As a classic INFJ personality type I am your typical idealist and I'm drawn to stories about people who see what the world has become and want to change it and create something new. As a creative artist I also love stories about dreams and dreamers, whether that's literal or not. I was often told as a child that I lived in my own little world, caught up in daydreams, and to this day I most enjoy books that take me away from the trials of real life and bring me into some dream-like fantasy where the characters are dreamers, often creating their own vision of a perfect world.
Some books just speak directly to a person’s soul and this one speaks to mine. This is a world in which I want to live. The actor in me loves the spectacle of the circus, the artist in me loves the beauty of magical tents (the ice garden being my favourite), and the writer in me loves the way it’s all described in such a poetic and lyrical way. Its biggest critics whine about it being slow but for people like me, I could have been happy if it lasted forever. It’s the only book I ever wanted to put down so I could continue daydreaming about being there.
Rediscover the million-copy bestselling fantasy read with a different kind of magic, now in a stunning anniversary edition to mark 10 years since it's paperback debut.
The circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Against the grey sky the towering tents are striped black and white. A sign hanging upon an iron gates reads:
Opens at Nightfall Closes at Dawn
Full of breath-taking amazements and open only at night, Le Cirque des Reves seems to cast a spell over all who wander its circular paths. But behind the glittering acrobats, fortune-tellers…
I think it’s actually this book’s sequel, Muse of Nightmares, that really captured me. While I love the magical world Laini Taylor creates and her hero, the dreamer Lazlo Strange, from the first book I really fell in love with this story when we begin to enter actual dreams. I think the idea of meeting your soulmate in a dream is a truly romantic notion and something my younger self might have believed possible.
The magical Sunday Times bestseller by Laini Taylor, author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy
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The dream chooses the dreamer.
Since he was five years old, Lazlo Strange has been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to go in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself - in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
Thousands of magical worlds all wrapped into one. The hero of this story is from a world where words have real power and she is able to make things true by writing them. What writer wouldn’t love that concept? It’s hard to read this and not be dreaming of the things I would write into reality if I could.
"A gorgeous, aching love letter to stories, storytellers, and the doors they lead us through...absolutely enchanting."—Christina Henry, bestselling author of Alice and Lost Boys
LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER! Finalist for the 2020 Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards.
In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely…
This children's classic had a huge effect on me. It’s one of those stories I read a long time ago but has always stuck with me. First, it’s the daemons, our souls that live outside our bodies as animals that best reflect who we are, that captured me. That concept alone was enough to make me love this story. But I think ultimately the reason this story still lives in me after all this time is because it’s really about children being able to view the world differently from adults, a concept I firmly believe in as a teacher.
This special collection features all three titles in the award-winning trilogy: Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
Northern Lights Lyra Belacqua lives half-wild and carefree among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle - a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armoured bears.
The Subtle Knife Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld - Cittagazze, where soul-eating Spectres stalk the streets…
Curiouser and curiouser. What's not to love about the story of a girl who travels down a rabbit hole and discovers a Wonderland? But my love of this story comes down to the funny observations of Alice. Her simple remarks on the absurdity of Wonderland translate so well into wise critiques of our own world. One of my favorites being her response to the caterpillar’s question of who she is. Alice replies, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.” How true, Alice, how true.
When Alice sees the White Rabbit running by on the river bank, she follows him, tumbling down a Rabbit Hole into a magical world where nothing is ever as it seems...
Lewis Carroll's classic story has delighted children since 1865. One hundred and fifty years since its first publication, Hodder celebrates in style with this sumptuous new edition, illustrated by Rebecca Dautremer, whose dreamlike illustrations bring vibrant new life to Carroll's beloved characters. The original text appears complete and unabridged.
Rebecca Dautremer is the celebrated illustrator of The Secret Lives of Princesses.
Merissa is a faerie with no magic, no memory... and no friends. Until a hummingbird arrives with an ominous message: The Queen wants her dead. With the help of the hummingbird Chippen, Merissa sets out on a dangerous journey to find the one faerie who may know the truth about her past. But they only find more questions when they meet Griff, a gypsy boy with pale grey eyes and one heart-melting dimple and Merissa discovers a strange connection between them. Soon her past will endanger them all. But she is a faerie. And faeries are protectors. So if anything will help Merissa regain her lost powers it will be to save her friends.
Ever since my parents gave me a copy of Dorothy Aldis’ The Secret Place and Other Poems, I have enjoyed a lifelong love of poetry. Now, as a traditionally-published children’s author, I have had numerous books and poems published over the years, including books that began as poems, like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) and Once Upon Another Time (Beaming Books, 2021). My poems can be found in various anthologies including The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry (N.G. Children’s Books, 2015) and Construction People (Wordsong, 2020) as well as Highlights for Children magazine.
What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It’s none of those! This picture book’s spare, lyrical text offers many suggestions for enjoying stargazing – but there’s really only ONE thing you need to remember, which is saved for the end.
Magical illustrations show kids and animals enjoying the night sky, and back matter about constellations completes this bedtime story with its underlying message of being in the moment.
What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It's none of those! This picture book's spare, lyrical text offers many possible ways to do stargazing: with a friend, with family or alone; on a moonless night, or with a full moon, or even with some clouds; on the beach, lying in the grass or standing on a snowy hill. There is only one rule of stargazing, which is saved for the end, and that is just to do it! Magical illustrations show polar bears, whales…
