Lottie Luna and the Bloom Garden; Vivian French, illustrated by Nathan Reed

Lottie Luna and the Bloom Garden is the first in a series of books starring super special werewolf, Lottie Luna, and her pet bat Jaws. In this first story, Lottie is starting a new school and everyone gets a little nervous on their first day, even werewolves.

Lottie Luna wishes she was like everyone else. Born under a full moon and a lunar eclipse she has special powers. And now her parents have only gone and become the new King and Queen making her a princess. That’s ok though, as long she can keep everything secret from her new school friends, everything will be fine. But when someone sabotages the school garden project Lottie needs to reveal her secrets to save the day…

This is an enjoyable fantasy story of friendship, being true to yourself and of never giving up. You won’t find any lessons in english, maths or science at Shadow Academy. Instead, Lottie and her friends have lessons in astronomy, moon studies, night shadows and the day is rounded off with an Evening Howl…aaarrrrrroooooooo! Whilst the school lessons might not be relatable to children what will be is Lottie’s desire to fit in and be accepted by her classmates. Friendship issues are part of childhood and even werewolf Lottie can not escape them as she easily befriends Wilf and Marjory but struggles to appease the unpleasant Aggie and her sidekick Bruno. There’s also mean teacher, Mr. Gnawbone, to try and avoid. Lottie is a great character who teaches readers to embrace who they are even if they feel different to everybody else. Lessons on forgiveness, resilience and teamwork feature too.

Nathan Reed provides the illustrations that are in black and white and are all rather terrific.
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Recommended for 7+.