Blog Tour: ‘Thimble and the Girl from Mars’ is a Fun New Kids Book written by Jon Blake
How exciting that I’ve been picked to feature on the blog tour for Jon Blake’s brand new kids book ‘Thimble and the Girl from Mars‘. I’ve never published a ‘blog tour’ post before so I’m delighted that my 1st one is for such a fun book!
The publication day for ‘Thimble and the Girl from Mars‘ was yesterday and it’s the 4th book in the Thimble series. As I’ve not read the previous 3 books I can’t say much about those but what I can say is that you don’t necessarily need to have read them to be able to enjoy this new one. That’s because you soon pick up the story from the previous books which is that the main character of the book – Jams – lives with his parents and his best friend, Thimble the monkey. It doesn’t take long to realise that Thimble loves to get into mischief and Jams enjoys joining in…….even though his parents aren’t so keen!
The previous Thimble books are called:
- Thimble Monkey Superstar
- Thimble Holiday Havoc
- Thimble Wonga Bonkers
Here is the blurb for the book:
‘Stop them Dad!’ I cried. ‘They’re going up to the cliff edge!’
Yes! Thimble monkey is back., causing the usual chaos for Jams and family. But when the Girl from Mars appears, things take a sinister turn. Will she stop at nothing to make Thimble her own? Our disabled hero will have to use all his wits to stop her!
The fourth book in the series which began with Thimble Monkey Superstar, shortlisted for the Laugh Out Loud Awards.
This new book ‘Thimble and the Girl from Mars‘ is published by Severnside Books and has 166 pages and 16 chapters. Each chapter has a creative title – such as ‘The Eye of the Tiger and the Bum of the Monkey’ (I love the humour!) and contains roughly 8-10 pages….except for the last one which has 16 pages to allow them to conclude the story.
The book is full of wonderful illustrations which have been drawn by Martin Chatterton. In most chapters you’ll find 2 illustrations which show the characters and what they are up to. I think it’s great that Jon has included illustrations in his book because so many children don’t want (or aren’t able to) read large blocks of text.
A few illustrations here and there does so much to make a book more readable and, in my opinion, enjoyable. They allow you to see exactly what the characters look like and that can help children who struggle with visualising.
The book font is not too small and there is a nice gap between each line so children can focus on what they’re reading.
As I mentioned before, I haven’t read the previous books in the Thimble series but judging by the fact the first one was shortlisted for the 2017 Lollies I knew this one would definitely make me giggle!
The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards ( aka The Lollies) celebrates the best and funniest children’s books in the UK and Ireland, voted for by children.
The book is aimed at kids age 7 – 11 years. However it can be enjoyed at any age…I’m proof of that! As soon as I finished one chapter I was hurrying over to the next one for the latest instalment of Jams and Thimble’s story. My daughter is slightly older at 12 years old, but I know she’d love to read it too. Although she’s not yet had a chance because I started reading it as soon as it arrived! Also, my nephew is 6 years old and this would definitely be his cup of tea as well!
It’s always lovely for a child to read a book and to see themselves reflected in the characters and that’s why I love that Jon has made sure this book mentions disability, homeschooling and fostering. They are not huge topics within the book, they are just naturally mentioned within the storyline but this kind of inclusion is important. My daughter has never been to school – I have home-schooled her since the age of 4. So to see a mention of homeschooling within the first few chapters of this new book even gave me a surprise!
This fun book will be a great one to add to your child’s book collection. Either as a book for them to read on their own or for you to read aloud to them.
Would you like to get your hands on a signed copy? If so, place your order through Jon’s website. The book is £6.99 and comes with free UK P+P. Click here >> https://jonblakeblog.wordpress.com/thimble-monkey-superstar-latest-news/
Alternatively you can order Thimble and the Girl from Mars on Amazon. Click here >> www.amazon.co.uk/Thimble-Girl-Mars-Jon-Blake/dp/1916877508/
Jon Blake is the author of over sixty books, primarily for children and teenagers…..so once you’ve read the Thimble series there are plenty more of his books that your child will love to read! View the full list here >> https://jonblakeblog.wordpress.com/all-my-books/.
Make sure to follow Jon on social media to keep up to date with his latest book news.
Twitter = https://twitter.com/jonblakeauthor
Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/jonblakeauthor/
View his website = https://jonblakeblog.wordpress.com/
If you’re a teacher or librarian reading this book review you may be considering asking Jon if he does school visits to talk about his books……I’ve checked and he does! 🙂 He can even do virtual visits – either live link-ups or responding to pupils’ questions via customised videos. Read all about it here >> https://jonblakeblog.wordpress.com/author-visits/
* Thank you Jon for sending me this signed copy of your book to review