooth Fairy is an interactive book that I think a lot of my students would love. Being able to pull out notes and little gifts from the tooth fairy makes this book interactive, fun and engaging for kids. Holly does not want to give up her tooth to the tooth fairy until she has answers to her burning questions. Finally, when her questions are answered, she gives up the tooth. This book is a cute way to give answers to kids who want to know more about thee infamous, elusive tooth fairy.

This was a truly heart wrenching book of grieving the loss of a dear friend. I wasn't expecting a story of this nature when I opened the cover, but lo and behold that's what I got. It was well written, beautifully illustrated and very personal. It brought to mind deaths that I've experienced in my own life. It was difficult to take, but handled the situation with such delicate honesty that it made the experience joyful and celebratory rather than depressing.

Brilliant, brilliant story! Absolutely loved it.

Robert’s parents make the front page of the newspapers – found shot dead in their suburban home. Grief turns to anger when Robert starts to feel the investigation into their murders is going too slowly. He takes on the task himself to find the murderer. His investigations reveal many disturbing family secrets, and Robert’s life and sanity are soon both under threat.

The structure of this story is so very clever, Robert’s first-person show more narrative a perfectly tuned voice of grief, anger, betrayal, fear and revenge. Durant treats his readers to an intelligent and challenging story that delves deep into the nature of grief, of family dynamics, and of the way the mind copes with trauma.

Thoroughly recommend this well-written, challenging and intriguing story. show less

This is a lovely story based on a delightful friendship between a few animal friends - fox, mole, hare, and otter. Always and Forever was a story told in third-person, which helped the reader understand how all of the characters felt about the events that happened.If the story was written in anything other than third-person, I would not have enjoyed it. I feel as if it was important to understand every character as a whole and no character more than the other. The friends all lived together show more in a house full of laughter until one day fox grew ill and passed away. Mole, hare, and otter were so upset they became depressed and forgot what life was all about. Their friend Squirrel came by and reminded them that life must go on. Eventually, they picked themselves up and began to get back into their groove and they understood that Fox would always be with them. I enjoyed this book because although it is based on losing a friend, it is also about gaining knowledge from the loss. This is a great story to pick out if you want to speak about death in a gentle way to children. One thing that stood out to me the most is the title of the book, "Always and forever". I liked that the only time those words were seen was on the very last page that leaves a positive gentle ending - "Fox was still there, part of their family, beloved friend and companion- always and forever". I also admired the illustration in the book and how the trees conveyed the gloominess the characters felt, and when they began to feel better the trees also came back to life. show less