November anticipated children’s book releases …

It’s time for my November anticipated children’s book releases – a mixture of continuations of books in series I’ve loved, new books by favourite authors, and new-to-me authors whose books have caught my attention.

I’ve taken each synopsis from the Waterstones website.

Directly below was a sight none of them had ever seen before – a kind of spiral, with glowing ruby-red lights that curved outwards like tentacles. In the middle was a dark circle, inky black. It had the look of a really, really deep well. Ursula and her friends are in a race against time. The Collector has taken Stella captive, and is hungrily snatching up all the beautiful places of the world in her snow globe prisons. She needs to be stopped, but first they must find her. To aid them in their quest, the explorers seek help from new allies, including a Pirate Queen, with a ghost ship that can defy time and space, and then take to the skies in a galaxy fairy rocket. But their journey is fraught with danger, as the future of the planet hangs in the balance. Escape into a sensational world filled with space moles, sea goblins and giant sharks, all covered with a sprinkling of moon dust!

The Guardians of Magic disappeared ten years ago, leaving the Kingdom of Thrynne in the icy grip of a powerful sorceress. Most people have fled in desperate search of warmer lands, escaping the Ice Monsters that roam the streets. Meanwhile, young Tiggy Thistle lives hidden and safe with a kindly Badger until the day she meets one of the crafty Stiltskin brothers and she has to run from her happy home. So begins Tiggy’s quest to find Zam, Phoebe and Bathsheba – the lost Guardians and their beautiful Cloud Horses – the only people, she believes, who can save Thrynne from the curse of endless winter.

Alfie Wright? Alfie Wrong, more like. Alfie has never really fitted in anywhere – he doesn’t have any friends, and even his mum seems embarrassed of him. So when he’s evacuated to a farm in rural Devon run by kind old Aunt Bell and her gentle giant of a son, Alfie can’t believe his luck. The War seems a long way off, and among the cows and pigs and geese Alfie’s happier than he’s ever been – especially when he makes friends with one of the local boys, Snidge. But Snidge, for all his friendliness, is not all he appears. And the mystery that surrounds him seems to be connected to the Midwinter Burning, an annual ritual held at the Standing Stones, high up on the cliffs. Aunt Bell says it’s all just a bit of harmless superstition, but when Snidge goes missing, Alfie finally discovers who his friend really is – and relives the true horror of the legend…

There is nothing more dangerous than magic…  Eleven-year-old Erskin is used to danger; she lives in the shadow of Mountainfell, a place of wild creatures and dangerous magic. When the most powerful and deadly creature of all – the fearsome cloud dragon – snatches Erskin’s sister away, Erskin must face her greatest fear and journey onto the mountain to bring her back. A terrible power is stirring, and it is up to Erskin to save both her family and her home.

When Lucas and Ruby find an abandoned trunk covered in snow, Lucas says there’s bound to be a body inside. Ruby laughs but what if he’s right? Nervously she starts to open it, and immediately wishes she hadn’t. From that moment on, they’re drawn into a thrilling mystery, one that they have to solve before the falling snow smothers all trace of wrongdoing…

It’s Christmas, and eleven-year-old Lolli must return to London and break a promise she made to herself – to never again step foot in the Victorian historic house in Spitalfields managed by her family. There, Lolli must face up to what she saw in the house several years ago and make things right for two ghosts – one friendly and one decidedly not – opening her guarded heart to people in both the living and twilight worlds.

Red is a rare red dragon who lives with his Mag and Dag in a world where dragons and Uprights are sworn enemies. Then Red meets his first Upright, a girl called Lou, who is nothing like he had imagined: she’s smart, and funny … and kind! As the pair become friends, Red learns that not only can the two species live in harmony – but maybe it’s his destiny to bring them back together.

When their magician grandpa is imprisoned in a snow globe, Hedy and Spencer – with cousins Jelly and Max – go in search of a magical way to free him in the final instalment of the House on Hoarder Hill trilogy. The Spellbound Tree is the source of all magic, but to find it the talented children must fight their way through the catacombs of Paris, with the help and hindrance of ghosts and monsters … The thrilling, fantastical finale in the Hoarder Hill trilogy!

Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her cartographer father once mapped. When her friend disappears, she volunteers to guide the search. The world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland – and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a fire demon is stirring from its sleep. Soon, following her map, her heart and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.

When Jarell discovers that the fantasy world he is obsessed with doodling is actually real, he is launched into an incredible adventure. Ulfrika, the land of his ancestors, is in trouble and he is the hero they need. In this second book, he must return to Ulfrika to prevent the rise of the sorcerer Ikala. Kimisi takes him to the court of the river goddess and they strike a deal. If they help her by finding a cure for a terrible curse, she will give them the Iron Crocodile for the staff of Kundiata. The path ahead will not be easy. A dangerous foe lies in wait for them in this Underwater Kingdom…

Have any of these grabbed your interest? Do you have any other suggestions for November new releases?