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Age Group: EYFS

a new home for a pirate

A New Home for a Pirate

Picturebook

Shiver me timbers!’ Pirate Jed is not happy . . . Imagine a pirate who feels seasick all the time. That’s Pirate Jed! Fed up with bobbing around on the rollicking, rolling sea, he decides to pack up his pirate paraphernalia and heads off in search of a home on land. His adventures take him on a journey where he meets a whole cast of animal characters, desperate for his help, and they all join in his search for a new home. Finally they meet Farmer Ted who is fed up with life on dry land – so he and Jed decide to swap! So, with a cheeriyo-ho-ho, Pirate Jed and his new friends have a perfect new home! A gentle adventure about friendship, fun and finding your place.

the night pirates

The Night Pirates

Picturebook

A much-loved adventure on the high seas from Peter Harris and Deborah Allwright. Perfect for every reader who loved Pirates Love Underpants and The Pirates Next Door.

One night, young Tom is awoken by noises outside his house. He peeps out of the window and what should he see but PIRATES. And stranger still they’re GIRL PIRATES stealing the front of his house! Tom joins their adventure across the high seas to an island where some rather lazy and silly grown-up pirates are guarding their treasure. Not very successfully! Tom and the girl-pirates make a surprise attack and are soon off on the seas once more with the treasure!

This swashbuckling pirate story from Peter Harris and Deborah Allwright has become a modern-day classic. Great fun to read-aloud and entertaining for both boys and girls, The Night Pirates is a bedtime story to inspire the imagination of kids aged 3 and up.

ten little pirates

Ten Little Pirates

Picturebook

Count along with the Ten Little Pirates in this action-packed, counting rhyme adventure!

The Ten Little Pirates are sailing out to sea … But what will the Ten Little Pirates do when they meet a singing mermaid? And a whooshing hurricane? And a HUNGRY shark?

Part traditional counting rhyme, part fun-filled story, Ten Little Pirates is perfect for sharing together.
Read the bouncy rhyming story.
Count from ten to one and back again, as the Little Pirates disappear then reappear.
Spot and count the details on each page.
And join in with all the great sound-words!

the troll

The Troll

Picturebook

A laugh-out-loud pirate adventure from the stellar picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and David Roberts.

The Troll longs for a juicy goat to eat – but he’s stuck with boring old fish for supper. Bother! Meanwhile, Hank Chief and his pirate crew love fish, but without a decent recipe their slimy, soggy dinner is even worse. If only they could find their buried treasure and pay for a ship’s cook . . . but it seems they’ve sailed to the wrong island. Again.

Watch the fun unfold as two very different worlds collide in The Troll, a gloriously comic story from Julia Donaldson and David Roberts, the creators of the highly acclaimed Tyrannosaurus Drip.

the pirates are coming

The Pirates are Coming!

Picturebook

A hilarious retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, with not one but TWO twists!

Tom has a VERY important job; every day he climbs to the top of the hill and watches for pirate ships. But when he rings his bell and shouts !”PIRATES!” a few too many times – and there’s NO pirate ship – the villagers begin to get tired of hiding. So what will happen when the pirates really do show up?

Repeated phrases make it easy and fun for young adventurers to join in with the storytelling, and witty, bold artwork by Matt Hunt adds to the fun, with new and hilarious things to spot on every rereading. This inventive picture book has so many surprises in store and a wonderfully diverse range of characters and family groupings.

John Condon has been shortlisted for various awards including the Lovereading4kids Children’s Book Awards. Matt Hunt has been nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal, and his book Stephen Hawking Little People, BIG DREAMS was an Amazon bestseller.

Every Nosy Crow paperback picture book comes with a free “Stories Aloud” audio recording. Just scan the QR code and listen along!

Related activity sheets available on the Nosy Crow website.

lollies laugh out loud book awards 2023

The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2023

Here at BooksForTopics HQ, we were delighted to be involved in judging the longlist for this year’s Laugh Out Loud Book Awards – also known as the Lollies. Created and managed by Scholastic, the Lollies are now in their sixth year of celebrating the best and funniest children’s books in the UK and Ireland – as voted for by children!

The impressive shortlist from which children could choose was selected by a star-studded judging panel headed by Michael Rosen, and we at BooksForTopics were delighted to see many of our favourites among the winners of these awards.

The winners in the Picturebook and Poetry categories, Wee? It Wasn’t Me! and Yapping Away, are both picks in our 2023 Primary School Gift Guide, while the successful titles in each of the 6-8 and 9-12 age categories, A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch! and The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh, feature on our Year Group Recommended Reads. The winner of the Non-fiction category was Unleash Your Creative Monster: A Children’s Guide to Writing.

You can check out the full shortlist for the 2023 Laugh Out Loud Book Awards below!

ten delicious teachers

Ten Delicious Teachers

Picturebook

An irreverent and zany counting book that is gently thrilling and written in a deliciously infectious rhyme with witty and whimsical illustrations.

Ten very foolish teachers have missed the last bus home. But LOOK – a shortcut through the forest! They’ll be back in time for tea! Off they skip, unaware that in the woods a hungry horde of mischievous and hilariously goofy monsters is waiting… An irreverent and zany counting book that is gently thrilling with witty and whimsical illustrations.

the kings birthday suit

The King’s Birthday Suit

Picturebook

King Albert-Horatio-Otto the Third had SO many clothes it was simply absurd …

So when two seemingly well-meaning fabric merchants promise to make an outfit of only the very BEST and most special cloth, King Albert-Horatio-Otto the Third simply cannot resist. He MUST have these new clothes! Surely, the unquestionably charitable and not-at-all-suspicious-looking tailors are genuine, and the King won’t end up looking red-cheeked … ?

This funny and timely retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fable ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ will not only make children laugh, but also encourage them to think and speak up for what they believe.

agent llama

Agent Llama

Picturebook

Move over, Bond! There’s a new hero in town – Charlie Palmer: super spy and fluffy llama!

Charlie Palmer is a hotshot secret agent. Saving the world, fighting goons and looking cool while she does it is no big deal for her. Right now, she’s on a top-secret mission to rescue a pair of . . . UNDERPANTS! Gadgets ready? Sunglasses on? Watch out, baddies! No villain is a match for this AWESOME llama!

A hilarious and super stylish adventure from the incredible Angela Woolfe and Duncan Beedie. Perfect for fans of action-packed adventures like Supertato, Secret Agent Elephant and There’s a Superhero in your Book.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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