Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Author & Illustrators

Mary Hoffman Books

An attractively presented book with dynamic use of full colour cartoon people and speech bubbles throughout, this is an in-depth look at the practices of food harvesting, distribution and consumption, including up-to-date information on ultra-processed foods, climate change and future developments.

Although advertised on the publisher’s website as being suitable for 4+, and also looking fairly young in presentation, the text feels more advanced. It assumes a fair amount of reader background knowledge, both because the sentences require inference, and also because of the opinionated tone of the text – there are no modifiers of ‘some people think’- opinion is stated as fact. Moreover, occasionally, the speech bubbles of the cartoons are hard to decipher in terms of positioning and nuance, so the reader may not be sure where they fit and if they are fact or opinion. Saying that, there is a lot of information provided, including processing, packaging, cooking, food banks and food waste, issues of distribution and so much more.

It is worth stocking in the school library, but this is a book that warrants explanation and discussion. It will certainly provoke it.

The Great Big Book of Families introduces children to the fact that not all families look the same. Featuring funny artwork and wonderfully accessible text this book celebrates each family in its own unique and wonderful way.

What is a family? Once, it was said to be a father, mother, boy, girl, cat and dog living in a house with a garden. But as times have changed, families have changed too, and now there are almost as many kinds of families as colours of the rainbow.

From a mum and dad or single parent to two mums or two dads, from a mixed-race family to children with different mums and dads, to families with a disabled member. This is a fresh, optimistic look through children’s eyes at today’s wide variety of family life: from homes, food, ways of celebrating, schools and holidays to getting around, jobs and housework, from extended families, languages and hobbies to pets and family trees.

The Great Big Book of Families is a brilliant introduction for children to all family types great and small.

A topical story about a boy called Hassan who has fled to England from Mogadishu in Somalia. He feels that his new home is cold and grey, but colour and hope soon begin to return to his life as he settles in. This is a good text to use to encourage compassion for children who have been forced to travel away from their homes in difficult circumstances.

With over a million copies sold this classic story of Grace, her Ma and Nana is a timeless classic of courage and determination, loved and cherished by children the world over.

Grace was a girl who loved stories.
She didn’t mind if they were read to her or told to her or
made up in her own head. She didn’t care if they were from
books or on TV or in films or on the video or out of Nana’s
long memory. Grace just loved stories.

Grace loves to act out stories. She spends her time dressing up and putting on performances for her beloved Ma and Nana, usually helped by Paw-Paw the cat. Sometimes she plays the leading part, sometimes she is ‘a cast of thousands’ and sometimes, when they’re not too tired, she can even convince Ma and Nana to join in her magical story creations.

When Grace’s school decides to put on a performance of Peter Pan, Grace longs to play the part of Peter. But her classmates say that Grace absolutely can’t play that part. Peter was a boy, and besides, he wasn’t black… But Grace’s Ma and Nana tell her she can be anything she wants if she puts her mind to it…

A touching and beautiful picture book about being true to yourself and not letting anyone hold you back. This is the perfect story for children everywhere to remind them to be themselves no matter what the world tells you.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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