Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

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Age Group: KS1

Picturebook

When Mo makes friends with a little wild beast, her family are horrified – wild beasts are dangerous.

But could this wild beast save baby Babba from a hungry lynx and become a friend to the whole family?

And then what would they call him? DOG!

This delightful, heart-warming story about a Stone-Age family and the first dog is inspired by the amazing, recent discovery of a child’s footprint alongside a dog’s pawprint in the Chauvet cave in France – from 26,000 years ago!

Picturebook

Bill the Bear lives with his friends in the woods and writes brilliant plays for The Glade Theatre. His latest play is a huge success, but then the problems start . . .

Parents everywhere will recognise the drama of getting an over-excited little bear off to dreamland.

A bedtime book for little bards!

Picturebook

A CBT-inspired novelty book by Clare Helen Welsh, accompanied by beautiful, nuanced illustrations from Ana Sanfelippo.

When you change the way you look at the world, the world you look at changes.

When you put on your sunny-side specs a bad mood can become a good mood, a goodbye can become a hello, and even the impossible can become possible! But sometimes, no matter how hard you try, the sunny side seems far away. And that’s OK. Sunny things will be there to discover whenever you are ready.

This warm and innovative novelty book uses die-cuts and flaps to transform the world around us, illustrating the power and impact that reframing your thoughts can have. Just like Happy by Nicola Edwards and Katie Hickey, The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas and The Worrysaurus by Rachel Bright and Chris Chatterton, Sunny Side Up is the ideal book for exploring difficult emotions.

Picturebook

We all love rain—until we are ready for some sun! This joyful ode to rain for kids 2 to 6 explores a child’s many emotions when it comes to wet weather.

In this charming picture book, a young child’s conversation with the rain poetically captures the ever-shifting feelings we have when it comes to drizzles and downpours. She thanks the rain for helping the strawberries and carrot seeds to grow, and delights in splashing in the puddles with her little brother. Then, she asks the rain if it could take a vacation so she can play in the park and go lightning fast on her scooter. Eventually, it’s too hot for sidewalk chalk and catching frogs, and she begins to miss it.

Welcome, Rain! encourage kids to:

Get outside to explore and play, even in the rain
Understand why rain is important, from helping plants grow to bringing cooler temperatures
Cycling through the four seasons, this adorable picture book is a celebration of our feelings for the rain—how we wish it would go away, then long for it when it’s gone—and the necessary role it plays in our lives.

Chapter book

From award-winning author Polly Ho-Yen, comes a beautifully illustrated story for readers aged 7+.

Yara has only glimpsed the last dragon on Earth twice. She’s got other things to worry about: her sister is in hospital, her parents are panicking, and her new teacher has labelled her a troublemaker and wants her out. But one evening, in the glow of the lights of the shopping centre in Milton Keynes, Yara finds herself being watched by the last dragon and, before it departs, it leaves her a gift: its only egg.

Entrusted with the care of the last dragon egg, Yara discovers it is more powerful than she could ever have imagined. But there are others who want it and they’ll stop at nothing to steal it for themselves…

A moving story about bravery, self-belief and our responsibility to protect the natural world.

Graphic Novel

The brand-new, hilariously funny full colour graphic novel series from award winning author and illustrator of the Pizazz series, Sophy Henn. Jam-packed with hilarious stories, this is perfect for fans of Bunny vs Monkey, Dogman and Tom Gates.

Meet the friendly and not-so-friendly residents of Happy Hills, a place where anything can happen and always does! When unicorn Ace stumbles across happy hills, he is surrounded by the residents who are keen to share their spooky stories, plays a town-wide game of IT, all while avoiding GIANT DANGER KITTENS.

Best Books for Each Year Primary Group

New Additions for 2024

Each of our Year Group Recommended Reads lists contains 50 books specially picked out for reading for pleasure in each primary year group, from Preschool to Year 6. The lists are designed to provide recommendations of age-appropriate and accessible books across a range of genres and styles. These lists differ from our topic booklists, as the books are purely selected to read for pleasure at each age group. The Year Group lists also come with printable posters and checklists.

We update our lists annually in April and schools can purchase sets of the packs from Peters. As well as the full book packs, schools can also purchase a top-up pack containing just the newly added titles for 2024.

Some of the titles are newly published, whereas others are older favourites that have just been added to the Year Group lists for the first time. Browse the lists below to see the new additions for each year group, launched 16 April 2024.

 

 

Best Books for Y2 (Children Aged 6-7)

NEWLY updated – April 2024!

Our team has hand-picked 50 recommended books for Year 2 (children aged six and seven). Find the best books to top up your Y2 reading collections with our selection of storytime picturebooks, chapter books, funny stories, illustrated poetry collections, non-fiction texts and more. Keep an eye out for the odd mad-cap babysitter with rainbow hair, aliens in jam factories and texting-obsessed goats along the way…

We understand that finding the perfect book for children can be challenging, so we have carefully curated a list of recommended reads especially suited for Year 2 children. Our selection of books includes themes such as adventure, friendship, animals, mystery, and lots of laugh-out-loud favourites too.

The experts at BooksForTopics have hand-picked each book based on its age-appropriateness, quality content, engaging illustrations and ability to spark children’s imagination and creativity. This booklist includes popular Year 2 stories such as The Proudest BlueFlat Stanley and Traction Man, as well as some lesser-known storytime delights that we recommend for Y2, like The Eyebrows of DoomEinstein the Penguin and Jory John’s hilarious gadget-obsessed spud, The Couch Potato.

So, if you are looking for top recommended books for your Year 2 children, our specially selected reading list has got you covered with books that have all been carefully matched to the age, developmental stage and interest level of children in Year 2.

As well as the Y2 booklist below to browse, we’ve also got a printable poster and downloadable checklist for you, and schools can purchase full sets of the books via Peters.

 

year 2 recommended reads printable poster 2024

year 2 recommended reads checklist 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browse the Y2 booklist below or scroll down to find more purchasing options and printable resources.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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