Melanie Lloyd

The Adventures of Stella and Walter is a story about friendship that also explores the ideas of kindness and acceptance, with a bit of comedy and adventure along the way. Stella is a happy-go-lucky sheepdog who gets adopted by a family that includes Walter, the cranky, yet loving, goldendoodle. This book has themes and storylines that are of interest and relevance to kids, but that also has vocabulary and sentence structures that would offer motivation and support for reading and learning.

The Adventures of Stella and Walter is a story about friendship that also explores the ideas of kindness and acceptance, with a bit of comedy and adventure along the way. Stella is a happy-go-lucky sheepdog who gets adopted by a family that includes Walter, the cranky, yet loving, goldendoodle. This book has themes and storylines that are of interest and relevance to kids, but that also has vocabulary and sentence structures that would offer motivation and support for reading and learning.

James Cook's autobiography is a gripping account of his life told with the assistance of his friend and boxing author, Melanie Lloyd. Cook was raised by his grandparents in Jamaica until he was nine years old, when his mother arrived from London to collect him. His words paint a vibrant picture of childhood in the Caribbean sun and having to adapt to life on the notorious North Peckham Housing Estate in the late 60s. He started boxing in his teens and became British and European super-middleweight champion. Cook eloquently leads the reader through his life in the ring with plenty of droll tales along the way; but this is much more than a boxing book. Cook's commitment to keeping his local community safe through his youth work contributes to an inspirational and uplifting read. But anybody expecting to find Saint James on every page is in for a shock. His stories range from fighting with wheel-clampers in a Tesco car park to receiving his MBE from the Queen, all told with equal warmth and a sweet honesty that will keep the pages turning.

Sweet Fighting Man is based on a collection of interviews with British boxers, from journeymen to champions. The book covers a timespan of over 50 years and features some classic personalities, such as Dave 'Boy' Green, the ever-popular British and European champion who fought for world titles against Carlos Palomino and Sugar Ray Leonard; Bunny Johnson, the first black British Heavyweight Champion, and Joe Somerville, the jovial journeyman who had literally thousands of fights in the lurid environment of the boxing booths. Boxers are fundamentally entertainers and each chapter in this book is an individual performance, giving the true flavour of the characters involved. Their thought-provoking reflections proffer a unique insight into the often rollercoaster life of a professional boxer. The interviewees also talk about many aspects of their lives away from the ring and, as they drop their guards and open their hearts, they deliver plenty of laugh-out-loud moments along the way.