O'Brien Picture Books

Tis the season! O'Brien have released some beautiful new picture books, and I'm here to run through a few of them and give you some idea what they're like. Hint, these would make great presents!

Uncle Zeedie by Colm Field

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✦ BLURB ✦

Uncle Zeedie is weird, but at least he's rich and his house is amazing. That's what George and Lacey tell themselves when they arrive at his isolated mansion in the Welsh woods. Only something here is worse than weird. Uncle Zeedie seems unhinged, serving them rotten food, and skulking around at night. The house is decaying, blood stained, and stinks of sour milk. And George is seeing kids that aren’t there. They’re dead, these kids. And if the rumours are right, Uncle Zeedie is the one who's killing them.

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There’s something wrong with the house. There’s something worse in the woods.

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PRE-READING THOUGHTS
I'm always interested in horror aimed at younger readers — when it's done well, it often manages to be creepier than adult horror, because it doesn't rely on shock value. From the blurb, I was expecting a decaying house, missing children, and an unreliable adult or two. But what I didn’t expect was how smart and slippery this book would be about what’s really going on.

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POST-READING
As I thought...
The dread is immediate. From the moment George and Lacey step into Uncle Zeedie’s home, nothing feels safe. The food is rotten, the furniture is crumbling, and Zeedie himself is more sinister than eccentric. The setting has that “trapped in a nightmare” energy from page one.
It surprised me by...
How cleverly it handles misdirection. Fields keeps the reader off-balance in the best way, toying with your assumptions without ever pulling the rug so hard it feels like cheating. The sibling bond between George and Lacey also gives the book real heart — they don’t always agree, but the way they protect each other grounds the horror beautifully.

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✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

📘 Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
🎬 Coraline meets The Others

✦ MUSIC PAIRING ✦

Because sometimes, the heart of a story plays out like a song.

Featured Song: “Youth Knows No Pain” – Lykke Li

Vibe Album: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish

Artist Recommendation: Agnes Obel — for that eerie, echoey haunted-house-in-the-woods sound

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✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

🎨 Colour Palette: greyscale with mold green accents

🎬 Soundtrack: floorboards creaking on their own

❄️ Season: late winter — that cold, wet, marrow-deep chill

😰 Mood: anxious, claustrophobic, and questioning your own memories

👃 Scent: spoiled milk, damp curtains, something feral just out of sight

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★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

Death - Nightfall Tarot 

Death strikes a terrifying figure atop his horse, but the young girl in front of him isn't afraid - she knows that things aren't always what they seem, that Death is only one thing changing into another. It's a lesson that George and Lacey learn during their adventure.

Uncle Zeedie publishes on the 4th of September, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.

Traitors in Space by Tim Collins + Steven Wood

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✦ BLURB ✦

Catch the aliens before they catch you in this exciting extraterrestrial choose-your-own-adventure featuring illustrated puzzles perfect for fans of the Among Us game.

Imagine you are a brilliant young scientist who has been chosen for a research mission to a distant planet. On your way back to Earth, you are woken early from cryosleep by the ship’s computer. It has detected an alien lifeform, but you don’t see any sign of one.

You look at your fellow crewmates and wonder if one of them has been taken over by an alien intelligence. Can you work out who can be trusted and who the aliens are before they take over your mind too?

Approximately twenty illustrated puzzle missions are woven into the narrative at key turning points for full immersion in the story. Featuring over forty-five potential endings, gripping plot twists, and atmospheric illustrations, this alien adventure is truly out of this world.

Cruise Ship Kid: Thief at Sea! by Emma Swan

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✦ BLURB ✦

Jump on board with Silver, the Cruise Ship Kid, in the hilarious new detective adventure series from debut author and West-End actress, Emma Swan.

There's 4 things you should know about me:

1. I live on a cruise ship

2. My name is Silver. Yes, really

3. I've never had a best friend my own age :(

4. I'm definitely not a detective

Somehow, though, I'm now investigating the CASE OF THE MISSING MEGA-EXPENSIVE WATCHES. But, I've got a plan. If I can solve the crime, then surely the kids on board will want to be friends with me. Right?

I've had lots of help (interference) from the Gang, but I won't tell you about them because they are all over 80 and prefer playing bingo to solving crimes.

So, do you want to be definitely-not-a-detective too and help me catch the thief at sea?

THIS BOOK IS:

- 50% crime-solving + 50% friendship = 100% FUN!

- Written in diary form

- Inspired by the author's childhood growing up on an actual cruise ship!

- Filled with doodles, activities and lots of space to scribble!

- Pamela Butchart meets Tom Gates, set at sea.

Alyce with a Why by Anna James

✦ BLURB ✦

England, 1919. Alyce – with a Y – lives with her grandmother, the original Alice, having lost her father during the great war. When a mysterious invitation to a tea party hits her square in the face, Alyce realises her grandmother’s strange stories of a place called Wonderland might have some truth to them after all.

But the land Alyce finds herself in feels different to the Wonderland of her grandmother’s stories – for it is trapped in its own war. The Sun King and the Queen of the Moon are fighting over a stolen hour, and soon Alyce is tasked with setting it right. With the help of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and a Sailor Fox, Alyce will have to solve Wonderland’s problems and, eventually, find her way back home.

An enchanting adventure through Wonderland, and featuring new characters as well as old favourites, Alice With a Why is both a celebration of Lewis Carroll’s beloved original story, and a modern masterpiece.

The Last Pebble by Alex Horne

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✦ BLURB ✦

Trader and his grandpa have combed the beach of Bognor Regis for as long as he can remember, and every time they find a beautiful or special stone, it’s added to the treasure collection. But when Trader finds a particularly special pebble, he stumbles on a secret that was supposed to be kept for ever...

Can Trader and his new friend Charlotte unravel the mystery of this treasure, and return it to its rightful home?

The Invisibles by Susie Bower

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✦ BLURB ✦

A magical kingdom. Four friends. One terrible mistake...

In the Land of Magic, four friends live a life filled with wonder. But there's one rule they must not break: never set foot on the Island of Darkness. So, when one child does the unthinkable, they must all pay a terrible price - exile to Wasteland, the bleak world where only grown-ups live.

For Grace, this fate is particularly cruel. She wakes up with no memory of her magical home, or how she ended up here - and the only clue to her past is guarded by two hostile and mysteriously invisible children.

As Grace uncovers the Invisibles' secrets, she must work out a way to return home, before Wasteland traps her forever...

17 Martin Street by Marilyn Taylor, Alan Nolan and Jason Browne

✦ BLURB ✦

Graphic novel adaptation of the classic wartime novel

When Hetty Golden’s family move to Martin Street near Portobello bridge in Dublin, they’re not sure of their welcome. And next door, Ben Byrne’s family are not sure about their new Jewish neighbours: it’s the Emergency and they are suspicious of strangers.

To repay a debt, Ben agrees to do odd jobs for the Goldens, keeping it a secret from his family. But there’s a bigger secret: Renata, a refugee from Nazi Germany, is on the run in the city, and Hetty is determined to rescue her.

Can Hetty and Ben overcome their differences and save Renata, or are they just meddling in things they know too little about?

The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie

Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah's front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad...until now.

Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse.

Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they've attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they're in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake.

My Dog by Olivia Wakefield

Ten-year-old Rhys really loves dogs. When he finds a lost black Labrador with big conker eyes and ears like soft velvet, he can’t quite believe his luck. Nobody comes forward to claim Worthington, giving Rhys the perfect opportunity to prove he’s a good owner. But when Rhys moves to London to live with his estranged dad who hates dogs, Rhys decides to keep Worthington secret.

Struggling to connect with his dad in a new city, Rhys takes comfort in Worthington. But he soon discovers that looking after a secret dog is anything but easy, and he knows that before long he’ll have to confront his fears and find a way to tell Dad…

Phenomenally moving and beautifully written, My Dog shows us that accepting the present doesn’t mean forgetting the past – in a story that will live with you for ever.

Giant by Judith McQuoid

Davy, a working-class boy living in East Belfast in 1908, is sent to work at the wealthy Lewis household. When he meets Jacks – the name by which CS Lewis was known to friends and family – Davy is captivated by his friend’s world of books and stories. Together the boys plunge into imagining and adventuring, and Davy discovers his own artistic talent.

But when Davy is offered a job at the shipyard, and Jacks’s mother falls gravely ill, their wondrous days of make-believe seem numbered. Will they lose their extraordinary shared world forever?

Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita

She has only two weeks to play the game and find the island. If she's successful, she'll break a two-hundred-year-old curse. If she fails, the fortune will be forfeited. And if she's not careful, she'll cross paths with someone else who is after the island's secrets, and who will stop at nothing to get them. Because, as it turns out, there's far more than a fortune at stake.

Days after her twelfth birthday, Everly "Benny" Benedict learns she's the heir to a fortune! But to collect the inheritance, she first has to play--and win--a game. Following clues that her ancestor left, Benny must locate a small island that vanished long ago, according to legend.

Bestselling and beloved author Jen Calonita delivers the first in a brand new series featuring a girl who will inherit a mysterious fortune if she can break a centuries-old curse!

Away by Megan E Freeman

After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat.

And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it’s too late?

A Wolf Called Fire by Rosanne Parry

The stand-alone companion to Rosanne Parry’s New York Times bestseller A Wolf Called Wander tells the wilderness survival story of the wolf pup known as Warm and is illustrated in black and white throughout. This Voice of the Wilderness Novel features extensive back matter, including a map.

Warm is the smallest pup, the one his father calls the heart of the pack. But all Warm sees is his bigger brothers Sharp and Swift, even his sisters Pounce and Wag, winning all the wrestling matches. Just as Warm is finding his place, enemy wolves destroy and scatter the pack. Warm helps lead the pups away from the fight, only to find himself alone with four pups to defend and feed. Can he be both the heart and the head of a new pack? Does he have to choose the aggressive leadership style of his father and brothers? Or is there another way?

A Wolf Called Fire is a stand-alone companion novel to A Wolf Called Wander . It’s inspired by Wolf 8, a real Yellowstone wolf who was the smallest of his pack and constantly bullied by his bigger brothers. Wolf 8 survived a tumultuous first year and grew up to be a different sort of leader—one who fought many rival wolves to submission but never killed any. He had a rare talent for mentoring young wolves and became the patriarch of the largest and most successful pack in Yellowstone by choosing a more collaborative and generous leadership style. Features black-and-white illustrations throughout and extensive back matter, including a map.

Five and the Forgotten Treasure by Chris Smith

When Fran, Tom, Maddy and Gilbert the dog stay with Professor George Kirrin for the holidays, they soon find themselves caught up in a robbery of a top-secret treasure map. Professor George will have to tell them about an old case of the Famous Five if they're ever going to catch the thief and rescue the forgotten treasure...

The Famous Five by Enid Blyton was one of Chris Smith's favourite series as a child. Now, this bestselling author weaves the action, adventure and danger of this thrilling and exciting world into a brand-new story, perfect for every generation of readers. Join the adventure!

Can the new Famous Five catch the thief and find the forgotten treasure before it's too late? Join the original Famous Five and a new group of children in this exciting new adventure by bestselling author Chris Smith, inspired by Enid Blyton.

The Doomsday Club by Kevin Moran

Conan swallowed hard. The creature stood taller than the archway, a silhouette of darkness against the spiral of light behind it … And it looked directly at him.

Jack and Conan's friendship is officially dead. Stuck in detention with Yash and Jerry after an all-out brawl in the toilet, it’s a terrible start to sixth class. And that’s before they witness a monstrous beast step out of a portal outside their school. When it wanders into the crumbling mansion across the road, where the sinister Mr Kilroe lives, the boys follow. They have to investigate, right?

Unlocking Mr Kilroe’s secrets is only the beginning. Because there’s more than one otherworldly horror hiding in that house and confronting it will put Jack and Conan in mortal danger – that’s if they don’t kill each other first!

Spooksmiths Investigate: The Cinderman by Alex Atkinson

Indigo and Rusty might live in a funeral parlour, but they don't believe in ghosts. That is, until Indigo drops an old urn, accidentally releasing the Cinderman: a terrifying ash monster, who will smother their town in ashes and turn everyone into zombies, unless they can stop him by sunset.

Using their newly awakened Spooksmith skills, Indigo and Rusty set out to enlist the help of other ghosts. But can the Blasted Banshee and Chuckles the Phantom Toddler really help them find the Cinderman's true name and put him in his grave for good before Ashmageddon strikes?

Graphic Novel Builder by Edward Ross

A comic book…about making comic books!

The perfect gift for budding artists and aspiring storytellers. Written and illustrated by comic artist Edward Ross with an introduction by Alice Oseman, creator of the best-selling Heartstopper series.

“The book you’re about to read is something I would have read and reread obsessively as a young artist” – Alice Oseman

Meet the Graphic Novel Builders, a group of big-dreaming teens who set out to write, design and draw their own comic books. There’s Ash the Publisher, Jay the Writer, Finn the Designer, Rayah the Artist, Sam the Colourist…and Peanut the Pup! Together, you’ll explore all the building blocks of the complete creative process:

Discover different types of comics

Plot and script your story

Create characters and build worlds

Level-up your drawing skills

Share your graphic novel with the world!

Witchspark by Dominique Valente

Eglantine Bury can't find her Witchspark. But if her magic doesn't appear, her family and their magical house will fall into the terrifying clutches of the evil Whistlewitch.

Across the land, Princess Victoria faces her own danger, as her secret magical powers start to spiral out of control and cause chaos in the Royal Palace.

Eglantine and Victoria both turn to the disgraced witch Miss Hegotty for help. Her witch lessons are difficult and powerful, but can this secret magic match up to the dangers these two hopeful witches face?

Two aspiring witches, one unusual teacher, a magical house, and a talking dragon-butler fight for what's right, in this major new series from Dominique Valente the bestselling author of Starfell.

First Term at Fernside by Sheena Wilkinson

It’s a new term at Fernside boarding school, and Robin can’t wait for fun in the dorm, playing games and maybe even winning the coveted Form Shield. But for new girl Linnet, Robin’s younger cousin, there are just too many new faces and strict rules.

Luckily, she has Robin for help and her very own hideaway. And when the adorable puppy Rudy disappears, it is Linnet who is determined to find him. Even if it means dragging Robin and all her new friends headfirst into danger.

There may be daring rescues, secret missions and adventures galore, but best of all are the true friendships to be made at Fernside.