Alexa Dretzke
Alexa Dretzke is a children’s & YA book specialist at Readings Hawthorn
Review — 3 Mar 2023
One Illumined Thread by Sally Colin-James
I read One Illumined Thread in November 2022, not knowing I would be reviewing it, and now I find my brain searching for detail, worrying all I have is the…
Review — 27 Feb 2023
The Hotel Witch by Jessica Miller
Sibyl is a trainee witch at the Grand Mirror Hotel. She is still puddling around using the Book of Domestic Magic while the more advanced and highly desirous manual of…
Review — 2 Nov 2022
Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati
Once upon a time in a tiny walled medieval village in Tuscany, with roughly 180 inhabitants, not long before a great plague descended, a woman returned to her birthplace. This…
Review — 26 Oct 2022
The Three BIlly Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen
The troll is hungry, the troll is fierce. Seated under the bridge, he hopes for a tasty meal. Then – clip-clop – a billy goat approaches, and Mr Troll clambers…
Review — 23 Jun 2015
Grandad’s Island by Benji Davies
There is a mystery within Grandad’s Island and it is up to each reader to decide for themselves what lies at the heart of this lovely, gentle book by Benji…
Review — 19 Sep 2022
Albie on his Way by Jutta Bauer & Matthias Wieland (illus)
When the king sends a subject on an important undertaking that requires a speedy delivery, it would be considered prudent to not dally. The appointee for the task, Albie, approaches…
Review — 30 Aug 2022
Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall
Sophie Blackall has written and illustrated books that delve into the minutiae of a specific topic, such as the amazing Caldecott Medal-winner Hello Lighthouse, but she has also spread…
Review — 3 Jul 2022
August and Jones by Pip Harry
I really don’t know how to review August and Jones without going overboard with superlatives. I also wish I was reading it for the first time again – that is…
Review — 30 May 2022
The Museum of Broken Things by Lauren Draper
The Museum of Broken Things ticks quite a few of the boxes in contemporary YA writing: a mysterious past trauma, a good-looking love interest and the loneliness of relocation. Luckily…
Review — 28 Apr 2022
The Seamstress of Sardinia by Bianca Pitzorno
I think the beauty of The Seamstress of Sardinia is that it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. Bianca Pitzorno’s unadorned storytelling brings an honest and sympathetic clarity to…
