by Steve Small (S&S £12.99, 32 pp)
We’ve all heard the expression ‘takes to it like a duck to water’ but not this Duck, who would far rather snuggle up with a good book in a warm, dry house than get his webbed feet wet.
When a young, lost frog who’d moved in with him returns to his river home, Duck realises that he’s lonely and braves a scary journey to find him again.
A joyful celebration of friendship overcoming your fears.
THE DUCK WHO DIDN’T LIKE WATER by Steve Small, pictured left, and right, THE ROCK FROM THE SKY by Jon Klassen
really make it as a secret agent? This swift-paced, lively debut balances down-to-earth believability with wish-fulfilment fun.
Geraldine McCaughreanâs
The Supreme Lie (Usborne) is a more complex and stretching book, with the odd upsetting element, so itâs best suited to tougher readers of 10-plus. It follows Gloria, a teenage maid who finds herself impersonating a vanished head of state in Afalia, a country overwhelmed by floods. When Gloriaâs desperate efforts to help the suffering population come up against the machinations of Afalian propagandists (elegantly evoked by Keith Robinsonâs newspaper-style illustrations), discovery looms perilously close in this thought-provoking, poignant, blackly funny novel.
Last modified on Tue 15 Dec 2020 05.43 EST
Harrison Shaylor, 23, had planned to do the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) for a while, but lockdown made the decision for him. “I had been keeping my options open and looking at internships and jobs, and they all got cancelled, so I ended up going ahead with it this year,” he says. “I’m definitely glad I did.”
Shaylor is not alone. According to the Central Applications Board (CAB), applications for the GDL increased by 22.5% from 2019 to 2020. Numbers are rising and providers say it’s down to Covid. “We have had a bumper GDL intake this year, which I reckon is our highest intake for years,” says Tony Storey, programme leader at Northumbria University.