The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – review
XoXo, BOOK WORM_98: 'Carlos Ruiz Zafon's prose flows like ink, the details of this wonderfully scary and mysterious book so perfectly linked'
Christmas 2013: best fiction for 8- to 12-year-olds – review
Exhilarating flights of fancy featuring giants, witches and dinosaurs can make long journeys endurable this season, writes Lucy Rock
Christmas 2013: best picture books for children – review
Festive fare includes pussies galore, an amazing dog and a baby donkey bound for Bethlehem, writes Kate Kellaway
Sally Gardner interview: ‘Poor young men in Britain are still cannon fodder for the army’
The award-winning children's writer is now addressing older readers in her anti-war novel, Tinder. It's time to enter the 'dark, dark wood', she tells Viv Groskop
Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud – review
Beth, Millenium RIOT Readers: 'I loved the story, the amount of suspense and creepiness was exactly right'
Reviews roundup: your top reads this month
Can you see the wood for the trees? What's been the most-read book on the site this month?
Dodger’s Guide to London by Terry Pratchett – review
Gill, Millenium RIOT Readers: 'A very interesting and informative book'
Book of Beasts by Giles Sparrow – review
Ben, Millenium RIOT Readers: 'This book is full of fantastical creatures and facts about them'
She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick – review
A blind girl leads the way on a transatlantic adventure. By SF Said
Nowhere by Jon Robinson – review
Firebird: 'Thrilling and chilling in equal measure, it is a tense and gripping page turner'
Wonder by R.J. Palacio – review
googleyeyes: 'Well, this is it. This is the book they've all been talking about. And now I see why'
Your stories: I am a Poetato by SuperBen – poem
Site member SuperBen has written us a poetato poem, inspired by John Hegley's I am a Poetato
Reader reviews roundup
YOUR REVIEWS: We've been looking at our very own stars this week - your reviews! Young spies, teen angst, demon dentists and horrible jokes have all been twinkling on the site
The Battles of Ben Kingdom: Claws of Evil by Andrew Beasley – review
sapphirebooklover: 'For ages around 8 to 12, this book is beautifully written and has a steampunk feel about it'
Emil and the Detectives
The National Theatre's Christmas holiday show is an adaptation of Erich Kästner's much-loved 1929 children's novel. Rachel Cooke rereads a wonderful book that helped form her