The Haunting of Hemlock Hall ¦ Midnight Pirate

Two from the Young Corgi imprint worth noticing for sevens to nines. Salway's is full of warm fun and good characterisation. An old stately home is marketed to the public, to the disgust of the residents who decide to 'stage' some haunting moments for the visitors. The kids are daring and spirited and there's a wise twist at the end.

Diana Hendry's story is gentler, slower. A lonely child on holiday with old aunts adopts a kitten. The writer skilfully catches the relationships between the old and the young in unspoken conversations. There's a care for language in the writing still too rare in books for those new to independent reading: 'Its eyes were as misty as a November sea, its nose like a knob of old scrap.' Splendid for reading aloud.