I've been invited to do a live web forum on the Write Away website on 17 July. It'll probably run from 7.30 to 8.30. The subject is "Shakespeare in Children's Books". Come along and join in.

http://www.writeaway.org.uk/

“Josh Lacey brings alive Elizabethan England, especially London, with the relish of a tour guide... Bearkeeper is a well-told story with a strong sense of time and place. Pip is drawn with engaging sympathy as a growing lad trying to make his way honourably in a brutal world... this is a highly enjoyable read that firmly hooks into the turn of the 17th century, triggers interest in Shakespeare's plays and makes you pause to think about cruelties humans inflict on animals, now as well as then.”

The Guardian, 17 May 2008

Full review here:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,334182597-110738,00.html

"London in 1601 is the setting for Josh Lacey's Bearkeeper. The thronging citizenry and sewery stench of the capital are brought to stark, vivid life as he tells the story of Pip, a country boy who leaves his village home to seek the father he has believed to be dead for seven years.

For a time Pip falls in with the denizens of the Globe Theatre - Shakespeare included, of course - but it's when he takes custody of a fighting bear that he discovers his true calling, as well as a chance of saving his dad from a gang of vicious debt collectors.

Lacey inserts brief segments of history lesson into the narrative, but in such a way that they don't intrude and instead make the past more tangibly real to readers: he comments on the lack of police in the 17th century or compares a journey that takes 20 minutes by train now but back then was two days' walk. Bloody, brutal and bold, Bearkeeper informs as it entertains and intrigues as it enlightens."

The Financial Times, 10 May 2008

Amanda Craig has written a great review of Bearkeeper in The Times. She says: "Boys of 9+ will love Josh Lacey's Bearkeeper... Pip is someone that every boy will identify with... Like C.S. Lewis, Lacey addresses his readers in informative asides that some will find reassuring and others irritating. But the humour and wisdom of his tale will win him new fans."
You can read the whole review here:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article3814930.ece

Bearkeeper isn’t officially published for another week, but the first reviews have arrived. The Daily Telegraph describes it as “a vivid, unusual portrait of boyhood in Shakespearian England". The Bookbag says “the delights of the story and setting come through strongly in a most engaging and powerfully dramatic adventure” and concludes “We recommend it firmly”.

My new book, Bearkeeper, will be published in the UK on 7 April 2007. It's an exciting story about a boy and a bear in London in 1601. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to put some more material about the book on this website. For now, here is the cover: