Blue Water and What Do You See When You Look at a Tree are this week’s adult and children's books of the week. 

Blue Water (adult book) - reviewed by Teresa Knight 

An intriguing thriller by Leonora Nattrass should appeal to all those who love a “locked room” mystery but also those who love a good historical and nautical yarn too. 

It is 1795, Laurence Jago is aboard the Tankerville, a mail ship heading to Philadelphia from England.  

This supposed journalist assistant is in fact travelling undercover for the British Government. His task is to protect a civil servant carrying a vital treaty to the the United States.  

An intriguing premise, Nattress has chosen and written well about a fascinating part of history, her description of the claustrophobic ship only adds to the general air of unease and paranoia. Who can be trusted? And who is a killer? An excellent read. 

What Do You See When You Look at a Tree (child’s book) - reviewed by Teresa Knight 

A delightful and beautifully written and illustrated book, this charming tale has quite rightly been nominated for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2023. 

Aimed at the younger reader, this lovely story asks a very important question, when you look at a tree what do you see? Something to be climbed? Or sat under when you need shade? Do you see them at all?  

Emma Carlisle encourages all children to look more closely, look at the way a tree can breathe and dance in the wind, see how birds and other animals find their homes amongst its branches and roots, watch as they change and age like you with the seasons. 

This gentle picture book encourages everybody to connect with the world around them and foster a lifelong love of nature.